PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Business: Business Administration

The tendency of decision-makers to “stay the course” and continue with a course of action that is failing to accomplish optimal financial results is a phenomenon known as financial escalation of commitment. Persevering with an initially unsuccessful course of action sometimes leads to eventual financial success, but it often leads to chronic financial under-performance and/or bankruptcy. It is surprising how often different decision-makers facing the same type of decision – subject to the same constraints and privy to the same information – come to different conclusions about what course of action is most likely to produce optimal financial results. This research presents new empirical results which help to explain why some small family firms are more profitable than others. It elucidates five specific cognitive biases inherent when using a representativeness heuristic (closed-mindedness, insensitivity to base rate frequency, over-weighting of isolated positive/negative information, preference for redundant indicators, and insensitivity to mean regression) which lead decision-makers to persist with financially sub-optimal courses of action. It provides evidence that involvement with industry associations mitigates this negative financial performance – a major contribution to the family firm governance literature. Perhaps of greatest interest to family business scholars and practitioners alike, it shows that, if decision-makers can look beyond maintenance of the loyalty of their key customers, the non-financial goal of maintaining ownership, control, and family involvement also produces above-average financial results.

Committee: Charles Matthews Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Alan Lee Carsrud Ph.D. Ec.D. (Committee Member); Joshua Clarkson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thomas Dalziel Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration

MFA, Kent State University, 2014, College of Communication and Information / School of Visual Communication Design

No matter how an entrepreneur defines failure, statistics on the success rate of start-up businesses is disheartening. Around 30 to 40 percent of start-up businesses liquidate all assets, losing all investor funding, while 70 to 80 percent fail to produce the projected return on investment. There is a strong need for effective incubation facilities which compress the learning curves of the start-ups and provide them with necessary initial support in order to improve their sustainability. There are around 1,200 business incubators operating in the United States. Joining an incubator is a great way for inexperienced entrepreneurs to receive funding and guidance to help get their ideas off the ground. It blends office spaces with mentoring programs, financial assistance, business services and the opportunity to network with experts and fellow entrepreneurs. Most incubator facilities in the U.S. are public-private partnerships, with initial support coming from the federal, state and local government bodies. Approximately half of these total facilities are affiliated with universities. While traditional business models are adequate for many established companies, the types of problems that face new businesses have changed. A decade ago, entrepreneurs were not expected to start their own brands from scratch, they were simply too hard and expensive to create and could survive by simply differentiating themselves based on product or service. Since then, expectations have risen as the start-up field has grown. It's not enough to stand out with a single idea; you have to combine it with a great product, engaging consumer experience and a voice that sets it apart from the competition. Creating a brand isn't a project with a beginning, middle and end. Instead it requires constant vigilance and must be monitored throughout the course of the brand's life. In the process of starting a company, people are often too focused on raising the capital to grow, rather than building (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ken Visocky O'Grady (Advisor); David Middleton (Committee Member); Julie Messing (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Business Community; Business Education; Design; Entrepreneurship

Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Biology

The medical device industry is diverse, dynamic, and above all, highly competitive. This study investigates the role of competitive intelligence research in the development of an effective business strategy for Centerline Biomedical Inc., a mid-stage medical device start-up commercializing a novel endovascular navigation technology. Using a variety of secondary research sources, a competitive intelligence analysis was conducted, focusing on vascular navigation and imaging. Seven industry players were identified as competitors to Centerline Biomedical based on their product pipelines and future initiatives. Using this data, potential strategies for directing Centerline Biomedical's growth were explored. In order to manage sources of competition and more quickly achieve the organization's goals of establishing critical mass, expanding their product portfolio, and planning for a successful exit, a strategic partnership with a leading industry player is proposed and described.

Committee: Christopher Cullis Dr. (Committee Chair); Mark Willis Dr. (Committee Member); Leena Chakravarty Dr. (Committee Member); Philip Rackliffe (Committee Member) Subjects: Medical Imaging; Medicine

Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2020, Biology

The “mycobiome" refers to the composition of both bacterial and fungal communities in the human gut microbiome and has been the focus of disease-state correlations investigated by researchers and pursued with commercial interests by biotech startups. A microbiome startup currently sells direct-to-consumer at-home microbiome sequencing kits and probiotics that aim to balance the gut biofilm that contributes to the dysbiosis-associated conditions. This company has expressed an interest in developing new business strategies to leverage their intellectual and technical strengths. This thesis is composed of two parts: The first section is a scientific and technical investigation of the micro- and myco-biome, sequencing techniques and strategies (16S, ITS, WGS, and Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing) that play a role in the characterization and identification of fungal and bacterial colonies in the gut. These strategies aim to overcome challenges in characterizing and quantifying microbiota composition. Next, this sequencing data can form a robust database of patient data that plays a role in disease identification, and this thesis identifies some of the bioinformatic analyses to achieve this goal. The section concludes with how insights derived from patient data can be used in the optimization of cohort design in clinical trials for various diseases. The second section investigates three different business models that a microbiome startup has expressed interest in exploring for future development: (1) medical foods; (2) a therapeutic pipeline; and (3) a data-licensing and discovery platform for drug development. A detailed analysis of the market dynamics, competitive landscape, regulatory issues, and other nascent concerns was performed for each potential vertical as a foundation to develop future business strategy of a microbiome-related startup. The thesis is concluded on a holistic analysis of the scientific and technical assets and business opportunities and str (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Christopher Cullis (Committee Member); Emmitt Jolly (Committee Member); Neema Mayhugh (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Entrepreneurship

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2019, Latin American Studies (International Studies)

This thesis strives to analyze the fast casual food market in order to understand if Chipotle would be successful in Brazil and what the concerns would be if the American chain decides to internationalize its operation to Brazil. This thesis has developed as a prospective case study based mainly on business and cultural analysis. The study analyzed Brazil by using the theory of market assessment, and also analyzed the fast casual, fast food, and food service industries and products by applying other business theories such as PESTEL, Porter Five Forces and VRIO. Furthermore, the study interviewed one entrepreneur in the fast casual industry in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil to understand the local industry dynamics. Regarding all the information analyzed, this thesis creates a business model that consists on explaining how Chipotle would operate in the country. Brazil is an attractive market for Chipotle, there is room for rapid growth, and Chipotle could provide a positive impact for Brazilians.

Committee: Arthur Hughes (Committee Member); Patricia Toledo (Committee Chair); Grigorios Livanis (Committee Member); Michael Geringer (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration; Business Community; Business Costs; Business Education; Cultural Resources Management; Economics; Finance; International Law; International Relations; Latin American Studies

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2019, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

Since the first album that Black Sabbath released in 1970, the 50-year-long history of heavy metal music makes it has developed into a diversified but controversial subculture all over the world. Even though several big names, such as Metallica, Iron Maiden or Judas Priest, have gained commercial success and mainstream exposure, most of the heavy metal bands, fans and communities are still far from a stable status. The market scale is threatened by poor social acceptance and incorrect stereotypes and is too limited to develop an operational model for heavy metal music communities as mature as mainstream music production in this current state. The goal of this thesis is to: 1) explore the core value of heavy metal subculture and design an organizational strategy to strengthen the connection between various roles within the community. The research was divided into three parts. The first part is the quantitative research on the development of heavy metal music in different regions, shows the regional trends of heavy metal subculture. The second part is the qualitative evaluation of heavy metal albums' covers and lyrics, and documentary films about heavy metal music. The third part is the interviews with record shop owners. The first part Borrowing the CIS (Corporation Identity System) from the business field, the data collected during the second stage could be categorized into visual identities, communication identities, and behavior identities. The data collected from interviews are organized into a system map to show the current organizational strategy. The conclusion, this thesis proposes a new type of organizational strategy that supports the local heavy metal subculture community, in order to help stabilize the market and strengthen connections of community members through participation in it. Furthermore, inspired by the proposed strategy, more universal strategies and guidelines for other types of subculture are discussed.

Committee: Ashley Kubley M.A. (Committee Chair); Gerald Michaud M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

This thesis is proposing a new meal service for college students. The service combines the methods of the cooking co-op model and meal kit services. The thesis was developed in two steps: first is theoretical research and the second is service design and marketing planning. Theoretical research includes primary research and secondary research. The primary research of the thesis focuses on students' meal experience and discovering their needs in meals, preparing for the development of the service design. The secondary research aims at the social psychologist Carl Hovland's theories of persuasion and communication, discussing three components of persuasion: 1) source, 2) message and 3) audience, and establishing the guidelines for marketing development. The second step is service design and business planning. According to the data collected previously, a CoCook proposal was established. The business plan starts with the creation of personas. Then, a customer journey map was developed to stimulate the purchasing process. Finally, the theory of persuasion, which is discussed in secondary research, was applied on the lead nurturing process.

Committee: Peter Chamberlain M.F.A. (Committee Chair); Dianne Hardin M.S. M.Des. (Committee Member); Tony Kawanari M.A. I.D. (Committee Member); Gerald Michaud M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Psychology

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2016, Design

“Design is a problem–solving process and the fundamental skills of the designer are the ability to look for meaningful problems, frame them into appropriate contexts, and design a process for developing and implementing a solution” (Irwin, 2015). This definition of design and the role of the designer are a significant departure from its original definition by the Bauhaus where the objective of all creative effort in the visual arts was to give form to space and where the source of creative imagination was in developing a proficiency in the craft (Gropius, Bayer, & Gropius, 1938). Design as a discipline has evolved and is expanding its impact from individual physical objects and spaces to experiences and organizations. There is increasing interest in design thinking and human-centered design methodologies. Organizations are discovering the value and potential of design. Although definition and the sphere of design influence have changed, design education has remained rooted in the craft skills. Design education has two trains of thought: the foundation and the progression. The foundation skills of observation and application have remained consistent through the history of design but the progression of design is in constant change (Foster,O.,2015 as cited by Currey, 2015). “If design is to live up to its promise it must create new, enduring curricula for design education that merge science and technology, art and business, and indeed, all the knowledge of the university” (Norman & Klemmer, 2014). What is that promise that design has to offer? How can design schools lay the foundation to deliver that promise? How can or should design education prepare future designers for this expanding sphere of design influence? This research attempts to addresses these questions by exploring the future and value of graduate design education. This multidisciplinary research and design thesis combined design research methodologies with business strategy concepts and tools for de (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Sanders (Advisor); David Staley (Committee Member); Mary Anne Beecher (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Education

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Business Education

The purpose of this qualitative within-site case study was to better understand the perceived professional development needs of community college business faculty. The study was important, because few studies had described the professional development needs of community college business faculty, which annually serve more than 7.2 million students. Because the teachers provide timely and relevant instruction, they need professional development to stay abreast of changes within their professional disciplines (e.g., accounting, business communications, office administration technology). The findings in this study reveal that community college business faculty need professional development focused on meeting the needs of students from across the lifespan, from diverse family and socioeconomic backgrounds, technology, the selection and implementation of teaching methods, and understanding theory and its application to classroom settings. Further study is recommended to determine the extent to which findings in this study may be applicable to the larger population of community college teachers of business and recommendations for practice include designing and delivering professional development that coheres with the perceptions of target participants.

Committee: Frederick Polkinghorne Dr. (Advisor); Vera Lux (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Business Education; Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Technology; Educational Theory

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

Innovation refers to incremental, radical changes in thinking, products and processes. Innovation, important to business, economics and technology, is extensively studied because it leads to an increase in companies' organic revenue growth and their bottom lines. Although the importance of design driven innovation is acknowledged in the United States, the value of design in innovation is underestimated internationally, especially in a developing country like China. That is why it is essential to understand how design could drive innovation in a different cultural context. The purpose of this thesis is to raise an awareness of how design driven innovation could be used as an important innovation strategy to help Chinese companies gain sustainable benefits. To achieve this goal, the relationships among innovation, design driven innovation and the traditional values based in Chinese culture are illustrated and a successful design driven innovative Chinese Cosmetic Company is employed as case study in this thesis. As a conclusion, this thesis identifies a unique element, Chinese traditional values, that could be used as one of key elements to achieving successful innovation for Chinese companies. This research is not only significant for showing the possibilities for Chinese businesses to achieve innovation, but also for suggesting possible strategies for international companies dealing with emerging markets issues.

Committee: Craig Vogel MD (Committee Chair); Steven Doehler , (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

This thesis focuses on the interaction between design and business, exploring its impact on the success of organizations through two case studies of design managers, Dan Harden, Chief Executive Officer for Whipsaw Inc and Sam Lucente, Global Vice President of Design for Hewlett-Packard. Through an analysis of organizational strategy and design, this thesis proposes a theoretical model that identifies how design becomes a dynamic capability for any organization when its promotion and support shifts from a person to a function. Finally, based on this model, this thesis analyzes the effectiveness of design thinking in supporting design as a dynamic capability and offers conclusions for the elevation of a design function in support of a sustained competitive advantage in organizations.

Committee: Craig Vogel MD (Committee Chair); Dale Murray MA (Committee Member); Martha Ann Welsh PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

MDes, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Design

Asia has become a hub of activity with many international corporations are increasingly turning to this region for solutions to effective management and more importantly as a vast yet untapped market of consumers with growing spending capabilities, heightened awareness for quality brands and products. Many foreign companies have already set shop in China and many more have business plans for India, whose winning demographic mix and unexpected growth have made it the flavor of the season. Transnational corporations have already learnt in China that the Chinese consumer has a unique identity. And early entrants to India are learning a similar lesson. Though large, the Indian market is a tough nut to crack. The Indian consumer is the end product of his socio-cultural milieu. His consumption habits have been tempered by tradition and modernity, consumerism and frugalness, knowledge and ignorance. Such a consumer craves for all that a foreign brand name portends—quality, snob value and internationalism—but relates better to products that are localized, customized and tailored to meet his needs. Contrary to larger perceptions, based perhaps on India's rampant poverty, such a consumer is not always price sensitive. Instead, he can always loosen his purse-strings, provided the company is able to convince him that what they have is the very best his money can buy. And in order to touch that emotional chord, companies wanting to do business in India have no option but to understand the Indian market and the Indian consumer inside out. India is undoubtedly a country ripe for picking. But a country which readily rewards foreign companies that have made the effort to understand its cultural ethos, even while summarily rejecting the offerings of those who have entered the market with shoddy, careless and indifferent preparation. This research project will look at some popular domestic and foreign brands in India, scrutinize some current market trends and evaluate the reason why s (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Craig Vogel (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2009, Computer Science and Engineering

The problem of Business-IT alignment has been a challenge for organizations for more than two decades but it continues to remain a challenge with most organizations till today. This challenge exists due to the several reasons like the presence of varied stakeholder perspectives in the business, limited budget and limited resources. It gets further amplified by lack of integrated tools and methodologies which leads to restricted knowledge that inhibits traceability between business goals and operations. This limitation hampers our ability to make decisions that can add value to the business and lead to continuous improvement.The thesis address this challenge through a real life case study within a complex city government organization by developing and validating a conceptual framework for systems analysis based on the characterization of an organization as an ‘Adaptive Complex Enterprise'(ACE). This framework addresses existing limitations by thinking about the problem by considering certain important dimensions in an organization, namely Business, Infrastructure, Operations, and Strategy stakeholders. This framework introduces a Requirements-Execution-Delivery (RED) model to characterize the transactions in an ACE. The contributions of this thesis are as follows: 1) Applying the framework for ACE to develop a Strategic Plan for the Information Technology department in a complex city organization. 2) Showing that the RED transaction-based methodology results in eliciting information about needed services/resources to sense and respond. 3) Showing that the transaction data can be captured and analyzed from organization source. 4) Prototyping a conceptual RED database serving as a way to integrate decision-making tools at the system or resource level.

Committee: Rajiv Ramnath (Advisor); Anand Desai (Other); Jay Ramanathan (Other) Subjects: Computer Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Labor and Human Resources

This dissertation focuses on a deceptively simple question: To what extent are received micro and macro HRM theories reconcilable? The premise underlying each of the following chapters is that perhaps the human capital theories micro and macro scholars use are a viable mechanism to bridge the micro and macro traditions. However, the essential elements (e.g., constructs) and structure (i.e., theory) required to test such a premise do not exist and must be created. Therefore, each chapter either creates a required element or contributes to the required structure.Chapter One provides an overview and specifies four assumptions underlying micro and/or macro theory that must be adapted to create an integrated theoretical model. Chapter Two creates the theory for the disaggregation of HRM systems into functional constructs. In Chapter Three, a definition of human capital is created that integrates micro and macro traditions. An initial test of the integrated theory is completed by subjecting a proprietary industry-specific dataset to hierarchical linear modeling. The focus of Chapter Four is: Does the human capital context of an organizational unit (e.g., an establishment) alter the assumed single-level human capital-performance relationships (e.g., a team human capital to team performance relationship) embedded within the organizational unit? The data support that human capital context sometimes moderates single-level human capital-performance relationships. The studies provide a starting point for future research on the extent to which human-capital research may serve as a mechanism to bridge micro and macro HRM. Such research is important because ecological fallacies may result if only micro theory is used to predict the performance of collectives and if the hierarchical structure in which human capital is embedded is not considered.

Committee: Jay Barney PhD (Committee Chair); Howard Klein PhD (Committee Member); Robert Heneman PhD (Committee Member); Sharon Alvarez PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2004, Business Administration

In this dissertation I focus on how firms should buy resources in factor markets to create competitive advantages. When competing in factor or product markets to acquire resources or sell goods, firms often have to make strategic decisions whether to use spot market transactions with posted prices, negotiation markets with bargaining, or auction markets with bidding. Given these three different market mechanisms, what are the firm and industry specific factors that determine different selling/buying devices to occur simultaneously in the market? In the first essay I model dynamic resource acquisition in equilibrium, simultaneously taking into account the characteristics of factor markets from both the sellers' and the buyers' perspectives. Auctions, negotiations and spot markets are compared given heterogeneity of expectations, bargaining power of the participants, market thickness, risk propensity and search costs. In my second essay I empirically investigate and explain the optimal choice between market mechanisms in an entrepreneurial context. Two major markets exist for the sale of an entrepreneurial firm: initial public offering (IPO) versus mergers and acquisitions (M&A) markets. I find that all else being equal, entrepreneurial firms with high bargaining power are more likely to choose M&A versus IPO. Firms that represent high private values are more likely to be sold through auctions versus negotiations. As the market thickness increases, the likelihood of entrepreneurial firms being sold through M&A decreases. However, this finding is reversed for firms with higher private values. For firms with high debt ratios, the likelihood of M&A increases compared to IPOs. I find that as venture capital activity in the focal industry increases, the likelihood of M&As increases. In my third essay, I examine the business-to-business (B2B) industrial parts industry and the procurement practices of several firms by combining this business phenomenon with the auction theor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Oded Shenkar (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2013, Mechanical and Systems Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

Strategy denotes actions or patterns of actions intended for the attainment of goals. In an organizational setting, the term strategy covers more than just intended or planned strategy; it also includes the sequence of decisions that exhibit posteriori consistencies in decisional behavior, involving the selection of product markets or industries and the allocation of resources among them. Within the broader purpose of developing a decision making framework for competitive strategy development practices, the thrust of this study is to investigate the impact of environmental uncertainty on corporate strategy, and the influence of corporate strategy on business performance, operational structure and market dynamics. Another incidental purpose of the study is to review, classify, clarify, define, and integrate ideas and concepts from diverse disciplines including Engineering, Economics and Business Administration to consequently establish a strategic decision making framework. The factors influencing the short term and long term standing of companies in a particular market are focused with the objectives of increasing the business capability and profitability as well as improving the market share. The case studied is the global blood sugar monitoring industry. The demand structure of the market is modeled considering four major companies in three regional markets; Asia, Europe, North America. LifeScan Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company, is selected as the focus of greater discussions. The decision making framework is established for LifeScan Inc. incorporating a layered cellular manufacturing design integrated with different supply chain alternatives. The framework is then employed in a multi-period strategic analysis where competition games are developed and studied in three categories; price competition, quality/reputation competition and product competition. The outcomes of different competition strategies are presented and evaluated in terms of profitability and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gursel Suer (Advisor); Douglas Adie (Advisor); David Koonce (Committee Member); Dusan Sormaz (Committee Member); Namkyu Park (Committee Member); Ana Feger (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Economics; Industrial Engineering