This research explores Amazons growth amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacted its innovation initiatives. It examines the strategies employed by Amazon to drive innovation, explores the challenges encountered during this period of expansion, and identifies opportunities for innovation in a post-pandemic era. Additionally, this study offers insights and recommendations for organizations navigating similar circumstances.

The National Basketball Association is one of the most popular and most profitable sports leagues in the entire world, and with stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, and Luka Dončić, it continues to expand its international reach. In the past decade this has meant that the salary cap has continued to increase considerably. From 2013 to 2017 the salary cap increased by about $40.5 million from around $58.5 million to $99 million meaning there was an extra $1.2 billion worth of cap space to fill. All this new cap space created a perfect storm for numerous players to be overpaid. Many saw the performance of these overpaid players as a part of the contract year phenomenon where a player performs better before a new contract and then after receiving their new contract, their performance deteriorates. The purpose of this research is twofold. First, it looks at whether the contract year phenomenon has been present in the NBA since 2015. After that it looks to find what statistics are the best predictors for performance based on their positions. This was done through various statistical analysis techniques such as T-tests and piecewise regression. Box score statistics like point, rebounds, and assists as well as advanced metrics like player efficiency rating, usage percentage, and true shooting percentage were utilized in this study. The results indicated that the concept of the contract year phenomenon was present in the players sampled. However, rather than contract year only being for players who increased their performance in the previous year, it is a more general phenomenon. Also, there was major differences in the statistics that predicted performance. The biggest of these was the importance of usage percentage rather than points and that centers had the least predictors, most likely due to the evolution in the play of centers.

The aim of my thesis is to expand the placemaking analysis strategies that I learned in my previous thesis pathway course, HON 493: Placemaking in Middle Earth and Earthsea to my favorite fantasy setting, the land of Skyrim in the Elder Scrolls Universe. During the course, the class was encouraged to consider how historical texts, archaeological findings, and anthropological research served as the inspiration behind the worlds that J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula Le Guin created along with the relationships that their fictional cultures had within those worlds. As the course drew to a close, I couldn’t help but start wondering what inspired the developers of Skyrim, the video game. One of Skyrim’s strongest features is its atmosphere and landscape. An analysis of the creation of place in Skyrim can teach future game developers how to create a land with stories rich enough to lose yourself in for years. I specifically wanted to focus on the burial practices and culture of the Nordic people, since most of the game is spent interacting with them and admittedly raiding the tombs of their ancestors in search of shiny trinkets and powerful artifacts. By delving into the inspirations behind Nordic burials, I hope to gain appreciation for the art of placemaking, and to broaden my knowledge of Nordic history, both fantasy and real. My research initially entailed finding stories about typical Norse burials, but since Skyrim’s burial grounds tend to be filled with the Nordic undead, known as the Draugr, I homed in on how the Norse believed that improper or disturbed burials could result in the rise of the dead. I also shifted attention to the importance of dragons in Norse culture, since they play a vital part in the existence of the Draugr in Skyrim, and I was curious if dragons perhaps played a similar role for the Norse people in the Viking Age. I found academic and historical studies about Viking myths about the origins of dragons and the undead and also studies on how these myths relate to the creation of place in Northern Europe. Lastly, I considered how the dragons and draugr in Skyrim depart from Norse mythology and how the inspirations and departures from Norse mythology deepen our sense of place in the land of Skyrim. This analysis made me realize how essential the Poetic Edda was to Norse mythology, since it’s one of the only written collections of Old Norse poems. The Norse people relied mostly on oral storytelling, which makes it extremely difficult to find any first-hand texts about their culture and lifestyles. After this project, or if I had more time, I think a read-through of the Poetic Edda would be an excellent way of educating myself on the breadth of Norse culture, as opposed to trying to find stories related to what I’ve experienced in Skyrim. I think there’s a limitless way of approaching an analysis of Old Norse culture in modern media and creative works, to the point that I felt I had to narrow my analysis to something simple, but fun, which was homing in on the dragons and draugr that I’ve had to battle thousands of with little previous thought as to their creative origins. The Norse people of the Viking Age may not have had access to our current understanding of the universe, but their speculations led to many fascinating beliefs about the unknown, like tales of dragons and draugar. Their mythology provided them with a unified sense of place and morals in a mercenary culture with loose collective cohesion. When their sense of place is brought into Skyrim and the dragons and draugar are brought to life, it’s easy to lose yourself in a depiction of their world. Skyrim was, and still is, a prime example of the importance of environmental storytelling in open-world games. Long after the graphics and gameplay become outdated, if the environment provides a living, breathing sense of place, then any fantasy game can stand the test of time. For those who aren’t convinced, I encourage them to try out Skyrim and experience their escape into another world with the iconic line, “Hey you, you’re finally awake”.

The goal of the ACC / CSE thesis project is to create a product that can help simplify and minimize complicated decisions when carrying out financial reporting transactions. Instead of relying on the expertise of external consultants, the product strives to provide users with an educational and practical experience that enables accountants to carry out financial reporting in accordance with IFRS and GAAP standards that are used around the world.

This thesis analyzes the relationship between diversity within U. S. boards of directors and overall firm performance. In the summer of 2020, various political and social movements erupted, fighting against police brutality and racial violence. These events were followed by an influx of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) frameworks across corporate America. It was becoming increasingly clear that diversity within company leadership was lacking. A company’s board of directors, who is responsible for creating value for shareholders, was not an accurate representation of the people it served. First, I will begin by discussing the current state of diversity in corporate boards by discussing reasons firms diversify, benefits and risks of a diverse board, and major barriers to diversification efforts. A main goal of directors is to maximize shareholder return, which prompts the question: is there a financial benefit to having directors of different backgrounds, skills, and perspectives? In the second part of my thesis, I explore the correlation of board compositions and the company’s financial performance through a study of 45 Fortune 500 companies. Previous studies have mixed results; some studies concluded that there is a positive correlation, some found a negative correlation, and others were inconclusive. While the results of my study did not demonstrate that a relationship between firm performance and diversity exists, I want to emphasize that it does not mean that diverse boards do not contribute at all to the success of the board. There are various factors that contributed to my results, but regardless of my findings, I believe that further research of this topic is necessary and will be beneficial for those in corporate governance.