Ian Wright and Dr. Keith Vorkink, Finance Investors, economists and financial analysts are constantly seeking to develop models that may help them learn what the stock market will do and how it functions. They do this so that they may take advantage of any market anomalies as soon as they appear and try to make […]
The Learning Advantage: The Effect of Operational Focus on the Rate of Organizational Learning
Jeffrey Savage and Dr. Peter Madsen, Organizational Leadership and Strategy My ORCA project is primarily focused on organizational learning. I am working closely with Peter Madsen, my mentor, to gather data and find supporting literature. Our hypothesis is that strategic focus will increase the rate at which organizations learn. In a nuclear power plant, this […]
“Working to Put Food on the Table”: Fractured Identities and Mission Drift in a South African Nonprofit Organization
Eric C. Darsow and Drs. Christopher Meek and Warner Woodworth Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) face a tradeoff between activities which further their mission and those which generate revenue to pay salaries and bills. For many NPOs, management’s increasing attention to cash flow suppresses the organization’s service-oriented mission and alienates staff. This ORCA grant funded a case […]
Helping Willing Hands: Educating Single Mothers to Create Skills-Based Resumes
Kiel Willmore and Dr. Maureen Rice, Counseling and Career Center I had two main objectives for my creative project when I received an ORCA grant earlier this year. First, the project was aimed towards helping local single mothers, who not having the chance to obtain a secondary education, create skills-based resumes rather than education or […]
Financial Literacy Amongst University Students
Adam Trone and Dr. James Brau My interest in financial literacy and my decision to pursue an ORCA grant in this subject began in the fall of 2007. Many remember the upheaval that devastated financial markets beginning at this time. This upheaval is not just a memory because similar economic and financial conditions continue to […]
SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Nathan Feliz and Dr. Warner Woodworth, Business Management The focus of my research was to observe the process of economic development at the grassroots level in Southern Africa. In Capetown, South Africa I found an organization that was working closely with marginalized youth in the townships and squatters camps. The Center For Opportunity Development (COD) […]
AN OSA MODEL FOR THE OPTOMETRY FIELD
Conan C. Albrecht and Dr. Stephen W. Liddle, Accountancy and Information Systems Many health fields have progressed slowly in the area of computer systems. My research focused on these systems specifically on the optometry health field. Many problems exist with the current systems available to optometrists. This fact is evident by their current use; a […]
Leadership Training Center: A Resource for Guatemalan Returned Missionaries
Brian Melven and Professor Don Adolphson, Romney Institute for Public Management The purpose of my project was to develop a proposal to aide Guatemalan university students in finding fulfilling employment after university graduation. I specifically wanted to help LDS university students who attended the public university in Guatemala City. The proposal was based on my findings […]
The Market for High-Tech Skills and the Business Student
Milen E. Marinov and Dr. J. Owen Cherrington, Accountancy and Information Systems Being granted the ORCA scholarship I started researching information technology (IT) skills that will make a business student more marketable. I began my research at the end of November 1999. Gradually, along with demanded IT skills my research activity included the gathering and […]
Mission Drifts in Microcredit: The Drift Away from the Poorest of the Poor; and, the Drift From Providing Social Benefits
Jared Mabey and Dr. Warner Woodworth, Organizational Behavior Overview This thesis shows that the microcredit movement=s fixation on reaching financial self-sustainability is causing microfinance institutions to cease to achieve important objectives, namely: 1) reaching the poorest of the poor, and 2) providing bank members with social benefits. As a response to these problems, this thesis […]