Festival of Scholars

Student Abstracts

Big Data: A Glimpse into a New Competitive Advantage

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Have you heard of Big Data? Big data is a new phenomenon caused by the recent exponential growth and availability of data that is too massive, diverse and fast changing for traditional technologies and infrastructure to address efficiently. The big data market will reach $16 billion in 2014, growing six times faster than the entire IT market overall. Who uses Big Data and why? Our research examines how some organizations can derive insights from social media data, identify trends and gain competitive advantage by making data-driven decisions. How does Big Data analysis work? To answer this question, we conduct an analysis based on a three stage process: (1) development of a data extractor to extract large amounts of raw data from social networking platforms such as Twitter, (2) analysis of unstructured data using analysis tools (Hadoop on Amazon cloud) and (3) development of the presentation layer to show the results.

Student(s):
Evamarie Cote, Kaveh Majidi

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Virginia Ilie

Global Teams

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The world is getting smaller and more people are working in multicultural teams. In my paper I have studied the challenges that employees are facing when working with people from other cultures. I have studied reports and articles on the subject to learn more about the challenges, and how to solve the issues that can come up in a multicultural group setting, either in the virtual space or in the company. In my findings I have learned that communication, culture, differences in values, norms and beliefs, and less time to form relationships among the team members are the reason for conflicts in multicultural groups. To improve teamwork, and build trust among the team members, it will be important to take the time to get to know each team member, and to get a better understanding about their cultural background to decrease the chances of conflict in the group.

Student(s):
Merethe Flatla

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Mary Jo Shane

Google Glass: A Framework for App Development in Healthcare

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Google Glass, a form of augmented reality which uses a head up display worn over one eye, was recently recognized by Time Magazine as "one of the best inventions." A wearable technology, it can be used to capture video, take pictures, interact with the personal contacts and navigate maps. One industry this technology has impacted is healthcare. In this research, we introduce the Google Glass technology and explain how it works, current applications, privacy concerns and its future in the healthcare field. Technically, we aim to develop a Google Application (App) framework in the healthcare area. This application would allow users to find and enter patient data by voice, add photo and voice notes, view previous history, and also retrieve patient data by facial recognition. Tools required for developing the application are based on Eclipse IDE with JDK 1.6, Apache Maven, App Engine SDK for Java, GDK and Mirror API.

Student(s):
Manikhandan Hari, Megha Mehta

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Virginia Ilie

Government – Contractor Workforce: Effects on Morale

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The number of federal workers continues to shrink as the nation struggles to recover from the Great Recession and develop strategies to combat the swelling national debt. Government work is increasingly performed by a complex workforce made of federal and private sector employees. Reduced budgets and current federal policy have made hiring of government employees difficult requiring an increase in the contracting of private sector employees to ensure the federal mission is successfully accomplished. The result of this changing demographic is an adverse impact to the workplace environment as experienced by both federal and contractor employees. A key indicator to the weakening employer-employee connection is a drop in job satisfaction among both groups of employees. Surveys of government and contractor employees indicate a deteriorating employment relationship as demonstrated by decreases in job satisfaction, loyalty and trust, and further revealed by conflict among co-workers and low workplace morale.

Student(s):
Debra Hernandez

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Frederick Elias

Tesla Motors (TSLA): A Strong Buy or Strong Bye Bye?

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This project serves as a financial evaluation of Tesla Motors, Inc. exploring 36 months of data. Using financial concepts and ratios, such as Free Cash Flow, EVA and Stock Valuation, we will determine that Tesla is too young of a company to evaluate with any real certainty. However, with the goal of understanding Tesla’s near-$200 stock price—which is nowhere near the industry norm—we make various assumptions in order to consider a wide range of possible justifications. This data will show that whatever reasonable assumptions are made, the stock consistently comes up as overvalued. Exploring, and ultimately rejecting, the possibility of expected growth by investors as the cause of the current stock price, we will conclude that Tesla is overvalued in the market due to irrational exuberance caused by branding, hype and the allure of the unknown.

Student(s):
Jessie Hochhalter, Stanley Fletcher, Joshua Lipman, Ives Lopez, Lena Okataiev, Jeffrey Solis

Faculty Mentor:
Mr. Edgar Terry

Emotional Intelligence: Effects on Job Satisfaction and Performance

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The study examined whether or not an employee’s level of emotional intelligence had an effect on their job satisfaction and productivity. Participants were 23 staff members in the Student Housing department at California State University, Northridge. Participants included a
mix of both management and support staff employees. Questionnaires were administered to participants made up of 10 questions testing the four components of emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, and relationship management) compared to employee job satisfaction and performance. It was predicted and found that employee’s emotional intelligence was positively associated with job satisfaction and performance. It was found that each component of emotional intelligence was relatively equally significant when evaluating the impact on job satisfaction and productivity. These findings support the use of emotional intelligence training when attempting to improve employee job satisfaction and productivity; thus, increasing the overall success of an organization.

Student(s):
Emily Jensen

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Frederick Elias

Increasing Creativity in the Thai Workplace

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Creativity is one of the important keys to succeed in business. It is also about mental and social processes that are fueled by conscious and unconscious insights for generating ideas, concepts, and associations. We actually have seen and known many famous companies in the world which focus on creativity in the workplace, such as Google, Facebook, Zappos, and so on. They all have their own styles of creativity to encourage employees and generate a great atmosphere in the workplace. However, expertise, creative thinking skills, and motivation are the three components of creativity, thus this project will reflect on how we can increase creativity in the workplace, especially in Thailand, which is a totally different culture from US. This project will express how we can build and increase creativity in Thai culture and how we should handle the high context cultures which mostly are found in Asia as well.

Student(s):
Kanit Kanjannakaew

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Mary Jo Shane

Resistance to Organizational Changes

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Resistance to change is a natural human reaction of people who do not want to change old ways of doing their work because they are satisfied with the current status quo. According to Johnson (2008) 70% of all changes in organizations fail because of resistance to change. This project contains information from scholarly research from the last five years. Conclusions made in this research were then tested through the use of survey on ten employees at the English Language Center in Thousand Oaks. This initial, short study discovered five stages of resistance to organizational change and a new strategy involving four steps on how to prevent and deal with resistance to organizational changes. The strategy can help management use resistance for improving changes and bringing success to their organizations.

Student(s):
Ruslan Korchagin

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Mary Jo Shane

Redundancy and Reliability: Assessing the Organizational Structure of a Building Department

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The reliability of an organization’s system depends on the reliability of its component processes. Organizations like NASA have learned that organizational culture can set conditions for the occurrence of tragic errors. The NASA example represents a failure of organizational reliability at the national level. However, this concept can be extended to organizational processes at the local level as well. For example, local building departments issue multiple approvals prior to permit issuance. These reliability safeguards prevent a building permit from being issued in error, which in turn protects public safety. To study the concept of organizational reliability, the permit processes for a large building department were examined for procedural reliability through the lens of organizational theories of Heimann (1993). The results of this study indicated that some procedural systems were very reliable, whereas other systems were not reliable enough. As a result, recommendations for policy changes to increase reliability were provided.

Student(s):
Michael Lapraik

Faculty Mentor:
Mr. Andrew Pattison

Leadership: Effects on Employee Performance

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Human resource is the best weapon for organizations to compete and to succeed nowadays. Employee performance will largely influence the organization. Simultaneously, leaders interact with their subordinates and employees the most. This means leadership will affect employee performance in the organizations. Leadership can motivate followers to achieve the goal of the organization. Thus, leadership has a positive relationship with employee performance, which will be my hypothesis in this study. In order to achieve my goal, my paper will include two parts. In the first part, I will do the literature research to find out the relationship between leadership and employee performance. In the second part, I will do my study to collect, organize, and analyze the data from the questionnaires written about performance for ten people to find the conclusion. In my study, I found that leadership can have positive or negative effects on employee performance.

Student(s):
Zixin Li

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Frederick Elias

Marketing Plan for Captain Parker Mobile Application

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This group project is dedicated to creating a marketing plan for a fictional product named Captain Parker. The product consists of a mobile application solution for all known issues with parking. The key advantages of this product are functional capabilities, such as real-time service features, and low price due to most of the expenses being carried by partners. In order to make this plan closer reflect the real situation on the market, primary research was conducted consisting of focus groups and a survey to review competition and current marketing situation. As a result of the analysis of this information, a marketing plan was developed that included pricing, financial budgeting, timeline plan, advertising concepts and logistics channels. This plan can be used to implement this product or as an example of marketing strategy for any other digital product designed to provide real-time assistance with daily routines for large groups of clients.

Student(s):
Li-Ting Lin, Minsi Wu, Abdullatif Mert Leblebici, Mikhail Romanovskii

Faculty Mentor:
Ms. Judith Richards

Debunking the Stereotypes Plaguing Modern Accounting Majors

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An accounting degree often carries with it a stigma that torments its holder, beginning in college and persisting throughout his or her carrier. Perpetuated by those outside the field, stereotypes surrounding accounting majors include the propensity for having an introverted personality, the tendency for a cantankerous disposition, disinterest in new experiences, and the guarantee of a monotonous job and dull work environment. The goal of this project is to expose and invalidate such inaccuracies through the presentation of research and the exploration of exhilarating career choices that expand the horizons of the modern accountant. Thorough examination verifies that accounting students are growing increasingly extroverted and utilizing their expertise in areas far beyond the traditional office space. It is anticipated that clarification of misconceptions will lead to renewed interest and increased respect for the accounting profession.

Student(s):
Nicholas Millar

Faculty Mentor:
Ms. Virginia Gean

Managing Employee Resistance in an Organizational Change

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Movement towards a global business environment and rapid technological development have forced organizations to transform their ways of doing business in order to achieve their goals. For example, the widespread use of social media and the Internet have changed the ways consumers communicate. Changing the ways of conducting essential processes in an organization may cause resistance among employees. Because employees are valuable assets for organizations, managers need to be skilled at managing employee resistance. On the basis of my literature research, in order to conduct an organizational change efficiently it is important that managers are able to determine the proper balance between project management and change management within the organization. Managers also need to understand the organizational readiness and employee resistance for the change in order to be effective. The bottom line, however, is that organizations must have the right employees to go through the changes.

Student(s):
Aleksi Ojapelto

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Mary Jo Shane

Sustainability and its effects on Organizational Business Strategies and Company Culture

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This research looks at sustainability and its effects on organizational business strategies and company culture. First discussed is the notion that sustainable companies focus their business strategies on innovative approaches that maximize value, while focusing on ethical responsibilities. Secondly, sustainability affects an organization’s company culture in regards to shared environmental concerns and long-term goals and visions. A questionnaire distributed to ten individuals, resulted in findings that a company that incorporates sustainability is more likely to exhibit positive corporate culture. These companies have demonstrated to be more innovative and sustainability is a key driver when developing new business models and designing sustainable products and services. Research indicates that sustainable companies are likely to share the same beliefs about the significance of balancing social equity and environmental responsibility. Finally, businesses that integrate the societal issue into their core business strategies enhance economic value, creating a competitive edge.

Student(s):
Diana Peters

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Frederick Elias

Inequality and Gender Identity: Gendered Inclusion and Exclusion in University Housing Policy

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Gender equality and gender identity have been and continue to be heated topics of both academic and popular discussion. In the realm of university housing the discussion must not be limited to the traditional, binary gender definitions of the past, and institutions of higher education must expand their views on gender identity and student living. Using both scholarly and topically relevant current event articles, the paper covers the history of gender integration in higher education, and it examines co-ed housing policy and the possible benefits of offering gender-neutral housing. Finally, it looks at the importance of on-campus living for student achievement and how this relates to CLU specifically. The options in student living for students who do not identify with binary gender roles are limited at best, and this highlights a major area in which universities can and ought to improve their levels of tolerance and integration for all students.

Student(s):
Kelsey Riemer

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Kathleen Haworth

Dependence between Hiring Policies and Future Job Satisfaction

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This paper was written after reviewing cases of jobs not meeting the expectations of both sides (employer and employee). It addresses the effectiveness of hiring policies, which fail to attract the right people. This research may help employers improve the hiring procedures to better pick candidates. To check the hypothesis about stricter and ethical hiring policies affecting the job satisfaction, a group of 26 people were surveyed. The results were interpreted using descriptive statistics methods and multiple regression. This allowed making conclusions about the hiring practices that affect the job satisfaction, including personal life intrusion, competitive rewards, corporate training, flexibility of working hours, and participation in company decisions. This paper can be used to reduce tension and misunderstanding among employees, to improve the human resources effectiveness, to reduce amount of law suits from employees, to increase their loyalty, and to make the hiring procedure less stressful and less costly.

Student(s):
Mikhail Romanovskii

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Frederick Elias

Rewards and Incentives: Effects on Motivation

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From observation of human behavior, we know that the results of employee productivity can be influenced by motivational factors. This research study was aimed at assessing the effects of rewards and incentives on employee motivation. The study also examined the reasons for the failure of reward systems and their negative effects on employee motivation. Effective use of rewards and incentives can be attributed towards an organization’s long term success. A quantitative analysis of the sample data was used to test the hypothesis. Along with statistical data, the results from the test were then used to analyze and validate the hypothesis. The study recommends techniques on implementing successful reward systems and concludes the effects that rewards and incentives have on employee motivation. In using largely untapped sources available on the subject, this project will contribute to providing solutions to motivate employees using rewards and incentives.

Student(s):
Deepshikha Sharma

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Frederick Elias

Bat Skyn Performance Grip Comprehensive Marketing Plan

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This project consisted of industry market analysis and development of a marketing plan for the Bat Skyn Performance Grip. This was achieved through industry research and primary research conducted at the local Simi Valley Youth Baseball complex. As a local company, it was identified that Bat Skyn will primarily target parents of youth baseball players between the ages of five and eleven years old within Ventura County. To achieve this, a multi-step marketing plan is proposed whereby Bat Skyn will first be introduced through personal selling and public relations campaigns at local Little League events. Bat Skyn will eventually diversify its channels of distribution to the internet and retail stores while still maintaining its involvement in direct selling with its core customer base in Ventura County. This project was designed in such a way that its implementation would remain feasible to the budget and resources available to the company founder.

Student(s):
Troy Spencer, Michael Maimone, Katelyn Phillips, Tayler Schreiner, and Illissa Mestes

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Veronica Guerrero

Alliance International Management System

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While the overall outlook of the U.S. trade volume and value of the international logistics market is positive, the industry itself is highly competitive and very sensitive to declines in sales. In order to gain a competitive advantage, Alliance Shippers, a U.S. freight forwarding company and customs broker, intends to expand its service portfolio with a software product – a cloud-based logistics management system. The required new product development proposal starts with an analysis of the market opportunity considering relevant environmental influences, key market segments, customer behavior, and product positioning. After the initial research, a marketing strategy including a sales forecast and promotional budget has been developed in order to meet Alliance’s objectives and to determine the project’s return on investment. An implementation and control plan ensures a systematic roll-out and enables the company to adapt its strategy to possible changes in the environment and measure the product's overall success.

Student(s):
Christoph Stadler

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Erika Fischer

Santa Barbara Unified School District's View and Compliance with Title IX, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

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In 1972 President Nixon signed into law the Education Amendments of the Title IX, Section 504, which mandates gender equity in sports programs, employment, and education for all institutions that receive federal funding. The Department’s Office for Civil Rights reviewed the United States in Government Accountability Office published Guidance report that summarizes that “students with disabilities are not being afforded an equal opportunity to participate in extracurricular athletics in public schools (Dear Colleague Letter: Guidance , 2013).” Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) has been developing an action plan to comply with the Guidance by forming a committee of parents, teachers, and Directors. The Action plan document is still being fine-tuned and the implementation steps are still in the infancy phase. Varying perspectives may agree that SBUSD is proceeding in the correct manner, but others may perceive that they are not fully complying with the guidance.

Student(s):
Samantha Stewart

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Kathleen Haworth

Cultural Diversity – Effects on Business Communication

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My paper is about cultural diversity and if it effects business communication in today’s workplace. Today’s business communities are getting more and more globalized. People are traveling all over the world and crossing borders to do business. Due to this development, the key to effectiveness and success with doing business internationally is communication. It’s not only when companies from different cultures are doing business with each other that communication is important. Also within the companies and organizations there might be individuals from different cultures, which mean that the companies need strategies and plans to deal with this to promote efficiency and avoid conflicts. When collecting data, I prepared a questionnaire for people with backgrounds from different areas of business asking about their perception of cultural diversity in the workplace. The result of my research paper showed that cultural diversity does affect business communication in both a positive and negative way.

Student(s):
Christine Taaje

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Frederick Elias

Going Paperless at CLU!

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Our group investigated paper use at California Lutheran University (CLU) to raise awareness of paper waste. During our research, we learned that paper contributes to a significant amount of landfill waste and that the chemicals used to recycle paper are damaging to the earth. Additionally, we discovered that the core of the issue actually resides with deep-rooted human behavior that resists change. Realizing that colleges and students consume large quantities of paper, we wanted to know if going paperless would be practical. We researched several universities that have successfully implemented paperless policies, as well as compared the paper usage of online classes. We concluded that the best approach to initially implement a paperless policy at CLU would be to make small changes that reduce paper waste in classrooms and offices and suggested that CLU sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.

Student(s):
April Tucker, Rebecca Hill, Reza Nourani, Tomas Mulugeta

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Valeria Makarova

Corporate Social Responsibility: A Fleeting Trend or the Future of Businesses?

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After working in Corporate America, I realized early on that I must find value in what companies do for society (beyond just maximizing profits) in order for me to remain engaged as an employee. I quickly lost interest in identifying with companies that primarily focus on shareholders, and I also became more aware of the different levels of social responsibility that companies can partake in. Based on existing literature, I examine the ways in which CSR influences a company’s viability and long-term financial sustainability through its impact on reputation, financials, employees, and new business opportunities. I conclude that the future of businesses is indeed positioned in CSR and I agree with the experts who say society will no longer tolerate businesses that exclusively serve shareholders. I recommend that companies invest in innovation and bringing new processes and products to the table that are sustainable and beneficial to all stakeholders involved.

Student(s):
Candice Wang

Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Mary Jo Shane

Life of a CPA

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Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title given to accountants who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination. I was tasked to conduct an interview for a project titled “Dream Job” in which I interviewed a CPA from PricewaterhouseCoopers Michael Sylvester. Mr. Sylvester has worked in both public and private accounting. My goal was to investigate more on personal happiness and what about being an accountant is enjoyable and what is not. In our informative conversation, I discovered that the life of an accountant is dynamic and not dull as perceived by the general public. To be a successful accountant, one must not only be technically skilled but be able to form and maintain relationships as well. In addition, I learned that public and private accounting are both excellent options based on the lifestyle of the individual and that there are pros and cons to each.

Student(s):
Kenneth Wang

Faculty Mentor:
Ms. Virginia Gean

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Schedule of Events

School of Management Poster Session

Student Abstracts

Big Data: A Glimpse into a New Competitive Advantage

Global Teams

Google Glass: A Framework for App Development in Healthcare

Government – Contractor Workforce: Effects on Morale

Tesla Motors (TSLA): A Strong Buy or Strong Bye Bye?

Emotional Intelligence: Effects on Job Satisfaction and Performance

Increasing Creativity in the Thai Workplace

Resistance to Organizational Changes

Redundancy and Reliability: Assessing the Organizational Structure of a Building Department

Leadership: Effects on Employee Performance

Marketing Plan for Captain Parker Mobile Application

Debunking the Stereotypes Plaguing Modern Accounting Majors

Managing Employee Resistance in an Organizational Change

Sustainability and its effects on Organizational Business Strategies and Company Culture

Inequality and Gender Identity: Gendered Inclusion and Exclusion in University Housing Policy

Dependence between Hiring Policies and Future Job Satisfaction

Rewards and Incentives: Effects on Motivation

Bat Skyn Performance Grip Comprehensive Marketing Plan

Alliance International Management System

Santa Barbara Unified School District's View and Compliance with Title IX, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

Cultural Diversity – Effects on Business Communication

Going Paperless at CLU!

Corporate Social Responsibility: A Fleeting Trend or the Future of Businesses?

Life of a CPA