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- Creators: Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business
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Description
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is one of the latest developments in the world of African politics. It influences several key policy arenas, including the focus of this paper: developmental policy. The AfCFTA hopes to integrate the intra-African trading system, as well as implement several measures to integrate their entire economies. This paper examines the intersection between the AfCFTA and developmental policy defining how it helps and hinders African development goals. This thesis intends to give a clear picture of how this agreement coincides with developmental policy through both economic and political research. The goal of this paper is to provide readers with a detailed report on how this economic agreement could be shaping the developmental policy of the African world.
ContributorsZeleny, Dylan Peter (Author) / Wong, Kelvin (Thesis director) / Hill, Alexander (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
British Neuroscientist Adrian Owen documents in his book Into the Grey Zone difficult cases of patients between a state of brain death and consciousness. His team collected evidence that sug- gested patients—presumed to be brain dead—were partially or, in some cases, fully conscious. The two culturally dominant metaphysical accounts of consciousness, Cartesian dualism and eliminative physicalism, are unable to explain the presence of consciousness in Owen’s cases. To better understand the consciousness present in Owen’s cases I argue we should look to Ned Block’s distinction between phenomenal and access consciousness.
ContributorsQuint, Elana (Author) / Karen, Taliaferro (Thesis director) / Jeff, Watson (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper looks at case studies, legal journals, and legal commentaries to examine the history of plea bargains and determine how such a practice slowly crept its way into the American judicial system. Next, I discern both the two specific benefits and three disadvantages of utilizing plea bargains in a system that was traditionally renowned for its unique form of adversarial / trial based justice. By analyzing case studies and legal texts, I find that the administrative advantages and cost benefits used to rationalize continued usage of plea deals does not outweigh its extremely negative effects on significant aspects of law and the American legal system. These significant negative effects as a product of the plea bargain are a definitive hindrance to justice and further characterize the system as no longer fair and certainly not equitable. Consequently, I assert that in order to maintain the ethics of the system, plea bargains should be removed. I also generally outline the Philadelphia Bench Trial as a prospective and viable alternative to plea bargains that could act as an intriguing substitute. The Philadelphia Bench Trial represents a highly viable alternative to the plea bargain and consequently preserves many of the advantages plea bargains offer the system without sacrificing the adversarial element necessary to receive correct and accurate verdicts.
ContributorsRimsza, Alex Gill (Author) / Stanford, Michael (Thesis director) / Forst, Brad (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Differences between cultures have been (and continue to be) examined by researchers all over the world. Prominent studies performed by organizations such as GLOBE and Hofstede have created a foundation for our understanding of how culture affects business in different countries. They also inspired our study, which investigates how employment benefits vary in different cultures. We examined the difference in employee benefit preference of Austria and Germany compared to America and how that affects their perception of the organization. Specifically, we studied how employees in those countries would react to an increase in wage or an increase in vacation time. Each participant read a hypothetical scenario in which they received one of the two benefits. The alternative benefit was not disclosed to them. After reading about the reward, they were asked various questions about the company. These questions gauged their belief in the ability of the organization, their benevolence toward the organization, their perception of the integrity of the organization, their trust in the organization, their turnover intentions, and their obligation felt towards the organization.
Two of the six variables tested yielded statistically significant results after we performed a univariate analysis of variance test on each of the variables. The two variables that yielded statistically significant results were belief in the integrity of the organization and benevolence toward the organization. Americans expressed more benevolence and belief in the integrity of their organization when they received more vacation time, while Europeans exhibited the opposite reaction (to a lesser degree). These results could provide insight to companies that are looking to strengthen company culture or increase motivation of employees. The variables with non-significant results could be attributed to globalization, limitations of our study, or the concept of scarcity.
Two of the six variables tested yielded statistically significant results after we performed a univariate analysis of variance test on each of the variables. The two variables that yielded statistically significant results were belief in the integrity of the organization and benevolence toward the organization. Americans expressed more benevolence and belief in the integrity of their organization when they received more vacation time, while Europeans exhibited the opposite reaction (to a lesser degree). These results could provide insight to companies that are looking to strengthen company culture or increase motivation of employees. The variables with non-significant results could be attributed to globalization, limitations of our study, or the concept of scarcity.
ContributorsMackey, Henry Aloysius (Author) / Baer, Mike (Thesis director) / Hom, Peter (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
I have been studying both Supply Chain Management and Business Sustainability during my undergraduate at Arizona State University. This paper has allowed me to further explore some of the topics that I was introduced to during my time studying at ASU. For my supply chain alternative thesis, I attended multiple interesting faculty research presentations in the Supply Chain department and wrote reflections on each. The presentations were used to help choose a topic to focus on in the rest of my thesis. It is the third research seminar that I attended by Barbara Flynn, titled Understanding Adaptation to a Sustainability Technology Innovation: Longitudinal Outcome Trajectories, that sparked my interest in further researching sustainability in supply chains. The second portion of this paper contains a literature review of papers and journals on the topic of sustainability within supply chains over the last decade. Studies on this topic are becoming more popular as concerns with global warming increase. My research mainly consisted of reading journals and articles on ways that sustainable practices can be applied to reduce the environmental impact of businesses. This paper focuses on recent sustainability trends found across different areas of the supply chain, including: supplier selection and engagement, manufacturing, building efficiency, and logistics.
ContributorsSchneider, Chris (Author) / Printezis, Antonios (Thesis director) / Vitikas, Stanley (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Today’s job market favors the candidate as a result of the low unemployment rate in the United States. This requires companies to look beyond their typical recruiting techniques if they want to ensure they are hiring the best candidates after college in order to build their future leadership in the company. Throughout research for this thesis it became apparent that many of the recruiters surveyed during this study were not actively using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in their recruiting tactics. In addition, a lot of the career pages of companies that actively recruit at Arizona State University do not even mention the topic. Throughout primary research of students that attend Arizona State University, surveys were able to draw conclusions on the type of students that prioritize Corporate Social Responsibility in their recruiting seasons. From these surveys, it was found that students with higher GPAs who are ethnically diverse, female, with more than one internship experience, or graduating within the next two years on average chose to prioritize Corporate Social Responsibility over other traditional “perks” of jobs. Following the collection of survey data, in order to get a more genuine understanding of what students are looking for, there was a focus group conducted with nine (9) W. P. Carey School of Business students. This allowed for there to be a guided conversation about Corporate Social Responsibility and allow students to share their feelings about the topic and how they prioritize it when looking for jobs. This, in combination with the surveys of recruiters and students, made it very clear about exactly the kind of students that recruiters should be targeting. Therefore, it has become apparent that if recruiters want to hire candidates who are more experienced, diverse, and with higher GPAs then they should be incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility into their recruiting techniques. Whether that is advertising it on their career pages and at career events, asking questions about it in interviews, or starting a conversation with students about it, this will allow recruiters to find those students with a genuine appreciation for the topic.
ContributorsGrosskopf, Madeline Taylor (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Montoya, Detra (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The Solar Mamas Program, created by the Indian-based non-profit Barefoot College, brings illiterate and semi-literate older women from rural communities around the world to India for a six-month training on solar engineering and entrepreneurship. The Barefoot enterprise is unique in that it contrasts the typical flow of humanitarian aid and implements a South-South development dynamic. Belize is one country that Barefoot selects potential Solar Mamas from with help from its ground partner, Plenty Belize. This ethnographic study aims to identify and assess the direct and indirect impacts the solar project has created in traditional Mayan life in the Toledo District. Interviews were conducted in Santa Elena and Jalacte, which are two villages with and without solar electrification, respectively. The study observed positive impacts on various aspects of health, education, and economics, as well as gender relations. Although relatively successful in its mission, constructive feedback was provided to all actors in the solar project with the aim of enhancing the Solar Mamas’ experience and effectiveness as a “new class of leaders” in their communities, as well as to ensure the continued success that solar electrification has had in the Mayan communities.
ContributorsLaufer, Grant (Co-author) / Gonzalez, Olivia (Co-author) / Bascon, Glenn Ivan (Co-author) / Carrese, Susan (Thesis director) / Ellsworth, Kevin (Committee member) / Paris, Rodrigo (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This thesis explores the power of food to transcend cultural and racial borders and to act as a common ground, bringing people of all different backgrounds together. Through globalization, there is an increased movement of people from their homeland to different regions around the world and with this migration comes the spread of their culture and cuisine to new areas. This spreading of culture often creates friction and tension amongst other cultures, however as this thesis argues, with increased diversity, there is the great potential for greater interaction with other cultures and therefore greater appreciation. The key aspect of this thesis is the ways in which food can be used as a tool to overcome racial barriers and serve as a means of positive expression of a culture. I hope to show that by engaging with a culture through its cuisine, one can arguably build a greater appreciation for that culture and therefore lower their preconceived notions and stereotypes.
ContributorsZayanderoudi, Rana Patricia (Author) / Talebi, Shahla (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
When President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was elected in 2018, I read news stories that claimed he was “Mexico’s Trump” for his anti-establishment rhetoric—and his attacks on the press. My goal with this project was to gain a better understanding of attacks on the press in Mexico and their impact.
For this thesis project, I went back to Mexico to speak with journalists and academics about the country’s political history, the history of its press, and what it is like to work as a reporter under the López Obrador administration.
This project uses qualitative interviews with Mexican and American reporters and academics in Mexico and the United States with firsthand experience reporting on Trump and AMLO and thorough knowledge on Mexican culture and history. It will attempt to explain how, even though attacks on the press are similar on both sides of the border, López Obrador’s attacks on the press in Mexico have a larger impact because of the Mexican press’ relatively young independence, influenced by a system of government censure and control over the media, as well as the lasting effects of the Mexican political system in the 20th century.
For this thesis project, I went back to Mexico to speak with journalists and academics about the country’s political history, the history of its press, and what it is like to work as a reporter under the López Obrador administration.
This project uses qualitative interviews with Mexican and American reporters and academics in Mexico and the United States with firsthand experience reporting on Trump and AMLO and thorough knowledge on Mexican culture and history. It will attempt to explain how, even though attacks on the press are similar on both sides of the border, López Obrador’s attacks on the press in Mexico have a larger impact because of the Mexican press’ relatively young independence, influenced by a system of government censure and control over the media, as well as the lasting effects of the Mexican political system in the 20th century.
ContributorsPietsch, Bryan (Author) / Crane, Steve (Thesis director) / Martinez, Andres (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are a superfamily of ion channels found in plasma membranes of both single-celled and multicellular organisms. TRP channels all share the common aspect of having six transmembrane helices and a TRP domain. These structures tetramerize to form a receptor-activated non-selective ion channel. The specific protein being investigated in this thesis is the human transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (hTRPM8), a channel activated by the chemical ligand menthol and temperatures below 25 °C. TRPM8 is responsible for cold sensing and is related to pain relief associated with cooling compounds. TRPM8 has also been found to play a role in the regulation of various types of tumors. The structure of TRPM8 has been obtained through cryo-electron microscopy, but the functional contribution of individual portions of the protein to the overall protein function is unknown.
To gain more information about the function of the transmembrane region of hTRPM8, it was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and purified in detergent membrane mimics for experimentation. The construct contains the S4-S5 linker, pore domain (S5 and S6 transmembrane helices), pore helix, and TRP box. hTRPM8-PD+ was purified in the detergents n-Dodecyl-B-D-Maltoside (DDM), 16:0 Lyso PG, 1-Palmitoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (LPPG), and 14:0 Lyso PG, 1-Myristoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (LMPG) to determine which detergent resulted in a hTRPM8-PD+ sample of the most stability, purity, and highest concentrations. Following bacterial expression and protein purification, hTRPM8-PD+ was studied and characterized with circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to learn more about the secondary structures and thermodynamic properties of the construct. Further studies can be done with more circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, planar lipid bilayer (BLM) electrophysiology, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to gain more understanding of how the pore domain plus contributes to the activity of the whole protein construct.
To gain more information about the function of the transmembrane region of hTRPM8, it was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and purified in detergent membrane mimics for experimentation. The construct contains the S4-S5 linker, pore domain (S5 and S6 transmembrane helices), pore helix, and TRP box. hTRPM8-PD+ was purified in the detergents n-Dodecyl-B-D-Maltoside (DDM), 16:0 Lyso PG, 1-Palmitoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (LPPG), and 14:0 Lyso PG, 1-Myristoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol (LMPG) to determine which detergent resulted in a hTRPM8-PD+ sample of the most stability, purity, and highest concentrations. Following bacterial expression and protein purification, hTRPM8-PD+ was studied and characterized with circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy to learn more about the secondary structures and thermodynamic properties of the construct. Further studies can be done with more circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, planar lipid bilayer (BLM) electrophysiology, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to gain more understanding of how the pore domain plus contributes to the activity of the whole protein construct.
ContributorsMorelan, Danielle Taylor (Co-author) / Morelan, Danielle (Co-author) / Van Horn, Wade (Thesis director) / Chen, Julian (Committee member) / Luu, Dustin (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12