Matching Items (112)
Description
This thesis discusses the implications of sports gambling from a perspective of addiction and promotions offered by sportsbooks. It discusses the background behind the recent legalization of sports gambling in the U.S., the potential result of gambling addiction, the different types of promotions commonly offered by sportsbooks, how these promotions relate to psychological phenomena related to gambling addiction, and how an ideal bettor could use these promotions to their advantage in order to best avoid addiction and losing excessive money. The data on the promotions used for analysis was collected primarily from DraftKings and manipulated in order to find expected returns, implied probabilities, and other relevant information. There is a discussion of how an ideal bettor could utilize the promotions commonly offered to consumers in order to make money on new platforms and theoretically avoid losing as much money by continuously betting in a strategic way.
ContributorsTolzman, Jason (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / McIntosh, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
This thesis discusses the options of keeping or relocating the Arizona Coyotes to Quebec City. The Coyotes recently were not able to renew their lease with the city of Glendale for their current arena, Gila River Arena. For the next three years the Coyotes will play in a 5,000 seat capacity arena at Arizona State University. Quebec City has been rumored to want to bring a NHL team back and already has a 18,259 capacity arena. In order to assess the highest valued future location for the team, this thesis provides an analysis of 3 different options: (1) move the team to Quebec City Canada, (2) build a new arena in Tempe, or (3) continue to play at the ASU arena. First, an overview of the Coyotes as well as the original Quebec City NHL team, the Nordiques, is provided. Next, a financial analysis of the 3 options is provided. The final section makes conclusions based on the analysis provided.
ContributorsMaloy, Hunter (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Tserlukevich, Yuri (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Real estate investment strategies—and all investments for that matter—typically follow a Capital Asset Pricing Model (“CAPM”) rule such as financial instruments, where the more risk you take on, the more return you are compensated with. In real estate, the “Core” or “Core-Plus” investments typically take the lowest risk-return slot, while opportunistic developments or distressed investments take the higher end of the risk-return spectrum due to their “riskier” nature. In periods of capital markets volatility and uncertain economic climates, however, the risk-return profile of these investments can become less linear and even slightly flip, offsetting risk-adjusted returns so much to the point where an investment with less risk has a higher risk-adjusted return (or in some cases a higher nominal return) than one with more risk – signifying a dislocation in real estate investing that shrewd capital allocators can exploit. The following analyses takes a widely encapsulated view into current economic events in the real estate / financial industry that would cause this investment strategy dislocation, coupled with a multi-faceted, empirical analyses on actual real estate investments to effectively illustrate how lower risk strategies can offer higher risk-adjusted returns than their higher risk / higher return counterparts.
ContributorsCoyle, Patrick (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Winson, Kimberly (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2024-05
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
Description
Opening a business is often an exciting time in one’s life, as they take their business idea into the marketplace. But, most individuals fail to adequately address whether their business can actually succeed before entering the marketplace. The thesis, Creating a Successful Gluten-Free Bakery: A Financial Model and Analysis analyzes whether or not a gluten-free bakery is a viable business to open in today’s marketplace. By costing the main financial variables, creating a financial model of a gluten-free bakery, and running scenario analysis, I was able to find whether or not opening a gluten-free bakery was a viable business in today’s marketplace.
ContributorsDantonio, Adam (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Arthur, Budolfson (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
I will begin my paper by briefly describing the background which led to this paper, as well as stating my thesis. Next, I will define the term terrorism and explain the difference between it and the associated terms of insurgency and guerrilla warfare. Further, I will briefly go over the history of terrorism and the methods employed by terrorist organizations. After this introductory element, I will proceed to explore how terrorism has been funded in the past and how it is being funded at present. Lastly, I will present an overview of future methods of financing and make a proposal as to how the United States and the rest of the world could possibly disrupt these forms of financing. This paper is not intended to be comprehensive in nature, as this would be too large in scope, but rather use specific examples to illustrate certain methods and uses of terrorist financing
ContributorsWonderly, Frank (Author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Smith, Geoffrey (Committee member) / Department of Military Science (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis investigates the use of MS Power BI in the case company’s heterogeneous computing environment. The empirical evidence was collected through the authors’ own observations and exposure to the modeling of dashboards, other supported external findings from interviews, published articles, academic journals, and speaking with leading experts at the WA ‘Dynamic Talks Seattle/Redmond: Big Data Analytics’ conference. Power BI modeling is effective for advancing the development of statistical thinking and data retrieving skills, finding trends and patterns in data representations, and making predictions. Computer-based data modeling gave meaning to math results, and supported examining implications of these results with simple charts to improve perception. Querying and other add-ins that would be seen as affordances when using other BI softwares, with some complexity removed in Power BI, make modeling data an easier undertaking for report builders. Using computer-based qualitative data analysis software, this paper details opportunities and challenges of data modeling with dashboards. Simple linear regression is used for case study use only.
ContributorsKusen, Alexandra Jeshua (Co-author) / Briones, Jared (Co-author) / Fugleberg, Aaron (Co-author) / Lin, Amy (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
By 2030, annual global automobile production is projected to reach over 110 million vehicles with an increasing quantity having autonomous capabilities. Based on this trend, Company X is poised to drive profits by leveraging advancing technology from their subsidiary to gain significant market share within the AV industry. This will solidify Company X’s position as a key player and leader within the AV industry, which is expected to grow to $7 trillion by 2050, and Company X can achieve this by providing a technology suite including a systems on a chip to auto manufacturers and creating partnerships in the technology and automotive industry.
ContributorsAvery, Hailey (Co-author) / Green, Ryan (Co-author) / Hall, Robert (Co-author) / Hummel, Haley (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis discusses the case for Company X to improve its vast supply chain by implementing an artificial intelligence solution in the management of its spare parts inventory for manufacturing-related machinery. Currently, the company utilizes an inventory management system, based on previously set minimum and maximum thresholds, that doesn’t use predictive analytics to stock required spares inventory. This results in unnecessary costs and redundancies within the supply chain resulting in the stockout of spare parts required to repair machinery. Our research aimed to quantify the cost of these stockouts, and ultimately propose a solution to mitigate them. Through discussion with Company X, our findings led us to recommend the use of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) within the inventory management system to better predict when stockouts would occur. As a result of data availability, our analysis began on a smaller scale, considering only a single manufacturing site at Company X. Later, our findings were extrapolated across all manufacturing sites. The analysis includes the cost of stockouts, the capital that would be saved with A.I. implementation, costs to implement this new A.I. software, and the final net present value (NPV) that Company X could expect in 10 years and 25 years. The NPV calculations explored two scenarios, an external partnership and the purchase of a small private company, that lead to our final recommendations regarding the implementation of an A.I. software solution in Company X’s spares inventory management system. Following the analysis, a qualitative discussion of the potential risks and market opportunities associated with the explored implementation scenarios further guided the determination of our final recommendations.
ContributorsHolohan, Joseph Michael Houston (Co-author) / Shahriari, Rosie (Co-author) / Aun, Jose (Co-author) / Heineke, Christopher (Co-author) / Gurrola, Macario (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Michael (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05