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- All Subjects: Technology
- Creators: Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business
- Creators: Olson, Loren
- Status: Published
To gain insight into the state of the industry and current position of independent bookstores, I will first examine the past fifty years of the brick-and-mortar bookstore, followed by a Porter’s Five Forces analysis of the industry threats and a SWOT analysis to compare the strengths and weaknesses of independent bookstores. Next, the patrons of independent bookstores will be discussed with a focus on the two largest consumer groups of Millennials and Baby Boomers, their characteristics, and the opportunities they provide to bookstores. After this there will be an exploration of the competitors to brick-and-mortar bookstores, focusing on Amazon and then touching on some of the other rivals to bookstores’ consumer base. The next section will be an in-depth analysis of a variety of bookstores across the United States, with attention to their successful practices, goals, concerns, and failures. First, there will be a comparison of industry success and failure through case studies of Borders and Powell’s bookstores. Next, there will be a comparison of five beloved independent bookstores across the country to share their varied competitive advantages that are the secret to their success. Finally, there are primary source interviews with the employees of three major Phoenix bookstores, which provide insight into the goals, current projects, attitudes, and inner strengths of these businesses. Finally, the thesis will conclude with a section offering solutions and suggestions for independent bookstores to pursue based on the primary and secondary research discussed above. These recommendations are focused on five key areas:
• Community
• Consumers
• Store Design
• Technology
• Diversification
Ultimately, the information provided by this research and these interviews indicates that while vital business changes are being pursued by independent and chain bookstores across the United States, the independent bookstore shows no signs of disappearing in favor of online vendors or e-readers.
Keywords: children, technology, media, apps, families
Our team was tasked with creating a business model for a piece of technology developed by NASA. We then had to launch said business and find a way to measure its traction in a specific niche market.
A friend of mine once told me that coding is like doing magic, and frankly, I am inclined to agree. With a keyboard, a development environment, and a little bit of language skill, you can build an entire world. Despite being heavily rooted in logic, math, and science, there is a certain mystery to it, a sense of illusion and wizardry. The sense of pride and power that comes from successfully finishing an app, program, or website is like no other. I recently watched the film Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014) for the first time, and I was struck by one of the lines. In thinking about the success of his creation and what that means for the world, he says, “I’m not a man, I’m God.” And although I wouldn’t say that is exactly how I feel when I turn in a coding assignment, I understand the sentiment. This thesis is going to be a bit different than the one I thought I was going to write. When I started this, I thought it would be about an amazing coding project I had completed. I would write about all the beautiful code and the nitty gritty of the technical aspects. But, the project that I intended to create is not the project I ended up with, and I couldn’t be happier. I finished with something a lot more meaningful, a lot more interdisciplinary, and a lot more me. In this essay and the accompanying coding project, I aim to take you on the journey of building my own piece of digital culture, an app titled “Exposed.” I begin by discussing how the motivation to create Exposed came from the desire to stop using an app made by an internet celebrity and how the values of Gen Z and their relationship with technology influenced and guided the creation of the app. Then I examine the relationship between code and the coder, and how external factors such as being a woman in technology impacts project development. Then I explain the results of the coding process and outline how Exposed turned out. Finally, I consider the meaning of digital culture and how it functions in the creation of Exposed. Along the way this project became extremely personal. I found that the deeper I dove into making the code work, the more I learned about myself and my relationship to technology. If I promise to be honest with you, will you promise to listen to what I have to say?
Since its introduction, the use of technology has been rapidly expanding and has been integrated into almost every aspect of daily life. Alongside this growth, there has been an increasingly urgent movement for sustainability and to fight climate change. Because technology is so prevalent in society today, it is important to understand how the use of technology relates to sustainability and climate change. While technology has been beneficial to society, it requires vast amounts of energy to power, which causes significant environmental degradation. On the other hand, technology also has provided useful in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change. This can be seen in areas such as efficient transportation and logistics systems and smart cities. Thus, technology has the potential to positively impact the environment, but its negative effects must also be reduced. Technology companies also play a large role in the reduction of carbon emissions, as they provide much of the services and technology that we use today. Companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have all made commitments to sustainability, and it is important that they are held accountable to these commitments. Additionally, as new technologies emerge, their environmental impact must also be calculated. The findings of this thesis show that the main negative impacts of technology come from its energy use and its life cycle, while the main positive impacts come from its indirect effect on production processes, systems, and industries. In the long-term, these indirect positive effects are expected to increase, but the energy demands of technology will also increase. Therefore, managing the energy demands of technology while also allowing for increased efficiency and reductions in carbon emissions is the main challenge that companies face regarding sustainability.
This business uses research and data from different social media comedians in order to create a guide for comedians who own comedy clubs or are trying to break into show business. This thesis includes the logistics of starting a business. It will outline the financing and pricing of a service like this for individuals and businesses. This also outlines the generational stigma of social media, and the difficulties an older generation is currently facing when wanting to expand their business into social media.
The Breakin Media business model assesses each client on a set of five pillars, which have been found by research to affect follower count. The five pillars are relatability, targeted marketing, consistency, high-quality content, and algorithm alignment. Each pillar is dissected and used to increase the exposure of every comedian. There is a 3 tier system for pricing that outlines the costs of each service, and an infographic to guide each client. This thesis is about bridging a gap in generations, and increasing success for small businesses, specifically in theatre and comedy.