Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Adventure Tourism Management, Nikki Fabrizio

Honors College Theses

Adventure tourism management is one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism market, and while much is known about the rapid expansion of this niche as well as the consumers of it, little is known about its management side. This study seeks to discover why managers enter this industry and what keeps them here, while also gathering demographic data. The data gathered from this study will help flesh out the little information there currently is about the managerial aspect of the industry. The results of this study can be used to better recruit and train future employees, a vital …

A Case Study On Empowering A Non-Profit Organization To Better Help People With Disabilities Through M-Health, James Lawler, Hannah Moller, Robert Salloum

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Local non-profit organizations are constrained in developing efficient methods for helping people with disabilities confined at their own homes. The cost of labor of physically serving such people is a continued issue at the organizations. This case study explores an entrepreneurial focus on best-in-class applications of m-Health devices for improving methods of home medication support furnished by a leading metropolitan non-profit organization. This study explores further the potential of hosted infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) m-Health remote monitoring systems technology. The findings of this study can benefit non-profit organizations considering economic entrepreneurial innovation in interactive managed care technology.

The State Of Entrepreneurship In Turkey, Mary Tracy

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

The efficiency-driven economy of Turkey is growing at a very fast rate, but not yet considered to be at an innovative stage. One way of getting there is having a high presence of entrepreneurship. The aim of this research is to show that with improvements in the procedures to start a business and developments within the financial sector, Turkey will abound with entrepreneurial activity. The study first defines entrepreneurship and its relationship with society and the economy. Next, the report provides a summary of the process of entrepreneurship, its barriers to entry, its necessities, and its outcomes. From this, the …

500 Year Documentation, Francis T. Marchese, Phd, Maninder Pal Kaur Shergill

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Museum visitors today can regularly view 500 year old art by Renaissance masters. Will visitors to museums 500 years in the future be able to see the work of digital artists from the early 21st century? This paper considers the real problem of conserving interactive digital artwork for museum installation in the far distant future by exploring the requirements for creating documentation that will support an artwork's adaptation to future technology. In effect, this documentation must survive as long as the artwork itself -- effectively, in perpetuity. A proposal is made for the use of software engineering methodologies as solutions …

Open-Source It Support For Effective Social Entrepreneurship, Lixin Tao

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

To better support its mission, a non-profit organization needs to effectively reach out to the public, collect information and opinions form the public, support effective brainstorming and discussions, implement effective business processes for non-profit operations, and support effective governance of the organization. The latest information technologies have provided better alternative for non-profits to run smoother and more effectively.

In this paper we conduct a critical study of two popular open-source contents management systems, Drupal and WordPress, introduce Drupal to social entrepreneurs, and explain how it can support most of the tasks outlined above. Specific guidance is provided for setting up …

Back To Square One: An Examination Of Social Entrepreneurship Centers And Programs, Noushi Rahman, Phd, Rebecca Tekula, Phd

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Prominent social entrepreneurship (SE) centers and programs in North America, Europe, and Asia are examined in terms of their position in the institutional structure, initial and additional funding, teaching initiatives, research achievements, and outreach activities. Performance was computed using a transparent coding scheme. Low correlations with institutional endowment and SE center/program performance offer some evidence of discriminant validity of our rankings approach. Performance scores were used to rank-order SE centers and programs. Such an approach to examine SE center/program performance goes beyond the perception-based ranking instruments that popular magazines employ to evaluate subject-specific rankings. We examined data from 28 centers/programs, …

Entrepreneurial Passion: Sources And Sustenance, Melissa S. Cardon Phd, Michael Glauser

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial passion helps coordinate cognition and behavior of entrepreneurs, providing the fire that fuels innovation, persistence, and ultimate success. But where does entrepreneurial passion come from? Using a phenomenological approach, we conduct a qualitative study of 80 entrepreneurs and analyze their oral histories to explore the sources of entrepreneurial passion, as experienced by entrepreneurs. Our discovery process in the interviews suggests six major sources of entrepreneurial passion: passion for building/developing the venture, passion for people, passion for the product or service, passion for inventing, passion for competition, and passion for a social cause.