We have five specific projects for 2023-2024, with room to add 1-2 additional projects as we go.
Campus property risk inventory. We have an ongoing project that began in early 2020, prior to the pandemic. The team has taken inventory of three AppState campus buildings, along with their primary and secondary risk characteristics. The momentum is now shifted to report on which characteristics are most important as factors for various perils (e.g. theft, wind, flood, etc.). This project is in conjunction with AppState’s Division of Risk Management. (1st project lead: Carson Herron; 2nd project lead: Omar Gonzalez; with team members Madison Browne, Sean James, Lori Medders, Matthew Scott, Sasha Sterling and Jacob Wiley)
Diversity of thought in business decision-making. We are conducting a study of psychology within the business decision environment, namely how diversity of thought (or lack thereof) contributes to differences in enterprise risk management decisions and to the quality of these business decisions. We expect overall that decision groups with a wider diversity of backgrounds, demographics and even personalities make risk management decisions that have superior outcomes to those groups having less diversity. Expected completion is in summer, 2023. (Project lead: Hannah Bagley, with team members Hrisha Bhatty, Marcella Gianni, Elizabeth Haithcock and Lori Medders)
Underwriting performance analysis. In conjunction with a managing general agency that specializes in property insurance, we are analyzing underwriting performance and looking for ways in which performance can be continuously improved. Expected completion is in fall, 2023. (Project lead: Omar Gonzalez, with team members Hrisha Bhatty, Marcella Gianni, Elizabeth Haithcock, Lori Medders, Caroline Reeder, Sasha Sterling and Matthias von Feilitsch)
Consumerism during disasters. We take an experiment-based look at why individuals make consumer decisions during and surrounding disaster events that might be viewed as 'weird' (e.g., the toilet paper hoarding during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, bread and milk panics just before winter weather). We hypothesize that some of these behaviors are based on 'unfiltered advice' (usually in the form of stories) passed down from parents or others who have experienced past disasters. If and when filtered, we also hypothesize that several behavioral variables come into play, thus influencing an individual's consumer decisions, right down to what to purchase at the grocery store. Expected completion is in spring, 2024. (Project lead: Sasha Sterling, with team members Hannah Bagley, Hrisha Bhatty and Lori Medders)
Societal and business implications of ‘cancel culture’. Team members are doing a literature review and primary data analysis on ‘cancel culture,’ with special emphasis on U.S. society and business take-aways. Expected completion is in fall, 2024. (Project lead: Hrisha Bhatty, with team members so far including Marcella Gianni, Omar Gonzalez and Lori Medders)