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Blockchain technology has taken the world by storm, and is now establishing itself the the real estate industry. Through new inventions such as smart contracts and crypto mortgages, the real estate industry is at the precipice of a major technological shift. After careful analysis of the current technologies and interviews

Blockchain technology has taken the world by storm, and is now establishing itself the the real estate industry. Through new inventions such as smart contracts and crypto mortgages, the real estate industry is at the precipice of a major technological shift. After careful analysis of the current technologies and interviews with industry experts, this thesis will conclude with the possible implications that will arise from the wide spread use of Blockchain technology in real estate.

ContributorsClose, Grayson Scott (Author) / Stapp, Mark (Thesis director) / Gray, William (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description

In the early years of the National Football League, scouting and roster development resembled the wild west. Drafts were held in hotel ballrooms the day after the last game of regular season college football was played. There was no combine, limited scouting, and no salary cap. Over time, these aspects

In the early years of the National Football League, scouting and roster development resembled the wild west. Drafts were held in hotel ballrooms the day after the last game of regular season college football was played. There was no combine, limited scouting, and no salary cap. Over time, these aspects have changed dramatically, in part due to key figures from Pete Rozelle to Gil Brandt to Bill Belichick. The development and learning from this time period have laid the foundational infrastructure that modern roster construction is based upon. In this modern day, managing a team and putting together a roster involves numerous people, intense scouting, layers of technology, and, critically, the management of the salary cap. Since it was first put into place in 1994, managing the cap has become an essential element of building and sustaining a successful team. The New England Patriots’ mastery of the cap is a large part of what enabled their dynastic run over the past twenty years. While their model has undoubtedly proven to be successful, an opposing model has become increasingly popular and yielded results of its own. Both models center around different distributions of the salary cap, starting with the portion paid to the starting quarterback. The Patriots dynasty was, in part, made possible due to their use of both models over the course of their dominance. Drafting, organizational culture, and coaching are all among the numerous critical factors in determining a team’s success and it becomes difficult to pinpoint the true source of success for any given team. Ultimately, however, effective management of the cap proves to be a force multiplier; it does not guarantee that a team will be successful, but it helps teams that handle the other variables well sustain their success.

ContributorsBolger, William (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Mokwa, Michael (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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In an increasingly global economy, companies face challenges with implementing successful business and marketing strategies in cultures different from their own. This paper calls upon previous research to compile a per-country outline of general behaviors and expectations when doing business overseas. Using categorical definitions from Hofstede's 1984 study and those

In an increasingly global economy, companies face challenges with implementing successful business and marketing strategies in cultures different from their own. This paper calls upon previous research to compile a per-country outline of general behaviors and expectations when doing business overseas. Using categorical definitions from Hofstede's 1984 study and those found in the Handbook of Global and Multicultural Negotiation, a table has been prepared to group similar countries based on their cultural biases.

ContributorsPetruccelli, Lauren Taylor (Author) / Shunk, Dan (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / McCarville, Daniel R. (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
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Modern Americans ignorantly live under a blanket of unread terms, conditions, and binding contracts. Often, these contracts (mostly associated with products and services) come and go with little effect. Periodically, the products or services cause the consumer harm, leading them to seek repair. The consumer then realizes that all the

Modern Americans ignorantly live under a blanket of unread terms, conditions, and binding contracts. Often, these contracts (mostly associated with products and services) come and go with little effect. Periodically, the products or services cause the consumer harm, leading them to seek repair. The consumer then realizes that all the fine print they failed to read makes an impactful legal difference. This paper analyzes the work of Professor Radin through her book, Boilerplate. It goes on to explore many other arguments presented by contract theorists and makes substantial claims regarding the dangers of boilerplate (unread terms and conditions).
ContributorsBecker, Alexander Daniel (Author) / Koretz, Lora (Thesis director) / Calleros, Charles (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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All modern multiplayer games are administered by having players connect to a remote server which is used to provide the ground truth for game state and player actions. This use of a central server provides a simple and intuitive way to administer game servers but also provides a single point

All modern multiplayer games are administered by having players connect to a remote server which is used to provide the ground truth for game state and player actions. This use of a central server provides a simple and intuitive way to administer game servers but also provides a single point of failure, as each server must be able to process all actions coming in and make a decision on whether the action is allowed or not, and how to update the game state accordingly. In cases where the server is under significant load, either from a very popular game release or from a deliberate attack, the game slows down or completely crashes. When there is a server action backlog, this can allow malicious actors to perform previously impossible actions. By instead using a decentralized platform, we can build a robust system that allows playing games through a P2P manner, filling in the need for central servers with consensus algorithms that provide the security on the part of a central authority. This project aims to show that a decentralized solution can be used to create a transparent, fully playable game of Monopoly with complex features that would be more scalable, reliable, and cost-effective compared to a centralized solution; meaning that games could be produced that costs pennies to publish and modify, taking seconds to propagate changes globally, and most importantly, cost nothing for upkeep. The codebase is available here: https://github.com/SirNeural/monopoly
ContributorsXu, Yun Hui (Author) / Boscovic, Dragan (Thesis director) / Foy, Joseph (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
Description
Proxy digital signatures are a subset of proxy cryptography that enable a peer, as a proxy delegator, to delegate signing privileges to another trusted peer, who becomes a proxy signer. The proxy signer then signs authorized transactions routed to it from the proxy delegator, to then send to the intended

Proxy digital signatures are a subset of proxy cryptography that enable a peer, as a proxy delegator, to delegate signing privileges to another trusted peer, who becomes a proxy signer. The proxy signer then signs authorized transactions routed to it from the proxy delegator, to then send to the intended third party on their behalf. This has great applications for computer networks where certain devices lack sufficient computational power to secure themselves and may rely on trusted and computationally more powerful peers, particularly within edge and fog networks. Although there are multiple proxy digital signature schemas that are circulated within cryptography-centric research papers, a practical software implementation has yet to be created. In this paper we describe Mengde Signatures: the first practical software implementation of proxy digital signatures. We expound upon the current architecture and process for how proxy signatures are implemented and function in a software engineering context. Although applicable to many different types of networks, we showcase the application of Mengde Signatures on an open source Proof-Of-Work Blockchain.
ContributorsMendoza, Francis (Author) / Boscovic, Dragan (Thesis director) / Zhao, Ming (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
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The purpose of this thesis is to imagine and predict the ways in which humans will utilize technology to feed the world population in the 21st century, in spite of significant challenges we have not faced before. This project will first thoroughly identify and explain the most pressing challenges the

The purpose of this thesis is to imagine and predict the ways in which humans will utilize technology to feed the world population in the 21st century, in spite of significant challenges we have not faced before. This project will first thoroughly identify and explain the most pressing challenges the future will bring in climate change and population growth; both projected to worsen as time goes on. To guide the prediction of how technology will impact the 21st century, a theoretical framework will be established, based upon the green revolution of the 20th century. The theoretical framework will summarize this important historical event, and analyze current thought concerning the socio-economic impacts of the agricultural technologies introduced during this time. Special attention will be paid to the unequal disbursement of benefits of this green revolution, and particularly how it affected small rural farmers. Analysis of the technologies introduced during the green revolution will be used to predict how 21st century technologies will further shape the agricultural sector. Then, the world’s current food crisis will be compared to the crisis that preceded the green revolution. A “second green revolution” is predicted, and the agricultural/economic impact of these advances is theorized based upon analysis of farming advances in the 20th century.
ContributorsWilson, Joshua J (Author) / Strumsky, Deborah (Thesis director) / Benjamin, Victor (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Sustainable supply chain management has become increasingly more important for companies over the last decade. The need to create socially and environmentally sustainable supply chains that are also efficient and profitable is no longer something companies should do, but rather something they must do to stay competitive and successful in

Sustainable supply chain management has become increasingly more important for companies over the last decade. The need to create socially and environmentally sustainable supply chains that are also efficient and profitable is no longer something companies should do, but rather something they must do to stay competitive and successful in the long run. Through the examination of scholarly supply chain literature, case studies, and industry reports with an emphasis on digital technology, supply chain, and sustainability, a conceptual model was created to begin the research in the area of cost savings through the use of digital technologies to enable companies to be more sustainable. This paper works to define the terms sustainability, sustainable supply chain management, and intelligent supply chain designs. It focuses on the positive social and environmental impact of the implementation of leading-edge digital technologies in supply management processes by creating transparency, efficiency, and reliability throughout the supply chain. Through an applied analysis of Mattel, Rana Plaza, Nike, and Coca-Cola and a cost-benefit analysis, it is concluded that companies that implement blockchain technology into their supply management process designs may create more sustainable supply chains while increasing savings and increasing profits. Blockchain may provide the reliability and transparency needed to better manage the supply management process which will evoke better business decisions. Intelligent supply chain designs improve the environmental and social sustainability of a company while maintaining a competitive edge.

Keywords. Supply Chain Management, Social Responsibility, Sustainability, Economics, Supply Management, Blockchain, Intelligent Technology
Paper Type. Conceptual Paper
ContributorsVon Mizener, Noel Maria Yvonne Svetlana (Author) / Carter, Craig (Thesis director) / Forst, Bradley (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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This study aims to examine how the use of consensus-based transactions, smart contracts,and interoperability, provided by blockchain, may benefit the blood plasma industry. Plasmafractionation is the process of separating blood into multiple components to garner benefitsof increased lifespan, specialized allocation, and decreased waste, thereby creating a morecomplex and flexible supply

This study aims to examine how the use of consensus-based transactions, smart contracts,and interoperability, provided by blockchain, may benefit the blood plasma industry. Plasmafractionation is the process of separating blood into multiple components to garner benefitsof increased lifespan, specialized allocation, and decreased waste, thereby creating a morecomplex and flexible supply chain. Traditional applications of blockchain are developed onthe basis of decentralization—an infeasible policy for this sector due to stringent governmentregulations, such as HIPAA. However, the trusted nature of the relations in the plasmaindustry’s taxonomy proves private and centralized blockchains as the viable alternative.Implementations of blockchain are widely seen across pharmaceutical supply chains to combatthe falsification of possibly afflictive drugs. This system is more difficult to manage withblood, due to the quick perishable time, tracking/tracing of recycled components, and thenecessity of real-time metrics. Key attributes of private blockchains, such as digital identity,smart contracts, and authorized ledgers, may have the possibility of providing a significantpositive impact on the allocation and management functions of blood banks. Herein, we willidentify the economy and risks of the plasma ecosystem to extrapolate specific applications forthe use of blockchain technology. To understand tangible effects of blockchain, we developeda proof of concept application, aiming to emulate the business logic of modern plasma supplychain ecosystems adopting a blockchain data structure. The application testing simulates thesupply chain via agent-based modeling to analyze the scalability, benefits, and limitations ofblockchain for the plasma fractionation industry.
ContributorsVallabhaneni, Saipavan K (Author) / Boscovic, Dragan (Thesis director) / Kellso, James (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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The purpose of this research paper is to examine the fundamentals of blockchain technology and how the application of blockchain could serve as a future platform for identity. An identity is used, as the name suggests, to identify who or what an entity is. Although seen as a trivial concept,

The purpose of this research paper is to examine the fundamentals of blockchain technology and how the application of blockchain could serve as a future platform for identity. An identity is used, as the name suggests, to identify who or what an entity is. Although seen as a trivial concept, defining what truly makes up an identity can become quite difficult. Is an identity the thoughts, feelings, or tendencies of a person? Are more tangible assets like a Social Security card, birth certificate, or passport a person’s identity? Can nonhuman entities like businesses or organizations possess an identity? The true definition of an identity may never be known; however, it is certain that several pieces of identifying data lay scattered across multiple databases. Often a person may not have control or even access to these third-party databases that hold their information. Moreover, what information, for how long, and in what way the data is being used may be unclear. Blockchain provides a solution to the identity problem by providing a visible, secure single source of truth. On a blockchain platform, a person would no longer have to trust the goodwill of third parties to secure their data or be uncertain about how the data is being used. Instead, a user could secure their own data and only permission those deemed necessary. The signal immutable ledger would serve to replace current tangible identities as a means to verify yourself in a digital age.
ContributorsRuggaard, Kyle Russell (Author) / Taylor, Todd (Thesis director) / Collins, Gregory (Committee member) / Thunderbird School of Global Management (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05