ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- Creators: Shen, Wei
- Creators: Kavazanjian, Edward
Description
In this study I investigate the organizational mechanisms (pathways) through which strategic investors can help a firm improve performance. Many commercial banks in China have recently invited foreign banks as strategic investors since China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), hoping to gain managerial and technological knowhow from the foreign banks. Using Shanghai Pudong Development Bank as a representative example, I conduct an in-depth qualitative analysis about how the joining of Citi Bank as a strategic investor has helped the local Chinese bank improve its financial performance. On the basis of a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, I first develop a theoretical model that describes the organizational mechanisms (pathways) through which foreign strategic investors can influence the local bank’s performance. Specifically, by participation in corporate governance, the foreign strategic investor can have a positive influence over the local bank’s strategy development, operational targets, incentive systems, and organizational culture, which consequently lead to improvements in the local banks operations and financial performance. I then use a case study method to substantiate the logic and the pathways of the model with the detailed information collected from the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Citi Bank strategic alliance. The results are consistent with the model’s descriptive validity.
ContributorsLiu, Xinyi (Author) / Pei, Ker-Wei (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Hong (Committee member) / Shen, Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Some subterranean animals, such as mole-rats, can burrow underground, sense the environment around them, and communicate with each other. Inspired by the mole-rats, this dissertation is dedicated to developing an active wireless underground sensor network (WUSN) for active underground exploration. Special attention is paid to two key functions: wireless underground data transmission, and underground self-burrowing. In this study, a wireless underground communication system based on seismic waves was developed. The system includes a bio-inspired vibrational source, an accelerometer as the receiver, and a set of algorithms for encoding and decoding information. With the current design, a maximum transmission bit rate of 16–17 bits per second and a transmission distance of 80 cm is achieved. The transmission range is limited by the size of container used in the laboratory experiments. The bit error ratio is as low as 0.1%, demonstrating the robustness of the algorithms. The performance of the developed system shows that seismic waves produced by vibration can be used as an information carrier and can potentially be implemented in the active WUSNs. A minimalistic horizontal self-burrowing robot was designed. The robot mainly consists of a tip (flat, cone, or auger), and a pair of cylindrical parts. The robot can achieve extension-contraction with the utilization of a linear actuator and have options for tip rotation with an embedded gear motor. Using a combined numerical simulation and laboratory testing approach, symmetry-breaking is validated to be the key to underground burrowing. The resistance-displacement curves during the extension-contraction cycles of the robot can be used to quantify the overall effect of asymmetries and estimate the burrowing behavior of the robots. Findings from this research shed light on the future development of self-burrowing robots and active WUSNs.
ContributorsZhong, Yi (Author) / Tao, Junliang (Thesis advisor) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Committee member) / Martinez, Alejandro (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
This Master's thesis presents an experimental testing program conducted to assess the properties of coarse tailings from two Arizona copper mine heap leach pads. This testing program was motivated by recent failures in tailings impoundments, which has prompted a re-evaluation of tailings deposit stability worldwide. The testing was conducted using a unique large-scale Direct-Simple Shear (LDSS) device at Arizona State University (ASU). Prior to testing the tailings, the LDSS device had to be rehabilitated, as it had not been used for several years. The testing program included one-dimensional compression testing, shear wave velocity measurement, and monotonic shearing under constant volume conditions. The test results demonstrate the effectiveness of the LDSS device in obtaining representative data for tailings under monotonic loading. Recommendations for future improvements of the LDSS include enhancing the connection of monitoring instruments, utilizing more sophisticated software for shear wave velocity measurements, and optimizing the control system. The thesis contributes to geotechnical engineering by improving understanding and evaluation of tailings properties, thereby enhancing safety and environmental sustainability in the mining industry.
ContributorsHarker, Jack Michael (Author) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Thesis advisor) / Zapata, Claudia (Committee member) / Razmi, Jafar (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
This study investigates the performance effects of cross-industry mergers and acquisitions (M&A) using a sample of firms listed in China’s Growth Entrepreses Market (GEM). Compared to firms listed in the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, firms listed in the GEM are much smaller and tend to derive the majority of their revenues from a single industry. I first analyze the motives for firms listed in the GEM to engage in M&As and propose a set of factors that may influence their likelihood of M&A activities. Using data on 55 cross-industry M&As between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016, I find that investor generally responded positively in short-term, as indicated by the positive accumulated abonormal returns over the first five trading days following the announcements. Meanwhile, I found no evidence that investors benefited from cross-industry M&As in long-term over three years after the event. Further analysis suggests that the short-term effects of cross-industry M&As by GEM listed firms were influenced by the target firm’s market valuation, whether the M&A was paid by cash, the amount of the payment, and the degree of difference between the acquiring firm’s and the target firm’s industries. These findings have important implications for the investors and senior executives of firms listed in the GEM.
ContributorsZhou, Wei (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Yu, Xiaoyun (Thesis advisor) / Jiang, Zhan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Urease, an amidohydrolase, is an essential ingredient in the emerging engineering technique of biocementation. When free urease enzyme is used this carbonate precipitation process is often referred to as enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (EICP). To date, most engineering applications of EICP have used commercially available powdered urease. However, the high cost of commercially available urease is a major barrier to adoption of engineering applications of EICP in practice. The objective of this dissertation was to develop a simple and inexpensive enzyme production technique using agricultural resources. The specific objectives of this dissertation were (i) to develop a simple extraction process to obtain urease from common agricultural resources and identify a preferred agricultural resource for further study, (ii) to reduce the cost of enzyme production by eliminating the use of a buffer, centrifugation, and dehusking of the beans during the extraction process, (iii) investigate the stability of the extracted enzyme both in solution and after reduction to a powder by lyophilization (freeze-drying), and (iv) to study the kinetics of the extracted enzyme.
The results presented in this dissertation confirmed that inexpensive crude extracts of urease from agricultural products, including jack beans, soybeans, and watermelon seeds, are effective at catalyzing urea hydrolysis for carbonate precipitation. Based upon unit yield, jack beans were identified as the preferred agricultural resource for urease extraction. Results also showed that the jack bean extract retained its activity even after replacing the buffer with tap water and eliminating acetone fractionation, centrifugation, and dehusking. It was also found that the lyophilized crude extract maintained its activity during storage for at least one year and more effectively than either the crude extract solution or rehydrated commercial urease. The kinetics of the extracted enzyme was studied to gain greater insight into the optimum concentration of urea in engineering applications of EICP. Results showed higher values for the half-saturation coefficient of the crude extract compared to the commercial enzymes.
The results presented in this dissertation demonstrate the potential for a significant reduction in the cost of applying EICP in engineering practice by mass production of urease enzyme via a simple extraction process.
ContributorsJavadi, Neda (Author) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Thesis advisor) / Khodadadi Tirkolaei, Hamed (Committee member) / Hamadan, Naser (Committee member) / Delgado, Anca (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This thesis aims to investigate the impacts of foreign banks’ management model on their degree of localization and operating efficiency. I decompose their management model into five major factors, including two formative factors and three reflective factors. The two formative factors are (1) strategic orientation and (2) target customers, and the three reflective factors are (1) top management team composition, (2) organizational structure, and (3) managerial authority and incentives. I propose that the formative factors influence foreign banks’ degree of localization, as demonstrated by the reflective factors, which subsequently influence foreign banks’ operating efficiency in China.
To test the above proposition, I conduct the empirical analysis in three steps. In the first step, I investigate foreign banks’ management model by surveying 13 major foreign banks locally incorporated in Mainland China. The results suggest that these 13 foreign banks can be categorized into three distinct groups based on their management model: intergrators, customer-followers, and parent-followers. The results also indicate that intergrators have the highest level of localization while parent-followers have the lowest level of localization.
In the second step, I conduct DEA (Data Envelope Analysis) and CAMEL (Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity Analysis) to assess the operating efficiency of these 13 foreign banks. The assessment is conducted in two ways: 1) the inter-group comparison between foreign banks and local Chinese banks; 2) the intra-group comparison between the three distinct groups of foreign banks identified in the first step. The results indicates that the principal factor driving the operating efficiency of both local Chinese banks and foreign banks is the comprehensive technical efficiency, which includes both the quality of management and the quality of technical elements. I also find the uptrend of technical efficiency of the integrators is more stable than that of the other two groups of foreign banks.
Finally, I integrate the results from step one and step two to assess the relevance between foreign banks’ localization level and operating efficiency. I find that foreign banks that score higher in localization tend to have a higher level of operating efficiency. Although this finding is not conclusive about the causal relationship between localization and operating efficiency, it nevertheless suggests that the management model of the higher performing integrators can serve as references for the other foreign banks attempting to enhance their localization and operating efficiency. I also discuss the future trends of development in the banking industry in China and what foreign banks can learn from local Chinese banks to improve their market positions.
To test the above proposition, I conduct the empirical analysis in three steps. In the first step, I investigate foreign banks’ management model by surveying 13 major foreign banks locally incorporated in Mainland China. The results suggest that these 13 foreign banks can be categorized into three distinct groups based on their management model: intergrators, customer-followers, and parent-followers. The results also indicate that intergrators have the highest level of localization while parent-followers have the lowest level of localization.
In the second step, I conduct DEA (Data Envelope Analysis) and CAMEL (Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity Analysis) to assess the operating efficiency of these 13 foreign banks. The assessment is conducted in two ways: 1) the inter-group comparison between foreign banks and local Chinese banks; 2) the intra-group comparison between the three distinct groups of foreign banks identified in the first step. The results indicates that the principal factor driving the operating efficiency of both local Chinese banks and foreign banks is the comprehensive technical efficiency, which includes both the quality of management and the quality of technical elements. I also find the uptrend of technical efficiency of the integrators is more stable than that of the other two groups of foreign banks.
Finally, I integrate the results from step one and step two to assess the relevance between foreign banks’ localization level and operating efficiency. I find that foreign banks that score higher in localization tend to have a higher level of operating efficiency. Although this finding is not conclusive about the causal relationship between localization and operating efficiency, it nevertheless suggests that the management model of the higher performing integrators can serve as references for the other foreign banks attempting to enhance their localization and operating efficiency. I also discuss the future trends of development in the banking industry in China and what foreign banks can learn from local Chinese banks to improve their market positions.
ContributorsSun, Minjie (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Qian, Jun (Thesis advisor) / Pei, Ker-Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This study investigates the impact of a specific organizational form – partnership – on employees’ awareness of risk control and job engagement in securities companies. Given that their organizational performance relies heavily on the performance of individual employees, it is critical for securities companies in China to adopt appropriate organizational forms so that they can better captalize on their employees’ human capital to cope with the increasingly intense market competition. Partnership, as one of the few organizational forms, has been widely adopted in industries that rely on the performance of individuals, such as law, auditing, consulting, and investment banking, around the world. In the context of China’s emerging economy, it has also been adopted as an incentive system by market leaders across several industries, including Alibaba in online shopping, Vanke in real estate, and Fosun in investments. In contrast, partnership has not been adopted or implemented by securities companies in China as most of them are still state-owned enterprises.
Based on my review of the corporate governance literature and qualitative analysis of partnership adoption in China, I propose that partnership can help better alighn the interests of employees with owners in securities companies as well. Specifically, the prospect of becoming a partner in the future can improve employees’ awareness of risk control and increase their job engagement. Taking advantage of partnership adoption at a Chinese securities company as a natural field experienment, I surveyed its employees about their awareness of risk contrl and job dedication before and after the adoption. The results from 505 matched surveys showed an increase in the average scores of both awareness of risk control and job dedication after the company adopted partnership as a new organizational form. Findings of this study have important implications for organizational and incentive design for securities companies in China.
Based on my review of the corporate governance literature and qualitative analysis of partnership adoption in China, I propose that partnership can help better alighn the interests of employees with owners in securities companies as well. Specifically, the prospect of becoming a partner in the future can improve employees’ awareness of risk control and increase their job engagement. Taking advantage of partnership adoption at a Chinese securities company as a natural field experienment, I surveyed its employees about their awareness of risk contrl and job dedication before and after the adoption. The results from 505 matched surveys showed an increase in the average scores of both awareness of risk control and job dedication after the company adopted partnership as a new organizational form. Findings of this study have important implications for organizational and incentive design for securities companies in China.
ContributorsSha, Changming (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Li, Feng (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
China's city commercial banks were reorganized by the urban credit cooperatives in the same city in the 1990s. Although they are allowed to open branches outside the registered city, the location and the number of their branches have been strictly restricted. It is fatal to them to increase the competitiveness of their branches. Based on the diversity theory and its mechanism, in this study I examined the impact of source diversity of the senior management in the branches of the city commercial bank on the branches’ productivity and their asset yield. Invoking the resource-based theory and the social capital framework, the source diversity lead to the organization resources diversity and the organization knowledge diversity. The results demonstrate that the source diversity contribute to the branches’ competitiveness advantage. Both internal trained personnel and external introduction personnel are important for the branches’ top management team. But one of the two kinds of personnel is more suitable to their middle management team.
ContributorsZhang, Xiande (Author) / Gu, Bin (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Tan (Thesis advisor) / Shen, Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This thesis focuses on large-scale direct simple shear (LDSS) testing to analyze the behavior of coarse mine tailings subject to cyclic loading. The motivation behind this research stems from recent failures of tailings dams, prompting mine owners globally to reassess the safety of their tailing’s impoundments. Testing was carried out at the Arizona State University (ASU) Enamul and Mahmuda Hoque geotechnical laboratory using a unique LDSS device. Cyclic shearing, at different levels of strains, under constant normal stress test was carried out to investigate the modulus reduction and damping behavior of the tailings. Constant volume tests were conducted to simulate the undrained behavior of the tailings and provide insight to the tailings’ liquefaction potential. In both the constant normal stress and constant volume tests the tailings were sheared to the strain limit of the device to assess the post-cyclic shear behavior of the tailings. Testing was also conducted on tailings from the same parent material after screening the larger particle to evaluate the effect of the particle size. The thesis also includes recommendations for improving future test results. This thesis provides valuable insights on the behavior of coarse mine tailings which ultimately contributes to enhancing safety and environmental sustainability in the mining industry.
ContributorsDangi, Rajesh (Author) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Thesis advisor) / Zapata, Claudia (Committee member) / Tirkolaei, Hamed Khodadadi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Solar power, as an important part of renewable energy, has become one of the main choices for countries around the world in their energy strategic layout due to its cleanliness, renewability, and distributed attributes. In the context of the booming photovoltaic industry, China has emerged a large number of excellent photovoltaic companies, driving the whole industry to reduce costs and increase efficiency, making many contributions to the grid parity of photovoltaic power generation. In the development lifecycle of the photovoltaic industry, various companies choose different competitive strategies to deal with industry cyclical changes and external uncertainty based on their core competitiveness and market opportunities. Vertical integration is one of the strategic paths chosen by many photovoltaic companies. Therefore, it is an important issue to explore the impact of vertical integration on the development of Chinese photovoltaic companies.Based on the data of China's A-share listed photovoltaic companies from 2018 to 2022, this paper uses panel fixed effect model to empirically test the impact of vertical integration on corporate valuation, explores its influencing mechanism, and further analyzes the moderating effect of enterprise heterogeneity factors. The research in this paper shows that: (1) under other conditions unchanged, vertical integration significantly improves the valuation level of enterprises, and this positive impact will not change with the measurement method of enterprise valuation level. This is because the higher the vertical integration degree of enterprises, the stronger their ability to respond to external uncertainty. The more enterprises can obtain capital market preferences, the higher the enterprise valuation will be. This also means that the higher the vertical integration degree of photovoltaic enterprises, the higher their market share is, and they are more able to avoid the impact of external uncertainty, thus obtaining a higher valuation level in the secondary market. (2) The intermediary effect test shows that the channel for vertical integration of photovoltaic enterprises to affect enterprise valuation levels is to increase their market share. (3) Further heterogeneity analysis shows that enterprise profitability and enterprise size positively regulate the impact of vertical integration on enterprise valuation, while enterprise management shareholding ratio and enterprise operating cost ratio will weaken the positive promotion effect of vertical integration.
The research conclusions of this paper provide micro-empirical evidence for how photovoltaic companies can improve their enterprise valuation, and also provide some management references for other unlisted companies in the same industry.
Keywords: Photovoltaic enterprises; Vertical integration; Corporate valuation; Fixed effect model
ContributorsZheng, Ren (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Wu, Fei (Thesis advisor) / Zhao, Yanfei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024