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Description
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, banking regulators have been taking a more active role in pursing greater financial stability. One area of focus has been on Wall Street banks' leverage lending practices which include leveraged lending activities to fund leveraged buyouts. In March 2013, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued guidance urging banks to avoid financing leveraged buyouts in most industries that would put total debt on a company of more than six times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda. Our research, using data on all leveraged buyouts (with EBITDA >$20 million) issued after the guidance, sets out to explain the elements banks consider when exceeding leverage limitations. Initially, we hypothesized that since deals over 6x leverage had higher amounts of debt, they were riskier deals, which would carry over to other risk measures such as yield to maturity on debt and company credit ratings. To analyze this, we obtained a large data set with all LBO deals in the past three years and ran difference-in-means tests on a number of variables such as deal size, credit rating and yield to maturity to determine if deals over 6x leverage had significantly different risk characteristics than deals under 6x leverage. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that deals over 6x leverage had significantly less risk, mainly demonstrated by lower average YTMs, than deals under 6x. One possible explanation of this might be that banks, wanting to ensure they are not fined, will only go through with a deal over 6x leverage if other risk metrics such as yield to maturity are well below average.
ContributorsKing, Adam (Co-author) / Lukemire, Sean (Co-author) / McAleer, Stephen (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Bonadurer, Werner (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
For our collaborative thesis we explored the US electric utility market and how the Internet of Things technology movement could capture a possible advancement of the current existing grid. Our objective of this project was to successfully understand the market trends in the utility space and identify where a semiconductor manufacturing company, with a focus on IoT technology, could penetrate the market using their products. The methodology used for our research was to conduct industry interviews to formulate common trends in the utility and industrial hardware manufacturer industries. From there, we composed various strategies that The Company should explore. These strategies were backed up using qualitative reasoning and forecasted discounted cash flow and net present value analysis. We confirmed that The Company should use specific silicon microprocessors and microcontrollers that pertained to each of the four devices analytics demand. Along with a silicon strategy, our group believes that there is a strong argument for a data analytics software package by forming strategic partnerships in this space.
ContributorsLlazani, Loris (Co-author) / Ruland, Matthew (Co-author) / Medl, Jordan (Co-author) / Crowe, David (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Mike (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
As the IoT (Internet of Things) market continues to grow, Company X needs to find a way to penetrate the market and establish larger market share. The problem with Company X's current strategy and cost structure lies in the fact that the fastest growing portion of the IoT market is microcontrollers (MCUs). As Company X currently holds its focus in manufacturing microprocessors (MPUs), the current manufacturing strategy is not optimal for entering competitively into the MCU space. Within the MCU space, the companies that are competing the best do not utilize such high level manufacturing processes because these low cost products do not demand them. Given that the MCU market is largely untested by Company X and its products would need to be manufactured at increasingly lower costs, it runs the risk of over producing and holding obsolete inventory that is either scrapped or sold at or below cost. In order to eliminate that risk, we will explore alternative manufacturing strategies for Company X's MCU products specifically, which will allow for a more optimal cost structure and ultimately a more profitable Internet of Things Group (IoTG). The IoT MCU ecosystem does not require the high powered technology Company X is currently manufacturing and therefore, Company X loses large margins due to its unnecessary leading technology. Since cash is king, pursuing a fully external model for MCU design and manufacturing processes will generate the highest NPV for Company X. It also will increase Company X's market share, which is extremely important given that every tech company in the world is trying to get its hands into the IoT market. It is possible that in ten to thirty years down the road, Company X can manufacture enough units to keep its products in-house, but this is not feasible in the foreseeable future. For now, Company X should focus on the cost market of MCUs by driving its prices down while maintaining low costs due to the variables of COGS and R&D given in our fully external strategy.
ContributorsKadi, Bengimen (Co-author) / Peterson, Tyler (Co-author) / Langmack, Haley (Co-author) / Quintana, Vince (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Company X has developed RealSenseTM technology, a depth sensing camera that provides machines the ability to capture three-dimensional spaces along with motion within these spaces. The goal of RealSense was to give machines human-like senses, such as knowing how far away objects are and perceiving the surrounding environment. The key issue for Company X is how to commercialize RealSense's depth recognition capabilities. This thesis addresses the problem by examining which markets to address and how to monetize this technology. The first part of the analysis identified potential markets for RealSense. This was achieved by evaluating current markets that could benefit from the camera's gesture recognition, 3D scanning, and depth sensing abilities. After identifying seven industries where RealSense could add value, a model of the available, addressable, and obtainable market sizes was developed for each segment. Key competitors and market dynamics were used to estimate the portion of the market that Company X could capture. These models provided a forecast of the discounted gross profits that could be earned over the next five years. These forecasted gross profits, combined with an examination of the competitive landscape and synergistic opportunities, resulted in the selection of the three segments thought to be most profitable to Company X. These segments are smart home, consumer drones, and automotive. The final part of the analysis investigated entrance strategies. Company X's competitive advantages in each space were found by examining the competition, both for the RealSense camera in general and other technologies specific to each industry. Finally, ideas about ways to monetize RealSense were developed by exploring various revenue models and channels.
ContributorsDunn, Nicole (Co-author) / Boudreau, Thomas (Co-author) / Kinzy, Chris (Co-author) / Radigan, Thomas (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Science (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Business students are trained to be professional problem solver. In order to improve students' ability to solve real-life problem, more and more business schools are encouraging students to attend case competitions and do internships before graduation. In curriculum, students are required to work on business cases and projects in team. However, due to the limited exposure to real-life business scenarios, most undergraduate students feel unprepared when faced with business problems in course projects, case competitions, and internships. Therefore, the goal of this Honors Creative Project is to provide students with an interactive resource to succeed in course projects, case competitions, and even internship projects. By introducing resources that focused on analysis approach and project management, students can learn from some successful experience and become more competitive in job market. After competing at four case competitions with talents all over the nation, we accumulated precious experience in case analysis and teamwork development within a high-pressure environment. In addition, the experiences with internships, consulting and course projects have also aided the participants' development in professionalism and quantitative analytics. Reflecting on what we have learned from our experiences, we strongly believe that the insights gained from the past are not only a treasure for us individually, but also a great resource for our colleagues. We hope to transfer our knowledge to others for their own success where "best practices" can be learned.
ContributorsXiahou, Xiaonan (Co-author) / Thoi, Kenson (Co-author) / Printezis, Antonios (Thesis director) / Arrfelt, Mathias (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This thesis focused on understanding how humans visually perceive swarm behavior through the use of swarm simulations and gaze tracking. The goal of this project was to determine visual patterns subjects display while observing and supervising a swarm as well as determine what swarm characteristics affect these patterns. As an ultimate goal, it was hoped that this research will contribute to optimizing human-swarm interaction for the design of human supervisory controllers for swarms. To achieve the stated goals, two investigations were conducted. First, subjects gaze was tracked while observing a simulated swarm as it moved across the screen. This swarm changed in size, disturbance level in the position of the agents, speed, and path curvature. Second, subjects were asked to play a supervisory role as they watched a swarm move across the screen toward targets. The subjects determined whether a collision would occur and with which target while their responses as well as their gaze was tracked. In the case of an observatory role, a model of human gaze was created. This was embodied in a second order model similar to that of a spring-mass-damper system. This model was similar across subjects and stable. In the case of a supervisory role, inherent weaknesses in human perception were found, such as the inability to predict future position of curved paths. These findings are discussed in depth within the thesis. Overall, the results presented suggest that understanding human perception of swarms offers a new approach to the problem of swarm control. The ability to adapt controls to the strengths and weaknesses could lead to great strides in the reduction of operators in the control of one UAV, resulting in a move towards one man operation of a swarm.
ContributorsWhitton, Elena Michelle (Author) / Artemiadis, Panagiotis (Thesis director) / Berman, Spring (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of this investigation is to computationally investigate instabilities appearing in the wake of a simulated helicopter rotor. Existing data suggests further understanding of these instabilities may yield design changes to the rotor blades to reduce the acoustic signature and improve the aerodynamic efficiencies of the aircraft. Test cases of a double-bladed and single-bladed rotor have been run to investigate the causes and types of wake instabilities, as well as compare them to the short wave, long wave, and mutual inductance modes proposed by Widnall[2]. Evaluation of results revealed several perturbations appearing in both single and double-bladed wakes, the origin of which was unknown and difficult to trace. This made the computations not directly comparable to theoretical results, and drawing into question the physical flight conditions being modeled. Nonetheless, they displayed a wake structure highly sensitive to both computational and physical disturbances; thus extreme care must be taken in constructing grids and applying boundary conditions when doing wake computations to ensure results relevant to the complex and dynamic flight conditions of physical aircraft are generated.
ContributorsDrake, Nicholas Spencer (Author) / Wells, Valana (Thesis director) / Squires, Kyle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The Confessions of a College Entrepreneur is an honors project with the goal of revealing the business and marketing strategies that Charles Crawford used to create multiple successful companies. It's a collection of personal stories, book notes, millionaire interviews, and experiences that Charles had over the past 4 years of intense business experience and research across multiple industries. Charles wants college students and business owners to succeed in business ventures and life in general. This creative thesis project is the map for how to do just that.
ContributorsCrawford, Charles Joseph (Author) / Budolfson, Arthur (Thesis director) / Giles, Charles (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The increasing civilian demand for autonomous aerial vehicle platforms in both hobby and professional markets has resulted in an abundance of inexpensive inertial navigation systems and hardware. Many of these systems lack full autonomy, relying on the pilot's guidance with the assistance of inertial sensors for guidance. Autonomous systems depend heavily on the use of a global positioning satellite receiver which can be inhibited by satellite signal strength, low update rates and poor positioning accuracy. For precise navigation of a micro air vehicle in locations where GPS signals are unobtainable, such as indoors or throughout a dense urban environment, additional sensors must complement the inertial sensors to provide improved navigation state estimations without the use of a GPS. By creating a system that allows for the rapid development of experimental guidance, navigation and control algorithms on versatile, low-cost development platforms, improved navigation systems may be tested with relative ease and at reduced cost. Incorporating a downward-facing camera with this system may also be utilized to further improve vehicle autonomy in denied-GPS environments.
ContributorsPolak, Adam Michael (Author) / Rodriguez, Armando (Thesis director) / Saripalli, Srikanth (Committee member) / Hannan, Mike (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
For many years, the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, like many other unindustrialized nations, followed the internally-oriented import substitution policies developed by theoreticians like Raul Prebisch. These measures were meant to force nations to develop their industrial capabilities in isolation from the rest of the world. However, these policies did little to improve the economy of many emerging countries. It was not until Asian countries switched to externally-oriented strategies that progress was made in their developing economies. In the early 1980s, a "Washington Consensus" was practiced that included a trade provision for the opening of emerging markets. Since then, many Sub-Saharan African nations have implemented policies that have opened up their markets to the rest of the world. However, most of these countries have not realized the benefits typically ascribed to open trade, causing some economists to doubt the economic growth benefits of trade liberalization. This thesis examines the connection between trade liberalization in Sub-Saharan Africa to review the consequences of recent trade reforms on the region's development and to identify some of the factors which contributed to individual countries successfully, or unsuccessfully, implementing trade liberalizing policies. It finds that the relationship between economic growth and trade liberalization is not as important as other growth factors and that there are multiple paths toward economic development.
ContributorsDussik, Jonathan Abraham DeBlock (Author) / DeSerpa, Allan (Thesis director) / Hill, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor)
Created2014-12