Matching Items (11)
Filtering by
- Creators: Department of Supply Chain Management
Description
The client detailed in this report is a premier continuing healthcare education organization providing a variety of homeopathic therapy classes for its students. The purpose of this paper is to showcase a business plan that will help dictate the basic structure of the client's business once they are independent of their current managing company. Extensive analysis, primarily based upon online market research and personal correspondence with the client, was conducted for this report. Detailed within this paper are several areas where the client can significantly lower costs and increase future revenues by modifying practices employed by the managing company. From the analysis provided, the client has the opportunity to create and grow a well-organized, profitable business with a sustainable future.
ContributorsMionis, Erika (Co-author) / Lee, Betty (Co-author) / Coult, Natasha (Co-author) / Brooks, Dan (Thesis director) / Chikly, Bruno (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis will examine market research relating to consumer food trends and the business environment of Austin, Texas in order to evaluate the initial feasibility of establishing a small hydroponic produce farm. A main concern of this report is to provide a general overview of hydroponics and its potential advantages over traditional farming methods as a technique for producing food products for consumers in a local setting. To explore the potential of establishing such a venture, this report will also include a partial business plan focusing on the marketing strategy of initiating a hydroponic produce farm in Austin.
ContributorsShriver, John Andrew (Author) / Schmitz, Troy (Thesis director) / Manfredo, Mark (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Derived from the idea that the utilization of sustainable practices could improve small business practice, this honors thesis offers a full business assessment and recommendations for improvements of a local, family-owned coffee shop, Gold Bar. A thorough analysis of the shop's current business practices and research on unnecessary expenses and waste guides this assessment.
ContributorsSorden, Clarissa (Co-author) / Boden, Alexandra (Co-author) / Darnall, Nicole (Thesis director) / Dooley, Kevin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Humanitarian aid organizations, while providing aid services, require inputs and utilize business processes like other for-profit firms. Many charity organizations depend on donations for revenue. The level of public trust in charities can affect donations. To support the American public and protect individuals from dishonest charity agencies, charity watchdog organizations publish ratings of charities to assist the public in donation decisions. The ratings focus on a variety of topics orienting how much of donation funds go directly to the cause not administrative or soliciting costs. In the American Red Cross, a new process was engineered to make procuring consulting services more efficient and cost effective. This project was focused on investigating areas of improvement for the new process. Deliverables included process suggestions for business unit managers, process suggestions for sourcing managers, and detailed process flowcharts highlighting potential modifications in the new process. Overall, it is critical to keep consulting costs low to ensure that watchdog organizational ratings stay positive and public trust in the American Red Cross remains high.
ContributorsDonahue, Nancy Elizabeth (Author) / Brooks, Daniel (Thesis director) / Mokwa, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The following Student Sustainability Consultant's Portfolio was created with the intention of being duplicated and utilized by Arizona State University (ASU) students to build their own Portfolio and to help prepare them for success after graduation. Student Consultants in GreenLight Solutions (GLS) are in a unique position to prepare themselves to create value for organizations while in school, and then continue to after graduation. When I enrolled in the School of Sustainability as an undergraduate transfer student I heard some constructive criticism from graduates of the school. Those students shared that while they had attained a great theoretical understanding of the science of sustainability, they lacked the ability to apply their knowledge in a practical way. They were struggling with finding work in their field because they could not communicate to employers how their knowledge was useful. They did not know how to apply their sustainability knowledge to create value for an organization. I did not want to have that same problem when I graduated. Enter GreenLight Solutions.
ContributorsKeleher, Kevin Robert (Author) / Schoon, Michael (Thesis director) / Basile, George (Committee member) / Buch, Rajesh (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
The focus of this project is developing a business plan for faith-based counseling for college students. Renewed Living Counseling Center (RLCC) is a faith-based counseling center in the Tempe area serving Arizona State University students. RLCC strives to bring healing and wholeness to each student who comes through the doors, to empower them to realize and live out their potential, by providing them with the skills to accomplish their dreams and live full lives, through counseling, motivation, education, and treating studentʼs behaviors to become whole and successful. Research indicates that the proposed center, Renewed Living Counseling Center (RLCC), has great potential for success because:
1. Spirituality and faith are increasingly recognized as important aspects in a personʼs life. National research shows that 66% of people feel counseling should include spirituality. Research with ASU students found that students reflect this statistic, as they feel spirituality is an important part of counseling. Students also feel spirituality is appropriate to include as part of counseling services offered by centers referred to by ASU.
2. There is a need for counseling at ASU. Nationally,approximately1,100 college students commit suicide each year. At ASU, almost one-third of students reported feeling so depressed that it is difficult to function, and 0.9% report having attempted suicide within the past year.
3. Surveys of ASU students indicate that students who describe themselves as being religious are more desirous that counseling include a spiritual dimension. Surveys of campus pastors indicate that over 80% believe there is a need for faith-based counseling and would refer students to a local center.
4. Price is an issue. Indeed, a survey of campus pastors indicated that they believed cost of counseling to be one of the primary deterrents to students seeking help. One way to control costs is to use a mixture of residents and licensed counselors. As in medicine, students must complete coursework along with a period of residency or internship to obtain licensing. Both religious and secular masters programs in counseling exist in the greater Phoenix area. Thus, there is a potential supply of students who could work as residents, permitting RLCC to offer counseling services at reasonable prices.
1. Spirituality and faith are increasingly recognized as important aspects in a personʼs life. National research shows that 66% of people feel counseling should include spirituality. Research with ASU students found that students reflect this statistic, as they feel spirituality is an important part of counseling. Students also feel spirituality is appropriate to include as part of counseling services offered by centers referred to by ASU.
2. There is a need for counseling at ASU. Nationally,approximately1,100 college students commit suicide each year. At ASU, almost one-third of students reported feeling so depressed that it is difficult to function, and 0.9% report having attempted suicide within the past year.
3. Surveys of ASU students indicate that students who describe themselves as being religious are more desirous that counseling include a spiritual dimension. Surveys of campus pastors indicate that over 80% believe there is a need for faith-based counseling and would refer students to a local center.
4. Price is an issue. Indeed, a survey of campus pastors indicated that they believed cost of counseling to be one of the primary deterrents to students seeking help. One way to control costs is to use a mixture of residents and licensed counselors. As in medicine, students must complete coursework along with a period of residency or internship to obtain licensing. Both religious and secular masters programs in counseling exist in the greater Phoenix area. Thus, there is a potential supply of students who could work as residents, permitting RLCC to offer counseling services at reasonable prices.
ContributorsMatthews, Rachel Leigh (Author) / Steinbart, Paul (Thesis director) / Chung, Sally (Committee member) / Sanders, Ben (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
In this thesis a community-based ride sharing mobile application, Ride Devil, will be introduced and created to provide services for communities such as Arizona State University and its students, faculty, and other affiliates to find safe rides around campus because campus population problem exists. This causes increased transportation costs, decreased parking space availability, and more transportation issues. The Ride Devil application itself is based off on the ride-sharing concept of transportation as introduced, above. Students, faculty, and other university affiliates will drive their own vehicles and use the Ride Devil services in order to coordinate pick-ups with members of its community. Not only is this form of transportation more cost effective than competing transportation models, taxis, but it also promotes safety, community, and educational assistance.
ContributorsVan Hook, Ryan Leo (Author) / Lin, Elva (Thesis director) / Peck, Sidnee (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The purpose of this project is to provide our client with a tool to mitigate Company X's franchise-wide inventory control problem. The problem stems from the franchises' initial strategy to buy all inventory as customers brought them in without a quantitative way for buyers to evaluate the store's inventory needs. The Excel solution created by our team serves to provide that evaluation for buyers using deseasonalized linear regression to forecast inventory needs for clothing of different sizes and seasons by month. When looking at the provided sales data from 2014-2016, there was a clear seasonal trend, so the appropriate forecasting model was determined by testing 3 models: Triple Exponential Smoothing model, Deseasonalized Simple Linear Regression, and Multiple Linear Regression.The model calculates monthly optimal inventory levels (current period plus future 2 periods of inventory). All of the models were evaluated using the lowest mean absolute error (meaning best fit with the data), and the model with best fit was Deseasonalized Simple Linear Regression, which was then used to build the Excel tool. Buyers can use the Excel tool built with this forecasting model to evaluate whether or not to buy a given item of any size or season. To do this, the model uses the previous year's sales data to forecast optimal inventory level and compares it to the stores' current inventory level. If the current level is less than the optimal level, the cell housing current value will turn green (buy). If the currently level is greater than or equal to optimal level or less than optimal inventory level*1.05, current value will turn yellow (buy only if good quality). If the current level is greater than optimal level*1.05 current level will be red (don't buy). We recommend both stores implement a way of keeping track of how many clothing items held in each bin to keep more accurate inventory count. In addition, the model's utility will be of limited use until both stores' inventories are at a level where they can afford to buy. Therefore, it is in the client's best interest to liquidate stale inventor into store credit or cash In the future, the team would also like to develop a pricing model to better meet the needs of the client's two locations.
ContributorsUribes-Yanez, Diego (Co-author) / Liu, Jessica (Co-author) / Taylor, Todd (Thesis director) / Gentile, Erica (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The aim of this thesis is to improve the user experience within FedEx's eProcurement system, directly address feedback received from customer surveys, and to make recommendations for the Sourcing and Procurement Division within FedEx. In the first part, the overall client engagement is outlined with the specific timeline between New Venture Group and FedEx. The thesis encompasses three deliverables that were integral parts to the semester-long consulting engagement. The thesis then dives into methodology and each deliverable individually. After months of conference calls and best practice research, consulting efforts are summarized in the results. In a detailed discussion sections, the thesis forecasts opportunities for FedEx within sourcing and procurement. Here, the thesis draws on sources from various companies and research. Furthermore, overall recommendations are given to FedEx and acknowledgements are made. In conclusion, the thesis hopes to offer FedEx improvements to leverage improved functionality of eProcurement that will become available in the next upgrade of the Performance Management System.
ContributorsRuhlman, Payne (Co-author) / Pollack, Amanda (Co-author) / Peterson, Andrew (Co-author) / Taylor, Todd (Thesis director) / Choi, Thomas (Committee member) / Halvorson, Joel (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The coffee industry is enormous and has grown around the world. Today, 125 million people depend on coffee production for their livelihood, and coffee is consumed in every part of the globe. Arizona State University, the largest public university in the United States, gathers a large number of coffee drinkers as college students become dependent on caffeine in order to perform their best in multiple facets of their hectic lives. Researchers realized that there is still a gap that has not been filled in the Tempe retail coffee market. Thus, the objective of this project is to conduct a detailed research on the retail coffee industry, and to craft a profitable business plan for a coffee shop in the Vista del Sol community. The researchers utilized both quantitative and qualitative analysis tools. All survey results, calculations, and maps can be found in the appendices and the Excel file.
To help the readers better understand the industry, the researchers provide a detailed analysis on the retail coffee industry from both macro and micro levels. The Coffee Break House aims to be the leader of the retail coffee industry by delivering consistent, fast and superior service, providing high-quality beverages, being the most inviting store, and having the friendliest staff in a relaxing and welcoming environment. The coffee shop will be owned and operated by four equity investors. The business plan, which includes six major sections, shows investors’ vision and strategic focus.
• Market Situation Analysis
• Marketing Strategy
• Supply Chain Strategy
• Financial Strategy
• Expansion Plan
• Risks
The researchers believe that the Coffee Break House has the potential to become a successful business and provide lucrative returns to potential investors. This is due to the company’s aggressive marketing strategy, establishment of the company as a unique entity in the industry, careful development of its products, a well developed supply chain strategy, and a profitable revenue model.
To help the readers better understand the industry, the researchers provide a detailed analysis on the retail coffee industry from both macro and micro levels. The Coffee Break House aims to be the leader of the retail coffee industry by delivering consistent, fast and superior service, providing high-quality beverages, being the most inviting store, and having the friendliest staff in a relaxing and welcoming environment. The coffee shop will be owned and operated by four equity investors. The business plan, which includes six major sections, shows investors’ vision and strategic focus.
• Market Situation Analysis
• Marketing Strategy
• Supply Chain Strategy
• Financial Strategy
• Expansion Plan
• Risks
The researchers believe that the Coffee Break House has the potential to become a successful business and provide lucrative returns to potential investors. This is due to the company’s aggressive marketing strategy, establishment of the company as a unique entity in the industry, careful development of its products, a well developed supply chain strategy, and a profitable revenue model.
ContributorsJiang, Yichun (Co-author) / Yin, Jiangting (Co-author) / Oke, Adegoke (Thesis director) / O'Neill, Dan (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05