Matching Items (52)
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- All Subjects: Sustainability
- Creators: The Design School
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
The main goal of this study was to understand the awareness of small business owners regarding occupational fraud, meaning fraud committed from within an organization. A survey/questionnaire was used to gather insight into the knowledge and perceptions of small business owners, while also obtaining information about the history of fraud and the internal controls within their business. Twenty-four owners of businesses with less than 100 employees participated in the study. The results suggest that small business owners overestimate their knowledge regarding internal controls and occupational fraud, while also underestimating the risk of fraud within their own business. In fact, 92% of participants were not at all familiar with the popular Internal Control \u2014 Integrated Framework published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. The results also show that small business owners tend to overestimate the protection provided by their currently implemented controls in regard to their risk of fraud. Overall, through continued knowledge of internal controls and occupational fraud, business owners can better protect their businesses from the risk of occupational fraud by increasing their awareness of fraud.
ContributorsDennis, Lauren Nicole (Author) / Orpurt, Steven (Thesis director) / Munshi, Perseus (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The competitive nature of business requires managers to consistently work towards eliminating unnecessary costs and improving financial management. Worldwide, fraud remains a pervasive and expensive problem for businesses. Fraud involving misappropriation of assets (commonly referred to as embezzlement) and fraudulent financial reporting cost organizations trillions of dollars worldwide. To better understand the most effective ways of combating misappropriation and to a lesser extent, fraudulent financial reporting, this paper evaluates research and reports the results of expert interviews with accountants, forensic experts, and security specialists.
ContributorsMurnane, George (Author) / Munshi, Perseus (Thesis director) / Pany, Kurt (Committee member) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
As an important part of the movement for local and sustainable food in our cities, urban farming has the potential to actively involve urban dwellers in environmental, social, and economic issues of a global scale. When assessed according to a three-pillar model of sustainability, it can offer solutions to many of the major problems associated with the industrial food model that currently dominates the United States market. If implemented on a larger scale in the Phoenix metropolitan area, urban farming could improve overall environmental conditions, stimulate the local economy, and help solve food access and inequality issues. Through interviews with both amateur and established local urban farmers, this thesis attempts to identify and analyze some of the main barriers to the widespread participation in and incorporation of urban agriculture in the Phoenix Valley. Problems encountered by newcomers to the practice are compared with the experiences of more successful farmers to assess which barriers may be circumvented with proper knowledge and experience and which barriers specific to the Phoenix region may require greater structural changes.
ContributorsRay, Emily Catherine (Author) / Puleo, Thomas (Thesis director) / Peterson, Greg (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The goal of this project is to gain and use knowledge of sustainability topics as a value-adding function for a business in the Tempe, AZ area and to develop the skills to approach and consult with business owners and staff about sustainable business options. Sustainability searches for a balance between society, economy and the environment where all three can thrive; therefore, the ideal project partner was a business that values the wellbeing of mankind, is locally owned and operated and promotes environmental stewardship. The Original Chop Shop Co in Tempe Arizona was appropriately selected. Throughout the duration of our partnership, I observed their daily routine, interviewed employees and managers and used the collected information to identify three areas of focus that have the largest potential to reduce The Original Chop Shop Company's impact on the environment. Information on the areas of recycling, composting, and food sourcing was researched and synthesized to make suggestions for ecofriendly changes to business practices. The scope of the project includes small changes in daily practices such as implementing a recycling and composting program and employee training sessions and minor investments such as purchasing a micro washer and silverware in order to eliminate nonrenewable plastic utensils. The scope does not include major renovations or investments in technology. The suggestions offered position The Original Chop Shop to conduct business in a way that does not compromise the health of the environment, society, or economy.
ContributorsFerry, Brianna Aislinn (Author) / Dooley, Kevin (Thesis director) / Darnall, Nicole (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This honors thesis examines community gardens from throughout Phoenix, Arizona. It shows that community gardens have the potential to both support and hinder sustainability efforts, encourage community development, and increase food access. By measuring the temperature at various community gardens throughout Phoenix, AZ, community gardens were shown to minimize local effects of the urban heat island. Because they use water to survive and Phoenix, AZ is in a desert, this contributes to a depleting water supply. Interviews of gardeners from community gardens throughout Phoenix depicted that community gardens can provide sites for community development as well as promoting food access.
ContributorsBowersox, Diane Kathleen (Author) / Haglund, LaDawn (Thesis director) / Lyon, Mich (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This study examines sustainable development concerns as an essential part of the Costa Rican national identity. Interviews with ecotourism industry workers and an analysis of pertinent news articles shine light on the Costa Rican citizen's perspective of sustainable development, showing that in spite of current initiatives industry workers still have unmet environmental and economic concerns, and that the general public is both passionately interested and personally invested in the topic.
ContributorsHoward, Kalyn Marie (Author) / Puleo, Thomas (Thesis director) / Larson, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Hunter, Joel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
As society's energy crisis continues to become more imminent many industries and niches are seeking a new, sustainable and renewable source of electricity production. Similar to solar, wind and tidal energy, kinetic energy has the potential to generate electricity as an extremely renewable source of energy generation. While stationary bicycles can generate small amounts of electricity, the idea behind this project was to expand energy generation into the more common weight lifting side of exercising. The method for solving this problem was to find the average amount of power generated per user on a Smith machine and determine how much power was available from an accompanying energy generator. The generator consists of three phases: a copper coil and magnet generator, a full wave bridge rectifying circuit and a rheostat. These three phases working together formed a fully functioning controllable generator. The resulting issue with the kinetic energy generator was that the system was too inefficient to serve as a viable system for electricity generation. The electrical production of the generator only saved about 2 cents per year based on current Arizona electricity rates. In the end it was determined that the project was not a sustainable energy generation system and did not warrant further experimentation.
ContributorsO'Halloran, Ryan James (Author) / Middleton, James (Thesis director) / Hinrichs, Richard (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
DescriptionExplore the implications that both sustainability and branding have on the built environment in order to develop a health an wellness center that promotes a balanced lifestyle for two targets users, which are of entirely different demographics.
ContributorsRachford, Paris Kristen (Author) / Shraiky, James (Thesis director) / Brandt, Beverly (Committee member) / Thomson, Eric (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
This thesis examines how the wording of proposed government policies can affect the level of public support that a given policy generates. By surveying 158 Phoenix residents, I tested the differing degrees of support that voters would have for a proposed city ordinance, which would stop Homeowners' Associations from restricting the use of native desert plants in residential landscaping. The ordinance was framed in the survey as a self-governance issue or a water conservation issue. I found that the message frames had little effect on the overall level of support for the ordinance, since most residents had moderate support for the policy. However, participants who were either residents of Homeowners' Associations that did not have native plant restrictions, or native residents of Arizona, demonstrated greater levels of support for the self-determination frame of the proposed ordinance. These findings have implications for policy makers who use targeted messages to establish pro-environmental policies at the local level.
ContributorsSmith, Mary Hannah (Author) / Darnall, Nicole (Thesis director) / Ramirez, Mark (Committee member) / Tetreault, Colin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
An exploration of how architecture can react to American hyper-consumption of clothing products. With the goal to raise public awareness and create systemic, sustainable change in the fashion industry, this project synthesizes each part of manufacturing, including production, consumption, and post consumption, into one local campus. By bringing manufacturing back into the daily rhythms of an urban context and combining a prototypical mix of fashion related programs, ethically minded consumers are formed.
ContributorsMarshall, Jordan (Author) / Murff, Warren (Thesis director) / Smith, Brie (Committee member) / Hejduk, Renata (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05