Waste pickers are the victims of harsh economic and social factors that have hurt many<br/>developing countries and billions of people around the world. Due to the rise of industrialization<br/>since the 19th century, waste and disposable resources have been discarded around the world to<br/>provide more resources, products, and services to wealthy countries. This has put developing<br/>countries in a precarious position where people have had very few economic opportunities<br/>besides taking on the role of waste pickers, who not only face physical health consequences due<br/>to the work they do but also face exclusion from society due to the negative views of waste<br/>pickers. Many people view waste pickers as scavengers and people who survive off of doing<br/>dirty work, which creates tensions between waste pickers and others in society. This even leads<br/>to many countries outlawing waste picking and has led to the brutal treatment of waste pickers<br/>throughout the world and has even led to thousands of waste pickers being killed by anti-waste<br/>picker groups and law enforcement organizations in many countries.<br/>Waste pickers are often at the bottom of supply chains as they take resources that have<br/>been used and discarded, and provide them to recyclers, waste management organizations, and<br/>others who are able to turn these resources into usable materials again. Waste pickers do not have<br/>many opportunities to rise above the situation they are in as waste picking has become the only<br/>option for many people who need to provide for themselves and their families. They are not<br/>compensated very well for the work they do, which also contributes to the situation where waste<br/>pickers are forced into a position of severe health risks, backlash from society and governments,<br/>not being able to seek better opportunities due to a lack of earning potential, and not being<br/>connected with end-users. Now is the time to create new business models that solve these large<br/>problems in our global society and create a sustainable way to ensure that waste pickers are<br/>treated properly around the world.

Workers in sales roles are often faced with a large number of time management decisions on a daily basis. Sales people must choose where they should be spending their time in order to create revenue while also maintaining a healthy work-life balance. In this thesis project, a sales process is analyzed to see if there is an opportunity to increase both revenue and work-life balance. This paper investigates a wholesale insurance brokerage company, Risk Placement Services, and their sales force of brokers. A significant portion of these brokers’ workday consists of the backend task of marketing accounts to insurance carriers to find coverage. This is necessary for the completion of the sales cycle but either limits the amount of time brokers can be out on the road or on calls trying to bring in new business or makes them work longer off the clock hours to get these accounts out to insurance carriers. The more business a broker is bringing in, the more time they have to spend marketing these new accounts to carriers, which puts them into a constant snowball of increasing tasks and goals. The main model for the analysis of this problem will be Reframing Organizations by Bolman & Deal which focuses on using their four-frame model to analyze and gain more insight into organizations. Being able to understand this problem from multiple perspectives will allow a more holistic solution to be reached. Following this analysis multiple potential solutions are discussed towards the end of this thesis project.

Our project is to create a simplified, portable, modular electrocardiogram known as ECG/EKG. Most medical facilities, including hospitals, clinics, and skilled nursing facilities, still rely on traditional 12-lead EKG equipment consisting of a large cart with long 10 wires. These wires can be a pain to constantly detangle and rearrange to determine a person’s heart conditions. This creates issues in fast paced scenarios such as when a patient is experiencing a heart attack and needs an EKG stat. Additionally, the current technology can be somewhat unreliable at determining heart conditions, causing providers to request multiple EKG’s for patients. With our improved versatile EKG, we can help solve these issues and implement additional outpatient use with its portable features. This can be done by remotely monitoring heart conditions during activities such as exercise, sleep, or stressful events, without worrying about wire disturbance.

Studio 31 is a startup venture founded by Brandon Goldberg, Ryan Johnston, Samuel Vogel, and Ekaterina Korneva. The company offers affordable art prints created by aspiring artists through an online platform. Our mission is to connect these artists with art lovers and provide them with the tools to build sustainable careers. Key activities of Studio 31 include curating a set of artworks, maintaining a print-on-demand system for sustainable production, and penetration of the target market through strong digital media positioning. The field of art is replete with talented artists who are just starting their professional careers and are not represented in the art market. The works of art of such artists are unknown and inaccessible to the target audience, which complicates the process of their professional development and limits the variety of artworks available on the market. Studio 31 infiltrates the art community and forms partnerships with talented artists to then provide the target market with access to exclusive artwork through an established sales and production process. The advantages of an established business process are no risk to the artist, cost-efficient production that correlates with demand, and a predictable cash flow from operations. The current state of the industry and trends affecting the target market confirm the viability of Studio 31's business model. The covid-19 crisis has affected the art market, shifting focus to online sales. Moreover, due to people spending more time at home, the demand for art products has increased. Our team is uniquely positioned to bring the Studio 31 business plan to life. With Katrin, Ryan, Brandon, and Samuel as the management team, the project is supported by expertise in entrepreneurship, management and policy, economics, marketing and design Implementation and marketing are the key activities of the company on the way to gaining traction in the target market. Studio 31 will develop multiple direct and indirect distribution channels to provide customers with diversified access to offerings. The website will serve as the main direct channel to connect with buyers, displaying the full list of offers available for order. In addition, the company will be present on numerous social media platforms in order to notify the target audience of current offers in a timely manner. Both the website and social media accounts will grow through paid advertising and influencer marketing. The project's initial funding consists of Barrett, the Honors College Thesis Funding. These resources covered the overhead costs required to get started, such as the website and initial product prototypes. The seed funding will also be used for market research and business process testing to improve the company's performance and subsequently maximize profits. The team will resort to a crowdfunding strategy if additional funding resources are needed to cover the initial costs. The project will be presented to the public to receive financial assistance for business development. The investment will be encouraged by incentives such as discounts on future sales.

As entrepreneurs, we understand the challenges and obstacles that come with growing a business, which is why we developed a revolutionary software platform to connect entrepreneurs with qualified life coaches. The purpose of Coach Connect is to empower entrepreneurs to achieve their maximum potential by providing access to premium coaches and cutting-edge resources in human excellence, including the latest advancements in neuroscience and psychology. This objective is accomplished by the development of an application to connect entrepreneurs with coaches, providing value through facilitation. Our platform is unique in leveraging a user database and weighting system to match constituents based on suitable preferences like individual learning and communication styles. Based on categorical filters, our platform perpetrates matches for a more personalized and productive coaching experience. The application addresses key challenges for both coaches and entrepreneurs: a lack of effective marketing resources for coaches and laborious tribulation in finding the right coach. By bridging this gap as the “connective tissue”, we will create a cost-effective, efficient way for coaches to scale their businesses while enhancing the personal and professional development of entrepreneurs. At our core, we are driven by a powerful mission–to unleash the immense potential of entrepreneurs. We are committed to providing every entrepreneur with the tools and resources he or she needs to succeed. As a vehicle of social change, we will make a meaningful impact in the entrepreneurial community where those with the greatest capability require the most decisive wisdom. Our two-ended target market consists of ambitious entrepreneurs aged 25-45 seeking personalized support to overcome obstacles alongside experienced life coaches seeking exposure to those clients for expanding their practices. Coaches will be charged a monthly subscription while entrepreneurs will pay a small fee for platform utilization. Coach Connect boasts a talented and diverse team of five individuals with backgrounds in coaching, NeuroLinguistic Programming, accounting, finance, entrepreneurship, customer service, software engineering, and personal development. Cross-functionality allows us to iterate per validations while algorithms are in development, reducing our time to market. Leveraging an extensive network in the startup industry, as well as resources and connections through Arizona State University, we are uniquely positioned to scale Coach Connect.

Baking is a popular past-time among Generation Z, and ‘bakeries’ are an equally popular intention. Baked by Barrett is a charity-oriented bake-sale platform for Generation Z members who are passionate about baking, and would like to sell their goods within the Tempe, Arizona college ecosystem. Baked by Barrett facilitates the collection, review and sale of home baked goods through various means on a weekly cadence. This will include, while not limited to, hosting tabling and social events throughout the academic year. This user-led platform will share the proceeds towards bakers, local charities of choice as well as maintaining a percentage internally to ensure efficient operations. Because businesses for profit are a conflict of interest for ASU, the organization will work to promote students and charity along with the learning for business and entrepreneurial ventures. Instead of generating profits, Baked by Barrett will focus on sustaining itself while the rest of the revenue will go to charity. This will help the organization avoid conflicts of interest with asu allowing it to use campus space to sell. Marketing will, initially, be based on word-of-mouth, with supporting tools including a dynamic website, flyers and partnerships around local newsletters. Rotations of charities and menu items will be used to add incentives for students and passersby to buy from Baked by Barrett. In order to promote the organization, there will be a website, flyers and even contact information through the Barrett digest to market the platform in the weekly newsletter.

Santé is an event planning company that aims to address the growing need for mental health support among university students. The company's focus is on creating events that are specifically designed to help students cope with stress. Santé's events offer a variety of activities and resources that cater to students' mental and emotional needs. From outdoor walks to movie night sessions, Santé's events aim to create a safe and welcoming space for students to de-stress and connect with others. With a team of experienced event planners, Santé is dedicated to providing high-quality events that promote mental wellness and help students navigate the challenges of university life.