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- All Subjects: Sustainability
- Creators: Department of Marketing
- Creators: Department of Information Systems
Description
This thesis project was conducted to create a practical tool to help micro and small local food enterprises identify potential strategies and sources of finance. Currently, many of these enterprises are unable to obtain the financial capital needed to start-up or maintain operations.
Sources and strategies of finance studied and ultimately included in the tool were Loans, Equity, Membership, Crowdfunding, and Grants. The tool designed was a matrix that takes into account various criteria of the business (e.g. business lifecycle, organizational structure, business performance) and generates a financial plan based on these criteria and how they align with the selected business strategies. After strategies are found, stakeholders can search through an institutional database created in conjunction with the matrix tool to find possible institutional providers of financing that relate to the strategy or strategies found.
The tool has shown promise in identifying sources of finance for micro and small local food enterprises in practical use with hypothetical business cases, however further practical use is necessary to provide further input and revise the tool as needed. Ultimately, the tool will likely become fully user-friendly and stakeholders will not need the assistance of another expert helping them to use it. Finally, despite the promise of the tool itself, the fundamental and underlying problem that many of these businesses face (lack of infrastructure and knowledge) still exists, and while this tool can also help capacity-building efforts towards both those seeking and those providing finance, an institutional attitude adjustment towards social and alternative enterprises is necessary in order to further simplify the process of obtaining finance.
Sources and strategies of finance studied and ultimately included in the tool were Loans, Equity, Membership, Crowdfunding, and Grants. The tool designed was a matrix that takes into account various criteria of the business (e.g. business lifecycle, organizational structure, business performance) and generates a financial plan based on these criteria and how they align with the selected business strategies. After strategies are found, stakeholders can search through an institutional database created in conjunction with the matrix tool to find possible institutional providers of financing that relate to the strategy or strategies found.
The tool has shown promise in identifying sources of finance for micro and small local food enterprises in practical use with hypothetical business cases, however further practical use is necessary to provide further input and revise the tool as needed. Ultimately, the tool will likely become fully user-friendly and stakeholders will not need the assistance of another expert helping them to use it. Finally, despite the promise of the tool itself, the fundamental and underlying problem that many of these businesses face (lack of infrastructure and knowledge) still exists, and while this tool can also help capacity-building efforts towards both those seeking and those providing finance, an institutional attitude adjustment towards social and alternative enterprises is necessary in order to further simplify the process of obtaining finance.
ContributorsDwyer, Robert Francis (Author) / Wiek, Arnim (Thesis director) / Forrest, Nigel (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
RecyclePlus is an iOS mobile application that allows users to be knowledgeable in the realms of sustainability. It gives encourages users to be environmental responsible by providing them access to recycling information. In particular, it allows users to search up certain materials and learn about its recyclability and how to properly dispose of the material. Some searches will show locations of facilities near users that collect certain materials and dispose of the materials properly. This is a full stack software project that explores open source software and APIs, UI/UX design, and iOS development.
ContributorsTran, Nikki (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam (Thesis director) / Meuth, Ryan (Committee member) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Sustainability has been a growing topic since the 1970’s, but is truly taking shape today as society is beginning to understand the necessity of protecting our environment. Business organizations are following this ‘megatrend’ and are beginning to incorporate sustainable initiatives in their organizations from the inside out. The sports industry is no exception as they are extremely influential over the millions of fans that follow them, whom have a strong affiliation with their favorite team. The Arizona Diamondbacks understand this responsibility and seek to be a leader in their community by creating many sustainable initiatives within their organization and community. The current problem the organization faces, is that much of the community are not aware of their environmental commitment. This is in part due to a lack of marketing within the organization and to the Arizona valley. This project analyzes the sports industry’s commitment to sustainability and how the Arizona Diamondbacks compare to industry leaders. Included is a detailed marketing plan for the organization comprised of current initiatives and of new initiatives that the Diamondbacks could potentially carry out. The implementation of this proposal could deem extremely beneficial as it would strengthen their identity, unify their employees and engage fans, which will make them feel a deeper affiliation with the organization. The Diamondbacks have made a commitment to the environment, but it is time to deepen that commitment, set an example for people in the Valley and in turn, spark social change.
ContributorsBauman, Jillian (Co-author) / Hopson, Emma (Co-author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Kutz, Elana (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This paper explores multidisciplinary curricula, services, and experiential learning in higher education on sustainability. Researchers attempt to understand sustainability as a formalized degree program, what frameworks and techniques are used to improve new disciplines, and how Arizona State University's School of Sustainability (SOS) improves sustainability education in higher learning. Secondary research includes a discussion on the history of sustainability as a discipline, the university as a social system, the role of university administration, the roles of professors and students, benchmarking and process improvement for curriculum development, and methods to bridge epistemologies in SOS. The paper presents findings from a study of the SOS undergraduate student experience that used focus groups to gather qualitative data and statistical analysis to analyze that data quantitatively. Study findings indicate that that measuring student perception of SOS's academic services, and understanding the social system of the university, helps administration, faculty, and students collaborate more effectively to enhance learning experiences.
ContributorsTom, Sharyn Paige (Author) / Haglund, LaDawn (Thesis director) / Ankeny, Casey (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
In 2016, in the United States alone, the cosmetics industry made an estimated 62.46 billion dollars in revenue (Revenue of the Cosmetic Industry in the U.S. 2002-2016 | Forecast). With a consistent increase in sales in the last several years, the industry has reached continued success even during times of hardship, such as the Great Recession of 2008. The use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), external campaigns, and thoughtful packaging and ingredients resonates with targeted consumers. This has served as an effective strategy to maintain growth in the industry. Cosmetic companies promote their brand image using these sustainability tactics, but there seems to be a lack of transparency in this unregulated industry. The purpose of this thesis is to determine if the cosmetics industry is a good steward of the sustainability movement. Important terms and concepts relating to the industry will be discussed, then an analysis of sustainability focused cosmetic brands will be provided, which highlights the extent to which these brands engage in activities that promote sustainability. This is followed by an application of findings to a company that could benefit from using such practices. Overall, the analysis of the different brands proved to be shocking and disappointing. This is due to the sheer amount that scored very poorly based on the sustainability criteria developed. The cosmetics industry is too inconsistent and too unregulated to truly act as a good steward for sustainability. Though some companies in the industry succeed, these accomplishments are not consistent across all cosmetic companies. Hence, the cosmetics industry as a good steward for sustainability can only be as strong as its weakest link.
ContributorsMamus, Sydney Wasescha (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Kristofferson, Kirk (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The purpose of this project is to create an affordable and low-environmental impact housing model for high-density urban living. Detailed research was completed to select the Arizonan city of Tempe for the basis of this model such as author's preference and alarming demographic and economic factors. The finalized model will consist of shipping containers that will be converted into housing. These domiciles are ideal for a maximum of 1-2 occupants. The units will be stacked into communities to accomplish high density. These shipping containers will be used rather than brand new, the community landscape will consist of natural desert landscaping, a recycling program will be offered, and solar panels will be used to power the units. The decision for these features fulfills both the mission of the project and markets to the main demographic group of residents in Tempe, Millennials, who usually place sustainability in high regard. These units are meant to be purchased by the target market and other citizens to increase homeownership rates in Tempe. Their ownership rights will be analogous owning a condo, where they will own the converted shipping container itself, but not the property the unit is placed on. In addition, these units qualify for traditional loans and will appreciate similar to normal housing options. After conceptualizing the idea, various costs were analyzed for construction of the units. A critical component of the project is to receive government grants to fund the venture in order to continue the mission and keep prices of these units low. This model is expandable and could be moved to other cities within the state or potentially other states through future government grant attainment and success with the first installation. These communities will be managed by a company, Shipping Designs, which will be a limited liability company created by the author, Shauna Burgoyne.
ContributorsBurgoyne, Shauna Cheyenne (Author) / Kellso, James (Thesis director) / Dooley, Kevin (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
The idea of a packed promenade, crowded with busy shoppers and completely empty of cars may seem like a holdover from rustic 19th century Europe — but many present day examples can be found right here in the United States — in college towns like Madison, WI, big cities like Denver CO, and lots of places in between. In recent years, proposals to change Mill Ave. here in Tempe have been introduced to modify University Dr. to Rio Salado Pkwy. into just that type of pedestrianized shopping mall, closing it to all automobile traffic outside of emergency vehicles.
As two students who frequent the potentially affected area, we explore the feasibility of such a proposal to continue to grow the downtown Tempe economy. Our research focuses upon several different areas — exploring positive and negative cases of street pedestrianization (whether in Europe, the United States, or other countries), the impact a permanent street closure in Tempe would have both on personal traffic and on the city’s robust public transit system, potential security concerns, opinions of the business community on the proposed change, and the political feasibility of passing the proposal through the Tempe City Council.
As two students who frequent the potentially affected area, we explore the feasibility of such a proposal to continue to grow the downtown Tempe economy. Our research focuses upon several different areas — exploring positive and negative cases of street pedestrianization (whether in Europe, the United States, or other countries), the impact a permanent street closure in Tempe would have both on personal traffic and on the city’s robust public transit system, potential security concerns, opinions of the business community on the proposed change, and the political feasibility of passing the proposal through the Tempe City Council.
ContributorsBaker, Alex Anton (Co-author) / O'Malley, Jessica (Co-author) / King, David (Thesis director) / Kuby, Lauren (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Although the Leadership Scholarship Program has seen successful recruiting processes throughout changes in leadership of the program; the organization expressed a need for major overhaul to reevaluate the decisions of the process and to establish backing for those decisions. By asking current and alumni members of the program about what they would like to see in a future member of the program as well as which parts of the process they found most important, the qualities of a future member of the program could be established and weighted. The goals of the reevaluation were to help eliminate bias, discrepancies between applications with extremely different uncontrollable factors, define points of discrepancies, and establish organizational sustainability while achieving a 100% acceptance rate from offered students. Each of these goals was achieved through methods outlined in the LSP Selection Process Manual that was written as a result of this reevaluation. The manual also outlines ways to improve the process going forward.
ContributorsCassidy, Delilah R. (Author) / Kappes, Janelle (Thesis director) / Klinkner, Lara (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In this paper, I analyze the costs and benefits of waste prevention and zero waste initiatives that are inflicted upon society. The problem lies in the amount of human municipal solid waste (HMSW) resulting from human activities, especially as growing global urban population estimated to be producing three times as much waste as it does today (Goto, 2014). Landfill externalities are addressed to explain the purpose of this research. Additionally, the efficiency of diverting waste from the landfill is assessed; these diversion methods are recycling, composting, and the uses of TerraCycle. It is important to note the difference between waste prevention and zero waste: Waste prevention is simply reducing the amount of waste, whereas zero waste is aiming to divert HMSW for other uses other than going its final destination, the landfill. This research highlights tax policies and incentive-based approaches that cities currently enforce, as well as repercussions of these approaches. Waste prevention is explored from the user perspective and reactions to taxes on waste that were implemented to promote global sustainability, which can be seen from the primary data collected. I analyze the success of zero waste initiatives in the online marketing agency, Vertical Measures, comparing landfill waste diversion with the implementation of zero waste initiatives. This paper highlights the observations and results from this two-month analysis. With both the analyses of city regulations and first-hand application of zero waste and waste prevention methods, the findings suggest that the success of these initiatives depends on various factors including location and participant attitudes. This research and data can help provide insight for other small businesses for a more sustainable environment and workplace.
ContributorsPhong, Kellie Hue (Author) / Williams, Stanley N. (Thesis director) / Abbott, Joshua K. (Committee member) / Slaymaker, Alexandra (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This thesis details the impact of sustainable practices, or lack thereof, among IKEA and Chanel. It takes these principles and analyzes the effectiveness of them and works to implement them across industries and companies of different sizes and organizational structures.
ContributorsL'Heureux, Kendall James (Author) / Foote, Nicola (Thesis director) / Alcantara, Christiane (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05