Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Redefining Cybersecurity Approaches In Small Businesses: A Journey From Digital To Tangible Solutions, Brooke J. Lacey

IPS/BAS 495 Undergraduate Capstone Projects

This capstone project addresses the critical need for enhancing cybersecurity awareness in small businesses. Despite the rise in cyber threats, there's a notable gap in proactive measures, with the industry often resorting to reactive, lazy solutions. The project involved creating a comprehensive cybersecurity toolkit and training programs, tailored to small businesses. Despite initial enthusiasm, the project journey revealed a prevalent industry attitude of reactivity and a general apathy among small businesses towards preemptive cybersecurity measures. This paper discusses the innovative approach taken, the results, and the lessons learned in attempting to shift the paradigm from reactive to proactive cybersecurity in …

2022 National Survey Of Military-Affiliated Entrepreneurs: Veteran Entrepreneurship Across Urban And Rural Places, Rosalinda V. Maury, Adam J. Pritchard, Mirza Tihic

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This research brief compares the experiences of rural and urban entrepreneurs using data from the 2022 National Survey of Military-Affiliated Entrepreneurs. Topics include a comparison of demographic and business characteristics, access to healthcare, community and entrepreneurial support, and business environment. This brief also takes a deeper dive into businesses operating in different types of rural spaces: small towns, rural farm communities, and rural non-farm communities.

Assessing Corporate Social Responsibility And Sustainability In The Small Businesses Of Bridgewater, Ma, Ryan Mannett

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This thesis examines the extent to which small, local businesses in Bridgewater, MA generate social value for their community by engaging in socially responsible and sustainable corporate practices. After conducting an examination of local businesses to determine those that utilize such strategies, members of the selected organizations were contacted via email and asked to participate in a survey intended to generate qualitative data relating to corporate sustainability. Factors such as community impacts, internal benefits, motivations, and communication strategies pertaining to sustainability were all evaluated. Results indicate that Bridgewater businesses practicing sustainability not only generate internal value for the organization by …

2022 National Survey Of Military-Affiliated Entrepreneurs: Veteran Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Rosalinda V. Maury, Adam Pritchard, Mirza Tihic

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This research brief summarizes findings from the 2022 National Survey of Military-Affiliated Entrepreneurs (NSMAE) focusing on the entrepreneurial ecosystem surrounding veteran business owners. This report provides insights into the business ecosystem, barriers and challenges, the experience of military transition into entrepreneurship, and resources supporting veteran-owned businesses.

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 …

Innovadores Guaymíes: Un Estudio De Caso De Emprendedores En Una Sociedad De Menor Complejidad Socioeconómica., Milton R.A. Machuca-Gálvez Phd, Mlis, John R. Bort Phd

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Traducción al castellano de la disertación doctoral Guaymí Innovators: A Case Study of Entrepreneurs in a Small Scale Society de John R. Bort, presentada al Departamento de Antropología y la Escuela de Postgrado de la Universidad de Oregón, junio de 1976. Traducción de Milton Machuca-Gálvez, PhD, MLIS.

Se enfoca en el cambio socioeconómico en los indígenas guaymí del occidente de Panamá. Principalmente en cómo los guaymíes reaccionan a las cambiantes circunstancias económicas de su entorno. La mayor parte de los datos utilizados se obtuvieron mediante observación participante junto con materiales del censo que sirvieron para complementar el trabajo de campo. …

Listening To The Unheard: Perceptions, Goals, And Challenges Of Latinx Small Business Owners In Suburban Cook County, Kendra Shaw

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

This applied research project examines the perceptions, goals, and challenges Latinx small business owners face when participating in daily business activities and attempting to access resources. Through nine in-depth interviews with business owners in Berwyn, Illinois, and personal observations and professional discussions, this capstone identifies critical barriers, such as: language, “missing links” to resources, exclusionary marketing practices, and weak connections to financial institutions and governmental entities. In response, this study offers recommendations to economic development organizations, chambers of commerce, city governments, and business communities. Specifically, entities need to embrace inclusive marketing practices, design financial programs through a more equitable lens, …

Disparate Financial Assistance Support For Small Business Owners, Sophia Fox-Dichter, Daniel Auguste, Mathieu Despard, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Social Policy Institute Research

Small business owners experienced a drastic economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Government pandemic assistance failed to reach many small business owners, especially those historically underserved by financial institutions. Drawing on a 2021 survey of 246 small business owners, the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis descriptively examined the extent to which small business owners sought and received business assistance, and whether applications and approval of government assistance varied by race and ethnicity. We find that though Hispanic and Black business owners applied for government assistance at a higher rate than white business owners, Black business …

Three Essays In Applied Economics, Mohammad Javad Mehregan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Governments worldwide support their national economies to obtain growth, adequate employment, and price durability. Regulation is a unique approach through which governments control the economy. Governments attempt to maintain and regulate the economy in various ways to guarantee that business fosters the common good. The range of government regulations is enormous and touches all areas of the economy and all features of daily life. Understanding the effect of regulations on the economy is essential since its outcomes can improve government interventions’ efficiency. Applied economics can help measure the effectiveness of government intervention on economic outcomes.

This dissertation includes three essays …

Takin' Care Of Small Business: The Rise Of Stakeholder Influence, William P. Jimenez, Xiaohong (Violet) Xu, Emily D. Campion, Andrew A. Bennett

Management Faculty Publications

In this Exchange, we consider three crucial boundary conditions that Barnett, Henriques, and Husted (2020) overlooked in their model of diminished stakeholder influence. Although we agree that social media platforms have weakened stakeholder influence in certain conditions, such is not the case for all firms, all stakeholders, or all situations. Drawing from socio-cognitive and self-determination theories, we contend that (a) independent, owner-managed small firms present a context wherein information overload is rendered less of an issue because the information about the firm is more salient to locals; (b) stakeholders can be motivated to influence firms via social media platforms, which …

Information Frictions And Access To The Paycheck Protection Program, John Eric Humphries, Christopher Neilson, Gabriel Ulyssea

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) extended 669 billion dollars of forgivable loans in an unprecedented effort to support small businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This paper provides evidence that information frictions and the “first-come, first-served” design of the PPP program skewed its resources towards larger firms and may have permanently reduced its effectiveness. Using new daily survey data on small businesses in the U.S., we show that the smallest businesses were less aware of the PPP and less likely to apply. If they did apply, the smallest businesses applied later, faced longer processing times, and were less likely to …

The Evolving Impacts Of Covid-19 On Small Businesses Since The Cares Act, John Eric Humphries, Christopher Neilson, Gabriel Ulyssea

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This note provides new evidence on how small business owners have been impacted by COVID-19, and how these effects have evolved since the passage of the CARES Act. As part of a broader and ongoing project, we collected survey data from more than 8,000 small business owners in the U.S. from March 28th, one day after the CARES Act was passed, through April 20th. The data include information on firm size, layoffs, beliefs about the future prospects of their businesses, as well as awareness of existing government relief programs. We provide three main findings. First, by the time the CARES …

Student Business Aims To Protect Eyes, Quench Thirst, Mark D. Weinstein

News Releases

What started as an 11-year-old’s attempt to sell Pokemon cards on eBay has turned into a small business for one student at Cedarville University. And the result could be clean water for people in developing countries.

Small Business Innovation Research & Small Business Technology Transfer Programs In Nevada, Kaylie Pattni, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet highlights how Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs (STTR) operate in Nevada. The data is drawn from the Small Business Administration (SBA) website.

Creating A Customer-Centred Brand, Amira Geneid

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence

Amira Geneid of Zahara discusses how the brand listens to their community to deliver beyond expectations. Zahara is a halal cosmetics line based in Singapore

Foreword [June 2018, Issue 2], Neeta Lachmandas

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence

In this issue, we speak to 10 small business owners representing a myriad of sectors about their experience and insight into growing their business in Singapore and the region, as well as their approach to customer satisfaction and service excellence.

Building Entrepreneurial Competencies In Library Staff: Getting Started, Amy Vecchione

Library Faculty Publications and Presentations

Library staff in public and academic libraries face challenges to build library staff competencies to serve a growing population of entrepreneurs. Most public libraries provide workforce development assistance, and of those, 48% provide entrepreneurial services to these communities (American Library Association, n.d.). What can we learn from those libraries in order to build our capacity to grow entrepreneurs? When library staff teach individuals about new technologies in our makerspaces, these community members invent new tools, or objects. How do we extend their expertise? Library staff can create pipelines to fabrication resources, patent centers, and small business resources in order to …

Lender Discrimination, Black Churches, And Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey

Scholarly Works

Based on my original empirical research, in this Article, I expose a disparity between the demographics of the roughly 650 religious congregations that have filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy during part of the last decade and congregations nationwide. Churches with predominately black membership — Black Churches — appeared in chapter 11 more than three times as often as they appear among churches across the country. A conservative estimate of the percentage of Black Churches among religious congregation chapter 11 debtors is 60%. The likely percentage is upward of 75%. Black Churches account for 21% of congregations nationwide.

Why are Black …

Part 6: The Small-Business Story In Virginia: What A Quarter Century Of Data Reveal, Center For Economic Analysis And Policy, Old Dominion University

State of the Commonwealth Reports

Very small businesses in Virginia (those with fewer than 10 employees) have been holding their own, but many have found it difficult to grow beyond this size. Very small businesses now account for smaller proportions of total employment and payrolls in Virginia than was true 25 years ago. However, public policy changes can alter this situation.

The Importance Of Employee Well-Being, William Tov, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Employer Health Insurance Offering On The Growth And Survival Of Small Business, Adela Luque, C. J. Krizan, Alice Zawacki

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Smes, Open Innovation And Ip Management: Advancing Global Development, Stanley P. Kowalski

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises (abbreviated herein henceforth as “SMEs”) are global drivers of technological innovation and economic development. Perhaps their importance has been somewhat eclipsed by the mega-multinational corporate entities. However, whereas the corporations might be conceptualized as towering sequoia trees, SMEs represent the deep, broad, fertile forest floor that nourishes, sustains and regenerates the global economic ecosystem.

[. . .]

Broadly recognized as engines of economic and global development, SMEs account for a substantial proportion of entrepreneurial activity in both industrialized and developing countries. Indeed, their role as dynamos for technological and economic progress in developing countries is critical and …

Do Credit Market Barriers Exist For Minority And Women Entrepreneurs?, Lloyd Blanchard, Bo Zhao, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

This paper examines whether methodological deficiencies in the literature on discrimination in small business credit markets have a significant impact on the estimation of discrimination and provides a preliminary investigation into the causes of discrimination in these markets. We find substantial, statistically significant evidence of discrimination in loan approval against black-owned and Hispanic-owned businesses in 1998 with additional control variables, with a variety of different specifications, and with a simultaneous model of the application and loan-denial decisions. We also find that discrimination in small business lending may take the form of statistical discrimination, driven by lenders' stereotypes about the ability …

What Makes Small Firms Grow? Finance, Human Capital, Technical Assistance, And The Business Environment In Romania, J. David Brown, John S. Earle, Dana Lup

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Although the development of a new private sector is generally considered crucial to economic transition, there has been relatively little empirical research on the determinants of startup firm growth. This paper uses panel data techniques to analyze a survey of 297 new small enterprises in Romania containing detailed information from the startup date through 2001. We find strong evidence that access to external credit increases the growth of both employment and sales. Taxes appear to constrain growth. The data suggest that entrepreneurial skills have little independent effect on growth, once demand conditions are taken into account. The evidence for the …

Kalamazoo County: Looking To Our Past For The Future, George A. Erickcek

Reports

No abstract provided.

Benchmarking Study Of The Small Business Environment In Saginaw County, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Small Business Lending In Texas, Steve A. Johnson, David A. Schauer, Dennis L. Soden

IPED Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Capital Access In El Paso: A Multivariate Analysis Of Factors Influencing Loan Approval, David A. Schauer, Dennis L. Soden

IPED Technical Reports

During the spring of 2000, The University of Texas at El Paso was commissioned by the El Paso Leadership and Research Council to explore a broad set of issues surrounding supply and demand factors with respect to commercial banks, small business firms and debt financing. The study revealed among other things that small, relatively young and minority owned firms experience high loan denial rates compared to their counterparts. The present study has the purpose of providing a more comprehensive statistical analysis concerning the factors which influence or predict loan approval probabilities.

Finding Information To Help Plan A Small Business, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Thank you note for a presentation offered to South County Community Action's Business Ownership Opportunities Services and Training Program (BOOST) on September 22, 1998.

Introduced participants of the BOOST. Program to library resources that could assist them in starting a small business. BOOST aims to assist low-income people set up micro-businesses based on their particular skills and interests.

Offered a total of seven presentations between 1996 and 2000 [6/11/1996, 3/20/1997, 1/26/1998, 9/22/1998, 4/28/1999, 2/10/2000, 6/27/2000].

Small Business Capital Access Study For The Cleveland Area: Summary Outline Of Findings, George A. Erickcek

Reports

No abstract provided.