In response to the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides of the 1990’s, the United Nations created the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine as part of its 2005 World Summit Outcome document. The goal of R2P is to promote the idea that the international community should act to protect populations from mass atrocity crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing) in the case a State fails to meet their responsibility. This report seeks to examine the Responsibility to Protect principle and see how its concepts are perceived and implemented in the private sector, given the sector’s significant influence in the world today. Using R2P as a frame of reference, I explored the concept that private sector organizations, through their actions and operations, have a responsibility to not profit from or enable systems that perpetuate mass atrocity crimes against populations. This was done through an analysis of private sector firms, regulatory frameworks, industry norms, organization initiatives, and perspectives of actors engaging with the subject matter, in addition to a modern case study regarding the experience of Uighurs and Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China. The scope of this project was focused on select American companies that are multinational publicly traded companies with a market capitalization of over $200 billion. This report is meant to serve as a guide for into the concepts of R2P in the private sector and provides access to resources for further exploration.

While a fairly new concept, Internet of Things (IoT) has become an important part of the business structure and operating segments of many technology companies in the last decade. IoT refers to the evolution of devices that, connected to the internet, can share and integrate information, becoming an always-growing intelligent system of systems. As a leader in the semiconductor industry, Company X and its growing IoT division, have constant new challenges and opportunities given the complexity of the IoT field. The business model employed by the IoT division includes adopting and modifying existing technologies and products from its sister groups within Company X. Since these products are being leveraged by the IoT division, it makes indirect research and development allocation for said products much more complex. This thesis will address how the IoT division at Company X can approach this problem in the most beneficial way for the division and company as a whole through the analysis of two allocation methodologies: percentage of revenue (Allocation Basis 1) and percentage of direct research and development (Allocation Basis 2).

Meeting the food needs of a growing population, estimated to reach 9 billion by 2050 (Dou et al., 2021), is a global challenge as society continuously invests in technologies to increase food production. Meanwhile, inspired by sustainability and environmental stewardship initiatives, food production practices themselves have begun to shift. The production of alternative proteins is one such food technology that continues to attract the attention of the investors, the media, and stakeholders along the food supply chain. Dominating the market for alternative proteins are plant-based meat alternatives (“PBMA”) meant to satisfy consumers’ tastes and preferences for animal-derived proteins while minimizing environmental impact. Not only are PBMAs positioned to alleviate the effects of the livestock industry on the environment and climate (Dou et al., 2021), but also contribute to ancillary improvements related to animal welfare and human health issues. The current barriers to entry for food manufacturers interested in participating in the PBMA sector relate to research and development and product formulation, as well as the scalability of production given the extensive processing required to produce PBMA products. With this in mind, food manufacturers must anticipate production requirements and their relationships with input suppliers to support the growing demand for PBMAs. This analysis examines, in detail, the landscape of new product introduction of PBMAs, the production requirements for sustaining their global food demand, and presents insights into what is necessary to maintain and preserve flexibility in the supply chain for PBMAs.

Purpose: This paper serves to illustrate the risks that affect multinational organizations during this new era of global production and increased supply chain complexity. This paper also strives to showcase the benefits of conducting a Network Optimization analysis on a firm’s logistics system including but not limited to reducing the impact of supply chain market and operational risk, improving efficiency, and increasing cost savings across the organization. Approach: This paper will have two main sections beginning with an in depth look into the theory supporting supply chain logistics network optimizations. Through this literature review, the best practices in the industry will be compared to risk mitigation methodology to determine an analytical process that can be applied to companies considering conducting a network optimization. The second stage of this paper takes a clinical look at the aerospace industry and the implementation process of a Logistics Network Optimization at an industry leader to ultimately recommend additional considerations they should implement into their process. Recommendation: To ensure the effective adoption of a network optimization in the aerospace industry, and other manufacturing industries, the maintenance of logistics data and creation of long term 3PL partnerships are needed for success. It is also important to frame a network optimization not as an operational project, but rather a critical business process aimed to mitigate risk within the supply chain though a four-stage risk identification process.

This project and podcast were created to examine the feasibility of integrating interdisciplinary education within higher education to allow students to explore beyond an explicitly defined discipline. The project works to discuss how students have incorporated or failed to incorporate their own interests within their education. The podcast seeks to prove the value of interdisciplinary education within higher education and how that can plant the seeds for future cross functional application in the job market. The project works to establish the importance of grassroots change and how an individual’s experience with education can influence a whole generation's relationship with learning. Through student and faculty interviews, subsequent analyst and research I intended to prove that higher education must recognize and act on the bridging the divide between various disciplines to promote cross functionality beyond schooling.

In the Fall 2021 semester, the Behavioral Lab (in the Supply Chain Management department) was interested in researching the best warehousing inventory management practices. Poor warehouse management can lead to increased lead times and lower customer satisfaction due to errors during the inventory storage and picking processes. Students enrolled in the Supply Chain Management introductory course participated in a simulation called “Warehouseville” to test best practices. In Warehouseville, students completed a series of timed tasks. Participants were incentivized to perform to the best of their ability through financial compensation based on their performance relative to the participant pool average. After the results were summarized, data analysis was performed to derive best practices that can be applied not only to the partner company, Starbucks but also to other firms/industries. As a lab assistant, I assisted in the Warehouseville simulation by helping Professor Craig Carter with any tasks leading up to, during, and following the data collection sessions that he needed support for.

In the Fall 2021 semester, the Behavioral Lab (in the Supply Chain Management department) was interested in researching the best warehousing inventory management practices. Poor warehouse management can lead to increased lead times and lower customer satisfaction due to errors during the inventory storage and picking processes. Students enrolled in the Supply Chain Management introductory course participated in a simulation called “Warehouseville” to test best practices. In Warehouseville, students completed a series of timed tasks. Participants were incentivized to perform to the best of their ability through financial compensation based on their performance relative to the participant pool average. After the results were summarized, data analysis was performed to derive best practices that can be applied not only to the partner company, Starbucks but also to other firms/industries. As a lab assistant, I assisted in the Warehouseville simulation by helping Professor Craig Carter with any tasks leading up to, during, and following the data collection sessions that he needed support for.

This report addresses the value that companies can create along their supply chains by producing sustainably and locally, and proposes a business plan for a sleepwear and loungewear brand based on these findings. The purpose is to investigate whether or not there are opportunities for firms to make or save money by acting sustainably or producing locally, outside of the public relations value that could come from such efforts. By using research derived from scholarly articles and insight from experts, a background on the industry’s general trends and beliefs regarding sustainable and local production are addressed. Based on this research, it can be concluded that producing sustainably and locally is feasible and can provide supply chain related benefits for brands in certain situations. With this conclusion, a business plan was generated which aligned with the research presented in the analysis. It is important to acknowledge that there are certain actions related to sustainability and local production which could generally be beneficial for all apparel brands, but many suggestions are only applicable to smaller companies that sell at a higher price point.

Food Insecurity amongst college students is a growing issue in today’s society due to the lack of access to food and programs commonly used for food assistance. Logistical issues present a unique challenge in feeding food-insecure college students. And the stigma associated with this food insecurity may cause students to avoid seeking assistance. Students are only able to address this challenge through 3 main solutions: pantries, meal swipe programs, and drive-thru pantries. Food insecurity challenges that individuals face can be found on Arizona State University campus. Currently, food insecurity is only addressed on campus through pantries and distribution centers. These are run through student-led organizations and typically are partnered with food banks or charities within the area. These solutions can be inconsistent and deal with logistic challenges like space, storage, and transportation. One of the proposed solutions to these challenges is programs like the Food Recovery Network.