Student Researchers’ Abstracts College of Business

ANA Steel Corporation Distribution Case

Mentors: Raida Abuizam

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

The ANA Steel Corporation case illustrates how network models and linear programming can be used in managing logistics from production, warehousing to customers. We will show how to use integer linear programming with binary (0-1) variables in dealing with fixed cost plants and warehouse location problems. The case also exemplifies the use of spreadsheet modeling as an aid in making good logistics decisions. By completing the ANA Steel Corporation case, we will be able to develop the model entirely through the spreadsheet without the need to formulate the problem algebraically to solve for many logistical variables. This will help us in deciding where and when to manufacture ANA Steel plate steel products. All will be done while satisfying customer demand nationwide as cost effectively as possible.

Will Elimination of State Personal Income Tax Promote Economic Growth in Indiana?

Mentor(s): Dr. Amlan Mitra

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

Fiscal policies have a significant effect on the residents in their respective states. The debate over high and low taxes in America is as strong now as it’s ever been. We are seeing states go beyond a simple tax cut to the removal of a stream of revenue. There are researchers from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy who believe that this type of tax system would harm lower income residents. Lower income earners would be disproportionately affected by a higher sales tax and the elimination would make it more difficult to have a balanced budget. Researchers from American Legislative Exchange Council have found that lower/no tax states have seen greater economic growth and positive population shifts. The greater population creates more revenue to the state. Researchers also argue that high income earners will not benefit more than lower/middle income residents because of the sales tax they would pay on services. An increase to the state sales tax would also capture revenue that would otherwise go untaxed i.e. cash only workers, illegal gambling etc. I would like to particularly focus on economic data from how states recovered since the Great Recession in 2007. Many researchers have included data over the past 10 years and I fear that it skews recovery and growth numbers from the recession. I argue that there should be more post-recession research on the subject of eliminating personal income taxes so that residents and policy makers can make better decisions on tax policy for their states.

In the Eyes of Students: What Makes a Better Accounting Program?

Mentor(s): Songtao Mo

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

This research project compiles, compares, and analyzes accounting programs of regional competitors of Purdue University Calumet (PUC) based on uniform CPA exam requirements. The research utilizes a case study approach. Each plan of study will be analyzed based on the weight of knowledge tested on each section of the CPA exam. In addition, each plan of study is viewed and evaluated against the Accounting program in PUC from the perspective of both traditional and non-traditional students. This research project helps to inspire the administrators in making proper adjustments to provide exceptional learning experience in accounting and business to the community.

How Much is Too Much? An Examination of Price and Product Performance in the Beer Industry

Mentor(s): Haisu Zhang

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

Beer is one of the largest beverage industries in the United States. According to the National Brewers’ Association, the overall beer market in the United States is worth $100 billion. In any consumer market, companies have been seeking the trade-off between price and product performance. While some use high price as a signal of high product quality, others provide products with high performance but at a lower price. Concerning the importance of establishing the balance between the two key factors, in this research we conducted an empirical study to examine their respective impacts on consumers’ intent to purchase in the beer industry. Specifically, our research questions and hypotheses focus on how price and alcohol percentage (i.e. product performance) affect consumers’ intent to purchase beer. The effect of additional control variables (taste, novelty, availability, and calories) on consumer decision to purchase are also explored. To ensure the cross-sectional study collected from a diverse sample of respondents, our team designed a paper, self-administered survey that was offered to a sample of over 100 individuals in various locations. Data analysis was completed in SPSS. Results show that the price-quality relationship does not necessarily exist in the beer industry. We find that consumers are less concerned about the price, but more concerned about performance, which is measured as alcohol percentage.

Employing the Analytical Hierarchy Process in Graduate School Selection

Mentor(s): Raida Abuizam

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

Selecting a graduate school amongst alternatives can be difficult for potential graduate students for limitless reasons such as inconsistent preferences, personal biases towards specific schools, and so on. This paper will examine the selection of graduate school for potential JD/PhD students by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in order to select the best school to attend. AHP is a technique that quantifies qualitative data by evaluating objective things and assigning a quantitative value to them, which helps decision makers make the best decision that fits the overall goal. A pairwise analysis will be developed in order to evaluate three potential graduate schools based upon four primary factors, including: (1) proximity to home; (2) job attainment post-graduation; (3) financial aid package; and (4) prestige. The paper will conclude with an evaluation of the AHP approach as a viable selection tool for selecting the best school for a JD/PhD bound student.

Using Microsoft Access to Improve Business Operating Efficiency

Mentor(s): Lin Zhao

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

Road Runners Auto LLC (RRA) focuses its operations on mechanic's liens and similar processes in the state of Indiana, which requires storing, viewing, and manipulating data amongst other things. To fulfill service contracts, RRA obtains personal information, vehicle information, case details, and so on. Previous methods and attempts to solve this problem by using various other methods such as manual hard-copy records, Microsoft Excel, and cloud storage have proven to be either unsuccessful or time consuming. This project used Microsoft Access, a relational database management system, to solve the problem. The database has allowed RRA to effectively manage its overall operations, including data used in regular operations as well as establish a simpler and more systematic process to fulfilling contracts and tracking their progress while meeting financial recording and viewing needs.

An Overview of Difference between China and the United States Accounting Rules and Regulations

Mentor(s): Kuan C. Chen

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

As business activities grown between U.S. and China, accounting rules and regulations differences will cause problems such as, manipulation of books and fraud. By comparing examples of cultural, rules, and regulations differences, will give companies an overview of business operation in China. The research is conducted by using content analysis and personal interviews. It introduces and compares the two accounting systems, as well as their differences between International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). As a result, I have learned that China’s accounting rules and regulations are merging with IFRS. Meanwhile, China is improving its accounting structure to better adapt to the global economy, as well as its own economy needs. Compared to China, U.S. has a well-developed accounting system, but to have it merge towards IFRS will be a long and hard process. This research not only compares rules and regulation differences, but also implement the cultural differences.

A Full House or Fold: Determining the Economic and Social Impacts of Legalized Gambling in Northwest Indiana

Mentor(s): Amlan Mitra

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

The commercial casino industry in the United States has certainly encountered an insurmountable amount of change in the past two decades. Meanwhile, the industry has expanded operations from originating states such as Nevada and New Jersey, to a stagnating 566 casinos in 22 states. Not only has the gaming industry expanded actual casinos, but also online casinos, better known as “cyber gambling.” Now with the enormous and extensive developments of commercial casinos, the economic and social impacts of gambling have changed the market forever. Although casinos are known for their luxurious interior, five- star buffets, and exciting environment, they are also known for causing financial hardship, loss of employment, and many other devastating economic & social impacts. Based on decisive information from previous case studies, this exploratory study will determine if the economic and social impacts of legalized gambling.

Positive Psychological Capital of Disney College Program Interns

Mentor(s): Dr. Rachel Clapp-Smith

Undergraduate

Peg-Board Presentation

The Walt Disney Company employees or “Cast Members” create true, business magic. These Cast Members achieve a level of customer satisfaction that is a defining feature of the “Disney Difference,” and Disney’s recruiting efforts carefully chose their Cast Members in order to maintain that special difference. This research focuses specifically on Cast Member interns of the Disney College Program (DCP) and evaluates their positive psychological capital (Psy Cap) and job satisfaction, comparing it to that of participants of other internships. The objective is to conclude if there is a difference between the two intern groups’ Psy Cap (which includes themes of self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience) as well as their job satisfaction. Subsequent examination concludes whether the potential difference is a common factor among Disney College Program interns. If such commonality exists, the presence of high Psy Cap levels may play a role in Disney’s selection of interns for the Disney College Program, and thus ensuring the preservation of its unique employee culture. Additional assessment of the Disney College Program interns explores whether Psy Cap has a variable effect and changes from the start of the program in comparison to its end. Lastly, the Psy Cap and job satisfaction of the two respective intern groups is evaluated for any potential relationship or lack thereof.

Interactive Cultural Simulation of Munich, Germany

Mentor(s): Kasia Firlej

Undergraduate

Peg-Board Presentation

Employees fostering high levels of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) are an increasingly important asset in our global world; still, not all display exceptional CQ (in terms of drive, knowledge, strategy, and action.) Furthermore, interactive, cultural simulations where an end-user makes judgments in a virtual, foreign environment have garnered its own following of interest in recent years. Despite the interest, few have found applications outside the range of military training. Thus, this research explores the development of a simulation game that may have the potential to enact as a learning-aid for improving the average person’s CQ. The objective is to create a virtual environment in which an end user may indirectly interact with a foreign culture and make decisions based on their experiences within the game. Munich, Germany is the designated location for this specific simulation. The user will experience unique locations, situations, and decision scenarios in Munich that are constructed to build their cultural knowledge as the game progresses. The ultimate goal is to engage the end-user and challenge their preconceptions and cultural intelligence by fostering a virtual environment for them to expand their knowledge within the culture. Finally, PUC Students traveling to Munich, Germany in May 2015 will have their CQ evaluated before and after partaking in the cultural simulation to assess the effectiveness of the game.

Building a Decision Support System for Regional Economic Development

Mentor(s): Kuan Chen

Undergraduate

Peg-board Presentation

Economists, business leaders, and local and national governments often rely on the analysis and forecasting of economic development systems to support their decision-making. A school district may rely on population growth estimates to make expansion choices, just as a business will consider regional economic forecasts to find new markets and new opportunities. Such forecasting methods vary from the simple trend projection methods used in many other fields to more complex models designed to address some specific socio-economic function. A user friendly computer information system is critical to the efficient analysis of such data, and can be a valuable tool for any planner. A primary function of economic development information system is to provide accurate information to its users as economically as possible and with fast reach results. These objectives can be achieved by using visual and handy programming language to build an end user system and avoid the complicate economic development theory. This study will concentrate on building economic development system written in the C# programming language, which is an elegant, simple, robustness, object-oriented language that allows system programmers to build a handy application for end users. The objective of this project is to use the C# language to design a build a user friendly computer information system that can be analyzed socio-economic impacts and decision support.

Alibaba: A Treasure Dent?

Mentor(s): Songtao Mo

Graduate

Oral Presentation

This paper presents a case study on Alibaba’s debut and an examination of its financial reporting. Through this case study, the students are required to critically read and analyze financial reporting and corporate filings. The students are also required to exercise “professional judgment” in their investigation. This case study is intended for use in accounting or finance courses at graduate level.

Developing a Global Information System for Northwest Indiana Business Use

Mentor(s): Kuan Chen

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

Global information systems can speed up the time it takes new products to reach the market. Companies can write product requirement documents by gathering market intelligence from proprietary databases, customers and sales representatives. / The goal of this study is to develop a global information system. To do that, this study will present the strengths and the weaknesses of the traditional way of identifying a potential business partner on an international scale, and filter them through sieves and to develop a user friendly global information system. / In this project, I will lay out activities and create a prototype of a relational database that will work as a function that receives parameters as an input and outputs results. I will begin this research by reviewing peer reviewed articles on the same topic. This will be the starting point, from which I can start to understand the terminology and get familiarized with contemporary employments of this approach and its effects. Next, I will develop a prototype model. The purpose of this step is to test the functionality and accuracy of the application. Multiple tests will be performed in order to determine the robustness. All results will then be compared and recorded for future references, and revisions will be employed. The final step will include a small scale visual demonstration of how the application works. This will be performed with the use of a database software in which queries and reports will be generated.

European Union Audit Reform and its Effect On U.S. Companies

Mentor(s): Songtao Mo

Graduate

No preferred Presentation

The European Union (E.U.) legislation to reform statutory audits was adapted in 2014. Both, the E.U. companies and the other multi-nationals having subsidiaries in E.U. are affected by this reform. The new requirements include mandatory audit firm rotation, restriction on certain non-audit services to audit clients, audit committee role and responsibilities, and auditor reporting requirements. The purpose of this research project is to analyze the possible effects that the reform can have on the U.S. companies. The project also analyzes the new E.U. reform, the old legislations, as well as, the U.S. legislation. The results show that U.S. companies first have to decide whether they will change only the auditor for the European subsidiaries or switch the auditor for the entire company, to comply with the new legislation. This research project is intended to provide valuable information to U.S. companies about laws and regulations in other countries that might affect their performance. In the end, the E.U. audit reform can be seen as positive in the United States if it encourages audit committees in U.S. companies to evaluate auditors more carefully.

Will the “sesame” open after Alibaba’s IPO?

Mentor(s): Songtao Mo

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

This research project investigates the potential profitability and market performance of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (hereafter Alibaba) after its initial public offering (IPO) from an investor’s perspective. This study intends to provide a comprehensive analysis of financial statement and key business performance indicators of Alibaba. A set of financial ratios are utlized to evaluate Alibaba’s performance against benchmarks in the E-commerce industry. Additionally, this research attempts to examine the relationship between the growth of Chinese Internet and Mobile users and profitability of Alibaba. This research reveals the strength and risks of Alibaba and assists investors in making prudent investment decisions.

A Comparative Study of Auditing Standards in the United States and P.R. China

Mentor(s): Songtao Mo

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

This project examines the history of auditing standard setting and auditing systems in the United States and the People’s Republic of China. The study also compares and analyzes the similarities and differences between the auditing standards in these two countries. This project also analyzes the origins of the differences, that is, what caused the differences, and the experiences or lesson that the auditing professions in the two countries can learn from each other. This project is intended to provide some thoughts on further improvement of auditing standard setting, and auditing practices in both countries.