Matching Items (9)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Supply Chain Management
- Creators: Department of Economics
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
- Status: Published
Description
The current model of revenue generation for some free to play video games is preventing the companies controlling them from growing, but with a few changes in approach these issues could be alleviated. A new style of video games, called a MOBA (Massive Online Battle Arena) has emerged in the past few years bringing with it a new style of generating wealth. Contrary to past gaming models, where users must either purchase the game outright, view advertisements, or purchase items to gain a competitive advantage, MOBAs require no payment of any kind. These are free to play computer games that provides users with all the tools necessary to compete with anyone free of charge; no advantages can be purchased in this game. This leaves the only way for users to provide money to the company through optional purchases of purely aesthetic items, only to be purchased if the buyer wishes to see their character in a different set of attire. The genre’s best in show—called League of Legends, or LOL—has spearheaded this method of revenue-generation. Fortunately for LOL, its level of popularity has reached levels never seen in video games: the world championships had more viewers than game 7 of the NBA Finals (Dorsey). The player base alone is enough to keep the company afloat currently, but the fact that they only convert 3.75% of the players into revenue is alarming. Each player brings the company an average of $1.32, or 30% of what some other free to play games earn per user (Comparing MMO). It is this low per player income that has caused Riot Games, the developer of LOL, to state that their e-sports division is not currently profitable. To resolve this issue, LOL must take on a more aggressive marketing plan. Advertisements for the NBA Finals cost $460,000 for 30 seconds, and LOL should aim for ads in this range (Lombardo). With an average of 3 million people logged on at any time, 90% of the players being male and 85% being between the ages of 16 and 30, advertising via this game would appeal to many companies, making a deal easy to strike (LOL infographic 2012). The idea also appeals to players: 81% of players surveyed said that an advertisement on the client that allows for the option to place an order would improve or not impact their experience. Moving forward with this, the gaming client would be updated to contain both an option to order pizza and an advertisement for Mountain Dew. This type of advertising was determined based on community responses through a sequence of survey questions. These small adjustments to the game would allow LOL to generate enough income for Riot Games to expand into other areas of the e-sports industry.
ContributorsSeip, Patrick (Co-author) / Zhao, BoNing (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
While not officially recognized as an addictive activity by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, video game addiction has well-documented resources pointing to its effects on physiological and mental health for both addict and those close to the addict. With the rise of eSports, treating video game addiction has become trickier as a passionate and growing fan base begins to act as a culture not unlike traditional sporting. These concerns call for a better understanding of what constitutes a harmful addiction to video games as its heavy practice becomes more financially viable and accepted into mainstream culture.
ContributorsGohil, Abhishek Bhagirathsinh (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This paper goes through a two-pronged approach in the attempt to understand E-Sports, entertainment gaming, and the creation of the E-Sports bar/Barcade. The first portion aims to explain and quantify the growth of electronic sports (or E-sports). This new craze has been growing immensely in the past 5 years, by viewership and by monetary endorsements. With these changes and growth patterns, we then move on to explain one of the many niche markets that has been created from the growth of E-sports and entertainment gaming. Through our experience in the field, we have evaluated 8 E-sports bars and Barcades in order to confirm their viability in the marketplace. Through our worldwide research we have found that E-sports will continue to grow and that Barcades will not only be viable, but will be a competitive market in the next 10-20 years.
ContributorsNist, Nicholas (Co-author) / Hester, James (Co-author) / Brooks, Dan (Thesis director) / Forss, Brennan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
P.F. Chang's China Bistro is a privately-held purveyor of Asian fare in the United States and internationally, known largely for its vibrant atmosphere and lettuce wraps. With hundreds of locations and dozens of menu items, procurement, logistics, and coordination of ingredient delivery to P.F. Chang's restaurants is no small task. Despite their difficulty, supply chain operations from suppliers to customers' plates must run efficiently if P.F. Chang's is to maintain customer loyalty, a trusted brand, and profitability. As such, supply chain initiatives that allow for faster, better, or lower-cost operation are valuable investments for P.F. Chang's. In this project, two initiatives focused on increasing visibility along the value chain (with the hope of creating immediate value and easier implementation for future strategies). The first initiative involved stakeholder interviews and academic research to determine evaluation methods for P.F. Chang's suppliers in the form of a scorecard. The second project required extensive data collection from suppliers to isolate and remove excess cost in the inbound logistics of P.F. Chang's inventory. Both initiatives led to incremental improvement at P.F. Changs and the latter provided substantial cost savings. Further investigation and work is likely to yield continued benefits for the company. The increased use of data in all supply chains to guide decision-making will be easier for P.F. Chang's as it manages ongoing visibility efforts. Although process explanation and general outcomes will be reported here, the proprietary nature of P.F. Chang's data precludes full disclosure of the project results in public documentation.
ContributorsBarger, Michael Richard (Author) / Taylor, Todd (Thesis director) / Miller, Steve (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
DescriptionA look at current 3D printing capabilities, and exploring the potential for additive manufacturing to transform the economy in the future.
ContributorsBennewitz, Chase (Co-author) / Paul, John (Co-author) / Parker, Kerry (Co-author) / Maltz, Arnold (Thesis director) / McDowell, John (Committee member) / Fujinami, Chris (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
This thesis focuses on the supply chain of the wine industry from a smaller scale operational perspective. A standard process from converting grapes to wine has been identified and confirmed. The sequential order of harvest, destemmer/crusher, fermentation, press, barrels, bottling, and distribution constitute the main tasks in the red wine conversion process. Variations in production between red and white wines are observed; but, the overall process is roughly the same with white wines switching the fermentation and press steps and eliminating the barrels task. In addition, it is established that supply chain considerations do effect overall quality such as taste, aroma, and smell. The ability to utilize a combination of diverse techniques, such as wooden barrels or stainless steel tanks for aging, is what contributes to the differentiation of each wine and makes it unique. While the production methodology and use of specific materials/inputs will alter the quality of wine, it must be recognized that the majority of wine quality is influenced directly by the grape itself. The use of technology and machinery in the wine making process is investigated and determined to be pivotal to the creation of wine and the survival of any size winery. Technology has facilitated the wine making process and the current creation path could not occur without it. Wine operations will adapt and incorporate new procedures to take advantage of growth in technology as it occurs, especially in automation. The information used to assess the wine supply chain was obtained from an extensive literature review, interviews with industry professionals, and onsite tours of production facilities. Given all the results and data, it is evident that the production of wine can greatly benefit from the use of supply chain practices and concepts. The ability to reduce variation in the process and determine which aspects contribute most to wine quality are vital for small scale winery operations to remain competitive and become successful.
ContributorsClarke, Tanya N (Author) / Oke, Adegoke (Thesis director) / Gopalakrishnan, Mohan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The purpose of this research was to identify various problems within value analysis teams as well as provide solutions that will help to better align the agents involved in the value analysis process. As healthcare costs continue to rise, and hospital reimbursements fall, value analysis teams will play an even more pivotal role in the success of healthcare organizations. Also, the industry trend toward value-based care is highlighting the importance of these teams. However, interdisciplinary value analysis teams bring to light the underlying agency issue that exists between physicians and hospital administrators, and the general misalignment of values between the participants. In order for these teams to function properly, it is inherent that all of the professionals involved align their incentives. For this study, I studied relevant literature pertaining to value analysis, attended relevant speakers, and then performed interviews with several different professionals involved in healthcare value analysis. I organized and coded this data using the Grounded Theory approach, and was able to identify the underlying issues within these teams. I then created a typology of value analysis teams, based on my respondents, where I segment them into four tiers based on their utilization of data, and their level of physician involvement. Finally, I identified three distinct strategies for developing value analysis teams to implement in order to increase their efficiency and overall success.
ContributorsLindgren, Thomas John (Author) / Schneller, Eugene (Thesis director) / Choi, Thomas (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The story of Moneyball is an informative tale. It is the true story of the Oakland Athletics baseball team in the 2002 season who managed to not only compete with teams who had nearly three times the payroll size and all the star players, but also won an American League record 20 games in a row. Their manager, Billy Beane, was able to achieve this by using sabermetrics, a newly invented term that describes the advanced statistics and metrics used to judge a player's contribution to the success of the team over traditional statistics and gut feeling, to draft and trade for undervalued players to create a competitive team under his small-market budget. This story is well known as a best-selling novel by Michael Lewis and later a film by the same name. Clearly it was successful in the field of baseball, but can it be used in other business industries? The idea of sabermetrics, or finding more information to predict the future of a player is very similar to the ideas of Information Measurement Theory (IMT) as theorized by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi, a professor at Arizona State University. The goal of this paper is to use Moneyball as a narrative to show how applying the concepts of IMT to businesses could allow them to better predict their performance and the future of their industry. Moreover, these same ideas can predict if the leadership of the company will be successful by analyzing their personal characteristics. This paper will act as a guide for businesses to start following the concepts of IMT and to better analyze themselves and their industry to increase performance and reduce stressful decision-making.
ContributorsKent, Austin (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In this paper, I discuss my findings from The Toyota Way, 2 Second Lean, and Lean Thinking, I present an analysis of my implementation of lean processes for Page Petal, and I recommend a set of lean<br/>philosophies that I found to be successful for e-commerce product-based small businesses. I also focus on how the economy plays an important role in the demand for goods, a major factor in<br/>which lean processes will ultimately be successful. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the value of mindful risk-taking in entrepreneurship and to reveal what was effective with Page Petal in hopes of giving other small businesses insight into how to be successful.
ContributorsWeidemann, Courtney Michelle (Author) / Van Orden, Joseph (Thesis director) / Reffett, Kevin (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05