Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Digital Platforms And Entrepreneurial Support: A Field Experiment In Online Mentoring, Saurabh A. Lall, Li-Wei Chen, Dyana P. Mason

Management Faculty Publications

The benefits of entrepreneurial mentorship are well documented, but there is limited research on how entrepreneurs connect with mentors, especially in digital settings. We partnered with an online platform that connects entrepreneurs to potential mentors to conduct a field experiment in online mentoring. Drawing on literature on entrepreneurial mentorship and Social Cognitive Theory, we compared the effects of three interventions on the likelihood of reaching out and making a connection with a mentor in a digital setting. We find that showing entrepreneurs a video of a successful mentor–mentee relationship increases the chances that they will reach out to a potential …

Transitional Entrepreneurship: Unleashing Entrepreneurial Potential Across Numerous Challenging Contexts, Golshan Javadian, Anil Nair, David Ahlstrom, Kaveh Moghaddam, Li-Wei Chen, Younggeun Lee

Management Faculty Publications

[First paragraph] We are pleased to publish the special issue of the New England Journal of Entrepreneurship on transitional entrepreneurship. Transitional entrepreneurship refers to the practices of entrepreneurs from communities facing adversity who navigate substantial life transitions as they launch and manage new ventures in response to various changes and challenges in their environment. Entrepreneurship is not only a critical driver of economic growth and social development (Ahlstrom et al., 2019; McCloskey, 2010) but can also represent a life-changing transition for most, if not all, of the entrepreneurs themselves. Transitional entrepreneurship entails strategic pivots or transformations that enable entrepreneurs to …

Sustainable Pathways For Successful Small Businesses In Chelsea, Massachusetts, Fabián Torres-Ardila, Lorna Rivera, Carolina Rojas-Pion, Daniela Bravo, Henry Chavez

Gastón Institute Publications

This report focuses on the critical role that small business owners and entrepreneurs play in the socioeconomic development of a predominantly Latino community like Chelsea, Massachusetts.

This report compiles the key findings and recommendations that resulted from conducting a qualitative study with small business owners and other individuals who play important roles in advocating for and supporting this community. Assuming an asset-based approach rather than a deficit-based one (Green & Haines, 2011), our study focuses on the skills and knowledge of small business owners and identifies a myriad of possibilities for City administrators to build upon existing practices and behaviors …

Black Women Entrepreneurs: Understanding The Challenges And Proposing Policy For Equitable Change, Nana Younge

Community Engagement Student Work

Black Women Entrepreneurs: Understanding the Challenges and Proposing Policy for Equitable Change examines the obstacles that Black women entrepreneurs face that make building successful businesses challenging. When it comes to businesses in the United States, Black women fall behind compared to their white counterparts and the impact of this transcends their communities. The most paramount consequence of the absence of successful Black women entrepreneurs is advocacy in decision making that ultimately impacts Black communities and the country at large. Black women endure systematic oppression that is directly linked to a long history of racial and gender inequality that affects their …

Women Who Dared: Female Entrepreneurs Defy Odds To Start Businesses During Covid-19, Kinza Tahir

MSJ Capstone Projects

With leadership roles being increasingly won by women all over the world, society benefits in all aspects especially economically when women earn incomes. In the trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic, many women usually perceived as second class citizens of Pakistan have started their own ventures amidst the pandemic.

Innovation For The Engaged Librarian, Marian G. Armour-Gemmen

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

As librarians, we constantly innovate to meet the needs of our users and to utilize new technology. Discovery is an important part of this process. When we discover our patrons’ pain points, we can more easily adapt to their needs. As the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps program is implemented in more and more universities, engineering and patent librarians facilitate faculty and scientists in using the Business Model Canvas. Librarians can help faculty and scientists with familiarizing themselves with library resources to fill key parts of the Canvas. Additionally, this canvas is often implemented in innovation centers across campuses, and …

Diversification And Its Implications For South Dakota Farmers’ Identity As Farmers: Wind Farm Diversification As A Case Study, Abdelrahim Abulbasher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies have been conducted in the last three decades to examine the impact of the ongoing economic changes that encourage farmers to adopt nonconventional practices (such as crop diversification, on-farm recreation, and wind farming) to diversify their income. Limited research, however, has been conducted to examine the impact of on farm diversification practices on farmers’ identity as farmers (growers of food, feed, and fiber) including their role, self-conception, and family history/legacy. Using social identity and socio-ecological systems theories, this study seeks to understand how farmers construct their identity, the symbolic meanings they attach to their daily practices, and the influence …

Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney

Senior Honors Theses

Poverty is a major problem that reaches millions of people around the world. Although many organizations and individuals work daily to combat this, much of the work done to reduce poverty lacks sustainability and serves only to remedy to the effects of poverty, rather than create a solution to the causes of poverty. Microfinance can be very basically defined as the provision of banking to the impoverished who would not otherwise have access to these services. This purpose of this thesis is to show that microfinance is the ideal solution to the poverty problem by using research and evidence from …

Self-Perceptions Of Black Entrepreneurship In A Black Majority Rural Context - The Mississippi Delta, Timla G Washington

Dissertations

This studyexplored questions regarding the perceived influences (agency and structural) to successful Black entrepreneurship according to Black entrepreneurs living in the counties in the Mississippi Delta where Black people are the majority of the population. The examination questioned Black entrepreneurs in 13 counties in the Mississippi Delta on the perceived impact of agency and structural factors (i.e., human capital, social capital, industry type, financial capital, intergenerational link, discrimination, state government, Black elected officials, access to resources, opportunity, location) in relation to their success. One finding was that agency factors are the leading perceived influence on the success of Black entrepreneurs …

The Influence Of Perceptions On Entrepreneurial Success, Josiah P. Peterson

Selected Honors Theses

The purpose of this work is to investigate and identify the influence of perceptions on entrepreneurial success. Entrepreneurs have been identified as instrumental to the economic survival of society and have therefore become the focus of an increasingly large number of studies. This thesis will expound upon those studies by focusing on aspects of the studies that pertain to entrepreneurial perceptions and success. This work will focus on three types of perceptions and how they influence success. It will focus on the perceptions the entrepreneurs have of themselves, the perceptions they have of their environments and the perceptions others have …

The Importance Of Local Area As A Motivation For Cooperation Among Rural Tourism Entrepreneurs, Ziene Mottiar

Articles

This paper explores the issue of entrepreneurial motivations among rural tourism entrepreneurs in choosing to engage in cooperation. It analyzes literature which deals with the role of entrepreneurs and the development of rural destinations and highlights the fact that the role of entrepreneurs has been understated. Using mixed research methods and studying two rural areas in Ireland it addresses research questions such as why do rural tourism entrepreneurs engage in cooperation? How did this cooperation emerge? And how do they choose who to co-operate with?

The key finding is that while these entrepreneurs are motivated to co-operate as they think …

Reputation Building Through Failure, Huan Wang, Yi Zhang

Research Collection School Of Economics

In China, many entrepreneurs receive strong supports each time their business fails. This contradicts existing literature and differs from rare revival elsewhere. The major explanation lies in China’s unfriendly and unstable policy environments, due to which business failure per se cannot discern competence. Therefore, entrepreneurs failing because of policy shocks have the incentive for extra efforts to build reputation of competence and trustworthiness. This mechanism prepares a pool of seasoned entrepreneurs who can help alleviate damages of not only policy shocks, but also such system shocks as business cycle and sector upgrading, and therefore makes the economy more adaptable.

Creative Achievement And Intelligence In Student Entrepreneurs, Todd A. Finkle, Mark Shrader

Todd A Finkle

Battle For Control: How Venture Capitalists Affect The Development Of Businesses, Jeffery Neil Wacaster

Honors Theses

In my new podcast series, I interview business leaders to determine the affect of venture capital on the entrepreneur. First, I interview a serial startup entrepreneur to find out the true nature of venture capital, how to go about getting it, and how it affects the creative process. Next, I interview a blogger who thinks that venture capital can be very detrimental to business startups, and get his perspective on related issues.

The interviewees:

1. Michah Baldiwn a) current CEO of Grahic.ly b) He and his team have raised over $350 million dollars of startup money

2. Peter Ireland a) …

Through The Eyes Of The Family: A Collective Case Study Of Family Business Consulting, Cynthia L. Waisner

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Interest in family businesses has increased over the last 50 years. Little empirical research, however, has been devoted specifically to the study of family business consulting. Various practitioners have offered their insights regarding approaches and tools, and a few empirical studies have offered the practitioners’ viewpoints regarding the practice area. The purpose of this study was to add to this small body of research by providing a view of family business consulting through the lens of the family business member. The chosen method of inquiry was collective case study, to allow for both contextual understanding and cross-case comparison. A total …

Marketing To Entrepreneurs, Site Selectors And Relocation Professionals: An Action Plan For Community Economic Development, Oscar T. Mcknight, Ronald Paugh, Aaron Mcknight, Megan Polak

Oscar T McKnight Ph.D.

Community officials offer an array of incentives to stimulate local business growth, unaware of the salient criteria that determine location decisions. An analysis of proprietary research reports and site selector feasibility studies indicates specific criteria that are universally evaluated, nine of which undermine economic development initiatives. An ‘ACTION’ plan is provided to assist city planners’ efforts in appealing to site selection professionals.

Tao Of Downfall: The Failures Of High-Profile Entrepreneurs In The Chinese Economic Reform, Wenxian Zhang, Ilan Alon

Faculty Publications

Through historical reviews and case studies, this research seeks to understand why some initially successful entrepreneurs failed in the economic boom of past decades. Among various factors contributed to their downfalls are a unique political and business environment, fragile financial systems, traditional cultural influences and personal characteristics. Notwithstanding that these factors should be further tested through empirical studies, those high-profile entrepreneurs are oblivious but essential actors in the grand theatre of China's economic transformation and their failures have contributed to the swift development of the Chinese entrepreneurship over the last 30 years.

We've Got The Power: Rise Of Women Entrepreneurs, Phyllis Swersky, Aileen Gorman, Jessica Reardon

New England Journal of Public Policy

The authors address women’s recent entrepreneurial successes in local, national, and international settings, offering, as a case study, one nonprofit organization whose mission is to support women entrepreneurs and help them grow: The Commonwealth Institute. In examining The Commonwealth Institute, the authors provide insight into the challenges facing some of the women entrepreneurs they work with in Massachusetts. They also offer some strategies to make sure women continue to make a significant contribution to New England’s economy.

Small And Medium Enterprises In Singapore And The New Economy, Boon Chye Lee, Wee Liang Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

From its earliest days as a British outpost, Singapore has relied heavily for its economic survival on its position as an entrepot trading centre. In the first decades after independence in 1965, economic strategy was focused on building infrastructure, attracting foreign direct investment, and export-led growth. The political commitment to openness in both trade and capital — and, more recently, labour — is one of the key features of a strategy that has delivered remarkable returns in terms of the economic well-being of the people of Singapore. Between 1961 and 1996 GDP per capita grew at an average rate of …

Trading Networks Of Chinese Entrepreneurs In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Chalmers E. Labig

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The entrenchment of entrepreneurs in local, regional, or global business networks based on kinship, clanship, territorial, or ethnic ties has often been cited as characteristic of Chinese business communities in Southeast Asia. Qualitative interviews with Singaporean Chinese merchant-exporters were conducted in order to examine this thesis. The findings reveal that there is a strong tendency among Chinese entrepreneurs in Singapore to rely on external commercial relationships with ‘outsiders’ and ‘friends’ rather with those related by blood or marriage. It is suggested that kinship reciprocity may under some circumstances curb the autonomy and freedom of the transacting actors, thus limiting their …

Towards An Understanding Of Chinese Business Networks In Asia-Pacific: The Singapore Case, Thomas Menkhoff, Chalmers Labig

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The embeddedness of entrepreneurs in local, regional or global business networks based on kinship, clanship, territorial or ethnic ties and solidarities has often been cited as characteristic of the Chinese business community in Southeast Asia. Qualitative interviews with Singaporean Chinese merchant-exporters were conducted in order to examine this thesis and shed light on the various "guanxi bases" of their international trading networks. The findings suggest that there is a strong tendency among these Singaporean entrepreneurs towards external commercial transactions with "outsiders" and "friends" rather than with "kin" whether by blood, marriage, or ascription. Kinship reciprocity may curb the autonomy and …