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Description
The following case study covers Avnet, Inc., a global technology distributor and supply chain service company with a headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona and customers in over 125 countries within North America, Asia and Europe. The case includes a strategic overview of Avnet’s unique 100-year history and transformed business model, while also highlighting the company’s current business strategies. The hallmark of Avnet’s growth and success has been through over one hundred mergers and acquisitions which make up Avnet’s 2020 company ecosystem. The strategies presented in this case focus specifically on the automotive initiative, a strong growth area within the semiconductor industry, which consists of a two-part global transportation strategy for Avnet. The strategy accommodates both Strategic Supply Chain customers as well as Strategic Design Change customers, two main transportation customer types. The case then further explores the transformation of Avnet’s automotive strategy team from a regional to global focus. This research is accomplished through a literature review of market research from various sources on semiconductor market trends and best industry practices. The research also investigates the impacts on demand creation for Avnet through customer relationships. In addition to research and analysis, other information included in the case is derived from direct collaboration with Avnet employees on the cross-functional global team and employee interviews. The research and recommendations in this paper are presented with the goal of providing proof of concept on the global automotive initiative for Avnet and will be shared with the strategy team following completion of the case study.
ContributorsStabile, Kristina Marie (Author) / Rabinovich, Dr. Elliot (Thesis director) / Holmes, Nancy (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Every professional sports organization relies on three pillars: money, fan engagement, and team performance. Within these pillars lie several subcategories, encompassing the entirety of an organization. Ideal sports organizations maintain a balance between these subcategories, not allowing one factor to heavily influence the others. Using data from 2008-2019, any relationships displayed between performance, attendance, and payroll by each team in the NBA and MLB will be quantified. A series of regression tests will uncover any correlations between three key statistics that generalize each pillar: payroll, attendance, and performance. A significant correlation between performance and attendance indicate a team has shown increased levels of attendance during seasons of improved performance. A significant correlation between payroll and performance implies that improvements in performance have typically occurred with a similar increase in payroll. Significant correlations between payroll and attendance show a team’s attendance typically declined when payroll decreased. The results of each test are compared on a league level and teams are categorized based on their combinations of significant correlations. Teams with no significant correlations between payroll, performance, and attendance have won the most championships over the past 12 years, and have the best organizational foundation moving forwards.
ContributorsHollerbach, MacLain David Cordeiro (Author) / Lee, Christopher (Thesis director) / Nelson, Scott (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
While English language education has become increasingly prominent worldwide, countries have adopted various initiatives to increase English language development. One country making a push for English language development is Taiwan; however, current educational practices and values can prove to be challenges in implementing new methods. For example, although Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) methods gained popularity starting in the 1990s, they have been slow to take hold in Taiwan. Additionally, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education is pushing for bilingualism by the year 2030, introducing curricular reforms and new strategies to increase the prominence of English on a social level. In order to analyze current educational methods and practices in Taiwan, as well as predict the efficacy of new strategies, this study focused on gathering the perspectives and experiences of the students themselves. International students were specifically targeted, as they have had exposure to multiple educational environments, as well as firsthand experience applying their English language knowledge in an immersive environment. To gather student perspective, an online survey was made available to Taiwanese international students currently studying in a U.S. university. Respondents were asked multiple-choice questions on curricular focus, as well as short answer questions regarding their educational experiences. Overall, the respondents showed an agreement in regards to the heavy emphasis of reading, writing, and grammar in Taiwan, which they correlated directly with high-stakes exams, particularly the university entrance exam. They also noted the lack of speaking and listening practice, as well as a strong desire to apply English in a communicative sense. These observations hold significant implications for various stakeholders, including teachers, principals, curriculum developers, exam designers, and university admissions.
ContributorsEricson, Rebecca Elaine (Author) / Matsuda, Aya (Thesis director) / James, Mark (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Influencer marketing is the latest phenomenon in the consumer marketing industry. Successful influencer sponsorships close the gap between companies and their customers by capitalizing on the connection influencers share with their audience. Producing advertisements more organically and directly, coming from a trustworthy and relatable source leads to greater returns. Therefore, influencer accounts are becoming increasingly popular throughout social media, especially Instagram. For this reason, the main focal point of this paper is to describe how to effectively create an influencer brand by finding a niche and growing an engaged audience on Instagram. Our findings consist of three studies: personal interviews, creating an Instagram account, and analyzing twelve well-known influencers. We first analyzed the environmental trends impacting the social media industry and what this means for a growing influencer. Using our discoveries, we launched an Instagram account, featuring the Nordstrom Twins, learning from the first-hand experience of successful and unsuccessful content strategies. Then, through data collection and analysis of twelve unique twin influencer (twinfluencer) accounts, as well as personal interviews with industry professionals, we established an influencer business strategy. Our research conveys how to increase user interactions and grow an engagement rate on the constantly evolving Instagram platform.
ContributorsNordstrom, Hailey Rose (Co-author) / Nordstrom, Brooke (Co-author) / Smith, Anna (Co-author) / Dong, Xiaodan (Thesis director) / Eaton, Kathryn (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
This literary analysis thesis determines the relationship between twin characterization in Victorian novels and contemporary literature. Using Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-glass as foundational works for twin characterization with the Freudian definition of doubles as uncanny, this thesis analyzes the following twin tropes: the trickster twins, twins separated into binaries of “good” or “whole” and “damaged” or “evil,” male twins where one dies and the other marries the woman they both love, and female twins associated with shared supernatural appearance and abilities. These tropes are identified in Victorian works including Sarah Grand’s The Heavenly Twins and Wilkie Collins’ Poor Miss Finch, then demonstrated in contemporary sources including Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement, Kim Edwards’s novel The Memory-Keeper’s Daughter, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining. Ultimately, this thesis analyzes these tropes of twin characterization in 19th-century and contemporary literature from a variety of genres to demonstrate how the fin de siècle fears of cultural degradation, explored through duality using the vehicle of twin characters, remain as pervasive influences in today’s literature with similar concerns about individual identity.
ContributorsKnighton, Makenna Nicole (Author) / Soares, Rebecca (Thesis director) / Farmer, Steve (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
In 1671, John Milton published Samson Agonistes, a closet drama written in the tradition of Greek tragedy, having as its subject the biblical story of Samson. It opens with Samson, former hero of Israel because of his strength, now a blind prisoner of the Philistines who questions the reason for his previous calling and great gift of strength in light of his current captivity, the result of his failure to withstand temptation in the wiles of his former wife. Through the narrative of the drama, Samson engages with various characters, some sympathetic to his plight, and others, enemies, to move from an inactive despair to the hope that God might be able to use him again to a final devastating action, which is either his greatest feat, in response to "inner promptings," or a tragic act of self¬wrought vengeance.
Throughout Milton's work, we see the connection between the private, inner response to reason, worked out in a public, political setting. The difficulty with Samson, then, is the interpretation of that connection: knowing if his public action proves the moral fitness of his intellectual life, and whether his action can be instructive to an audience within the drama. To understand more clearly the way that Milton conceptualizes Samson's rational process, we will examine three texts which relate to Samson Agonistes in the way they engage questions of the ethical implications of dramatic representation. The first is Aristotle's classical treatise on the elements of tragedy, the second is a closet drama that works from a didactic and political framework contemporary to Milton's but in sharp contrast, and the third is a drama that overlaps dialogue of multiple perspectives, one which Milton draws from and adapts. Each text is a model for Milton, and we can approach a way of understanding the meaning of Samson Agonistes by thinking about Milton's relationship - what he applies, transforms, or rejects from each - to other representations of dramatic education.
Throughout Milton's work, we see the connection between the private, inner response to reason, worked out in a public, political setting. The difficulty with Samson, then, is the interpretation of that connection: knowing if his public action proves the moral fitness of his intellectual life, and whether his action can be instructive to an audience within the drama. To understand more clearly the way that Milton conceptualizes Samson's rational process, we will examine three texts which relate to Samson Agonistes in the way they engage questions of the ethical implications of dramatic representation. The first is Aristotle's classical treatise on the elements of tragedy, the second is a closet drama that works from a didactic and political framework contemporary to Milton's but in sharp contrast, and the third is a drama that overlaps dialogue of multiple perspectives, one which Milton draws from and adapts. Each text is a model for Milton, and we can approach a way of understanding the meaning of Samson Agonistes by thinking about Milton's relationship - what he applies, transforms, or rejects from each - to other representations of dramatic education.
ContributorsWilliams, Katherine Elizabeth (Author) / Perry, Curtis (Thesis director) / Fox, Cora (Committee member) / Engler, Karen (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2004-05
Description
Conceptual poetry begins with the spark of the writing process, the moment when a poet finds inspiration and begins to write a poem. It is in that moment when the poem begins to be conceptualized, evolving throughout every part of the writing process. Conceptual poetry is the evolving idea of what the poem is working toward becoming, the concept of the end performance, and how the poem will be received. This conceptualization changes drastically with the revisions made throughout the process, the idea of the poem is revised as the author interacts with the work and audience. The revisions to the conceptualization may be minute or drastic. Small changes can be changing the feeling you want to elicit from the reader from slight anxiety to tones of fear. Larger changes can be changing the entire message you want to portray to your audience. Poems go through critical revisions that can leave a poem, and its conceptualized performed product, completely transformed and sometimes unrecognizable from the beginning product. The conceptual poetry and performance ends at the point where it leaves the author and becomes perceived and digested by the audience. The performance itself will always be conceptual and will never truly fulfill the concept the way that the poet has envisioned it.
ContributorsPolmanteer, Katherine (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis director) / Murphy, Patricia Colleen (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor, Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In this paper, I attempt to measure the impact of education levels on a country’s productivity, measured by its Gross Domestic Product. I find that educational attainment is significantly correlated with economic growth. Previous research on this topic has shown similar results and concluded the importance of education on improving the GDP levels in a country.
ContributorsDanishyar, Roma (Author) / Goegan, Brian (Thesis director) / Hill, John (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The M&G Drive is a proposed venture project lead by Barrett seniors, Elijah Smith and Jenna Fitzgerald. This project aims to educate Arizona State University (ASU) students on the issues of food insecurity around the Phoenix valley and facilitate their involvement in helping alleviate this pressing social matter. Scientific research has shown significant inverse relationships between food insecurity and the following: mental and physical health, social skills, and academic achievement. As the largest public university in the nation, Arizona State holds a self-ascribed responsibility for the health of its communities. In order to address this issue on behalf of Arizona State and from the standpoint of college students, this proposed venture will encourage the ASU student population to reallocate their unused M&G Dollars (ASU’s on-campus currency) to go toward this cause. Rather than being absorbed back by the university system, unused M&G Dollars can instead be used to purchase non-perishables that will then be donated to the local Phoenix community in order to help fight against food insecurity.
ContributorsFitzgerald, Jenna Mary (Co-author) / Smith, Elijah (Co-author) / Mokwa, Michael (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Social media influencers are a marketing tactic that has become very relevant in present-day marketing within the past decade. The way that social media influencers succeed is by utilizing strategies that capitalize on both marketing and social media perspectives. Based on research findings, it was found that advertising and social media separately negatively affect mental well-being and perceptions of body image. Since social media influencers have a role within both spheres, the question on if they have the same effects on mental health has become a topic of discussion.
This interview-style podcast highlights the history of marketing and advertising, social media and its effects on users, and social media influencers and their roles in consumers’ lives. Furthermore, expert opinions from faculty at Arizona State University will help answer the question: do influencers have an adverse effect on mental health?
Professor Naomi Mandel, a consumer behavior professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business, and Dr. Mary Ingram-Waters, an Honors Faculty Fellow at Barrett, The Honors College, provide insight on the topic of social media influencers. The full interviews are found in the podcast. Professor Naomi Mandel’s interview is found at 29:45, and Dr. Mary Ingram-Waters’ interview is found at 46:00.
This interview-style podcast highlights the history of marketing and advertising, social media and its effects on users, and social media influencers and their roles in consumers’ lives. Furthermore, expert opinions from faculty at Arizona State University will help answer the question: do influencers have an adverse effect on mental health?
Professor Naomi Mandel, a consumer behavior professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business, and Dr. Mary Ingram-Waters, an Honors Faculty Fellow at Barrett, The Honors College, provide insight on the topic of social media influencers. The full interviews are found in the podcast. Professor Naomi Mandel’s interview is found at 29:45, and Dr. Mary Ingram-Waters’ interview is found at 46:00.
ContributorsJenkins, Mallory Erin (Author) / Schmidt, Peter (Thesis director) / Giles, Charles (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05