This academic year, many LSBE students have completed extensive research projects as part of their classes. Some of the students volunteered to create posters about their projects to share with the area’s business community and public. Ordinarily, posters are showcased in a community-wide event where attendees interact with the students to learn more details about the project, outcome, and student researchers themselves.
With COVID-19, we are sharing these posters and some insight from the researchers with you here.
Enjoy reading about these studies and feel free to reach out to the students if you have questions about their work.
Bayshore Residence and Rehabilitation Care Center: Employee Satisfaction Survey
Jeremiah Bang, senior Health Care Management major
Jack Drilling, senior Health Care Management major
- Why did you choose this topic for your project/research?
Bang: I chose this topic because I wanted to do something that could potentially make an actual difference for people and really put my skills to use.
Drilling: Based on the project’s requirements I thought it would both be useful to Bayshore and meet the requirements of the Project for HCM 4510 Health Care Sociology.
- What was the most interesting thing you learned throughout your project/research?
Bang: The most interesting thing I learned was that even something as simple as measuring employee satisfaction can prove valuable when done correctly and in the proper context.
Drilling: I learned that no matter the amount of previous training you have. There is always a desire to learn more especially within the health care industry.
- How do you see this project/research helping you in the future?
Bang: This project will help me in the future as I am more confident in my ability to work with others and handle potentially sensitive information in a professional manner. This project boosts my resume by adding to my experience and enhancing my skills.
Drilling: I can see this project helping me in the future by giving me the knowledge on how to collect survey data without bias in the administration of the survey especially when it comes to employee based surveys.
Megan Badger, senior Economics major
- Why did you choose this topic for your project/research?
I chose this topic for my project because, as a student employee, I had been researching mining in Minnesota for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research’s report for the Iron Mining Association and had background knowledge and useful data on the topic. I also chose it because I believe it is important for people within the region to be educated on the mining industry in Minnesota as it has a significant impact on the economy.
- What was the most interesting thing you learned throughout your project/research?
The most interesting thing I learned while researching mining for this project was that the location quotient (LQ) for mining in Minnesota is 14.28. [LQ is a measure of industry concentration compared to another geographic location (e.g. the nation). An LQ of less than 1 indicates that the industry is less concentrated in a region as compared to the national economy, and an LQ higher than 1 means that it is more concentrated.] Before working on this project, I knew very little about mining in the U.S. and it is interesting to learn that Minnesota is the main producer of iron ore in the nation.
- How do you see this project/research helping you in the future?
Many people see mining as a negative because it is often associated with deforestation and water pollution. However, working on this project has shown me the positive aspects of mining in terms of employment and the economy. This project has reminded me to explore the grayness of life.
Visual Representation of the Benefits Cliff for St. Louis County
Nathan Brand, junior Financial Markets major
- Why did you choose this topic for your project/research?
This project was a project worked on during my summer internship at the Bureau of Business and Economic Research
- What was the most interesting thing you learned throughout your project/research?
I found the disincentives of working more hours and disproportional loss of benefits to be interesting and applicable to the local economy in Duluth. It made me think about specific industries’ sensitivity to such a “benefits cliff.” Industries more sensitive would be cyclical discretionary-driven ones such as service.
- How do you see this project/research helping you in the future?
Understanding real-world applications of labor economics will help me in the future in regard to public policy as well as a management role. This knowledge is applicable in the business world in terms of scheduling and incentivizing work.
Marketing Plan for Special Game Day: Men’s Hockey
Maddie Milbrath, senior Marketing major
- Why did you choose this topic for your project/research?
My group was assigned the task of creating a game day marketing plan for a UMD men’s hockey game. We selected a specific target market, researched ways to promote our game, came up with unique and fun marketing tactics to implement throughout the game to retain fans and keep them entertained, and ensured cohesiveness throughout all of our marketing activities.
- What was the most interesting thing you learned throughout your project/research?
The most interesting thing I learned in sports marketing is that everything needs to be scheduled to the second. Time is money, and sports marketers need to ensure timeliness to have successful game-day operations and stay on budget. Also, it’s critical to test all your ideas before game day. This allows the team to iron out details, make sure operations run smoothly, and see if the ideas actually work. Modifications can then be made so when game day rolls around, everyone knows exactly what they are supposed to do and when they are supposed to do it. Marketing mistakes and disasters can prove costly to the fans’ overall game-day experience.
- How do you see this project/research helping you in the future?
This project will help me in the future because I have learned how to work with a large team to execute a major event. My team was responsible for the game-day marketing plan creation; then we were given five more team members to help us carryout our plan. I learned to delegate tasks, find the best ways to communicate with everyone, schedule our every move to the second, and make sure we were remaining on task and meeting our time deadlines.
EZ Link: Bicycle Accessory Product Development
Brad Beaver, senior Marketing and Entrepreneurship double major
- Why did you choose this topic for your project/research?
A few years ago, I purchased a top-of-the-line mountain bike after biking for several years. The salesman informed me that the bike’s tires would only handle roughly six inches of snow and could not handle any ice, like most tires. I could purchase different tires for my bike to use only during the winter, but I would have to rework a lot of structural components to my bike. I did not purchase any additional tires because of the cost associated with them, but I knew there had to be a better way. I have an ATV with tire chains, and I know chains work, so I thought why there isn’t a chain option for a bike. I started to research bike tire chains and did not find a lot of information, so I decided I could make my own. I had plans on paper but never fully committed to actually designing a working prototype. I needed a project at roughly the same time for a class and decided to use my idea of bike tire chains to fully explore all opportunities.
- What was the most interesting thing you learned throughout your project/research?
The most interesting thing I learned was the size of the biking industry in the U.S. and how stable it has been over the past years. The bicycle industry has had an annual revenue of $6 billion dollars per year since 2002. I had no clue it was that large of an industry. I was also surprised to learn how many Americans participate in biking each year, roughly 47.5 million people in 2017.
- How do you see this project/research helping you in the future?
This project taught me how to use secondary information and apply it to a project I am working on. I didn’t know much about this industry, so I had to put in a lot of research for this project. Knowing how to conduct research effectively is going to be a great help to me in the future.
LGBTQ and Allies at St. Luke’s
Alexandra Hallstrom, senior Health Care Management major
Madison Holk, senior Health Care Management major
- Why did you choose this topic for your project/research?
Hallstrom: We partly chose this topic because it was brought to our attention by our professor Kim Dauner. After reading into it, we thought it lined up perfectly with what we had been studying in the course. Of course, we were also interested in helping implement changes that could improve care for underserved populations, in particular, LGBTQ+ patients because inequality still exists in implicit bias to this day and that must be stopped.
Holk: As a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, I have always felt like I wanted to contribute more. When this topic was brought up as a potential final project, I felt like it was a great opportunity for me to learn more about issues LGBTQ+ patients face with the health care system and how their experiences could be improved.
- What was the most interesting thing you learned throughout your project/research?
Hallstrom: A surprising fact was how St. Luke's already had some measures in place for this population's improved wellbeing, such as safe space stickers. There have been talks of changing the EHR to have spaces for LGBTQ+ patients to list their preferred names and pronouns. Also, it was very surprising how many medical errors are made because physicians do not want to speak about gender identity and do not perform certain preventive screenings because of this alone.
Holk: Something surprising that came up during our interview with Aaron Tetzlaff at St. Luke’s was the difficulty that came with integrating a patient’s preferred pronouns into the hospital’s current Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. While St. Luke’s has been able to implement a space for preferred pronouns in their email template, it is much more tedious to include this option in the EMR. In order to do so, the company that designs their EMR system would need to be involved in redesigning the template.
- How do you see this project/research helping you in the future?
Hallstrom: Along with having this project under my belt for future reference or experience, this has opened my eyes to inequalities throughout the health care system that still need much work. Prior to starting, we did not know if there was a strong need for training and awareness, but there is surprisingly still physician bias and reluctance to treat LGBTQ+ patients. Therefore, this project has made me feel disheartened as a future health system employee, but hopeful for future change that I may be a part of.
Holk: As a future health care manager, I believe this research will help me further understand the experiences of patients who identify as LGBTQ+. By having insight into their experiences, it could potentially improve my ability to make accommodations and make them feel as comfortable as possible throughout their treatment. Our research has also made me aware of changes that can be made to staff training materials in order to assure a safe space for everyone, which could be very helpful as a manager in a health care setting.