Academics
Student Research Symposium
Chef’s Coffee Company
Professor Alex Susskind and Robert Kwortnik selected five students to serve as consultants to a start-up coffee company. The students work closely with the professors and founders of the coffee company to obtain a unique academic experience. The team of students will do a 10-minute presentation of their research findings thus far and then turn it over to the founders of Chef's Coffee for a discussion about their product. At the conclusion of the presentation, audience members will participate in a blind taste test to compare the coffee to more familiar brands in the market.
Finance and Pricing
Tiffany Wong—Macroeconomic Implications of ADRs
This study examines ADRs and their macroeconomic implications. The study seeks to find the relation between ADRs and US Treasury Yield, US Consumer Confidence Index, US Unemployment Rate, US CPI, Total Mortgage Index, S&P 500 and other hospitality indices.
The relation will indicate if ADRs should serve as a macroeconomic metric themselves, whether they lag or lead the general economy, and the diversification impact they may have in stock portfolio holdings. To identify these relations, multiple regressions between the ADRs and macroeconomic indices will be run and efficient frontiers will be constructed using all S&P 1400 sectors as a basis of the stock portfolio.
April Zhu—Can ATP Predict Hotel ADR?
The investigation of existing literature on airline and hotel pricing and demand forecasting shows that many aspects of this topic have been explored by scholars focusing on both qualitative and quantitative analysis. However, limited empirical evidence has been found to prove that hotel Average Daily Rates can actually be predicted by looking at airline Average Ticket Prices. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether such a relationship exists, and the extent to which this relationship can help hotels accurately forecast daily rates. This research looks at the ADRs and ATPs of around thirty locations in the United States.
Namir Chowdhury—Difference in Abnormal Returns of Public vs. Private Companies
Are shareholder returns for hospitality firms that acquire public companies different from returns for firms that acquire private companies, subsidiaries, or assets of another company? After analyzing a sample of 786 M&A transactions in the hospitality industry between 1980 and 2007, the study finds a disparity in returns around the announcement date for acquirers of public versus acquirers of private companies. Further analyses determine how various characteristics of the target company, as well as the terms of the deal, affect the above-stated difference in returns.
Branding
James Cho—Brand Awareness in the Cruise Industry
Nobody can deny the importance of branding in the service industry. Existing branding theory claims that brand equity is based on both brand awareness and brand experience. However, without direct customer experience, a brand’s equity is derived primarily from awareness. This study evaluates how well companies within the cruise industry—one with which most of the US population has not had a direct experience—have been able to develop customer awareness through their marketing materials. We derive primary themes from prevalent marketing materials and then measure how well people associate these themes with the appropriate brands.
Wayne Taylor—Brand Class Effects on Perceived Fairness of Revenue Management Strategies
Perceived fairness of revenue management strategies has been shown to influence customer satisfaction. Previous research has found that familiarity and the provision of information significantly influences perceptions of fairness in the hotel context. The purpose of this survey-based research is to determine whether a new variable, brand class, influences the perceived fairness of revenue management strategies in a hotel context and to discuss the managerial implications of the findings.
Legal
Jeanette Abate—Evaluating Investment Potential for LEED-EB in Commercial Real Estate
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification is widely considered to reduce operating expenses and increase rent per square foot in newly constructed buildings. However, little research has been conducted to determine the investment potential of LEED Certification for Existing Buildings. This survey-based study examines the real estate industry's perceptions of LEED-EB in terms of NOI, cap rates, and risk factors.
Erin Payne—Sexual Harassment Under Title VII
Under sexual harassment law, the plaintiff has the burden of proving the harassing conduct was because of sex and that the conduct was severe or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of employment. The standards of “because of sex” and “severe or pervasive” have become a debate among legal scholars and professionals. This presentation determines whether clear standards for “because of sex” and “severe or pervasive” exist.