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abstract: Online product ratings offer consumers information about products. In this dissertation, I explore how the design of the rating system impacts consumers’ sharing behavior and how different players are affected by rating mechanisms. The first two chapters investigate how consumers choose to share their experiences of different attributes, how their preferences are reflected in numerical ratings and textual reviews, whether and how multi-dimensional rating systems affect consumer satisfaction through product ratings, and whether and how multi-dimensional rating systems affect the interplay between numerical ratings and textual reviews. The identification strategy of the observational study hinges on a natural experiment on TripAdvisor when the website reengineered its rating system from single-dimensional to multi-dimensional in January 2009. Rating data on the same set of restaurants from Yelp, were used to identify the causal effect using a difference-in-difference approach. Text mining skills were deployed to identify potential topics from textual reviews when consumers didn’t provide dimensional ratings in both SD and MD systems. Results show that ratings in a single-dimensional rating system have a downward trend and a higher dispersion, whereas ratings in a multi-dimensional rating system are significantly higher and convergent. Textual reviews in MDR are in greater width and depth than textual reviews in SDR. The third chapter tries to uncover how the introduction of monetary incentives would influence different players in the online e-commerce market in the short term and in the long run. These three studies together contribute to the understanding of rating system/mechanism designs and different players in the online market. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2018

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University

After the recent housing bubble burst, foreclosures ran rampant across the United States. Focused concentrations occurred in Florida, California, Nevada, Utah, and other states. Despite government intervention through many foreclosure mitigation plans, the housing market is still incredibly volatile today. With many plans proving ineffective, the Obama Administration has its hopes set on the Making Home Affordable program (MHA), which is broken down into the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). This study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the Home Affordable Modification Program on overall and individual mortgage servicer levels by assessing changes in effectiveness of the overall program and evaluating each mortgage company’s effectiveness over time.

This research focused on East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Management and Marketing Alumni who graduated between 2003 and 2008. Based on the available literature and research on this topic, there was a limited amount of specific information as to the careers these alumni seek. As a means to gather data about the careers management and marketing alumni pursue, an online survey was used, which also supported three specified objectives. In summarized form these objectives are: non-corporate career choices and certain factors that influence entrepreneurship, B.B.A. Management and Marketing Alumni careers (or employment), and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or multinational corporations (MNCs) in regards to entrepreneurship. The results of this research revealed significant conclusions for these three objectives.

This research was focused on small manufacturing businesses and energy-efficiency programs on the federal, state, and local levels. Small manufacturing businesses have many types of energy-efficiency programs available to them from several different sources. Sources of information for these programs provide technical explanations that are difficult to understand. In addition, different qualifications are required for participation in different programs. The intention of this research was to form a manual for small manufacturing businesses that are energy-intensive. The purpose of the manual is to make the information about energy-efficiency programs more accessible and comprehendible for owners and managers of small manufacturing businesses.

abstract: Recognizing that CEOs are less capable of diversifying their employment risks than shareholders who could diversify their investment risks through portfolio investments, agency theory assumes that CEOs tend to be risk averse compared with shareholders. Based on this assumption, agency theory scholars suggest that to align the risk preference of CEOs with that of shareholders, CEOs need to be closely monitored and have less power. SEC regulators have been adopting the suggestion and accordingly CEO power has been reduced in the past decades. However, the empirical results are mixed and cannot provide solid support for the suggestion that reducing CEO power could lead the CEO to take more risks. Considering that managerial risk taking is an important issue in strategic management research and agency theory has been widely adopted in academia and business worlds, it is imperative to clarify the mechanism behind the relationship between CEO power and risk taking. My study aims to fill this research gap. In this study I follow agency theory to take an employment security perspective and fully consider how CEOs’ concern about employment security is affected by their power and ownership structure to enrich the understanding of the effects of CEO power and ownership structure on risk taking. I fine-tune the key concept CEO power into the CEO power over board and introduce a key aspect of ownership structure - nontransient investor ownership. I further suggest that CEO power over board and nontransient investor ownership affect CEOs’ employment security and the resulting CEO risk taking. In addition, I consider a set of industry and firm characteristics as the boundary conditions for the effects of CEO power and nontransient investor ownership on CEO risk-taking. This set of industry and firm characteristics include industry complexity, industry dynamism, industry munificence and firm slack. I test my theory using a large-scale, multi-year sample of U.S. publicly listed S&P 1500 firms between 2001 and 2017. My main hypotheses about the effects of CEO power over board and nontransient investor ownership on CEO risk taking receive strong support. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2019

Small business owners play a leading role in the United States economy by creating jobs and driving innovation. However, half of all new small business owners close their doors before their 5th anniversary. Following the entrepreneurship theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore what strategies 5 small business owners in the food and beverage industry in the San Francisco Bay area used to survive beyond 5 years of operation. Data sources included semistructured interviews and company documents. Data analysis included descriptive and process coding of the data and use of NVivo to identify themes. Based on thematic analysis of the data, the emergent themes included: human capital, business goals, and growth through innovation. Participants relied on business knowledge to start and sustain their businesses; set incremental goals for growth and aligned business decisions to achieve those goals; and maintained a competitive advantage by implementing innovative and creative changes to their products and services. The implications for positive social change include the potential to provide small business owners and potential small business owners with strategies to sustain their businesses beyond the 5-year mark, thus contributing to economic growth of their businesses, their employees, and their local economy.

Formal mentoring programs in the financial insurance business are essential for developing important leadership business skills and for providing support for important decisions and business contacts. Business leaders lack adequate knowledge about the strategies that comprise an effective mentoring program. With the conceptual theories of Super's career development and Quinn's competing values framework, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies within a formal mentoring program to prepare new business leaders in the financial insurance business. Nine leaders from the financial insurance business were recruited for participation in the study; these leaders were also mentees in the formal mentorship program. The research question addressed the strategies of successful mentorship programs that the leaders used to prepare new business leaders in the financial insurance business. Data were collected via semistructured telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, and document analyses. Transcribed data were validated via response validation and then coded into 8 interlinking themes related to strategies used in the mentorship program: empowerment of knowledge, leadership competency, level of experience, networking, gender, retention, structure, and strategies for the future. Leaders of financial insurance businesses could benefit from this study by integrating and implementing recommendations on developing a mentoring program for future leaders. Effective formal mentoring programs within organizations can thus improve leadership competencies and can develop socially responsible leaders who contribute to the economic well-being of businesses and communities and capitalize on growth and financial education opportunities. Strategies for Formal Mentoring Future Business Leaders

In the United States, small businesses have a high failure rate, with approximately 50% going out of business during the first 5 years. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies small business owners in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States used to stay in business for more than 5 years. Entrepreneurship theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. A sample of 5 small business owners participated in semistructured face-to-face interviews, and additional data were collected from field notes, observations, and review of artifacts related to small business success and longevity. Data were analyzed using Yin's 5 stages of coding to reveal 4 themes: solve a problem, ensure start-up money, address marketing, and provide great customer service. Proper planning that addressed all 4 themes was the most important leadership strategy to sustain small businesses beyond 5 years. The results of this study might bring about positive social change by helping small business owners to ensure business growth, increase revenues, stimulate job creation, foster social unity, and promote local economic stability.