Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Women Entrepreneurs: Keys To Successful Business Development And Sustainability Beyond Five Years, Delores Duncan Foster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women-owned businesses are one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial populations, accounting for 8 million of the 28 million small businesses in the United States. Small businesses fail at a rate of 55% by the 5th year of operation and women, who own over 30% of all small businesses, contribute significantly to the 55% small business failure rate. Using Schumpeter's framework, this single exploratory case study investigated how women entrepreneurial small business owners use strategies to sustain their business operation beyond 5 years. A purposeful sample identified 2 women salon small business owners located in the Macon, Georgia metro area. Data …

Strategies For Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises To Engage Third-Party Logistics Providers, Masoud Malakoti-Negad

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) managers struggle to stay competitive. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies SME managers located in Canada use to engage third-party logistics (3PL) providers to improve their supply chains. Porter's value chain theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. Data collection included semistructured interviews with 3 managers from 3 different SMEs in the province of Ontario and a review of the documents related to the use of 3PL providers. Member checking was conducted to enhance credibility of interpretation of the data collected. Data analysis was used to identify key …

Service-Disabled Veteran Small Business Owners' Success Strategies, Calvin Lewis Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The federal government has been inconsistent in meeting the mandated contracting set-aside goals of 3% to aid service-disabled veteran small business owners. Guided by the general systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore what strategies an owner and 2 senior managers of a small service-disabled veteran-owned business in the Washington, DC metropolitan used to obtain federal contracts. The owner and senior members represented those responsible for strategic vision, development of business opportunities, and the company acquisition process. Data were collected from semistructured face-to-face interviews and corporate documents. Member checking and transcript review were completed …

The First 4 Years: A Small Business Sustainability Study, Iris Ann Cooper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses create most of the new jobs in the world, yet more than half fail before the 5th year. Small businesses contribute to the economy by originating new products and services, yet they often lack the strategies to overcome the challenges of the beginning years. When businesses fail, the community wanes from unemployment, poverty, crime, and other social dilemmas. The purpose of this single case study was to explore small business strategies for sustainability beyond Year 4, specifically in a single independent operating Ohio restaurant owner with less than 500 employees. The conceptual framework was Schumpeter's theory of the …

Exploring Critical Success Factors For Sustainable Togolese-Owned Small Businesses In The United States, Folly Somado Hemazro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, although foreign-born individuals are more than twice as likely to start new ventures, immigrant-owned businesses often fail within the first 5 years. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies that U.S.-based Togolese small business owners who were engaged in entrepreneurial activities in Togo. The Schumpeterian entrepreneurship theory underpinned the study and served as a theoretical reference. Interview data were collected from 20 successful Togolese small business owners who resided in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, who were engaged in entrepreneurial activities in Togo, and who had been in business for more …

African American Entrepreneurial Sustainability, Edward Turner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African Americans are among the fastest growing entrepreneurial minority group in the United States, but they continue to struggle with sustaining these new business ventures. Evidence suggests that African American business entrepreneurs experience an increased failure rate with a 4-year business survival rate of 39%. Reducing the failure rate would significantly add to the U.S. economy (an estimated $2.5 trillion) and create nearly 12 million more jobs. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies and behaviors of an award-winning African American entrepreneur in Miami Dade County who has remained in business over 20 years. The …

Entrepreneurial Qualities For Successful Development And Sustainability Of New Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Brock Allyn Zehr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Entrepreneurial small businesses are significant to the U.S. economy, as they represent 99% of employer firms and employ 49% of the private sector. Nearly half of new businesses fail within the first 5 years of operation. While external factors beyond the control of business owners account for some failures, many occur because of managerial inadequacies. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of successful entrepreneurs to understand the qualities needed to create and sustain new small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) beyond 5 years. The sample consisted of 21 entrepreneurs from Northeastern Indiana who created and …

Preparing Employees For Entrepreneurship In Retirement: A Case Study, Samuel Omonowa Aikhuomogbe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Nigeria, 92% of retirees live in poverty because of insufficient preparation for entrepreneurship that could serve as an alternative income in retirement. Guided by the human capital theory, the purpose of this case study was to explore how 15 civil service employees in Grade Levels 15-17 at the public service attained small scale business information before retirement. All employees had knowledge, training, and experience in small-scale business operation. Fifteen employees participated in individual interviews and 5 participated in a focus group; data were also gathered from, employee training records, organizational policy documents on training, and public service documents regarding …

Strategies For Growing And Sustaining Successful Small Businesses, Patrick Modilim Modilim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business manufacturing enterprises represent viable means of creating employment, stimulating economic growth, and accelerating development. Many newly formed small business enterprises do not continue beyond 5 years after formation. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies used by small business manufacturing leaders in Lagos, Nigeria to sustain their businesses, using general systems theory as the conceptual framework. The sample comprised 3 small business leaders who have sustained their business enterprises beyond 5 years after formation in Lagos, Nigeria. The data collections were through semistructured, in-person interviews and the review of business feasibility and planning …

Leadership Skills For Success Of Home Health Care Agencies, Andrina Yankah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business managers often lack the leadership skills necessary to sustain their businesses beyond 5 years. The United States Small Business Administration reported that more than 65% of small business owners, including home health care agency managers, fail within the first 5 years of operation. Guided by Burns and Bass's transformational leadership theory, this multiple case study explored leadership skills that managers in home health care agencies need to sustain their new businesses beyond 5 years. The purposeful sample comprised of 3 managers from 3 different home health care agencies within a 75-mile radius of Baltimore, Maryland, that had demonstrated …

Angel Groups: Developing A Regional Economic Development Strategy For Robust Seed Capital Ecosystems For Entrepreneurs, Kendre Esme Rodriguez

Honors Theses and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to identify the link between the success of angel organizational structures and the economic footprint within which angel groups operate; ultimately suggesting a novel approach of assisting traditional angel group structures in their operations and entrepreneurs in the process of securing early stage financing. Given the varied angel group structures that exist, some angel portals may be more appropriate for certain regions than others. In-depth field research was developed and analyzed by creating the first undergraduate student-run angel investment fund, to co-invest with investors in the informal venture capital market, in the United States. …

Creativity, Design And Management In Australian Fashion Enterprises, Bruno Santarelli

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In this study a number of Australian fashion enterprises are investigated in an effort to understand how product development is managed and creativity facilitated. Of particular interest was the interaction between the various actors in the creative process and the manner in which they influenced creative output. The study was underpinned by a wideranging review of the literature that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of creativity and innovation in business.

The study is timely because Australian fashion enterprises are operating in an increasingly challenging market with a perfect storm of competitive drivers at play. Technology enables instant dissemination of fashion trends …

Examining The Overlapping Traits Of Athletes And Entrepreneurs Through A Series Of Case Studies, Harrison M. Quast

Honors Theses and Capstones

Today’s psychologists have paid close attention to personality and how it can affect many areas of a person’s life. From career success to criminal behavior psychologists continuously are trying to define key characteristics that may be contributing factors in the prediction of future happenings. This paper will look closely at theories regarding personality traits that are key to success. Those traits are identified in eight case studies relating to both entrepreneurial and athletic success with the findings showing a possible link between success and some key traits and an overlap of some traits between athletes and entrepreneurs.

Is Entrepreneurship A Discipline?, Cassidy L. Croci

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

2015 Q4 Market Pulse Report, Craig R. Everett

Pepperdine Market Pulse Report

The quarterly IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse Survey was created to gain an accurate understanding of the market conditions for businesses being sold in Main Street (values $0-$2MM) and the lower middle market (values $2MM -$50MM). The national survey was conducted with the intent of providing a valuable resource to business owners and their advisors. The IBBA and M&A Source present the Market Pulse Survey with the support of the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project and the Graziado School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Startup Elsewhere, Michaela Ross

Capstones

Immigrants have made outsized contributions to American innovation and entrepreneurship, but the headwinds they face in the U.S. are now driving them to return to their native countries to startup their tech companies.

U.S. immigrants make up only 13% of the country’s overall population, but they have filed over a quarter of the country’s global patent applications, won a third of America’s Nobel prizes in the sciences in the last hundred years and make up over half of all computer science Ph.D. students in U.S. universities. Immigrants also build businesses at twice the rate of native-born Americans, and over the …

Pricing Disintermediation: Crowdfunding And Online Auction Ipos, A. Christine Hurt

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Education And Entrepreneurship In Amman, Jordan, Nicole Bills

Senior Theses

My thesis examines the potential economic impact of entrepreneurial education in Amman, Jordan. In order to investigate this topic, I also considered the economic impacts of increased entrepreneurism and access to education more broadly. I found that entrepreneurial education is just a small piece of a much larger ecosystem needed to support economic development. In fact, encouraging the creation of nascent firms is a somewhat dubious aim given the lack of scholarship assessing whether there is a shortage of entrepreneurial activity in the Jordanian economy. Institutional factors are a vastly more important component of efforts to spur growth.

Pubhub: A Mobile Application Business Plan, Zachary T. Washam

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

PubHub is a mobile application designed to address point-of-sale inefficiencies at bars. This business plan details our strategy for product design, marketing, financing, and eventual acquisition. We address key legal and competitive risks and project five years of pro-forma financial statements based on comparable firms.

The Time Frames Of New Venture Teams., Jason D’Mello

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The central research question in this dissertation is: how do an individual’s perceptions of time impact a new venture team? Specifically, the study examined whether or not temporal depth relates to how reactive entrepreneurs may be to the environmental changes and threats that they face in their new venture team. I interviewed two cofounders from 40 new venture teams. The results suggest that cofounders in the same new venture team have very different perceptions of time. Their agreement, or congruence of temporal depth (future, past, and total) impacts their new venture team’s perception regarding environmental hostility. This relationship is negatively …