Honors College
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Browsing Honors College by Author "Accounting."
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Item Crisis Management in Nonprofit Organizations(2013-05-23) Hinn, Kristan; Madden, Charles S.; Accounting.; Honors College.A mishandled crisis has the power to devastate a nonprofit organization. This paper explores the importance of a well-orchestrated response to a crisis for the purpose of minimizing this devastation. In their books Weathering the Storm and Crisis Marketing, Christopher Simpson and Joe Marconi independently suggest the presence of certain criteria in an organization’s response to a crisis. In this paper, twenty-one case studies were conducted in order to evaluate the true importance and applicability of these criteria to wide spectrum of nonprofit organizations. In-depth research and numerical content analysis surrounding these case studies revealed a strong correlation between application of Simpson and Marconi’s response criteria and an organization’s positive outcome in the midst of a scandalous crisis. The crisis response criteria deductively reinforced and prioritized in this analysis serve as concrete objectives. These objectives provide a homogenous backbone for crisis preparation that can be adapted in a practical manner for an organization’s specific needs and resources.Item Help Me, I'm Succeeding: A Critical Look at Microfinance Institutions' Measurements of Success(2013-12-10) Lee, Johanna; Chevis, Gia; Accounting.; Baylor University.; Honors College.My thesis outlines the origin of microfinance institutions and their “double bottom line” business structure. Working to achieve a social good and a desired profit is worth the investment. Assessing the impact of these two goals educates the public about microfinance’s ability to alleviate poverty. I examine the current measures of success and their focus on the institution’s operations. These measurements do not always communicate if the borrower has come out of poverty. It is important that these measures are transparent and reflective of the borrower’s success in both the short and long term. Without proper measurements, an illusion of success in microfinance lending can hurt the poor. Proving that the poor are credit worthy is not enough to continue microfinance lending if the social mission is not being met. Finally, I survey the success of microfinance, by looking at multiple metrics, that when combined can unambiguously determine the success of the borrower.Item Love, Jon(2016-08-10) Nichols, Andrew; Murray, Sarah-Jane.; Accounting.; Baylor University.; Honors College.Sometimes in life, there are stories born inside of us that we cannot shake. I was truck with such inspiration early in life and chose to ignore it. Recently, I was given a second chance at choosing a thesis topic and decided to give life to the story I had held inside. This is a story about a young musician named Jon who returns home to his mother’s diner a failure. Once home, he must face the several choices. Will he rekindle his music career, or will he let his past define him? Will he profess his love for his childhood best friend, or will he keep the status quo? Most importantly, will he let his pride get in the way of laying his ghosts to rest and getting everything he’s ever wanted?Item The Presence of Automaticity in the Performance Evaluations of Auditors(2013-05-24) Nandamudi, Navya; Ford, Carie; Accounting.; Baylor University.; Honors College.Automaticity is “the control of one's internal psychological processes by external stimuli and events in one's immediate environment, often without knowledge or awareness of such control” (Bargh and Williams, 2006). Automaticity has been shown to be present in varying degrees in tasks that generally are thought to be fully cognitive, and current studies in psychology have challenged the assumptions that cognitive thought is the primary process in deliberative tasks. An example of a task that would have been considered fully deliberative would be a performance evaluation. Auditors are trained to be deliberate and professional when completing objectives, and most auditors would consider performance evaluations to be deliberative and fully cognitive task processes. This exploratory paper seeks to examine the presence of automaticity in varying degrees within the performance evaluation of auditors and highlight areas of future research in auditor performance evaluations in order to improve on current evaluation processes.Item Reducing the Risk of Fraud in Ugandan Churches(2013-05-24) Jurado, Kaila; Thomas, Bill; Accounting.; Baylor University.; Honors College.While many organizations are susceptible to fraud, there is evidence that churches are especially vulnerable. Unfortunately, most fraud prevention suggestions are not tailored to churches in developing countries. This paper focuses on fraud in Ugandan churches. My main question is whether any observable features in Ugandan churches are associated with accounting practices that reduce the likelihood of fraud. If not, then explicit foreign instruction may be necessary. To answer my question, I collect an original dataset surveying Ugandan pastors and students. I introduce a new summary measure of internal controls, called the Internal Control Index, based on best practices described in accounting literature. Using this measure, I find that none of the characteristics observed, such as theological views, pastor and accountant experience, or denominational affiliation, are systematically associated with anti-fraud accounting practices. This suggests that direct foreign instruction may be necessary to reduce the risk of fraud in these churches.Item Retention in Black & White: The Effectiveness of Interracial Faculty-Student Mentoring Relationships Concerning the Retention of Minority Populations at Baylor University(2012-05-08) Dike, Destiny; Tran, Jonathan.; Accounting.The retention of minority populations plays a significant role in establishing institutional diversity, bringing benefits that are often exclusive to students’ ability to reinforce their cultural competence during the undergraduate experience. Not only is such institutional diversity central to mission of many universities, but also it is now expected from various societal entities. In this thesis, I explored the struggles concerning minority retention in higher education in general and discussed the specific mode of retention known as mentoring. I found that a match of racial identity between faculty member and student had important relationship-enhancing implications. I then explored the minority retention problem at Baylor University, highlighting the important fact of Baylor’s existence as a Predominantly White Institution. After interviewing minority student populations (including soon-to-be graduates and non-retainers) in order to explore the effectiveness of interracial faculty-student mentoring relationships, I found that Caucasian faculty members at Baylor University are an untapped resource and mode of retention as it concerns retaining minority student populations.Item Taxation and Income Inequality: The Government's Role in Economic Parity(2023-05-22) Copley, John; Xing, Betty; Accounting.Income inequality is an issue that every country is currently facing that has a negative impact on most societies in a multifaceted way. As a complex fiscal issue, one of the ways to counter this increasingly relevant phenomenon is with curated tax policies put into place by federal governments, specifically with the progressive income tax rate structure, an important tool to mitigate income inequality. This thesis presents analysis and a review of the relevant literature to assess the design of income tax rate structures with respect to reducing income inequality and improving quality of life for a country’s citizens. The factors analyzed include the progressive income tax structure, corporate income tax structure, and the societal ramifications that these policies result in. Comparisons are made between the income tax rate structure and the income inequality metrics between the U.S. and Canada. While there is disagreement in prior literature, there seems agreement that higher tax progressivity coupled with a minor reduction in corporate income tax would reduce income inequality to a certain extent. The impact of these policies on the quality of life of a country’s citizens is also discussed when it comes into conflict with income inequality.Item Unfunded Pension Liabilities in State and Local GovernmentsSimeon, Katherine; Ford, Caroline; Accounting.; Baylor University.; Honors College.In the last few years, many state and local governments have been under scrutiny concerning their pension plans. Many of these governments have severely underfunded pension liabilities, causing problems for many constituencies, including tax payers, government officials, employees, retires, and creditors. In total, public pension unfunded liabilities are estimated at $1.4-4 trillion, depending upon the discount assumption used. This paper analyzes the cause and effect of unfunded pension liabilities, with a specific focus on the city of Detroit. It then provides general solutions for solving the issue of unfunded pension liabilities. To maintain current pension benefit obligation levels and contributions, state and local governments could raise taxes in order to increase their contributions and decrease the range of services offered to taxpayers. To lower current pension benefit obligation levels and contributions, state and local governments could reduce retirees’ benefits or their overall workforce. The most likely solution to underfunded pension liabilities is to raise taxes; however, like all of the potential solutions, it will not come without opposition.Item The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program at University High School in Waco, Texas: A Win-Win Project for Baylor and Waco(2020-09-02) Wiles, Cameron; Thomas, Bill; Accounting.; Baylor University.; University High SchoolThis thesis will describe the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program on a national level and explain the history and background of the program. It will then focus on explaining the particular history and success of VITA at University High School in Waco, Texas. I will explain my involvement as the Baylor Student Coordinator for the Baylor/University High School Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Partnership in 2019 and 2020. I will then outline the benefits of having the VITA site at UHS for both the volunteers involved and the Waco community. The final section of the paper will discuss future implications for this partnership, and set forth a recommended timeline of planning for this partnership for the next Baylor Student Coordinator.Item Would You Blow-the-Whistle on a Friend?(2013-12-13) Miller, Amy; Hurtt, R. Kathy; Accounting.; Baylor University.; Honors College.Whistleblowing is an essential tool in exposing wrongdoings and ending corruption, however it can be an arduous and unforgiving task that few are willing to accept. Individuals that do decide to blow-the-whistle are often subject to retaliation, loss of employment, and defamation of character. Despite the costs associated with whistleblowing, there are individuals who are willing to come forward about these illegal, unruly, or unethical, acts. This study analyzes how a person’s relationship with a wrongdoer affects whether he or she reports the wrongdoer’s misconduct. In this study over 360 undergraduate and graduate business students were asked if they would report a wrongdoing based on a series of scenarios. The scenarios incorporated a variety of situations that could occur either at a university or a corporation. The data showed there was a significant difference in the responses from students when the wrongdoer was a stranger and when the wrongdoer had a closer relationship with the potential whistleblower. The data also exhibited that when a wrongdoer holds a superior position to the potential whistleblower, the potential whistleblower would be affected by the wrongdoer’s superior position unless the wrongdoing committed is extremely severe. This study shows that the whistleblower’s relationship with the wrongdoer does affect his or her intent to blow-the-whistle. This research is valuable in understanding the factors that drive the whistleblower’s intent to report misconduct.