Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

Strategies For Information Technology Small Business Owners To Sustain Beyond The First 5 Years, Edward Alan Rodarte Jan 2022

Strategies For Information Technology Small Business Owners To Sustain Beyond The First 5 Years, Edward Alan Rodarte

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses are the foundation of an economy and spawn innovation, but small business owners fail at an alarming rate because they lack strategies to sustain business operations. Since 50% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years, small business sustainability research is critical to support small business owners. Grounded in entrepreneurial theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to identify strategies information technology (IT) small business owners use to sustain operation beyond the first 5 years. The participants included four IT small business owners in the Southwestern United States who sustained operations beyond the first 5 …


Characteristics Of Authentic Entrepreneurial Leadership Within Information Technology Startups In Kenya, Christine Mukhwana Jan 2021

Characteristics Of Authentic Entrepreneurial Leadership Within Information Technology Startups In Kenya, Christine Mukhwana

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Kenya, over 60% of nascent entrepreneurs start businesses with minimal leadership experience, engendering founder-CEOs who cannot sustain a business beyond its formative years. The problem is the nascent entrepreneurs’ lack of understanding of effective leadership. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to develop a more nuanced understanding of authentic leadership behavior from the perspective of nascent entrepreneurs. Authentic leadership theory and the three-factor model were used to conceptualize the study. The research question focused on nascent entrepreneurs’ lived experiences and understanding of authentic leadership. The participants in the study were entrepreneurs from the information technology industry in …


Leadership Skills To Sustain High-Tech Entrepreneurial Ventures, Zoaib Z. Rangwala Jan 2018

Leadership Skills To Sustain High-Tech Entrepreneurial Ventures, Zoaib Z. Rangwala

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High-tech (HT) innovation-oriented entrepreneurs start 35% more ventures and create 10% more jobs in the first 5 years of operation than the rest of the private sector and drive significant economic growth across all industries; however, more than 50% of the entrepreneurial HT ventures fail during the first 5 years of operations. Guided by the conceptual framework of transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multicase study was to explore skills used by successful entrepreneurial leaders to sustain their HT ventures in Silicon Valley, California. Data collection was from 8 participants in semistructured 1-on-1 interviews and 3 participants in a …


Marketing Strategies Of Mobile Game Application Entrepreneurs, Talaya Waller Jan 2015

Marketing Strategies Of Mobile Game Application Entrepreneurs, Talaya Waller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mobile game application entrepreneurs can offer many benefits to the U.S. economy; however, 80% of the entrepreneurs in this study stated that marketing their mobile applications was a major business challenge. Successful strategies that entrepreneurs have used to overcome their mobile game application marketing challenges may be beneficial to other entrepreneurs. Based on Schumpeter's theory of economic development and new value creation of technological innovation, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the strategies that entrepreneurs have used to market their mobile game application development businesses successfully. Twenty mobile game application entrepreneurs from northern California, who successfully sustained …


Exploring Knowledge Management Practices In Service-Based Small Business Enterprises, Orlando Skelton Jan 2015

Exploring Knowledge Management Practices In Service-Based Small Business Enterprises, Orlando Skelton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business enterprises (SBEs) are significant contributors to business growth and employment in the United States, but despite governmental support, the failure rate of SBEs is high. Some small business leaders lack the critical management skills to detect or discover when underperformance in revenue-generation is due to gaps in organizational knowledge or business practices associated with managing knowledge assets. Guided by the knowledge-based view of the firm, the purpose of this multiple case study was to address that gap by exploring the skills needed by leaders to understand how deficiencies in their knowledge management practices contribute to underperformance. Semistructured interview …


Transcending Technological Innovation: The Impact Of Acquisitions On Entrepreneurial Technical Organizations, Bruce Crochetiere Jan 2011

Transcending Technological Innovation: The Impact Of Acquisitions On Entrepreneurial Technical Organizations, Bruce Crochetiere

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technology firms with substantial cash reserves acquire smaller entrepreneurial firms for diversification. In 2006, 3 large firms acquired 28 organizations, with the combined deals exceeding {dollar}4.7 billion. The problem addressed in this study is that new start-up companies with innovative ideas may not mature when they are acquired by larger companies and do not fully articulate potential industry-transcending innovation. This is important because the unsuccessful integration of an acquisition can dismantle innovation and compromises economic inventiveness. Drawing from the disruptive innovation and the resource-based theories, the purpose of the quasi-experimental study was to examine the impact of acquisition by larger …


An Examination Of Small Businesses' Propensity To Adopt Cloud-Computing Innovation, Steven E. Powelson Jan 2011

An Examination Of Small Businesses' Propensity To Adopt Cloud-Computing Innovation, Steven E. Powelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem researched was small business leaders' early and limited adoption of cloud computing. Business leaders that do not use cloud computing may forfeit the benefits of its lower capital costs and ubiquitous accessibility. Anchored in a diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey study was to examine if there is a relationship between small business leaders' view of cloud-computing attributes of compatibility, complexity, observability, relative advantage, results demonstrable, trialability, and voluntariness and intent to use cloud computing. The central research question involved understanding the extent to which each cloud-computing attribute relate to small business leaders' …