Matching Items (8)
Description
Education is a very sensitive topic when it comes to implementing the right policies. From professionals well-versed in the topic, to the very students who are being taught, feedback for reform is constantly being addressed. Nonetheless, there remains a large gap between the performance of some of the most advanced countries in the world and the United States of America. As it stands today, USA is arguably the most technologically advanced country and the outright leader of the free market. For over a century this nation has been exceeding expectations in nearly every industry known to man and aiding the rest of the world in their endeavors for a higher standard of living. Yet, there seems to be something critically wrong with the way a large majority of the younger generation are growing up. How can a country so respected in the world fall so far behind in what is considered the basics of human education: math and science? The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a series of assessments taken by countries all around the world to determine the strength of their youth's knowledge. Since its inception in 1995, TIMSS has been conducted every four years with an increasing number of participating countries and students each time. In 1999 U.S. eighth-graders placed #19 in the world for mathematics and #18 for science (Appendix Fig. 1). In the years following, and further detailed in the thesis, the U.S. managed to improve the overall performance by a small margin but still remained a leg behind countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, and more. Clearly these countries were doing something right as they consistently managed to rank in the top tier. Over the course of this paper we will observe and analyze why and how Singapore has topped the TIMSS list for both math and science nearly every time it has been administered over the last two decades. What is it that they are teaching their youth that enables them to perform exceptionally above the norm? Why is it that we cannot use their techniques as a guideline to increase the capabilities of our future generations? We look to uncover the teaching methods of what is known as Singapore Math and how it has helped students all over the world. By researching current U.S. schools that have already implemented the system and learning about their success stories, we hope to not only educate but also persuade the local school districts on why integrating Singapore Math into their curriculum will lead to the betterment of the lives of thousands of children and the educational threshold of this great nation.
ContributorsKichloo, Parth (Co-author) / Leverenz, Michael (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Rivera, Alfredo (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
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
Industry is changing. Businesses are plagued with problems of inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and waste. Many of these issues arise from some common mistakes within established management structures; these issues include lack of expertise in leadership positions, lack of unity across the organization, and imbalance within the business. Using Information Measurement Theory, the Kashiwagi Solution Model, and leadership theories, this thesis presents a simple approach to creating a business structure through explaining the basic tenets of a successful modern business. It was determined that the first and most important task of a business is to set realistic long-term goals for the organization. This thesis proposes that the basic needs of a successful business also includes having the right individuals, team formation, positive leadership, and the proper alignment of resources. It was found that it is best to hire individuals that exhibit some Type A characteristics because those individuals are likely to effectively carry out the goals of the business. Forming these individuals into small teams increases their processing speeds and encourages a balance of accountability, innovative solutions, and a network of learning. Furthermore, consistent, positive leadership that lives the company culture is a key element to successfully maintaining the business vision and maximizing associate effectiveness. It was also determined that aligning the organization to work towards the business vision can be performed through implementing a flat structure, placing individuals in roles that maximize effectiveness, and establishing the right business goals so that there is a consistent business vision at all levels of the organization. This thesis also provides guidance on how to implement these tenets in a simple, dominant way. Ultimately, the four proposed tenets working in unison towards business goals can lead to a successful and adaptable modern business.
ContributorsMeade, Payton Drew (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In recent years, companies have been expanding their business efforts on a global scale. This project explores this expansion of American-based multinational corporations (MNCs) in Ireland, and the comparison of how their culture motivation in the workplace. We did a cultural study using Hofstede and Trompenaars' cultural dimensions of the two countries then used McClelland's Needs Theory, Equity Theory, and Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory in order to create three research questions. (1) How does the manager define success for the firm as a whole and for their employees, (2) How is the definition of success reflected in the company's corporate culture (i.e. values, norms and practices), along with how cultural values, norms and practices affect the company, and (3) How do external forces (i.e. governmental factors, workplace technology, etc.) affect the workplace environment and motivation for employees? With these we hypothesized that for research question 1, we hypothesized that from our study of Hofstede's and Trompenaars' cultural frameworks, Irish employees will show a greater tendency to favor affiliation, nAff, as opposed to a need for achievement, nAch, in American employees, according to McClelland's Needs Theory. For research question 2, we predicted that motivation would be administered through style of feedback to employees and office norms, such as autonomy, flexible hours, and work-life balance. For research question 3, we hypothesized that Ireland would have an impact from external factors such as government and technology, whereas the U.S. employees would face no clear impact. We conducted eight, qualitative interviews using a questionnaire, either in person or via video conference. The interviewees were all managers in some facet and have all had some international experience. Through the analysis of the interviews, we found that the Irish employees focused on how employees are able to help or contribute to a group (nAff), instead of looking at how the contribution of a group can be used to meet individual goals (nAch). The American companies reflected Trompenaars' definition of individualism in which employees focus on collaborating in teams, as long as individual goals are met, and benchmarked collaboration as a performance measure, tying in the need for achievement, for research question one. For the second research question, we found that employees in Ireland had a focus on teamwork in the workplace and much higher respect for work-life balance. American firms, in contrast, had a greater focus on making sure employees were contributing, meeting their goals, and getting their work done. While American firms did acknowledge work-life balance and its importance, there was a priority for coming in early and/or staying late to make sure a job got done. Findings for our third question showed that government factors did impact Ireland more, due to labor laws such as required vacation days in Ireland, and that technology had less of an impact than expected, for both countries. More importantly was our finding that the companies in Ireland were greatly impacted by the decisions made by the business executives in the United States.
ContributorsSong, Jenny Jungwon (Co-author) / Brown, William (Co-author) / Arrfelt, Mathias (Thesis director) / Moore, James (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The construction industry in India suffers from major time and cost overruns. Data from government and industry reports suggest that projects suffer from 20 to 25 percent time and cost overruns. Waste of resources has been identified as a major source of inefficiency. Despite a substantial increase in the past few years, demand for professionals and contractors still exceeds supply by a large margin. The traditional methods adopted in the Indian construction industry may not suffice the needs of this dynamic environment, as they have produced large inefficiencies. Innovative ways of procurement and project management can satisfy the needs aspired to as well as bring added value. The problems faced by the Indian construction industry are very similar to those faced by other developing countries. The objective of this paper is to discuss and analyze the economic concerns, inefficiencies and investigate a model that both explains the Indian construction industry structure and provides a framework to improve efficiencies. The Best Value (BV) model is examined as an approach to be adopted in lieu of the traditional approach. This could result in efficient construction projects by minimizing cost overruns and delays, which until now have been a rarity.
ContributorsNihas, Syed (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This thesis analyzes the process through which sustainability communication occurs between organizations and stakeholders. The lack of frameworks connecting research in the sustainability and communication fields highlights the need for a cohesive modelization of the sustainability communication process. This process forms the basis of the Action, Perception, Risk (APR) model, a framework that I have created. The APR model builds on existing sustainability and communication research to provide a practical illustration of the sustainability communication process, connecting the theoretical realm with the practitioner realm through implementable recommendations. This is achieved through a literature review and a case study of the American footwear company, Allbirds. Managerial implications are discussed and recommendations for effective sustainability communication are put forward.
ContributorsQuinney, Gwenn (Author) / Balven, Rachel (Thesis director) / Jacob, Pradeep (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
ABSTRACT
The current Saudi Arabian (SA) procurement system leads to many losses in money and benefits in projects. Also, the use of the traditional procurement system in SA has been identified as one of the causes for poor performance in the delivery of construction and the major risk to the SA government. A questionnaire has been developed and carefully designed based on literature review. The purpose of the survey was to identify the validity of the recent claims that the procurement system in SA is broken and to improve the current SA procurement system. The questionnaire was sent out to 1,396 participants including included 867 engineers, 256 consultants, 93 contractors, 35 owners and 132 architects and 13 academics.
All participants have been registered and licensed professionals at the SA Council for professional engineers, who work in both private and public sectors. The participants are interested in the SA procurement and contracts system with experience ranging from one to more than twenty-five years with the majority of twenty-five years of experience in common construction sectors such as; residential and commercial buildings, healthcare buildings, industrial building and heavy civil construction.
Most of the participants from both private and public sectors agreed with the survey questions subject matter regarding: zone price proposals, contractors' evaluation, risks, planning, projects' scope, owners concern and weekly risks reports (WRR). The survey results showed that the procurement system is the major risk to projects, affects construction projects negatively and is in need of improvement.
Based on the survey and literature review, a model, called Saudi government performance procurement model (SGPPM), has been developed in which the most expert contractor is chosen through four phases: submittals& education, vendors selection, illustration and execution. The resulting model is easy to implement by SA government and does not require special skills or backgrounds.
The current Saudi Arabian (SA) procurement system leads to many losses in money and benefits in projects. Also, the use of the traditional procurement system in SA has been identified as one of the causes for poor performance in the delivery of construction and the major risk to the SA government. A questionnaire has been developed and carefully designed based on literature review. The purpose of the survey was to identify the validity of the recent claims that the procurement system in SA is broken and to improve the current SA procurement system. The questionnaire was sent out to 1,396 participants including included 867 engineers, 256 consultants, 93 contractors, 35 owners and 132 architects and 13 academics.
All participants have been registered and licensed professionals at the SA Council for professional engineers, who work in both private and public sectors. The participants are interested in the SA procurement and contracts system with experience ranging from one to more than twenty-five years with the majority of twenty-five years of experience in common construction sectors such as; residential and commercial buildings, healthcare buildings, industrial building and heavy civil construction.
Most of the participants from both private and public sectors agreed with the survey questions subject matter regarding: zone price proposals, contractors' evaluation, risks, planning, projects' scope, owners concern and weekly risks reports (WRR). The survey results showed that the procurement system is the major risk to projects, affects construction projects negatively and is in need of improvement.
Based on the survey and literature review, a model, called Saudi government performance procurement model (SGPPM), has been developed in which the most expert contractor is chosen through four phases: submittals& education, vendors selection, illustration and execution. The resulting model is easy to implement by SA government and does not require special skills or backgrounds.
ContributorsAlofi, Ahmed Abdulrahman (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This thesis presents a literature research analyzing the cost overrun of the construction industry worldwide, exploring documented causes for cost overrun, and documented parties responsible for the inefficiency. The analysis looks at a comparison between the metrics of construction projects in different continents and regions. Multiple publication databases were used to look into over 300 papers. It is shown that although construction demands are increasing, cost overrun on these projects is not decreasing at the same rate around the world. This thesis also presents a possible solution to improve cost overrun in the construction industry, through the use of the Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BV PIPS). This is a system that has been utilized in various countries around the world, and has documented evidence that it may be able to alleviate the overrun occurring in the construction industry.
ContributorsGoyal, Abhinav (Author) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Thesis advisor) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / Chong, Oswald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017