Matching Items (238)
Description
The purpose for creating this thesis project is to discover the effects that options have on consumer behavior and satisfaction, and to determine whether or not more options are a good thing. In exploring these questions, Information Measurement Theory (IMT), a theory founded by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi which relies on understanding natural laws to help minimize decision-making and risk, was utilized to draw conclusions. IMT illustrates that any given situation can only have one unique outcome, and minimizing decision-making in turn leads to reduced stress. The more information an individual has for the given situation, the better he/she can predict the outcome. The concepts of IMT, specifically the ideal that more decision-making leads to higher stress, were utilized to illustrate that more options naturally leads to more decisions and as a result more decision-makers will feel greater stress and less satisfaction. To conduct this research we explored two different segments of consumer markets. The first branch of our research was comprised of analyzing the differences in operations and menu structures of different fast food chains, most specifically In-N-Out and McDonald's and how these differences affect customer satisfaction. The other branch of our research involved reviewing phone case ratings based on Amazon reviews for a number of different phone types with varying popularity to gauge consumer satisfaction. Our results found that while both In-N-Out and McDonald's are successful companies, In-N-Out ranked consistently higher in customer satisfaction. Furthermore, a large portion of this satisfaction can be attributed to In-N-Out's simplistic menu structure which limits the amount of options and therefore decisions that a customer must make. Similarly, our study of phone cases found that for phone models where less case options are offered, customers rated their cases higher on a scale of 1-5 stars regardless of brand or the number of reviews. Through a combination of IMT and our research we were able to conclude that less options does indeed lead to higher consumer satisfaction.
ContributorsBrandt, Lawrence (Co-author) / Spiller, Ryan (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Leadership styles in the U.S. have gone through great changes in the past decades. New leadership styles have proven to be more effective than those of the past. There are certain characteristics that leaders today must have in order to effectively motivate their employees intrinsically. This report explains how certain leadership characteristics can lead to desirable or undesirable behaviors from employees. The information provided in this report was retrieved from a study I conducted with Peter Hom, Professor of Management of Arizona State University, and articles on servant leadership written by two extremely knowledgeable individuals on this topic, Adam Grant, Professor of Management at the University of Pennsylvania, and Robert Liden, Professor of Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Several other articles from credible sources were also used to provide support for this report. The report also includes numerous diagrams that help interpret the information provided.
The report is divided into several sections:
• Traditional Leadership style and rewards
• Existing literature on job relational design
• Servant leadership
• Surveys
• Data analysis
• Conclusion
From this research, it can be concluded that certain leadership qualities can contribute to an increase in intrinsic motivation to subordinates. Also, there are certain traits that allow managers to have a positive impact on subordinates. This study also provides leaders with suggestions on how to increase subordinates’ concerns for customers, which will translate into more productive work from employees.
The report is divided into several sections:
• Traditional Leadership style and rewards
• Existing literature on job relational design
• Servant leadership
• Surveys
• Data analysis
• Conclusion
From this research, it can be concluded that certain leadership qualities can contribute to an increase in intrinsic motivation to subordinates. Also, there are certain traits that allow managers to have a positive impact on subordinates. This study also provides leaders with suggestions on how to increase subordinates’ concerns for customers, which will translate into more productive work from employees.
ContributorsPulley, Travon Larnell (Author) / Hom, Peter (Thesis director) / Adelheid, Thieme (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This paper explores the issues regarding disparities in sentencing of men and women to death. Research conducted includes both primary and secondary. A variety of sources were used to gain insight into societal gender differences and stereotypes. Theories were investigated for causes in gender discrepancies. Specific standards and factors were found to be relevant for men and others for women. The methods used to implement the death penalty, the constitutionality of the death penalty, and other various death penalty issues were studied to see if they had implications for the minimal number of women sentenced to death. Research indicated that the media had a significant influence in these cases, particularly in the cases where a female committed brutal murder. This paper examines these different elements, using Arizona as a test case, with four separate female case examples in order to determine what causes disparities in sentencing men and women to death. The case facts and analysis are given in each example. The conclusion is that the discrepancies found in sentencing men and women to death are ultimately based on cultural gender stereotypes that have been in place for some time, and are often exploited in the media.
ContributorsLopez, Rachael (Author) / Stanford, Michael (Thesis director) / Kirchler, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
A cost analysis was done on the participant recruitment for an ongoing research project to promote colon cancer screening in Phoenix, Arizona. The aim of the 5-year project is to navigate people, who do not regularly see primary care physicians, from the community to a nearby clinic to be screened, using an intervention strategy called tailored navigation. Through tailored navigation, participants' barriers to being screened are addressed by Community Health Navigators, who call the participant over the span of 8 weeks following an initial class at a community site and give them information on how to overcome his or her specific barrier. The objective of this cost analysis is to explore the costs of recruiting a participant from the community to the initial class to a potential program manager. The process of recruitment involved recruitment of a community site, project introduction, the sign-up of interested participants, eligibility, baseline, and consent tests, and the class itself. A Community Site Liaison recruits sites and schedules class times. The Community Health Navigator conducts eligibility, baseline, and consent surveys and teaches the class, a sixty minute presentation on colon cancer screening. The cost of recruitment per community site was $541.23, and the cost per participant attending class was estimated to be $1,594.41 per participant with variation between $1,379.97 and $1,770.71 in optimistic and conservative scenarios, respectively.
ContributorsMishra, Shovna (Author) / Koretz, Lora (Thesis director) / Larkey, Linda (Committee member) / Herman, Patricia M. (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
SparkLED designs innovative and intelligent LED products to concert attendees for the music industry (specifically, electronic dance music). Unlike other LED product distributors/manufacturers, such as emazinglights.com, orbitlightshow.com, and led-clothing.com, we offer products with higher degrees of customization, while maintaining higher quality, such as battery life and product durability. Our venture aims to solve the problem that consumers have with current LED product offerings. In most cases, consumers have a problem with the quality of their products while they are used throughout the day at a concert, club, or festival. In addition, with an over saturated market of LED product vendors that strictly utilize online channels, we hope to offer the physical channel needed to foster customer relationships and development at various events.
ContributorsYip, Indy Boyin (Author) / Trappen, Eric (Thesis director) / Peck, Sidnee (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Innovation Space is a course designed to challenge senior students to collaborate on an interdisciplinary basis while completing a thought-provoking project. Each project is designed to allow students to address real-world issues. My team, Leverage, has created a product suite for power wheelchair users. Our product suite equips a wheelchair with a backup camera, an expanding lap desk, and a headrest with integrated Bluetooth speakers and microphone. These products are designed to increase the productive potential of the disabled, particularly quadriplegics injured around the C4 vertebra level. During the course of the program, my team will create physical prototypes of our product and I will create a full business plan. The individual written portion of my thesis will consist of discussion of a branding framework developed by creative director Patrick Hanlon. In addition, I will suggest methodology for effectively branding our company.
ContributorsGaynor, Max Daniel (Author) / Peck, Sidnee (Thesis director) / Desch, Timothy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This project investigates how experiences colleges create for admitted students impact students' excitement for, satisfaction with, and likelihood to attend the college, analyzed by different subgroups, and how non-yielded students compare their college selection to W. P. Carey on various metrics. This study found that top admit students were less likely to attend, less satisfied, and less excited with the services offered than their counterparts and recommendations were made to improve the gap.
ContributorsGullo, Kelley (Co-author) / Dwosh, Bennett (Co-author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Olsen, Douglas (Committee member) / Desch, Timothy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
As the use of Big Data gains momentum and transitions into mainstream adoption, marketers are racing to generate valuable insights that can create well-informed strategic business decisions. The retail market is a fiercely competitive industry, and the rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets have led e-commerce rivals to grow at an unbelievable rate. Retailers are able to collect and analyze data from both their physical stores and e-commerce platforms, placing them in a unique position to be able to fully capitalize on the power of Big Data. This thesis is an examination of Big Data and how marketers can use it to create better experiences for consumers. Insights generated from the use of Big Data can result in increased customer engagement, loyalty, and retention for an organization. Businesses of all sizes, whether it be enterprise, small-to-midsize, and even solely e-commerce organizations have successfully implemented Big Data technology. However, there are issues regarding challenges and the ethical and legal concerns that need to be addressed as the world continues to adopt the use of Big Data analytics and insights. With the abundance of data collected in today's digital world, marketers must take advantage of available resources to improve the overall customer experience.
ContributorsHaghgoo, Sam (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Giles, Bret (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This thesis discusses methodology used to assess the financial health of Company X's suppliers. Each suppliers' industry characteristics and key risk exposures are identified using the Porter's Five Forces. Along with qualitative analysis, financial data is analyzed with the Altman Z-Scores, forecasted financial statements, and comparative ratio analysis. The focus is narrowed down throughout the process to enable further investigation on Supplier E and the semiconductor-memory industry.The procedure and results of the analysis lead to the final recommendation to Company X on how it should assess the financial health of suppliers in the semiconductor-memory industry, and possibly other industries, using our methodology.
ContributorsBanda, Janelle (Co-author) / McDermott, Eric (Co-author) / Park, Hye Jun (Co-author) / Corral, Esteban (Co-author) / Hertzel, Michael (Thesis director) / Simonson, Mark (Committee member) / Schulz, Matthew (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The progression of men's basketball and football players' careers through the means of colleges and universities has become the beaten path as of late. The problem with this path is that it is full of corruption. Players on men's collegiate basketball and football teams suffer the consequences of the many issues surrounding the current collegiate systems including recruiting violations, financial injustices, disregard of proper educations, and much more. Rather than attempt to tackle the many problems within the NCAA and its schools head on, the solution may be to provide an alternative route for players coming out of high school, who wish to pursue a professional career in their respective sport. By analyzing the current structure of baseball's major league and minor league, some aspects may be taken and implemented into new leagues for basketball and football, or potentially the National Basketball Association's existing Developmental League. After analyzing the economical impacts these proposed leagues could have on communities throughout the United States, reasonable changes to the structures of basketball and football can be made. The results show that it would be most beneficial to pursue the implementation of certain aspects stemming from baseball's minor league into the NBA D-League, rather than attempt to formulate new leagues at this time. The results of these changes to the NBA D-League would then be further analyzed to determine the steps worth pursuing further in the sport of football.
ContributorsWhitmore, David Arthur (Author) / Mendez, Jose (Thesis director) / Jarvie, Brittney (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor)
Created2014-05