Business Commons^™

An Examination Of Reward-Based Crowdfunding Performance And Success, Matthew Alan Grace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reward-based crowdfunding (RBCF), where fundraisers raise funds from a crowd of investors in return for a reward, has carved a niche as a proven option for not just entrepreneurs seeking early-stage funding, but also for established firms looking to presell or market a new product or service. Establishing crowdfunding performance and success factors is important for researchers and practitioners alike. Fortunately, a large portion of the RBCF academic literature is immediately applicable to entrepreneurs, with very little additional interpretation required. However, important questions about RBCF remain. The first paper in this three-part dissertation, a systematic literature review, examines some of …

Off The Beaten Path - A Podcast Interview Series, Shaun Holmes, Jason D'Mello

Honors Thesis

For my Honors Senior Thesis, I created a short podcast series entitled "Off The Beaten Path". My podcast delves into the lives of individuals who have who have been unafraid to grab life by the horns and choose a less traditional path in pursuit of bringing their passion or their own new creation to life. My interest in interviewing these types of individuals stems from my own life story, as well as my own desire to learn from the insights of people who have succeeded in these types of endeavors before me.

Finding The Silver Lining: The Role Of Affect And Adversity In Entrepreneurial Venturing., Lauren A. Zettel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motivated goal pursuit is a foundational concept in entrepreneurial venturing. Entrepreneurs set goals for their ventures, and their persistence in pursuing these goals ultimately impacts the success of their venture. Many of the explanations of motivation in goal pursuit have focused on the benefits of steady progress and positive emotions. However, entrepreneurs inevitably face adversity and setbacks which, in turn, beget negative emotions. It is yet unclear what role adversity and the ensuing negative emotions may have in motivating entrepreneurs. In order to extend our theoretical understanding of affect and adversity in entrepreneurial venturing, this dissertation draws on the existing …

Strategies For Retaining Employees In The Hospitality Industry, Melvia Edna Scott

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee retention is a critical issue for business leaders. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported over 4.5 million employee separations in 2014 because of resignations, layoffs, or terminations. Hospitality managers face some of the lowest employee retention rates of any industry, which leads to poor customer satisfaction and decreased profitability. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the perceptions of 3 hospitality managers from 3 different mid-sized hospitality organizations in Brevard County, Florida. The conceptual framework for this study was built upon motivation theory; existence, relatedness, and growth theory; and expectancy theory. The data were …

Individual Traits And Entrepreneurial Intentions: The Mediating Role Of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy And Need For Cognition, Chao Miao

Theses and Dissertations

The field of entrepreneurship is rapidly advancing and matures as a discipline that receives substantial amount of attention. One popular area of research in the discipline of entrepreneurship is to investigate one’s intent to start a business, which is entrepreneurial intention. This is an important construct that warrants ongoing research because entrepreneurial intention is not only a great predictor of entrepreneurial behavior but also an important step in the process of becoming an entrepreneur. The present study, based on a sample of 321 subjects along with 264 observers, makes five contributions to the entrepreneurship literature. First, I examined the psychometric …

New Venture Creation Mode: Differences Between Nascent Intrapreneurs And Nascent Entrepreneurs, Matthias A. Tietz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The process of new venture creation continues to fascinate practitioners and academics alike for its widespread and fundamental impact on all market economies. New ventures contribute to the economy through the jobs they create and by enhancing productivity resulting in increased economic prosperity and growth. Such important contributions underline the considerable merit attributed to understanding the determinants and consequences of new venture creation. There is little disagreement that personal, organizational, opportunity, cultural, institutional factors, etc. influence the creation of new ventures. The challenge remains to determine which factors have what kind of influence on new venture creation.

In this thesis …

The Influence Of Business Incubation In Developing New Enterprises In Australia, Phillip Kemp

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Australia was an early adopter of business incubation, and made substantial investments in it in the early 2000s, however local interest has declined with the closure of big government-funded projects, at a time when international interest in business incubation is increasing. This study revisits the question of business incubators and their usefulness in economic development, describing a case study conducted on a university-linked business incubator in Australia. It investigates the impact of its operations on developing start-up businesses operating from within the facility; the motivations, perceptions and priorities of small businesses tenants and former tenants; and the role of the …