Business Commons^™

Seniorpreneurs: The New Aspect Of Retirement, Valentina Cordero

Capstones

In the U.S., entrepreneurs ages 55 to 64 increased by almost 5 percent in the last decade, while the young generation saw a decline. People 55 and older want something new than a traditional employment. They feel more confident in their ability to open businesses.

How Microlending Affects Innovation And Entrepreneurship: Evidence From Ethiopia, Robert Hirth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advocates of microlending suggest it is a sustainable intervention that reaches the poor directly and offers them the means to invest and improve their incomes (Khavul, 2010; Morduch, 1999; Yunus, 2007); yet, impact studies of these interventions have suggested they often have little or even a detrimental impact on borrowers (Van Rooyen, Stewart & De Wet, 2012). This dissertation examines the efforts to promote entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty in developing countries through microlending. I begin by reviewing the microlending literature, and in particular, impact studies of the effect microlending is having in developing countries. Next, I review theory and empirical …

Entrepreneurial Culture: Developing A Theoretical Construct And Its Measurement, Matthew A. Wong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The concept of “entrepreneurial culture” has existed for decades, described as an organizational culture embodying and championing entrepreneurial characteristics and attributes. These have included risk-taking, innovation, and creativity; the elements one would expect to see among entrepreneurs as individuals. The literature suggests that entrepreneurial culture is related to a number of positive organizational outcomes, such as generating new business and improving firm performance.

Despite years of entrepreneurial culture discussion, however, it remains a relatively ambiguous theoretical construct. Numerous perspectives have emerged describing the phenomenon and the concept, yet it remains unfocused and equivocal. Different definitions and sets of characteristics and …

Law Estates Wine, Devon Pitts, Cheyenne Jepsen, Will Akkaya

Case Studies in Agribusiness

Law Estate Wine differentiates its high end wines through quality and highly personal wine tastings. Believing that word of mouth and personal experience is the best way to market high end wines, Law offers tastings only through appointments, with 4-6 people per tasting. They also submit wines to selective wine journals and competitions. This selective business model appears to be successful for this boutique (under 10,000 cases) winery.

The Development And Production Of The Comodo Keeper, Ashley Cook

Senior Theses

As a musician of large ensembles, I have seen the destruction the harsh sound of a metal mouthpiece cap falling onto the cold, hard floor can do to both the concentration of the members of the rehearsal as well as the mood of the conductor. Many saxophonists and clarinetists keep their mouthpiece caps on the edge of their flimsy music stands because during periods of rest, it is best to preserve the reed with the cap. However, with virtually every rehearsal I partake in, shuffling one’s music and grabbing pencils off the stand results in an accident. Witnessing this interruption …

Institutional Context And Entrepreneurial Dynamism: Corruption, Distance To Frontier, Perceived Opportunity And Entrepreneurial Activity, Thaung Han

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation hypothesizes that corruption has both beneficial and detrimental effects on the entrepreneurial opportunity, and that such relationships is contingent on different levels of overall regulatory condition in ease of doing business. Beneficial effects and positive relationship can be seen in countries with poor regulatory procedures and the opposite is true for the countries with well-established ones, a complex relationship which could be visualized as a U-shaped relationship. This Dissertation further proposes that entrepreneurial perceived opportunity in turn positively relates to entrepreneurial intention, and this relationship is moderated by the facilitating effects of corruption to overcome the uncertainties and …

The Chinese Social Enterprise: A Global Phenomenon With Chinese Characteristics, Amanda Jingtong O'Malley

Honors Theses

Social entrepreneurship, a concept that integrates business strategies with achieving social goals, is gaining traction in China. However, it is a distinctly Chinese variant of an approach exported by Western entrepreneurs. The purpose of this thesis to is analyze the Chinese social enterprise by identifying China’s socioeconomic and political forces that create the unique environment in which this trend is taking root. By examining how these factors are changing in China’s progressively more market economy, I conclude that key characteristics of the Chinese social enterprise are also shifting in response—moving from a civil society- originated model to a market‐based social …