Matching Items (77)
Description
Abstract The purpose of this project is to utilize the models and concepts from Information Measurement Theory (IMT) to help minimize future decision making with respect to my career path. When I began this project, my future was clouded, my initial conditions were unknown, my stress over future career-path decisions was high, and I had eight possible career paths in mind. I have narrowed my career-path options from eight to four. In addition, I have determined a one-year plan that enables me to be prepared to pursue any of the four career paths that I have found align with me. In this project, I explored my dominant initial conditions with respect to my career path. I tracked the job history of my grandparents and parents. These efforts allowed me to identify the strengths and weaknesses that I was exhibiting by the age of three. Natural law dictates that the strengths and weaknesses of my younger self will be the same strengths and weakness that I excel at and struggle with today. I then used my understanding of natural law and the event model process to map the strengths and weaknesses of my parents and grandparents and to compare and contrast these to my strengths and weaknesses, including those that were apparent by the time that I was three years old. Focusing in on what I really want from a job, four main goals were established to grade the various future career-path options. Finally, I documented my transition from uncertainty to clarity. It began with my sobriety and ended with a milestone one-year plan that will give me information that I need to commit to my career path. This transition has had significant impact. The elusive "who am I" has been addressed, not completely but addressed sufficiently so that the question no longer plagues me. I know from where I have come. I have gained significant insight from those around me who know me. All of this has been documented for my own personal use, and for my children someday. This process permitted me to eliminate outliers from my eight original career paths, reducing them to four. In addition, application of IMT models and concepts has allowed me to see one year into the future. With my new-found knowledge, I will listen and watch the doors close on three of the remaining four career paths, as there is only one path I am meant to take.
ContributorsRichardson, Trevor Woods (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Del E. Webb Construction (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The author is an accounting major headed into the public accounting industry. As a tax intern his senior year, he was able to work in the thick of "busy season", when tax returns are due for submission and work is very busy. The author tired of working long hours and continuous talking with his accounting friends how working on Saturdays and long weeknights was generally accepted. Best value principles from Dr. Dean Kashiwagi's Information Measurement Theory were applied to examine how to maximize efficiency in public accounting and reduce the workload. After reviewing how Information Measurement Theory applies to public accounting, the author deemed three possible solutions to improve the working conditions of public accountants. First, to decrease the work load during busy season, tax organizers need to be sent earlier and staff should be assigned to oversee this information gathering. Second, in order to better prepare new hires to become partners, the career path needs to be outlined on day one with a career guide. Finally, in order to more successfully on board new hires due to the steep learning in public accounting, firms should utilize buddy systems and encourage organic mentoring.
ContributorsBohmke, Scott (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
In an effort to gauge on-campus resident's satisfaction with services provided by Century Link and the University Technology Office as well as understand the resident's technology usage habits, the Performance Based Research Studies Group at ASU conducted a survey to collect the data needed to initiate improvements. Unlike previous years, the 2015 edition of the survey was distributed more efficiently by engaging University Housing staff members (those who work closest with the residents). The result was a 288% increase in responses from the previous year, totaling 2352 respondents and a 167% increase in the number of Residential Halls surveyed, totaling 24. As a primary concern, on a scale of zero to five, the average Internet satisfaction rating was 2.42. In the comments section residents reported issues with the reliability and speed of the ASU networks. It was further determined that residents were dissatisfied with the television services with an average satisfaction rating of 2.91; and the vast majority of comments regarding television services demanding that the ESPN channels be provided. In addition to the metrics on resident satisfaction, it was found that the majority of on-campus residents do not utilize hard-wired ports. Based on the information gathered from this survey, it is recommended that the University Technology Office: 1) focus efforts on upgrading, expanding, and improving the existing ASU networks in particular the reliability and speed of those networks, 2) invest in a broader channel line-up to at minimum provide the ESPN channels, and 3) start an awareness campaign to educate residents on the usage of hard wired ports with the goal of increasing hard wired port usage. As a corollary to information gathered from the survey, it is possible to begin building technology usage profiles on each building and even building such profiles on each residential college and academic unit to better understand the clientele and adapt the services a necessary.
ContributorsMcculloch, John Patrick (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Exercise is a great boon to both the health of individuals and the national as a whole. Exercise provides a wide range of significant and well established benefits to both physical and psychological health, with many benefits that are still being discovered. The effects of exercise on health are somewhat unique, as exercise is one of a limited number of ways to improve health that is not harm a reduction strategy, but instead increases health through direct benefit, rather than increasing health by decreasing damage and harm. Support is also given to the proposal that individuals are in best position to determine the intensity of exercise and to choose primary activities to participate in, in order to provide near maximum physical and psychological benefit, with the understanding that frequency of exercise is of the upmost importance for benefit. The accessibility of exercise and the tremendous health benefit of exercise, makes exercise a huge asset in reducing the exorbitant health care spending and improving mediocre health outcomes in this country; a reasonable goal as numerous countries have better health the United States, even though the United States spends the more than any other country on health.
ContributorsRael, Ashur Scott (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The author is interested in a variety of topics in the sector of sports, especially coaching. Growing up in a household with a father who was a high school basketball coach for 21 years, the author has always seen sports in a different light, especially basketball. As a result, the author has been intrigued for quite some time by possible indicators and/or predictors for successful basketball coaches. Principles taken from Dr. Dean Kashiwagi's Infomation Measurement Theory and Kashiwagi Solution Model were utilized in the evaluation of current and former coaches in the National Basketball Association. 4 NBA coaches were researched in a manner that evaluated their overall success based on: longevity, wins/losses, and championships. While many of the key principles highlighted in IMT/KSM are applicable in this study, much of the emphasis was placed on evaluating Type A and Type C characteristics present in both successful and unsuccessful coaches.
ContributorsWinter, Logan Brian (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Sports gambling is an illegal multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry in the United States today. Due to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), 46 states are denied the opportunity to offer state-sponsored sports gambling (Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon are exempt). The problem with this law is that sports gambling is still occurring over the internet and through bookies. The government's attempt to control the choices of the American people isn't stopping them from gambling on sports, rather it is pushing them to underground channels where regulation has no foothold. The American government is failing to take advantage of tax revenue that can be used to monitor the sports gambling world along with the sports themselves. This issue of control has had its place in American history and the government finds itself on the wrong side of it once again. This thesis explores the misconceptions in the government's perceived idea of "control" and proposes that PASPA be repealed because of the enormous tax revenue opportunity eliminated by outlawing sports gambling.
ContributorsNypen, Tyler Dempsey (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Industry is changing. Businesses are plagued with problems of inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and waste. Many of these issues arise from some common mistakes within established management structures; these issues include lack of expertise in leadership positions, lack of unity across the organization, and imbalance within the business. Using Information Measurement Theory, the Kashiwagi Solution Model, and leadership theories, this thesis presents a simple approach to creating a business structure through explaining the basic tenets of a successful modern business. It was determined that the first and most important task of a business is to set realistic long-term goals for the organization. This thesis proposes that the basic needs of a successful business also includes having the right individuals, team formation, positive leadership, and the proper alignment of resources. It was found that it is best to hire individuals that exhibit some Type A characteristics because those individuals are likely to effectively carry out the goals of the business. Forming these individuals into small teams increases their processing speeds and encourages a balance of accountability, innovative solutions, and a network of learning. Furthermore, consistent, positive leadership that lives the company culture is a key element to successfully maintaining the business vision and maximizing associate effectiveness. It was also determined that aligning the organization to work towards the business vision can be performed through implementing a flat structure, placing individuals in roles that maximize effectiveness, and establishing the right business goals so that there is a consistent business vision at all levels of the organization. This thesis also provides guidance on how to implement these tenets in a simple, dominant way. Ultimately, the four proposed tenets working in unison towards business goals can lead to a successful and adaptable modern business.
ContributorsMeade, Payton Drew (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In the medical industry, there have been promising advances in the increase of new types of healthcare to the public. As of 2015, there was a 98% Premarket Approval rate, a 38% increase since 2010. In addition, there were 41 new novel drugs approved for clinical usage in 2014 where the average in the previous years from 2005-2013 was 25. However, the research process towards creating and delivering new healthcare to the public remains remarkably inefficient. It takes on average 15 years, over $900 million by one estimate, for a less than 12% success rate of discovering a novel drug for clinical usage. Medical devices do not fare much better. Between 2005-2009, there were over 700 recalls per year. In addition, it takes at minimum 3.25 years for a 510(k) exempt premarket approval. Plus, a time lag exists where it takes 17 years for only 14% of medical discoveries to be implemented clinically. Coupled with these inefficiencies, government funding for medical research has been decreasing since 2002 (2.5% of Gross Domestic Product) and is predicted to be 1.5% of Gross Domestic Product by 2019. Translational research, the conversion of bench-side discoveries to clinical usage for a simplistic definition, has been on the rise since the 1990s. This may be driving the increased premarket approvals and new novel drug approvals. At the very least, it is worth considering as translational research is directly related towards healthcare practices. In this paper, I propose to improve the outcomes of translational research in order to better deliver advancing healthcare to the public. I suggest Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BV PIPS) should be adapted in the selection process of translational research projects to fund. BV PIPS has been shown to increase the efficiency and success rate of delivering projects and services. There has been over 17 years of research with $6.3 billion of projects and services delivered showing that BV PIPS has a 98% customer satisfaction, 90% minimized management effort, and utilizes 50% less manpower and effort. Using University of Michigan \u2014 Coulter Foundation Program's funding process as a baseline and standard in the current selection of translational research projects to fund, I offer changes to this process based on BV PIPS that may ameliorate it. As concepts implemented in this process are congruent with literature on successful translational research, it may suggest that this new model for selecting translational research projects to fund will reduce costs, increase efficiency, and increase success. This may then lead to more Premarket Approvals, more new novel drug approvals, quicker delivery time to the market, and lower recalls.
ContributorsDel Rosario, Joseph Paul (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Dr. Dean Kashiwagi created a new thinking paradigm, Information Measurement Theory (IMT), which utilizes the understanding of natural laws to help individuals minimize decision-making and risk, which leads to reduced stress. In this new paradigm, any given situation can only have one unique outcome. The more information an individual has for the given situation, the better they can predict the outcome. Using IMT can help correctly "predict the future" of any situation if given enough of the correct information. A prime example of using IMT would be: to correctly predict what a young woman will be like when she's older, simply look at the young woman's mother. In essence, if you can't fall in love with the mother, don't marry the young woman. The researchers are utilizing the concept of IMT and extrapolating it to the financial investing world. They researched different financial investing strategies and were able to come to the conclusion that a strategy utilizing IMT would yield the highest results for investors while minimizing stress. Investors using deductive logic to invest received, on average, 1300% more returns than investors who did not over a 25-year period. Where other investors made many decisions and were constantly stressed with the tribulations of the market, the investors utilizing IMT made one decision and made much more than other investors. The research confirms the stock market will continue to increase over time by looking at the history of the stock market from a birds-eye view. Throughout the existence of the stock market, there have been highs and lows, but at the end of the day, the market continues to break through new ceilings. Investing in the stock market can be a dark and scary place for the blind investor. Using the concept of IMT can eliminate that blindfold to reduce stress on investors while earning the highest financial return potential. Using the basis of IMT, the researchers predict the market will continue to increase in the future; in conclusion, the best investment strategy is to invest in blue chip stocks that have a history of past success, in order to capture secure growth with minimal risk and stress.
ContributorsBerns, Ryan (Co-author) / Ybanez, Julian (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
As a medical scribe working in an Emergency Department (ED) at Banner Gateway Medical Center (BGMC), the researcher was able to identify how the work flow and satisfaction of those in the ED would decrease when there were no Physician Assistants (PA's) being utilized during specific shifts. As for other shifts where PA's were on shift and were being utilized, the work flow would drastically increase, more patients would be seen in less time and the satisfaction of the researchers co-workers would increase. This paradigm of how PA's are implemented brought the researcher to understand the overall success of having Physicians Assistants in partnership with Physicians, consulting physicians and management in the ED. The researcher conducted a five-month long analyses of how implementation of Physician Assistants in the ED could effect overall satisfaction. The researcher looked at the satisfaction of the PAs themselves, attending physicians, nurses, nursing assistants, ED manager, ED director, ED co-director and the patients themselves. The researcher collected questionnaires, conducted interviews and retrieved data from Banner Health Services for the year 2014 to compare her data. The researcher conducted the study both at Banner Gateway Medical Center (BGMC) Emergency Department and also at Banner Baywood Medical Center (BBMC) ED. In comparison of the data collected from BGMC ED to BBMC ED resulted in a significant difference in overall satisfaction based on implementation. Although both emergency departments are owned by the same Banner corporation and only a few miles apart in distance, they implement Pas differently. The difference in the implementation did prove to effect the overall satisfaction. BGMC ED employees as well as manager and patients were more satisfied than those of BBMC ED. Some of the noted differences were that BBMC PAs see more patients per hour, they see higher acuity patients, are less compensated, are placed further apart from their attending physicians and other staff in the ED, there is minimal communication, PAs feel there voice is not heard and they feel pushback on feedback with no plan for improvement. BGMC PAs reported overall increase in satisfaction as compared to BBMC because of the increased communication, placement of PAs within the ED is closer to attending physicians and other staff, they see lower acuity patients, are better compensated and monthly meetings on improvements that can be made and the PAs feel their voice is being heard. Productivity scores for BGMC ED PAs were 1.71 patients per hour as compare to BBMC ED which was 1.86 patients per hour. BBMC PA patient satisfaction on average was 60.6 as compared to BGMC where the PA average satisfaction was 67.8.
ContributorsApplegate, Lauren Mckenzie (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Coursen, Cristi (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor)
Created2015-05