Business Commons^™

Good Times, Bad Times: Small Business Social Responsibility And Community Crisis Response In Small To Midsized Communities, Amber Monique Chatelain

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

It is common practice for small businesses to support their local communities through social responsibility and citizenship behaviors. Small business response to local crisis events and participation in relief efforts can serve as an indicator of the company’s awareness of community events and signal to customers their embeddedness in and commitment to the local community. Using primary data and an experimental methodology, this dissertation examines customer perceptions of small business’ response to community crisis. Specifically, this study examines customer perceptions of trust and loyalty, and customers’ purchase intent for small businesses that participate in socially responsive behaviors in the face …

Business Plan For Destraal Bakery, Lauren Frazier

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Destraal Bakery is a bakery café that will offer patrons a space to slow down and treat themselves. Offering bread products and coffee, Destraal differentiates itself through product quality, shop atmosphere, delivery, and social responsibility. Destraal will eventually seek B- Corp status.

Located in West Colorado Springs, more specifically, Old Colorado Springs, Destraal will benefit from grants and loans offered to female entrepreneurs, high levels of tourism and foot traffic, and close proximity to the target demographic. In a growing industry, Destraal is forecasted to be profitable within the first year. The bakery café will achieve 14% profit margin in …

Bridging The Gap: A Comprehensive Guide To Implementing An Internship Program For Businesses, Ben Turner

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis outlines a comprehensive plan for implementing an internship program, from the perspective of a former intern. The paper emphasizes the importance of internships for businesses and aims to create a program that generates value for both the business and the intern. The plan is divided into three stages: Planning and Designing, Recruiting and Selecting, and Managing and Supervising. Each stage provides detailed steps for successfully implementing an internship program, including identifying needs and objectives, determining a timeline and structure, defining roles and responsibilities, developing a budget, setting performance expectations and goals, providing training and support, evaluating performance, and …

Microbusinesses Practices During Disruptor Events: Perceptions, Adaptations, And Performance, Debra Lynn Frank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During COVID-19 closures, business owners and managers experienced a disruptor event that pushed them to find new ways to navigate their businesses practices. The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn how business owners and managers adapt their business models to survive disruptor events. The objective was identification of factors owners and managers of microbusinesses perceived as critical to avoiding closures, assessment of the effectiveness of the adaptations adopted during closures that enabled businesses to remain open, and analysis of the results of those adaptations. Owners and managers of businesses in the craft brewing industry were interviewed. The four …

Covid-19: An Optimal Strategy To Resume Life With Safety And Economic Prosperity, Skyler Tate

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the world hard since the beginning of 2020, and the United States has certainly felt a negative impact. Many important aspects of life have been greatly altered by the pandemic, and this has resulted in a hindered economy. The purpose of this project was to determine if there is an optimal strategy with respect to policy and the economy that the United States could implement in order to mitigate the coronavirus. In order to determine this, I evaluated multiple aspects of the disease through a literature review. Upon review, I conducted a survey and performed …

Leadership Strategies Of Successful Women-Owned Businesses In Cameroon, Henry Ntoko Ajieh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of leadership skills in women-led businesses can result in high business failure rates. Women business owners who do not know how to improve their leadership skills could face difficulties succeeding in business. Grounded in the transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that women business owners in the events planning business use to improve leadership skills to succeed in business beyond 5 years. The participants included five women in the events planning business in Cameroon, Central Africa, who successfully developed strategies to improve leadership skills to succeed in business beyond 5 years. …

Us And Them: The Impact Of Differing Founder Mindsets On Firm Strategic Orientation, Manisha M. Vaswani

Management Dissertations

Historically, small business founders were assumed to be motivated by profit-maximization. Today, we understand that founders also have non-economic goals for starting a business, including furthering their family legacy. This dissertation contrasts two types of founder mind-sets: an entrepreneurial mindset and a small business mind-set. I propose theoretical arguments which predict that founders who identify more with the small business mindset would pursue long-term, trust-based strategies that foster relationships with stakeholders such as suppliers and customers. On the other hand, founders who identify with the entrepreneurial mindset are more likely to pursue strategies that are ambitious, contractual, and profit-enhancing. Using …

Communication Competence Training Within Minority-Owned Small Businesses, Shirleena Racine Baggett

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Business ownership is imperative in correcting economic issues for demographic groups subjugated to discrimination, inequality, poverty, and other harmful disadvantages. This project supports the idea that building communication competence within minority-owned small businesses and nonprofit organizations, will significantly increase achievement of long-term sustainability and success. The solution is not only creating communication training tailored for minority entrepreneurs, but to allow access in feasible and tangible ways. This study begins by defining communication and explaining its function to assist in moving past the narrative of communication interaction as “talking and listening,” but instead a concept rooted in logic, theoretical analysis, and …

One Shot Pub: A Business Plan, Ben Dale

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing The Ethical Decisions Of Small Business Owners And Managers In Emerging Markets: The Case Of India, La Toya M. Russell

ETD Archive

For decades, research has shown the importance of ethics in the business environment. With the increased internationalization of corporations, the need for a focus on international business ethics has also increased. To date, research has predominantly focused on business ethics in large firms and the factors that affect the ethical decision-making processes of the managers and executives in these firms. What appears to be limited in literature is ethics and ethical decision-making as it relates to small businesses. With the economic importance of small businesses, this area of research needs to be explored especially from a cross-cultural basis. This dissertation …

Strategies Small Business Owners Use To Remain Sustainable, Desire Luamba

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, 41% of small retail businesses fail to succeed for longer than 5 years. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies small retail business owners used to remain sustainable for more than 5 years. The conceptual framework that grounded this study was Schumpeter's innovation theory. The sample size of this research included 4 successful retail business owners located in the southeastern region of the United States who have successfully started and managed their business activities for more than 5 years. Data were collected using semistructured face-to-face interviews with successful owners of small retail …

Sustainability Strategies Of Barber Salons, Kouassi Gilles Mevo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many barber salons and other small businesses in the United States fail to succeed beyond the first 5 years. The factors responsible for the low survival rate of salons may include the limited training and education levels mandated by state certification requirements. The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify business strategies successful barber salon owners use to overcome the business management and staffing challenges associated with a small pool of skilled barbers and the high turnover in a low wage profession. The theory of transformational leadership served as the conceptual framework. The data collection included interviews of …

Business Plan: The Coffee Project, Lauren Porter

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

Executive Summary

The Coffee Project will be a specialty coffee shop in downtown Bartlesville, OK offering direct-trade coffee, tea, simple meals, and TCP merchandise. The shop will offer the standard specialty coffee drinks like cappuccinos, lattes, macchiatos and cortados, as well as shots of flavors and a selection of milk alternatives. In achieving its mission to provide great specialty coffee with a cause to Bartlesville, a portion of the profits from every food or drink purchase at The Coffee Project will be donated to local and regional charity organizations of the customers’ choosing. All net profits from TCP merchandise will …

Optimize Your Fitness, Optimize Your Business: The Balanced Scorecard, Analysis And Application For The Crossfit Affiliate, Jordan G. Aronowitz

CMC Senior Theses

The Balanced Scorecard for the CrossFit Affiliate will provide unprepared or inexperienced managers with the necessary information to make informed operational decisions. The Balanced Scorecard incorporates financial data, customer satisfaction, internal operations, and future growth to create a series of cause-and-effect relationships that illustrate how decisions in one aspect of a business affect others. The Balanced Scorecard particularly benefits inexperienced managers leading small businesses. As overall small business growth increased, the boutique fitness industry expanded. The CrossFit brand rose in conjunction, but because corporate leaders insist on a hands-off licensing model, affiliate owners do not receive assistance from CrossFit corporate …

Sustainability Strategies For Successful Small Businesses, Barbara Stovall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses struggle to survive for longer than 5 years because owners lack knowledge of strategies to sustain financial capital. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies small business owners used to maintain financial capital to ensure survivability for longer than 5 years. The sample included 3 successful service- related small business owners located in the southeastern United States. Systems theory and the theory of entrepreneurship provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data collection involved face-to-face, semistructured interviews and a review of company websites and organizational documents. Member checking enhanced the credibility of the findings. …

The Role Of Motivation In Financing Women-Owned Businesses, Severine C. Bryan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women-owned small businesses contribute significantly to the U.S. economy, accounting for 55% of all new ventures; however, women entrepreneurs receive only 2% in external financing. The growth of small businesses is contingent on business owners receiving adequate financing. Business leaders should consider how obstacles, such as lack of motivation, impede the pursuit of external financing. Grounded in Vroom's expectancy theory of motivation, the purpose of this correlational study was to analyze the relationships among valence, instrumentality, expectancy, and the desire to seek business financing. The study included women small business owners in the United States. Data were collected from a …

Strategic Working Capital Sourcing Strategies For The Survival Of Small Businesses, Gregory Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Fifty percent of small businesses fail before attaining their 5-year anniversary. The lack of sufficient working capital is one of the major reasons for small business failure. Pecking order theory was employed as the conceptual framework for this multiple case study to explore the working capital sourcing strategies of 6 purposely selected successful small business owners in the Southeast region of the United States used to sustain their businesses beyond 5 years. Data sources included semistructured interviews and company documents. Data analysis included thematic coding of the material using statistical software. The modified Van Kaam method was used to analyze …

To Grow Or Not To Grow: Socio-Cognitive Determinants Of Small And Medium Firm Growth And Threshold Mentality, David A. Alvarado

Theses and Dissertations

Small business owners (entrepreneurs) are heterogeneous in their motivations and goals, with some seeking to expand firm scope, size, and purpose, and others seeking stability. The small and medium firm growth literature indicates that growth intention varies, but why does it vary so much, and so often? Why do some firms have a threshold mentality, represented by a stability intention, while others have a growth intention? To explore these questions, this dissertation empirically examines the socio-cognitive determinants of small and medium firm growth intentions. Participants included owner/managers of independent Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) decision-making authority for their firms. 159 …

Leadership Strategies And Employee Performance Within Small Business, Letica Carla Sellers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The survival of the small business industry is important to the United Sates workforce and economy. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore leadership strategies of 2 small business managers in a manufacturing setting who had a demonstrable record of improving employee performance to meet organizational goals. The conceptual framework for this study was Burns and Bass's transformational leadership theory. The small business managers were from 2 small manufacturing plants in the coastal plains region of South Carolina. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, archival documents, and observations of the managers during their daily activities. Data analysis …

Budget Planning, Budget Control, Business Age, And Financial Performance In Small Businesses, Tracy A. Foster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over 390,000 businesses failed in the United States in 2014. The primary cause for most business failures is poor planning, and budgets are a primary means of planning. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine to what extent, if any, budget planning, budget control, and the age of the business significantly predict financial performance in small businesses. The target population consisted of small business leaders in the Midwest. Churchill and Lewis's theory on the relative importance of selected management factors of small businesses through 5 stages of development formed the theoretical framework for this study. Data were collected …

Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Servant Leadership In Banking, Curtis J. Gregory

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

U.S.-based financial institutions have experienced significant failure rates since the mid-1980s. The problem within the U.S.-based banking industry is that the focus of leadership development has been primarily on cognitive abilities, whereas interpersonal skills, such as emotional intelligence, have been neglected. Research has focused on U.S. bank failures from a risk mitigation, economic, or legislative perspective, creating a gap in research on leadership behavior. The purpose of this correlation study was to determine whether a significant relationship exists between emotional intelligence and servant leadership among leaders in the U.S. small business banking industry. The theoretical framework compared intelligence types to …

Marketing Strategies Of Small Traditional Travel Agencies In A Technology-Driven World, Charice Hayes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2012, there was a 70% increase in online travel booking, resulting in small traditional brick-and-mortar travel agencies having serious difficulties with obtaining and retaining customers. The purpose of this case study was to explore online marketing strategies that leaders of small traditional travel agencies have used to successfully obtain and retain customers. Technology disruption theory was the conceptual framework of this study. Using criterion sampling, the population for this study consisted of 3 leaders of small traditional travel agencies located in the state of Maryland. Data collection consisted of interviews, observations, and review of documentation, such as displays, websites, …

Strategies Independent Coffee Shop Owners Require To Survive Beyond Five Years, Bruce Higdon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Successful independent coffee shop owners in Washington struggle to compete with the larger coffee shop chains. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to investigate what strategies owners of independent coffee shops in Washington use to survive beyond the first 5 years. Five independent coffee shop owners in Washington participated in the study and shared their practices and observations. Systems theory directed the study exploring the perspectives of successful independent coffee shop owners in Washington. Using communication skills and personal availability to answer questions and remain in contact throughout the research process built a rapport with participants. Data …

Market Orientation In Government Markets And Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, Ashley Moye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inadequate resources, poor market strategy, competition, contract regulation, and disparate performance outcomes are issues small business owners face while competing for government contracts. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the market orientation-business performance relationship and the influence of market factors among veteran-owned small businesses competing for government contracts in the United States. A survey with adapted MARKOR and Government Regulation Lassez-Faire scales was administered to 203 veteran-owned small business owners. Resource-advantage theory served as the theoretical foundation for this study. The results of the multiple linear regression were significant, suggesting that market orientation relates to firm performance …

Perceived Best Practices Of Small Business Executives In War Zones, Eric Wayne Barton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The ability to sustain small businesses operating in war-torn areas is important not only to the business owners, but also to foreign communities receiving United States contract services for recovery from widespread decimation. While all small businesses address a wide range of issues, businesses operating in war-torn areas also face cultural diversity, local regulations, and potential threats to employee safety. The conceptual framework for this exploratory multiple case study was transformational-transactional leadership theory, guiding the research to discover traits and strategies of successful leaders in the population of small businesses that were profitable beyond 5 years while operating in the …

The First 4 Years: A Small Business Sustainability Study, Iris Ann Cooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses create most of the new jobs in the world, yet more than half fail before the 5th year. Small businesses contribute to the economy by originating new products and services, yet they often lack the strategies to overcome the challenges of the beginning years. When businesses fail, the community wanes from unemployment, poverty, crime, and other social dilemmas. The purpose of this single case study was to explore small business strategies for sustainability beyond Year 4, specifically in a single independent operating Ohio restaurant owner with less than 500 employees. The conceptual framework was Schumpeter's theory of the …

A Qualitative Study Of The Growth Strategies Of Mature Small Businesses, Racquel Thompson-Elliott

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some small businesses have slower growth as they age and have limited strategies to maximize profit, productivity, and job creation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the strategies small business managers use to capitalize on growth opportunities. Area small business managers and support program stakeholders could gain new knowledge to develop effective support for mature small businesses. Twenty managers participated in this case study. These managers were from small businesses operating in the state of Florida for more than 5 years with less than 500 employees. The data collection approach included purposeful sampling and semistructured interviews with …

Brazilian Women Entrepreneurs: Exploring Strategies For Building Sustainable Business Organizations, Maria Ana Church

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Brazilians create an average of 1.2 million new registered enterprises annually, but some struggle to keep their business in operation. Thirty percent of the new ventures are unable to survive the first year, and 58% go out of business after the first 5 years. The goal of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of Brazilian women entrepreneurs concerning the strategies needed to build sustainable business organizations in Brazil. The individual concepts of sustainable development, sustainability, business strategies, and business models served as the theoretical foundations for the study. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 20 women entrepreneurs …

Small Ethnic Restaurant Business Owner Strategies To Remain Operable Beyond 7 Years, Nam Phuong Le

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The failure rate among small businesses is high. More than half of all small businesses fail within the first 7 years of operation. The purpose of this multi-case study was to explore the strategies that successful small ethnic restaurant owners employed to remain operable beyond 7 years. Three successful ethnic restaurant owners who have been operating their restaurant for at least 7 years in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada were selected. Data were gathered from participant interviews and from an examination of available physical artifacts such as the locations, premises, websites, and social media pages. The resource-based view by Edith …

An Exploratory Investigation Into Voluntary Employee Turnover And Retention Practices In The Small Business Sector [Thesis], Olivia Gialuisi

Theses : Honours

This study addresses the question, what factors influence voluntary employee turnover in small businesses and how do owner-managers retain key employees? More specifically the study explores four research objectives: 1) the negative effects of voluntary turnover of key employees on small businesses; 2) common reasons why employees voluntarily leave small businesses; 3) characteristics of the small business that might enhance retention of employees; and 4) strategies that are employed to retain key employees. The current study employed an exploratory qualitative research design. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with nine owner-managers and seven key employees from eleven Australian small businesses. …