Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hotel, Restaurant, Institution Management & Dietetics / Carol W. Shanklin / Ki-Joon Back / This study proposed and tested a theoretical model of service recovery consisting of antecedents and consequences of service recovery satisfaction. This study further tested recovery paradox effects and investigated the effects of situational and attributional factors in the evaluation of service recovery efforts and consequent overall satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The study employed scenario experimentation with three dimensions of justice manipulated at two levels each (2x2x2 between-groups factorial design). Postage paid, self-addressed envelopes and questionnaires (600 copies) were distributed. Participants represented 15 religious and community service groups. All respondents were regular casual restaurant customers. Of 308 surveys returned, 286 cases were used for data analysis. In study 1, the proposed relationships were tested using the structural equation modeling. In study 2, multivariate analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of covariance tests were employed to test proposed hypotheses. The three dimensions of justice had positive effects on recovery satisfaction. Recovery satisfaction had a significant positive effect on customers’ trust. Trust in service providers had positive effect on commitment and overall satisfaction. Commitment had positive effects on overall satisfaction and behavioral intentions. This study indicated that, although a service failure might negatively affect customers’ relationship with the service provider, effective service recovery reinforced attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. The results of this study emphasized that service recovery efforts should be viewed not only as a strategy to recover customers’ immediate satisfaction but also as a relationship tool to provide customers confidence that ongoing relationships are beneficial to them. This study did not find recovery paradox in the experimental scenarios. The magnitude of service failure had significant negative effects on perceived justice and recovery satisfaction. Customers’ rating of stability causation had significant negative effects on overall satisfaction, revisit intention, and word-of-mouth intention. The study findings indicated that positive recovery efforts could reinstate customers’ satisfaction and behavioral intentions up to those of pre-failure. Restaurant managers and their employees need to provide extra efforts to restore the customers’ perceived losses in serious failure situations. Service providers should reduce systematic occurrences of service failure so customer will not develop stability perception.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / It is often argued that women have a tendency to be more risk averse than men. This thesis looks deeper into this sophisticated relationship between women, men and money, and investigates the gender differences among U.S. hedge fund managers. Prior research has considered the relationship between mutual fund performance and fund manager characteristics focusing on age, tenure, and level of education. However, none of these previous studies have looked in depth at the hedge fund arena. I hypothesize that female fund managers take less risk and follow less extreme investment styles that remain more constant over time. This suggests that less trading by female managers takes place with lower portfolio turnover, and results in superior net returns. I expected female money managers to be less overconfident and therefore would then trade less. Despite the similarities between female and male managers, I found evidence supporting my hypothesis that gender does indeed influence the decision making process for both investors and the hedge fund management companies.

Master of Science / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Carol W. Shanklin / Abstract Aging has become a focal point for several segments of the foodservice industry with the forecasted trends. Due to the link between quality of life and satisfaction with food in this population, many Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) and retirement communities are employing individuals who have experience in the hotel/restaurant industry. The purpose of the study was to assess residents’ overall satisfaction with quality of food and quality of service in Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) and retirement communities when the facility employs a foodservice director or chef with culinary training or expertise. The research compared satisfaction based on types of foodservices provided (restaurants and café/bistros); resident characteristics such as gender and length of time residing at a facility; frequency of interaction with the chef or foodservice director; and meal plan requirement. The study was conducted in the Midwest region and included a convenience sample of Retirement Communities and CCRCs in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The variables analyzed were quality of food, quality of service, atmosphere, dining venues, meal plans, and frequency of dining with overall satisfaction. Atmosphere, food quality, dining venues, and meal plans significantly influenced overall satisfaction. Residents in facilities that provided more than one dining option had a slightly lower satisfaction ratings compared to the group who had one dining option. Overall satisfaction ratings for meal plan indicated that the respondents were neutral relative to the affect of meal plan and their overall satisfaction. The frequency of dining in one of the venues was positively influenced by meal plan requirements in the facilities. Residents who had lived in the facilities less than two years rated satisfaction higher. The more frequent the chef and foodservice manager interacted with the residents the higher the rate of overall satisfaction. Foodservice directors and administrators in these facilities can use the results to understand what the customers are looking for and how to improve overall services for their residents.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / Land is typically the highest value category of assets that farmers and ranchers have on their balance sheets. The value of land is affected by inflation. Understanding the effect of inflation on the land market helps farmers make better land pricing decisions and better asset management decisions. Using Treasury Bills and Farm Credit Bonds, future inflation expectations and agricultural risk premiums can be estimated. With the recent government stimulation of the economy and the resulting large amount of money infused into the economy, inflation is becoming an increasing concern with investors. Economic theory suggests that this infusion of money will affect future interest rates and ultimately the value of land given the inverse relationship between interest rates and the value of land. These lingering affects occur with the rise and fall of yield rates for Treasury Bills and Farm Credit bonds. Farm Credit bonds are sold at a premium over Treasury Bills. This premium indicates the market-assessed additional risk that farmers have to pay for their operating loans and other mortgages. Even though land values are affected by inflation, other things affect land values such as recreational use, development, and natural resource exploration. A combination of inflation and these other affects can greatly affect land prices.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Bradley J. White / Recent literature regarding potential shortages of food animal veterinarians has sparked interest in how to improve economic sustainability in this profession. Business management practices influence profitability, but relatively little work has been done evaluating the impact specific practices have on mixed animal veterinary practice growth. The objectives of this research were to determine potential associations between practice management factors and both practice size and practice growth measured over a 5-year period. Results from a cross sectional survey of mixed animal veterinary practitioners (n=54) were analyzed to address these research objectives. Survey participants had practiced a mean of 19.6 years and most (85%) practiced in towns with populations of less than 25,000. Practice size was measured by the 5-year average of number of veterinarians (NV), gross practice income (GPI), and gross income per veterinarian (GPIV). Positive associations were identified among all three measures, and active client communication was associated with higher GPI. Practices employing a business manager were associated with increased GPI and GPIV. Practice growth was measured by the mean percent change in number of veterinarians (NVG), percent growth in income per veterinarian (DVMG), and percent growth in gross income (GRSG). Practice size variables indicate influences of business management practices on the size of veterinary practices while practice growth variables indicate whether the practice has changed in size and how business management practices are associated with those changes. On average, practices exhibited positive growth in NVG (4.4%), DVMG (8.1%) and GRSG (8.5%) during the study period, but the growth rate was highly variable among practices. Practices with a marketing plan exhibited a higher DVMG, while frequency of adjusting prices and pricing structures were associated with higher GRSG. Results from this study provide insight into the associations between specific management techniques and veterinary practice size and growth rate.

Master of Science / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Chih-Hang Wu / In recent years the stock markets have shown tremendous volatility with significant spikes and drops in the stock prices. Within the past decade, there have been numerous jumps in the market; one key example was on September 17, 2001 when the Dow industrial average dropped 684 points following the 9-11 attacks on the United States. These evident jumps in the markets show the inaccuracy of the Black-Scholes model for pricing options. Merton provided the first research to appease this problem in 1976 when he extended the Black-Scholes model to include jumps in the market. In recent years, Kou has shown that the distribution of the jump sizes used in Merton’s model does not efficiently model the actual movements of the markets. Consequently, Kou modified Merton’s model changing the jump size distribution from a normal distribution to the double exponential distribution. Kou’s research utilizes mathematical equations to estimate the value of an American put option where the underlying stocks follow a jump-diffusion process. The research contained within this thesis extends on Kou’s research using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) coupled with least-squares regression to price this type of American option. Utilizing MCS provides a continuous exercise and pricing region which is a distinct difference, and advantage, between MCS and other analytical techniques. The aim of this research is to investigate whether or not MCS is an efficient means to pricing American put options where the underlying stock undergoes a jump-diffusion process. This thesis also extends the simulation to utilize copulas in the pricing of baskets, which contains several of the aforementioned type of American options. The use of copulas creates a joint distribution from two independent distributions and provides an efficient means of modeling multiple options and the correlation between them. The research contained within this thesis shows that MCS provides a means of accurately pricing American put options where the underlying stock follows a jump-diffusion. It also shows that it can be extended to use copulas to price baskets of options with jump-diffusion. Numerical examples are presented for both portions to exemplify the excellent results obtained by using MCS for pricing options in both single dimension problems as well as multidimensional problems.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen Featherstone / Because agriculture is a cornerstone in the U.S. and World economies, the agricultural retail industry is becoming more competitive. To gain a competitive advantage, agricultural retailers must take advantage of competencies that they have. The thesis provides an in depth analysis of how FluidGro products effect the profitability of Centennial. It explores the issues impacting Ag Retail and how marketing concepts and theories can make a retailer achieve success in volatile times. Insight is provided regarding how Centennial Ag Supply can use those strategies to give them a low cost position and a differentiated product and how Centennial can improve profitability by implementing effective marketing strategies for the FluidGro brand of products. Finally, a couple of capital improvement options that Centennial Ag can invest in to increase the sales and profitability of their FluidGro product line and what impact that will have on company sales and profitability. A net present value analysis is used to analyze the capital improvements and linear regressions estimate the profitability of the FluidGro product line and how this will contribute to increased profitability to the parent company, Centennial Ag Supply. Results indicate that Centennial should first invest in a wholesale division. Next, Centennial should invest in a heat exchanger to allow it to manufacture additional products.

Master of Arts / Department of Economics / Dennis L. Weisman / The Internet is a network that consists of content providers and users connected to each other through the communication lines managed by network providers. Network neutrality rules are designed to protect independent content providers from unjust discrimination by network providers. This report explores the economic rationale for net neutrality rules, how the regulation should be enforced, and its potential effects on competition. The report finds that net neutrality encourages competition among content providers by subsidizing content provider access but concentrates the market for network providers by forcing network providers to compete primarily through price competition. It considers this to be a beneficial arrangement for economic growth, but observes that there is a potential for all sides of the market to be subsidized by advertiser fees. It also shows that despite the Federal Communications Commission's heavy involvement with network neutrality rules, these rules are actually based in a long history of antitrust regulation. It concludes, however, that the current regulatory environment is sufficient for enforcing net neutrality rules.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / Multiple Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) is a federally subsidized crop insurance program designed to mitigate risk for farmers across the United States. Many changes in technology and weather have increased yields in recent years. This has caused some to argue for the crop insurance program to consider yield trends when setting yields for the producer. This thesis evaluates alternative Actual Production History (APH) methods for corn to determine differences in the methods and the resulting APH. The key issue to be evaluated is that a producer’s APH may not be reflective of their “yield goal.” The thesis examined how the APH can differ under alternative methods of calculating an APH. Some methods examined are currently used by the Risk Management Agency (RMA). Other methods are hypothetical alternatives. This study examines alternative methods on a national, county, and a farm level. This thesis demonstrates that adjusting APHs for yield trends provides a higher APH than an un-trended APH. The 7 Year Olympic Trended APH provides the highest APH in most cases for all the methods examined. The RMA Un-trended APH proved to provide the least yield on average for all methods examined. This demonstrates the importance of adjusting for yield trends to factor in agricultural technology advancements over time.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Ted Schroeder / Johnsonville Sausage’s core business is to produce premium fresh and ready to eat (RTE) sausage. To accomplish this on the fresh side of the business, the organization procures and slaughters all of their own animals. The type of animal that Johnsonville Sausage procures is called a “fancy sow”. This type of sow averages 500 pounds and has had three or more litters of piglets. Johnsonville Sausage is the largest procurer of this type of sow accounting for 23% of the overall market. The largest contributor to the finished product cost is the meat. Over the last two years, the organization’s business has been faced with a number of challenges related to mass liquidations within the hog industry as well as increased sow prices due to lower supplies. Specifically, these issues have impacted the expected profitability as an organization and lead Johnsonville Sausage to question whether the supply projections within the industry will meet future growth needs. Because of these factors, Johnsonville Sausage is looking at how they can create more value for the sow that is slaughtered in order to utilize the whole animal to its highest potential, increase overall profitability to the organization and increase available sow supply within the industry. Within the business today, 55% of a sow that is harvested goes towards making the meat formulations (batter) utilized in fresh sausage production. The other 45% of the sow can be broken down into three key areas: sales credits, drop credits and rendering. Items within these three areas are classified as by-products and are sold to industries such as human consumption, pet food, pharmaceutical, medical, academia, commercial fishing and rendering to name a few. The issue that Johnsonville Sausage faces is how to define new channels, create new products, and increase customer base and volume for those parts of the sow that are not utilized in fresh sausage production thus driving increased value for these by-product items. In conjunction with this, how do they create more profitability for those items that are consistently harvested and sold today? The focus of this research was to create a project portfolio for the by-product business within Johnsonville Sausage. The goal of the portfolio was to identify industries and projects that would drive the greatest profit maximization for the by-product business and in return achieve the greatest return per sow. To accomplish this, optimization models and net present value (NPV) analyses were utilized. Utilizing the tools, I found that within Johnsonville Sausage’s existing by-product business, they have the opportunity to increase profitability by 54% from what was achieved in 2010. In conjunction with this, a NPV analysis on a further processed pork loin was conducted. Results of this analysis proved that creating this type of concept for Johnsonville Sausage was a more value added solution financially as compared to the traditional manner in which pork loins are sold today.