This research tried to explain the role of calculative commitment, loyalty commitment and power asymmetry on behavioral commitment in a business to business scenario. We specifically looked at the trade promotion scenario since retailers face more trade promotions than they can accept and extant research suggests that retailers always choose trade promotions that offer the greatest immediate benefit. This dissertation addressed the following managerial question, “How does a firm select a program (trade deal) when all its vendors offer the same short term economic incentives”. We proposed that other aspects of retailer’s relationship with its vendors determine / influence the program selection decision. First, incentives imbedded in channel relationships namely economic incentives (e.g., access to new products) and social incentives (e.g., affect toward vendor / salesperson) lead to a selection decision. Second, the power asymmetry the retailer has with the various vendors directly impacts decision making and also moderates the impact of the embedded economic / social incentives. We used commitment theory and an experimental design to test our model. We find that calculative commitment has the greatest impact on decision making followed by power asymmetry. We also find that loyalty commitment has the least impact. We also found that under high power asymmetry, calculative commitment has a bigger impact than loyalty commitment on behavioral commitment than under low power asymmetry when loyalty commitment has a bigger impact.

A Monte Carlo simulation is performed of Higgs decays in the H → ZZ → 4l channel at ATLAS. Decay parameters are varied in order to model Higgs decays of differing CP states. A full analysis is performed, including trigger and background studies. Using various angular distributions as observables it is found that ATLAS should be able to exclude an anomalous CP odd coupling at 50 fb−1 and an anomalous CP even coupling at 100 fb−1. The CP violating case studied could not be excluded. / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [145]-150).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1992.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-226).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Iowa State University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-219).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Iowa State University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 238-244).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 12, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-148).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-104).