Matching Items (14)
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- All Subjects: Supply Chains
- Creators: Department of Finance
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Description
This study explores the best known practices of small businesses from different entrepreneurs' perspectives and attempts to address the question: are there consistencies between different entrepreneurs' approaches to establishing and growing a business? Ten entrepreneurs from a variety of business types (product and service) were interviewed using a consistent question template that asked questions regarding financing, business strategy (and scalability), interpersonal forces, innate qualities, partnerships, and resources. The primary overlaps between these businesses are with regard to the confluence between personal risk and business strategy, the risk of working with friends and family, the capacity to scale relative to special content knowledge or process knowledge, and partnerships
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ContributorsCole, Chandler William (Author) / Kellso, James (Thesis director) / Gilmore, Bruce (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Company X is one of the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductors. The company relies on various suppliers in the U.S. and around the globe for its manufacturing process. The financial health of these suppliers is vital to the continuation of Company X's business without any material interruption. Therefore, it is in Company X's interest to monitor its supplier's financial performance. Company X has a supplier financial health model currently in use. Having been developed prior to watershed events like the Great Recession, the current model may not reflect the significant changes in the economic environment due to these events. Company X wants to know if there is a more accurate model for evaluating supplier health that better indicates business risk. The scope of this project will be limited to a sample of 24 suppliers representative of Company X's supplier base that are public companies. While Company X's suppliers consist of both private and public companies, the used of exclusively public companies ensures that we will have sufficient and appropriate data for the necessary analysis. The goal of this project is to discover if there is a more accurate model for evaluating the financial health of publicly traded suppliers that better indicates business risk. Analyzing this problem will require a comprehensive understanding of various financial health models available and their components. The team will study best practice and academia. This comprehension will allow us to customize a model by incorporating metrics that allows greater accuracy in evaluating supplier financial health in accordance with Company X's values.
ContributorsLi, Tong (Co-author) / Gonzalez, Alexandra (Co-author) / Park, Zoon Beom (Co-author) / Vogelsang, Meridith (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Mike (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In order to discover if Company X's current system of local trucking is the most efficient and cost-effective way to move freight between sites in the Western U.S., we will compare the current system to varying alternatives to see if there are potential avenues for Company X to create or implement an improved cost saving freight movement system.
ContributorsPicone, David (Co-author) / Krueger, Brandon (Co-author) / Harrison, Sarah (Co-author) / Way, Noah (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
When making investment decisions many different indicators are taken into consideration before picking a stock/corporation to invest in (retail or institutional). Traditionally these indicators tend to be financial measures such as earnings per share, price to earnings ratio, price to book value ratio, dividend yield/payout ratio, etc. Often these indicators do not take into consideration the actual running intricacies of a company as they are simply based on historical financial statements, thus limiting an investor's decision-making ability. In this paper I analyze several companies stock performance to see if analyzing operational factors such as supply chain management before making an investment decision would have resulted in a profitable investment and thus prove as a reliable investment indicator. To do this I focused my analysis over a period of 5 years on two companies within three different industries; Fast Food, Processing, and Ecommerce. These industries were selected as the nature of their businesses require intensive supply chains thus this strategy would be most applicable to them as opposed to a software or IT company. Of the two companies selected from each respective industry one company would be listed/analyzed in Gartner's ranking of the "Annual Supply Chain Top 25" while the other company would not be. This Gartner ranking would serve as a measure of whether or not a company had a good supply chain. These companies then had their traditional financial metrics evaluated to see if supply chain analysis indirectly encapsulated some of these metrics as well. The goal of this analysis was to find if there was a strong correlation between companies listed on Gartner's rating scale and strong stock performance. If this was true this would suggest that there is a benefit to be captured by investors through using supply chain analysis as an indicator when making investment decisions.
ContributorsThompson, Tyler Thomas (Author) / Kellso, James (Thesis director) / Smith, Geoffrey (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to gain a more nuanced understanding of what research is currently going on in the academic realm of supply chain management. This thesis is composed of two parts. The first part contains summaries and personal takeaways from four different supply chain management seminars that were put on by professors who were visiting the ASU campus. These seminars include general topics such as RFID readability, supply chain cash conversion cycles, risk management within the healthcare supply chain, and building trust and trustworthiness in global business. The second part of the thesis will then use a literature review to expand upon the topic of risk management within the healthcare supply chain, and to explore how previous research ties into the current happenings of the industry, as well as its future implications.
ContributorsHemzacek, Noah (Author) / Printezis, Antonios (Thesis director) / Choi, Thomas (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The main goal of this study was to understand the awareness of small business owners regarding occupational fraud, meaning fraud committed from within an organization. A survey/questionnaire was used to gather insight into the knowledge and perceptions of small business owners, while also obtaining information about the history of fraud and the internal controls within their business. Twenty-four owners of businesses with less than 100 employees participated in the study. The results suggest that small business owners overestimate their knowledge regarding internal controls and occupational fraud, while also underestimating the risk of fraud within their own business. In fact, 92% of participants were not at all familiar with the popular Internal Control \u2014 Integrated Framework published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. The results also show that small business owners tend to overestimate the protection provided by their currently implemented controls in regard to their risk of fraud. Overall, through continued knowledge of internal controls and occupational fraud, business owners can better protect their businesses from the risk of occupational fraud by increasing their awareness of fraud.
ContributorsDennis, Lauren Nicole (Author) / Orpurt, Steven (Thesis director) / Munshi, Perseus (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Amazon Prime Air is the innovative new service that promises automated drone delivery in thirty minutes or less. The platform has not yet been brought to market, but there is a plethora compelling data available that suggests it will be a unique and highly disruptive business segment for Amazon. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the framework laid out by Amazon.com, Inc. for their anticipated Prime Air drone delivery platform, and offer our recommendations for what steps the e-commerce giant should take moving forward. Following a brief recap of the company's founding and a breakdown of its various business segments, we will begin our analysis by examining past strategic decisions that Amazon has made which have directly contributed to their current market position. It is our goal to construct a narrative of what events lead the company to begin developing a fleet of automated delivery vehicles. Following this history lesson, we will review and criticize the existing elements of Amazon's Prime Air platform, and explore any possible alternatives that they could have taken to optimize the development of this exciting new technology. Criticisms will touch upon elements such as cost efficiencies, brand management, and utilization of infrastructure to name but a few. These criticisms will be based upon data sourced from Amazon's available material as well as comments from market analysts and journalists. The culminating element of our analysis will be to offer our professional recommendations as to what we believe the next logical steps that Amazon should take for their Prime Air platform. These recommendations will be informed by our criticisms and our understanding of Amazon as a corporation. This chapter will be largely concerned with guiding Amazon towards a fully optimized drone delivery platform. Our recommendations will be based upon our extensive experience concerning cost and logistical efficiencies, as well as our knowledge of Amazon as a corporation. We will offer succinct suggestions for Amazon's immediate needs as well as long-term solutions to lingering obstacles that they may face.
ContributorsMcCaleb, Nicholas (Co-author) / Glynn, Reagan (Co-author) / Choi, Thomas (Thesis director) / Rogers, Dale (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Goal of paper: To discuss the benefits and detractors of asteroid mining, and whether this is a task that should be undertaken now, or if something needs to change before real strides can be made in the field. Findings: After research and looking at what companies are currently doing, I have found several different benefits and detractors of asteroid mining. The main benefit of asteroid mining is acquiring the resources at the end of the project, whether those resources are raw metals being brought back to Earth or water that will be used as fuel for deep space travel. Those resources are extremely valuable and can create a huge profit for the company that acquires them. However, these resources can take an extremely long time to acquire, at least 20 years. So, while this industry can be extremely lucrative, it may take quite a long time and will need plenty of funding and side ventures to stay afloat long enough to reach that goal. Overall, if financed properly asteroid mining can be extremely profitable.
ContributorsScheven, Spenser (Author) / Choi, Thomas (Thesis director) / Printezis, Antonios (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Within this paper I summarize the key features, and results, of research conducted to support the development, design, and implementation of an internal control system at a startup small business. These efforts were conducted for an Honors Thesis/Creative Project for Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University. The research revolved around deciding which financial policies, procedures, and safeguards could be useful in creating an internal control system for small businesses. In addition to academic research, I developed an “Internal Control Questionnaire” for use as a ‘jumping off point’ in conversations about a business’ existing accounting system. This questionnaire is applicable across many industries, covering the major topics which every small business/startup should consider.
The questionnaire was then used in conjunction with two interviews of small business owners. The interviews covered both the overall financial status of their business and their business’ pre-existing accounting system. The feedback received during these interviews was subsequently used to provide the business owners with eleven recommendations ranging from the implementation of new policies to verification of existing internal controls.
Finally, I summarize my findings, both academic and real-world, conveying that many small business owners do not implement formal internal control systems. I also discuss why the business owners, in this specific circumstance, did not yet implement the aforementioned eleven suggestions.
The questionnaire was then used in conjunction with two interviews of small business owners. The interviews covered both the overall financial status of their business and their business’ pre-existing accounting system. The feedback received during these interviews was subsequently used to provide the business owners with eleven recommendations ranging from the implementation of new policies to verification of existing internal controls.
Finally, I summarize my findings, both academic and real-world, conveying that many small business owners do not implement formal internal control systems. I also discuss why the business owners, in this specific circumstance, did not yet implement the aforementioned eleven suggestions.
ContributorsDuncan, Spencer James (Author) / Garverick, Michael (Thesis director) / Casas Arce, Pablo (Committee member) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The thesis outlines five feasible technologies that can be implemented to assist Arizona State University (ASU) in its attempt to increase its water sustainability practices. After collaborating with internal contacts from ASU's Sustainability department, a plan was initiated to research, inform, and recommend the best technological solution and potential vendor for ASU. Information on the vendor is included in the analysis describing the company's history, its service offerings, and application of the technology mentioned using case studies. Potential vendors were contact by phone and additional research was conducted using the each of the company's website to gather more information such a charts and graphs. ASU's current negotiations with its main vendor, Sustainable Water, assisted in establishing benchmarks needed to be able to compare other potential vendors. Each technology was researched extensively using metrics such as energy efficiency, aesthetics, footprint, purification capacity, and odor. The team had difficulties gathering specific data due to the hesitations of companies divulging proprietary information. As much information was gathered to analyze and provide a comparison with each vendor using a ranked and weighted system. Rating the technologies took into considerations the needs of ASU, the offerings of the potential vendor, and the technological capacities and capabilities. The technologies mentioned each had distinct features differing it from one another. However, each technology also had its tradeoffs. Ultimately, it was found that the most feasible, realistic and most aesthetically pleasing solution was Sustainable Water. After careful analysis, it is recommended to continue discussions with Sustainable Water to meet the needs and goals of ASU's water sustainability initiatives.
ContributorsReid, Tatiana (Co-author) / MacDonaldo, Ariane (Co-author) / Printezis, Antonios (Thesis director) / Alberhasky, JoEllen (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12