Matching Items (16)
Description
Identifying factors associated with service infusion success has become an important issue in theory and practice, as manufacturers turn to services to advance performance. The goals of this dissertation are to identify the key factors associated with service infusion success and develop an integrative framework and associated research propositions to isolate the underlying determinants of successful hybrid solution strategies for business customers. This dissertation is comprised of two phases. The first phase taps into the experience and learning gained by executives from Fortune-100 manufacturing firms who are managing the transition from goods to hybrid offerings for their customers. A discovery-oriented, theory-in-use approach is adopted to glean insights concerning the factors that facilitate and hinder those service transition strategies. Twenty-eight interviews were conducted with key executives, transcripts were analyzed and key themes were identified with special attention directed to the particular capabilities that managers consider crucial for successful service-growth strategies. One such capability centers on the ability of a firm to successfully transfer newly-developed hybrid solutions from one customer engagement to another. Building on this foundation, phase two involves a case study that provides an in-depth examination of the hybrid offering replication process in a business-to-business firm attempting to replicate four strategic hybrid offerings. Emergent themes, based on 13 manager interviews, reveal factors that promote or impede successful hybrid offering transfer. Among the factors that underlie successful hybrid offering transfers across customer engagements are close customer relationships, a clear value proposition embraced by organizational numbers, an accurate forecast of market potential, and collaborative working relationships across units. The findings from the field studies provided a catalyst for a deeper examination of existing literature and formed the building blocks for the conceptual model and several key research propositions related to the successful transfer of hybrid offerings. The model isolates five sets of factors that influence the hybrid offering transfer process, including the characteristics of (1) the source project team, (2) the seeking project team, (3) the hybrid offering, (4) the relationship exchange, and (5) the customer. The conceptualization isolates the critical role that the customer assumes in service infusion strategy implementation.
ContributorsSalas, Jim (Author) / Walker, Beth (Thesis advisor) / Hutt, Michael D. (Thesis advisor) / Park, Sungho (Committee member) / Ulaga, Wolfgang (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The marketing and development of solutions has become an increasingly important concept in both marketing practice and theory. Recent conceptual work has defined solutions as sets of products and services that allow customers to achieve customized outcomes. Although the definition of a solution is becoming clearer, the process through which solution value is generated is still opaque. The purpose of this study was to add clarity to both marketing theory and practice by examining the solution value co-creation process in depth. Service-dominant logic, the relational view, service value co-creation, and theories of organizational learning and knowledge were the basis for this examination. Social capital was also examined to determine how these important relational concepts are involved in solution development. The study was conducted in four separate phases using a multi-method approach of quantitative surveys, qualitative surveys, and depth interviews. A large, multinational educational firm provided the context for the study which included access to their solution sales force and customer base. Quantitative data was collected from 97 key informants across 182 different customer opportunities for both new and existing solution engagements. Qualitative data was also collected from 71 respondents to provide a mixed-method triangulation of how solution value is created. Overall, the study provided strong support to the idea that knowledge sharing between solution providers and their customers plays a pivotal role in the co-creation of solution value.
ContributorsSellman, Collin (Author) / Hutt, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Kumar, Ajith (Committee member) / Walker, Beth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This paper comes from a consulting project that the consulting firm, New Venture Group (NVG), did for a hospital in the southwest United States. The name of the hospital as well as the names of the hospitalists and units for the hospital will be withheld for confidentiality reasons. The hospital will be referred to as the ‘client’ throughout this paper. New Venture Group is a management consulting firm associated with Arizona State University (ASU), W.P. Carey School of Business and The Barrett Honors College. NVG recruits their consultants directly from the upper-class student body. NVG takes on projects from a wide variety of clients to provide real-world solutions comparable to that of other management consulting firms in the industry.
The client wanted to look into ways to improve patient satisfaction. To improve patient satisfaction the consulting team performed research and held a data collection. The team researched literature for possible improvements in technology, management procedures, and hospital operations protocols. The team then provided the findings and possible implementations to the client. Another item the team looked into was communication between night shift hospitalists and nurses, and possible ways to improve their communication. In the winter of 2010 a data collection was held at the client hospital that measured several different metrics of hospitalist
urse communication. In early 2011 a NVG team provided a descriptive statistics analysis of the results to the client. After the team’s first presentation I joined NVG and the team with this client. The client wanted to dig deeper into the data to find any patterns that were inherent in the data that were not immediately obvious from descriptive statistics. To do this I built over a 150 different regressions to dig from the data as many different patterns that could be found. Most of these regressions found many non-interesting results and a few did find significant interesting results. A report was sent to the client with all the results found. This paper is structured differently than the one delivered to the client in that only the significant interesting results are included and terminology will used for an audience who is familiar with statistics and mathematics. The work in this paper is the combined result of the whole team. My most specific input in this project is the quantitative analysis section. The other parts of this paper are also included so that the reader can see the full results of this consulting project.
The client wanted to look into ways to improve patient satisfaction. To improve patient satisfaction the consulting team performed research and held a data collection. The team researched literature for possible improvements in technology, management procedures, and hospital operations protocols. The team then provided the findings and possible implementations to the client. Another item the team looked into was communication between night shift hospitalists and nurses, and possible ways to improve their communication. In the winter of 2010 a data collection was held at the client hospital that measured several different metrics of hospitalist
urse communication. In early 2011 a NVG team provided a descriptive statistics analysis of the results to the client. After the team’s first presentation I joined NVG and the team with this client. The client wanted to dig deeper into the data to find any patterns that were inherent in the data that were not immediately obvious from descriptive statistics. To do this I built over a 150 different regressions to dig from the data as many different patterns that could be found. Most of these regressions found many non-interesting results and a few did find significant interesting results. A report was sent to the client with all the results found. This paper is structured differently than the one delivered to the client in that only the significant interesting results are included and terminology will used for an audience who is familiar with statistics and mathematics. The work in this paper is the combined result of the whole team. My most specific input in this project is the quantitative analysis section. The other parts of this paper are also included so that the reader can see the full results of this consulting project.
ContributorsGuggisberg, Michael (Author) / Ahn, Seung (Thesis director) / Brooks, Daniel (Committee member) / Werner, Kathleen (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2012-05
Description
Humanitarian aid organizations, while providing aid services, require inputs and utilize business processes like other for-profit firms. Many charity organizations depend on donations for revenue. The level of public trust in charities can affect donations. To support the American public and protect individuals from dishonest charity agencies, charity watchdog organizations publish ratings of charities to assist the public in donation decisions. The ratings focus on a variety of topics orienting how much of donation funds go directly to the cause not administrative or soliciting costs. In the American Red Cross, a new process was engineered to make procuring consulting services more efficient and cost effective. This project was focused on investigating areas of improvement for the new process. Deliverables included process suggestions for business unit managers, process suggestions for sourcing managers, and detailed process flowcharts highlighting potential modifications in the new process. Overall, it is critical to keep consulting costs low to ensure that watchdog organizational ratings stay positive and public trust in the American Red Cross remains high.
ContributorsDonahue, Nancy Elizabeth (Author) / Brooks, Daniel (Thesis director) / Mokwa, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis studies the area of sentiment analysis and its general uses, benefits, and limitations. Social networking, blogging, and online forums have turned the Web into a vast repository of comments on many topics. Sentiment analysis is the process of using software to analyze social media to gauge the attitudes or sentiments of the users/authors concerning a particular subject. Sentiment analysis works by processing (data mining) unstructured textual evidence using natural language processing and machine learning to determine a positive, negative, or neutral measurement. When utilized correctly, sentiment analysis has the potential to glean valuable insights into consumers' minds, which in turn leads to increased revenue and improved customer satisfaction for businesses. This paper looks at four industries in which sentiment analysis is being used or being considered: retail/services, politics, healthcare, and finances. The goal of the thesis will be to explore whether sentiment analysis has been used successfully for economic or social benefit and whether it is a practical solution for analyzing consumer opinion.
ContributorsSoumya, Saswati (Author) / Uday, Kulkarni (Thesis director) / Brooks, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Analytic research on basketball games is growing quickly, specifically in the National Basketball Association. This paper explored the development of this analytic research and discovered that there has been a focus on individual player metrics and a dearth of quantitative team characterizations and evaluations. Consequently, this paper continued the exploratory research of Fewell and Armbruster's "Basketball teams as strategic networks" (2012), which modeled basketball teams as networks and used metrics to characterize team strategy in the NBA's 2010 playoffs. Individual players and outcomes were nodes and passes and actions were the links. This paper used data that was recorded from playoff games of the two 2012 NBA finalists: the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The same metrics that Fewell and Armbruster used were explained, then calculated using this data. The offensive networks of these two teams during the playoffs were analyzed and interpreted by using other data and qualitative characterization of the teams' strategies; the paper found that the calculated metrics largely matched with our qualitative characterizations of the teams. The validity of the metrics in this paper and Fewell and Armbruster's paper was then discussed, and modeling basketball teams as multiple-order Markov chains rather than as networks was explored.
ContributorsMohanraj, Hariharan (Co-author) / Choi, David (Co-author) / Armbruster, Dieter (Thesis director) / Fewell, Jennifer (Committee member) / Brooks, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05
DescriptionThe project consisted on creating a model for a venture capital firm to use that would help in screening through investment opportunities.
ContributorsRojo, Grecia (Co-author) / Cullen, Justin (Co-author) / Gandhi, Prayas (Co-author) / Brooks, Daniel (Thesis director) / Foy, Joseph (Committee member) / O'Brien, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Entertainment Marketing to the Millennial Generation is an honors thesis project which combines research with a creative application. The thesis consists of four main segments: an overview of data surrounding Millennials, a discussion of three companies that successfully marketed to this generation, the creation and explanation of a proposed marketing modeling framework and an application of the previously found conclusions to a brief advertising strategy for Paramount Pictures. This thesis first looks at the Millennial Generation to answer the question "Who are the Millennials?" and to more clearly understand their role as media and entertainment consumers. Characteristics of technological dependence, fast-moving attention spans, desire for connection, and unique brand perceptions emerged as most significant. The case studies examine the marketing campaigns of Lionsgate Films' The Hunger Games, Nickelodeon's The 90s Are All That and MTV Iggy's Music Experiment. Strategic tactics used to target and foster a strong Millennial fan-base were identified. The previously discovered principles led to the development of a modeling framework to be used to build a Millennial-focused marketing campaign. The framework utilizes the five key elements of connectedness, hyper-advertising, technological leadership, brand currency and cultural edge. Finally, all findings were gathered and applied to Paramount Pictures. The knowledge gained from Millennial research, the case studies and the marketing framework shaped recommendations for a creative advertising brief for Paramount Pictures' Anchorman 2. The general principles of the thesis were also suggested for use in marketing in various industries.
ContributorsHoy, Grace Dorothy Curran (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Olsen, Douglas (Committee member) / Brooks, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
For the past two years, New Venture Group (nVg) and the Havasupai Tribe have worked together on a variety of community development projects. The purpose of this paper is to provide descriptions and documentation for these projects and how they are related to the economic development of the community. The partnership with the Havasupai Tribe has allowed nVg to learn the history and culture of one of Arizona's oldest communities. It has been necessary to understand the traditional values of the Havasupai to design projects that will benefit the tribe and gain support from its members. The products that nVg has worked on under the direction of the Havasupai include: - Computer training sessions - A tribal website - Financial analyses of Supai enterprises - Data management resources These and additional activities will be explained in the following pages. They were created following several meetings with tribal members and Enterprise Managers in Tempe and Supai, Arizona over the last two years. The goal of these projects is to contribute to the economic development of Supai and the Havasupai people more generally. Economic development means combining the existing strengths of the Havasupai community with nVg's business management experience, creating a stronger and more productive economy that contributes to the overall quality of life for the Havasupai.
ContributorsWhile, Kate Sophie (Author) / Brooks, Daniel (Thesis director) / LePine, Marcie (Committee member) / Walker, Beth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
New Venture Group, a student-run consulting organization at ASU, collaborated with representatives from Intel Corporation to determine current best supplier management practices in the area of capital equipment procurement. The New Venture Group team accomplished this goal by completing the following deliverables: (1) Research and consolidate best practices for managing capital equipment suppliers. (2) Interview suppliers of capital equipment in the semiconductor industry to understand their motivators. (3) Examine top supply chain companies that utilize capital equipment manufacturers within their procurement systems. (4) Gather data and knowledge in conjunction with Intel Corporation's current practices to improve the effectiveness of the company's supplier management techniques regarding capital equipment manufacturers. The thesis report outlines the key insights and recommendations that our team extracted from the research that we performed. Our team analyzed peer-reviewed journal articles, conducted interviews with suppliers of capital equipment to semiconductor manufacturers, and surveyed buyers at top companies to reach important key insights. We then used these insights to develop the following strategies to improve Intel's capital equipment supplier management structure: All Suppliers 1. Allow high-performance suppliers to select one reward from an established portfolio of incentives. 2. Increase measurement frequency for specific metrics. 3. Use collaborative two-way measurement with a corresponding balanced scorecard. Key Suppliers of Critical Products 4. Conduct gap analysis through supplier self-assessments. 5. Implement collaborative target pricing. 6. Delegate an Ombudsman. 7. Create a value map to determine the strengths and incentivize collaboration. 8. Create comparison charts comparing supplier technological competencies versus Intel's product developments. 9. Establish a systematized product development process and strategic sourcing strategy that supports the continuation of Moore's Law.
ContributorsSantiago, Bryce (Co-author) / Chen, Jenny (Co-author) / Chang, Karen (Co-author) / Baldridge, Stephen (Co-author) / Laub, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Brooks, Daniel (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05