Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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- Creators: Kashiwagi, Jacob
Description
The construction industry is inefficient. Technological advancements alone do not provide a full solution. By simplifying the complexity of a construction project, and implementing the views of IMT (Information Measurement Theory) through a value driven system, the construction industry can be improved. In Bechtel's recent film, Dream Big: Engineering our World, the integration of their company values on emerging engineers resulted in astounding solutions towards making the future of the construction industry more efficient as a whole. This thesis demonstrates how Bechtel was able to direct the Dream Big movement with an emphasis on leadership and simpler thinking of future generations. Under the direction of Dr. Kashiwagi's Research and Solution Model (KSM) it is possible for young people aware of their potential and understand "simplicity" to be effective leaders. Through observation, these new leaders understand that they have been making a difference since their birth. As individuals are able to identify their core values, they are better able to find their strengths, align their values with a company, and ultimately make the construction industry more efficient.
ContributorsPirkl, Amber Victoria (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Del E. Webb Construction (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The main objective of the research was to gather as much information and arguments about why we need to end the war on drugs and put them into one piece of work that was compelling and thorough, but also concise. This goal was achieved through first explaining how addiction is strongly related to the environment around the addict and whether they have adequate tools to bond with those around them. After coming to the conclusion that the war on drugs has been a failure and is misunderstood by most people, the strategy for legalization of recreational drugs was outlined as well as the economic, social, and health benefits of pursuing that strategy. The conclusion is that while the war on drugs has good intentions, it has been largely ineffective and imposed cruel punishments on addicts that end up causing more harm than they prevent, it is time to move forward and legalize all recreational drug use with licensed sales, harm reduction programs, and proper education to create a more effective strategy of preventing drug use and the harm it brings.
ContributorsArndt, Nicholas Brandon (Author) / Koretz, Lora (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MSBR) is a clinically standardized meditation process that has been shown to facilitate the treatment of a variety of mental and physical disorders. The known efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction is derived from research on participants who are defined as unhealthy in some form. The potential benefits of mindfulness-based stress reduction for individuals who are considered to be healthy is under-studied, as less attention has gone into this subject area. Information Measurement Theory is a predictive theory that simplifies reality, and through this logical simplification, allows people to predict and see into the future. The concepts that are central to Information Measurement theory are natural laws, unique conditions, and relationships of unique conditions between the past, present, and future and the event model. This project aims to answer the question of if individuals, who are considered to be healthy, experience the same beneficiary results, that mindfulness-based stress reduction models execute, through the conception and knowledge of Information Measurement Theory. This study aims to compare MBSR and IMT in order to determine the consequences of each on the individual. The purpose of this study is also to highlight the promising success that Leadership Society of Arizona has achieved through the teaching of IMT in leadership courses.
ContributorsPirotte, Genevieve Katherine (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Exercising is becoming an important part of life, and yet not everybody is exercising regularly as they should. This project is focused on the exercising level of people in China and the United States therefore to determine the factors that prevent people from exercising. By extensive research and observations in the gyms of China and the United States, 6 major factors were determined and those are: Food, Education, Aesthetic/ Beauty standard, Gym membership fee, Government and control, and Work/ Society. The author found that with the extensive government control, people in China do not have full access to internet and therefore they do not have information about exercising. Education is should be refocused because government and school are not paying attention to students' health, students at school have excessive homework and assignment which prevent them from playing sports and exercising. Government of China should become more open-minded and open the access of internet instead of control. Both the United States and China should set more sports related classes, and reduce assignment and homework load. For China, more public infrastructure and facility should be built and open to the public who has less income can have access to exercise. Lastly promote healthy lifestyle, and bring knowledge to the general population such as healthy diet, and the dangers of being unhealthy.
ContributorsShao, Dongnan (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) at Arizona State University has provided a new approach to improve efficiency within industry called Best Value (BV). The core idea of BV is simplicity, which trains people to improve efficiency and understand things better with minimum information provided. The tool developed based on BV, the Kashiwagi Solution Model (KSM), is widely tested and used across a variety of industries. It has successfully helped many companies to cut their costs and improve the efficiency when running the company. With the help of BV and KSM, the authors of this paper are able to identify some problems experienced by a number of international companies. With the growth of global economy, globalization becomes popular, many companies try to enter more markets in order to earn bigger profits. However, many companies fail at achieving same level of performance in foreign markets. The authors adopts the idea from BV, KSM as well as the concepts from the Information Measurement Theory (IMT), which tries to dissolve complicated questions to the simplest concepts, and are able to explain the core reason why many international companies face the dissatisfying performance abroad. With numerous research, IMT helps to identify the characteristics of companies doing well domestically as well as companies doing poorly abroad. This paper demonstrates the possible solutions in order to help companies expand globally and achieve success in different markets.
ContributorsYang, Di (Co-author) / Liu, Weikang (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The purpose for this thesis is to analyze the past trends of international business and use that information to make conclusions for future events. In this paper, I explore the international business landscape since World War II, examine the five main cultural clusters, explore four different international business strategies, and draw conclusions based on logic derived from Dr. Dean Kashiwagi's Information Measurement Theory. It is my goal to develop rational conclusions based on acquiring as much information as possible. Specifically, the concepts of the "Event" and dominant information were used to predict future outcomes. A best value approach towards international management and strategic leadership is also explored in order to provide a framework for proper management techniques. My conclusions revolve around two main predictions: in the next thirty years a new manufacturing hub will emerge outside of Asia and as the world continues to globalize, cultural differences will blur and more firms will adopt a global standardization strategy as discussed in the Starbuck's case later in the paper.
ContributorsMiles, Jeffrey Robert (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) uses a leading model that helps people and procurement projects alike minimize risk while maximizing productivity. While there are a multitude of factors that propel this model, Information Measurement Theory (IMT) is the main element of the Best Value approach the group takes. I wanted to take the dominant information elements of IMT that helped me find my true self and increase my level of efficiency, and use them to find what it takes to become a successful veterinarian. In order to do this, the Kashiwagi Solution Model (KSM) within IMT was the perfect way to distinguish more successful, higher performing veterinarians from the less successful, lower performing veterinarians. In order to do this, a number of KSM-designed questions were created to score each veterinarian's level of perception. These, along with other background and performance questions, were put into a short survey and sent out. Once this was done, other elements of the veterinarians' lives could be compared side by side to their perception level. The results, of which 970 surveys were returned, found that the more expert a veterinarian is, the lower number of animals they will see per day and the better they know their customer satisfaction rating. These are both then theorized to work in conjunction to form the final correlation that the more perceptive the veterinarian, the higher their performance, aka their clinic's rating. In addition to this, no correlation was found between a veterinarian's level of thinking and their GPA from graduate school. It was concluded that though these correlations are found, I would recommend another project to be done in which all veterinarians of each surveyed clinic could be analyzed in order to gain more insight into any trends that exist between a veterinarian's level of thinking and their performance.
ContributorsBoon, Kurtis Ventry (Author) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Thesis director) / Finney, Gina Lee (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The Information Measurement Theory (IMT) states that all information exists at any time and all the time, and that it's an individual lack of ability to perceive that creates the misperception that there is an absence of information. This lack of perceived information creates subjective bias and limitations. IMT identifies decision-making and bias as the major obstacles to perfectly understanding reality. This study examines the IMT's correlation to romantic relationships and is designed to determine what factors and traits makes a romantic relationship successful. We collected data on 123 subjects: 56 individuals who were in committed romantic relationships and 67 individuals who were not. These individuals were asked fundamental questions on the IMT theory as well as their thoughts on what they define as a successful relationship. Participants in relationships were asked questions relating to their overall satisfaction level. Correlations were calculated between these satisfaction levels and an individual's perception of information. This study's overarching goal is to understand if successful relationships are determined by how much dominant information each individual involved in the relationship knows about each other, themselves, and other external factors.
ContributorsWang, Celina (Co-author) / Zeng, Carrie (Co-author) / Cao, Quynh-mi (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Very little of modern America resembles the country that existed during the time of the Nation's founding. The country has technologically, socially, and economically advanced to the point of likely being unrecognizable to our Founding Fathers. However the American Voting system is strikingly similar to the system established over two centuries prior. The current system of First-Past-The-Post voting has numerous structural biases and inadequacies that contribute to the current level of American dissatisfaction. The system discourages compromise, prevents the formation of third parties, is vulnerable to manipulated, and contributes to the toxic American political environment. Adopting a replacement for the outdated First-Past-The-Post system would provide significant advantages to the current United States political system. In this paper both Alternative Voting and Proportional Representation systems will be evaluated as viable replacements for the current system. The ongoing nature of the American political experiment contributes to the obstacles of objective political science conclusions. In order to evaluate the current and possible replacement systems, a logical base is required. Information Measurement Theory utilizes dominant information to aid in the decision making process. Developed by Dean Kashiwagi to improve efficiency across multiple fields, this logical system simplifies complex issues down to their most basic elements. Information Measurement Theory will be used to determine: 1. Which voting system offers the clearest communication between the government and the governed 2. Which voting system best discourages strategic voting 3. Which system best promotes long term democratic stability Determining the voting system that best satisfies these three criteria will provide the American Electorate with an electoral reform goal and the means of improving the American political climate.
ContributorsBurke, Andrew Sutherland (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
A new student organization called the 942 Crew was started in 2012 as an extension of the Student Initiative to increase student attendance and the in game atmosphere at Sun Devil men's basketball games. The new organization is part of Sun Devil Athletics and is full of students of all ages and backgrounds. In being part of Sun Devil Athletics, the 942 Crew has the financial support as well as resources to achieve the goals of increasing student attendance and improving the in game atmosphere for students, fans, and players. I have been a member of the 942 Crew for four of its five years on campus, and have seen and been a part of the changes brought to Sun Devil Athletics because of the organization. Through new marketing techniques that include a peer-to-peer aspect Sun Devil Athletics did not have before, the revolutionary Curtain of Distraction, and the support of the athletic department, the 942 Crew has been able to nearly double the average student attendance from the 2012-2013 season to the 2015-2016 season. With average student attendance growing from 455.06 students a game in 2012-2013 to 881.41 in 2015-2016, a new era of Sun Devil Athletics has begun in which a student organization and administration work together to create a more consistent level of higher student attendance. Aside from men's basketball, the 942 Crew has also changed the student ticketing of football games through the emergence of Camp Fargo and broken student attendance records at both men's and women's sports across the university.
ContributorsFicker, Ryan Michael (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12