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- Creators: Department of Finance
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Status: Published
Description
As social media continues to grow, so does the need to have a strong online presence that exhibits a unique personal brand. However, with social media platforms ranging from Twitter to Instagram to LinkedIn, it is a challenge for Millennials to know how to build a personal brand that is appropriate for all potential audiences. More than just friends and family are viewing our social media profiles; it is common practice for potential employers too and it can be difficult to cater our social media for both. This thesis looks at how personal branding has evolved with the rapid expansion of social media and the relationship between the two. It also looks at the importance of personal branding and best/worst practices for social media. Although there is an emphasis of professional networking platforms in my primary research, I also discuss how social media affects our personal, along with our professional, relationships. There is also a focus on the types of perceptions people make about someone’s personal brand based off of what they see on social media. To better understand people’s perceptions of social media as it relates to personal branding, I conducted interviews with job recruiters and administered a survey, which tested recommendations collected from the first interviews.
ContributorsLee, Juliana A (Author) / Montoya, Detra (Thesis director) / Schlacter, John (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The sense making process is a part of our everyday lives. The way we make sense of the world around us can have a big factor in our ability to make judgments and decisions. That is why it is important to establish a valid model in which we can run through the thought process that allows us to come with high quality solutions to problems in an efficient manner. Once I have established this model and given examples on how it operates, I will move onto potential impediments. Impediment are biases that can hinder us from running through the sense making process in an efficient manner. These impediments can vary from affecting our previous knowledge to affecting our ability to process new information. The end result of these impediments when effective means they have negatively impacted our ability to rationally make decisions. This can cause the overall quality of solutions provided by the sense making process to be degraded. After I have discussed the most relevant impediments to this process, I will begin to discuss external factors such as complexity, dynamism, and uncertainty. These external factors can directly affect the validity of our sense making process, as well as empower the impediments to do more damage than what was possible before. I will discuss how the external factors operate, and their individual ability to affect the sense making process and impediments. Finally, I will conclude this thesis by taking the research I have done so far and apply it to how we make sense of financial markets. This will involve analyzing how we make decisions with regards to the stock market, and how external factors and our impediments can impact the validity of those decisions made. Finally, I will summarize my findings, and discuss the biggest factors that impact the sense making process.
ContributorsGill, Munhur Singh (Author) / Smith, Geoffrey (Thesis director) / Sadusky, Brian (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This project was performed to uncover new trends and insights in the fields of entrepreneurship and emerging technology for 2019 and then compare these trends to the landscape at Arizona State University. The 2019 South by Southwest Interactive Conference and Trade Shows were attended by the researchers and the experience was captured on video. In addition, the information and trends uncovered at this conference were used to direct secondary research that ultimately culminated into a final presentation that highlights new and positive courses of action for Arizona State’s entrepreneurship and innovation programs that will continue their growth on a national and international basis. This paper serves as scholarly support and evidence of the researcher’s suggestions in the final presentation.
ContributorsSwiszowski, Cole (Co-author) / Rost, Tanner (Co-author) / Trujillo, Rhett (Thesis director) / Sebold, Brent (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The retail industry has experienced significant change and evolution in the past decade—perhaps more than any other consumer discretionary industry in the marketplace. The rapid growth and expansion of e-commerce has been a key catalyst in driving such evolution. As consumer preferences have evolved, and their demand for convenience and expedited service has increased, e-commerce has been a become a preferred channel for making purchases. What started out as a medium for purchasing everyday goods, such as clothing, has become a vast marketplace where buyers can find just about anything they need or want online – even groceries.
ContributorsKrause, Carson L (Author) / Brian, Sadusky (Thesis director) / Rick, DeAvila (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
As technology increasingly connects people and economies around the world, learning an additional language is more useful than ever. Acquiring business proficiency in a foreign language makes one more competitive in the workforce and a valuable asset to an organization or company. This thesis is a creative project in the form of a course syllabus with the intention to expand the knowledge of and encourage critical thinking about Italy’s role in the European and global economy in addition to provide the language skills necessary to compete in the Italian economy. Upon completion of the course, students will become capable and more confident to communicate and work in an Italian work setting.
ContributorsAguilera, Cesar Efren (Author) / Dal Martello, Chiara (Thesis director) / Palaich, Sandra (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Every year, major companies buy Super Bowl advertisements (‘ads’) to fuel growth through the creation of brand awareness among a large, diverse audience. Although measuring the effectiveness of these marketing tactics is difficult, evaluating the abnormal returns (‘alpha’) of company stocks in the five days following the Super Bowl is effective because it provides insight into how actual returns compare to expected returns (calculated using data from the preceding 250 days). Analysis of a comprehensive sample, which includes all Super Bowl ads for public companies between the years 2015 and 2019, accurately demonstrates the relationship between these returns, illustrating the effectiveness of this type of marketing. To account for variation resulting from different inputs in different financial models, it is important to evaluate alpha based on several, reputable models of expected return to best capture the result. In this study, alpha will be analyzed using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (‘CAPM’) and the Fama and French 3 and 5 factor models. Although the ideology that increased marketing improves stock returns through brand awareness suggests a positive alpha, these models all indicate a statistically significant negative alpha for large, public companies who bought Super Bowl ads over the past five years. Therefore, actual returns, on average, are lower than projected returns for the evaluated five-day window following the Super Bowl. In examining alpha and statistical significance according to these financial models, this thesis will explore different market factors that may explain this counterintuitive result, primarily focusing on the investors’ opinions about this type of marketing. Therefore, in researching various discrepancies contributing to the negative alpha result, this study will accurately assess the effectiveness of Super Bowl advertising in terms of stock performance.
ContributorsWynne, Shannon Elizabeth (Author) / Budolfson, Arthur (Thesis director) / Smith, Geoffrey (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Barrett Honors Thesis
Abstract
Noah Zweiback
The 21st century has brought significant changes to American consumers through technological advancements, social medias, and changing public sentiments. The sport industry in particular has been largely unable to capitalize on these changes due to the traditional nature of sports.
Keyball™ is the new 21st century sport specifically designed to have the greatest spectator appeal in this modern age. With focus on athleticism, parity, theatrical/emotional engagements, and community impact, Keyball™ aims to create a fan experience that is not achievable by other professional sports leagues. By design, there is high skillset carryover from other sports, ensuring tremendous talent will always be available, and fans of many different sports will find Keyball™ attractive to watch and follow.
The professional sports industry has been dominated by only a few players for the past century. Due to the traditional nature of sports, innovation is hard to implement in professional leagues. Tackle football is A. incredibly dangerous, causing broken bones, torn ligaments and tendons, and serious brain damage (concussions, CTE) at high rates. B. Football is low scoring and C. the pace of play is very slow. Basketball by nature A. overwhelmingly rewards height or verticality. It also B. lacks physicality and C. parity (NBA level). D. The foul system is flawed and easily exploited, dampening the end of games.
Keyball™ is positioned to A. be much more violent than basketball/soccer/baseball, while being significantly safer than tackle football. In addition, B. the speed of play is much faster than football, similar to a soccer/basketball live play style. C. Keyball™ is high scoring (like basketball, unlike football and soccer) and features much more dynamic/exciting scoring opportunities than traditional team sports. Keyball™ D. unifies the highly entertaining skillsets of soccer players (foot skill) with basketball/football players (explosiveness & hand coordination). E. Keyball™ has inherent double meaning that alludes to gambling (Keyball™ Wager) yet still promotes charity, selflessness, and American values (capitalism, sportsmanship, teamwork).
Abstract
Noah Zweiback
The 21st century has brought significant changes to American consumers through technological advancements, social medias, and changing public sentiments. The sport industry in particular has been largely unable to capitalize on these changes due to the traditional nature of sports.
Keyball™ is the new 21st century sport specifically designed to have the greatest spectator appeal in this modern age. With focus on athleticism, parity, theatrical/emotional engagements, and community impact, Keyball™ aims to create a fan experience that is not achievable by other professional sports leagues. By design, there is high skillset carryover from other sports, ensuring tremendous talent will always be available, and fans of many different sports will find Keyball™ attractive to watch and follow.
The professional sports industry has been dominated by only a few players for the past century. Due to the traditional nature of sports, innovation is hard to implement in professional leagues. Tackle football is A. incredibly dangerous, causing broken bones, torn ligaments and tendons, and serious brain damage (concussions, CTE) at high rates. B. Football is low scoring and C. the pace of play is very slow. Basketball by nature A. overwhelmingly rewards height or verticality. It also B. lacks physicality and C. parity (NBA level). D. The foul system is flawed and easily exploited, dampening the end of games.
Keyball™ is positioned to A. be much more violent than basketball/soccer/baseball, while being significantly safer than tackle football. In addition, B. the speed of play is much faster than football, similar to a soccer/basketball live play style. C. Keyball™ is high scoring (like basketball, unlike football and soccer) and features much more dynamic/exciting scoring opportunities than traditional team sports. Keyball™ D. unifies the highly entertaining skillsets of soccer players (foot skill) with basketball/football players (explosiveness & hand coordination). E. Keyball™ has inherent double meaning that alludes to gambling (Keyball™ Wager) yet still promotes charity, selflessness, and American values (capitalism, sportsmanship, teamwork).
ContributorsZweiback, Noah B (Writer of accompanying material) / Denning, Michael (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
This project was completed as part of the InnovationSpace collaborative thesis, an entrepreneurial joint venture program that allows students to develop products that create market value while serving societal needs. This collaborative thesis was done in a team of students from various disciplines under the sponsorship of Cisco Systems, and the goal was to develop an assistive technology project for the disabled that incorporated the internet of things (IOT). This project was broken out into several different phases. Initially, the team came up with a variety of ideas based on our market research. We narrowed down the ideas to a list of three potential products and built a business model and prototype for each of them seen in phase 5. After reviewing them further, we ultimately selected the MecX, an assistive technology designed to increase physical activity for a disabled person. We built a working prototype for this product and created a full design with all stakeholders in mind. Once this was done, we ran surveys to test the feasibility of our product to its demographic. Finally, we presented this product to a panel of judges and sponsors.
The attached files show the business write-up from phases 5, 6, and 7 from the project followed by a personal reflection.
The attached files show the business write-up from phases 5, 6, and 7 from the project followed by a personal reflection.
ContributorsPorter, Oscar Garfield (Author) / Trujillo, Rhett (Thesis director) / Hedges, Craig (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
There is a growing demand for discrete graphics processing units (dGPU) in the internet of things. Our subject company, Company X, has decided to develop a dGPU to be used in client computing (desktops, laptops, etc). This project will address whether or not company X should invest time and money into adopting their existing client focused dGPU for applications in IoT such as digital signage, gaming, or medical imaging. If this investment is to be made, we will also make specific recommendations about how Company X should enter the IoT space. The project will be completed in three stages. The first stage will consist of an analysis of the competitive landscape and research on dGPUs and how they differ from integrated GPUs. Stage two will focus primarily on the IoT space and how the competitors are using dGPUs in the IoT along with an analysis of three potential use cases for Company X’s dGPU. Finally, we will build a comprehensive financial model based on our research of one specific IoT segment where Company X could potentially enter. Based on these stages, we will then offer a conclusion and recommendation on whether Company X should invest in this project.
ContributorsSmith, Jesse Thomas (Co-author) / Nickel, Jack (Co-author) / Sethia, Priyanka (Co-author) / Morey, Jake (Co-author) / Bergauer, Kevin (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Kreutner, Caleb (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The National Basketball Association is a star driven league, more so than any other sports league in the world. Basketball is played with five players on the court at a time, with rotations of eight or nine players being commonplace for most teams. Compared to a sport such as football where there are eleven starters on defense and eleven starters on offense, it makes sense that a single player in basketball will have more impact on the game than a single player in football. Players such as James Harden and LeBron James create top teams in the league that would otherwise be mediocre because of the presence that they bring to the basketball court.
Every owner and general manager of every team in the National Basketball Association desires a superstar that can vault a franchise to the next level. This is easier said than done. There are only a limited number of franchises that can attract stars through free agency, and teams do not often give up their best players through trades. Even when a star does become available through trade, the price to acquire that star is often so steep that the team trading for him fails to improve in the process. While one player can have a huge impact in basketball, it is still necessary to surround that player with players that have a proper skillset. For James Harden and LeBron James to have the most impact on the court, it is best to surround them with good three-point shooters that can give them space to drive to the rim and provide them with the option to pass the ball out to the perimeter.
Every owner and general manager of every team in the National Basketball Association desires a superstar that can vault a franchise to the next level. This is easier said than done. There are only a limited number of franchises that can attract stars through free agency, and teams do not often give up their best players through trades. Even when a star does become available through trade, the price to acquire that star is often so steep that the team trading for him fails to improve in the process. While one player can have a huge impact in basketball, it is still necessary to surround that player with players that have a proper skillset. For James Harden and LeBron James to have the most impact on the court, it is best to surround them with good three-point shooters that can give them space to drive to the rim and provide them with the option to pass the ball out to the perimeter.
ContributorsKnowlton, Bradley Edward (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hoffmeister, J (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05