Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Wedeven Associates: Finding New Ways To Develop Novel Solutions To Persistent, Intractable Problems, Richard Jonsen

Rohrer College of Business Departmental Research

Wedeven Associates is a small tribology research and engineering consulting firm located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company faced a variety of challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic as did most small businesses in 2020. As the company became fully operational again, Wedeven Associates was approached by a longtime client to solve a tribological problem the client’s engineers had been trying to address for almost 14 years. The catch: Wedeven Associates only had a little over two months to do the work while complying with pandemic-related travel and meeting restrictions. This case tells the story of how the Wedeven Associates team …

“Old Boys' Club”: Barriers To Digital Marketing In Small B2b Firms, Justina Setkute, Sally Dibb Prof

Articles

Despite the widely acknowledged benefits of digital marketing, many B2B SMEs have been slow to adopt these practices. These firms' characteristics and ways of working mean that digital marketing as practiced in B2C or in larger firms may be unsuitable. This paper aims to increase understanding about digital marketing in B2B SMEs, by examining the barriers they face and the digital practices that work for them. A qualitative research methodology is used to focus on these previously unexplored practices in small B2B firms operating with the oil and gas industry. The study identifies the internal and external factors linked to …

Comparative Analysis Of Zoning Of Food Retail And Urban Agriculture For Richmond, Virginia, Hannah Quigley Mph, Meghan Dinofrio, Sarah Shaughnessy Mph, Aicp, John C. Jones Mpa, Phd

Environmental Studies Publications

This research partnership between local public health practitioners and urban food systems scholars suggests improvements to City of Richmond, Virginia’s zoning code related to food retail and urban agriculture by drawing inspiration from other American central cities. The authors created an empirical process to identify potential sister cities to Richmond as a source for high quality comparative examples. Next, the authors then engaged in a non-empirical, purposive process of identifying potential zoning code improvements from both identified sister cities, as well as other communities. Time and capacity constraints dictated the non-empirical nature of this search. Recommendations for improvement to Richmond’s …

National Culture And Attitudes’ Impact On Diffusion Of Sustainable New Technology-Based Products, Mayank Jaiswal, Lee Zane

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – Sustainability is increasingly becoming an essential aspect of technological innovations. In addition, the diffusion of sustainable new technology-based products appears to be uneven across the globe. The authors examine the effect of three country-level Hofstede measures of culture and two national-level innovation characteristics on the diffusion of Sustainable New Technology-based Products (SNTP).

Design/methodology/approach – Regression and Necessary Conditions Analysis were used to analyze a panel dataset of electric and hybrid vehicles sales from 2008 to 2017 across 89 countries.

Findings – Results suggest Long-Term Orientation (LTO) was correlated with SNTP diffusion, Indulgence (IVR) was partially correlated with SNTP …

An Examination Of How Personal Characteristics Moderate The Relationship Between Startup Intent And Entrepreneurship Education, Tyler Burch, Neil M. Tocher, Gregory Murphy

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose - While research has identified a consistent link between startup intent and entrepreneurship education (EE) intentions, studies also indicate that many entrepreneurs lack the EE they need. However, research examining factors that explain why certain individuals with high startup intent pursue EE while others do not is rare.Given this, the purpose of this paper is to examine how individual characteristics moderate the startup intent EE intentions relationship.

Design/methodology/approach - Survey data were gathered on 199 US adults. Moderators examined include attitudes toward education, perceived entrepreneurial efficacy, propensity for risk taking and the Big Five personality traits. Linear regression models …

Polychronicity, Decision-Making And Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Of Venture Team Founders: An Exploratory Study, Hsing-Er Lin, Rachel S. Shinnar, Yongchuan Shi, Dan Hsu

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose - This study explores the role of polychronic temporal orientation and decision-making decentralization on founders' perceptions of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE).

Design/methodology/approach - Longitudinal survey data were collected from 141 business founders in China.

Findings - Findings suggest that decision-making decentralization is positively associated with founders' ESE. In addition, a polychronic temporal orientation is positively related to ESE, and this relationship is mediated by decision-making decentralization.

Originality/value - This study adds to existing knowledge on ESE and temporal related issues by presenting empirical evidence that explains how and why the temporal orientation context and the practice of decision-making decentralization can …

The New Solar Kiosk Model: A Sustainable Solution To Address The Uptake And Access Of Renewable Technologies To Create Energy Kiosks That Improve Women’S Income In Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Kiryandongo District, Northern Uganda., Musiimenta Joy Kellen

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

This thesis was carried out in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda to test a new model to improve access to clean energy technologies in the refugee settlement. The settlement hosts more than seventy-five thousand refugees, including the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the Bududa landslides in Eastern Uganda. The literature review shows the challenges faced in the humanitarian sector. The challenge is met in providing lighting and improved cooking technologies to all refugees in settlements and camps globally. The refugees tend to cut down trees in the surrounding forest, and the wood is used for firewood to cook …

Problems Of Political Unrest: Women In Small Businesses In Bangladesh, Jasmine Jaim

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – Whereas the extant literature on women’s entrepreneurship is almost exclusively focused on developed nations, the effect of many context-specific issues of other countries on ventures of women has been overlooked. The study aims to reveal how political unrest, a common feature of the developing nation, can significantly affect the experiences of women in small businesses of that region.

Design/methodology/approach – This feminist research is conducted on Bangladesh, which is one of the most politically unstable countries in the world. The study conducts interviews with women to explore the adverse effect of political unrest on their small firms. Findings …

Community Well-Being And Leadership In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2022 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz, Amanda Tupper

Nebraska Rural Poll

Rural Nebraskans are less positive about the current change and expected future change in their communities this year. The proportion believing their community has changed for the better has typically been greater than the proportion believing it has changed for the worse. However, last year the proportion believing their community changed for the worse was slightly more than the proportion believing it had changed for the better (similar to what occurred in 2003 and 2009). This year, that gap widened a bit.

Despite that, rural Nebraskans are positive about their community by many different measures. Most rural Nebraskans rate their …

Annual Report, December 31, 2022, Tennessee. Governor's Office Of Diversity Business Enterprise, Tennessee. Department Of General Services

Annual Reports

This annual report highlights the purchases and contract awards of the Governor's Office of Diversity Business Enterprise for the fiscal year.

Views Of Well-Being In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2022 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz, Amanda Tupper

Nebraska Rural Poll

This year, rural Nebraskans are more pessimistic about their current situation than they’ve been in the past nine years. The proportion believing they are worse off than they were five years ago was 21 percent, up from the 11 percent reported last year. This is the highest level since 2013, when 26 percent believed they were worse off. This increase in pessimism did not translate into a decrease in optimism, however. This year, one-half of rural Nebraskans believe they are better off compared to five years ago, similar to 52 percent last year. The corresponding change occurred in a decrease …

The Impact Of Assets Structure And The Components Of Cash Conversion Cycle On The Egyptian Smes Financial Failure Predictability, Dr. Hassan Mounir El-Sady, Hatem Ahmed, Dr. Hosny Hamdy

The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

This study investigates determinants of Egyptian SMEs financial failure predictability based on a sample of 32 failure SMEs and 28 non-failure SMEs for the period 2013 and 2019. The determinants of SMEs financial failure are categorized into four groups; Working Capital, Asset Structure, Liquidity, and Leverage. The factor and logistic regression analysis are employed to identify the most significant independent variables that classify between failure and none-failure Egyptian’s SMEs and determine the driver of SMEs financial failure. Our findings significantly show that failing SMEs suffer from long cash conversion cycles resulting from long inventory holding period, average collection period, and …

When The Social Networks And Internet Come To The Rescue Of Entrepreneurs: The Problematic Of Crowdfunding In Africa, Omenguele Rene Guy, Mbouolang Yimpi Cedric

The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

Since 2007, crowdfunding platforms have abounded on the web. It is estimated at 2.5 billion dollars the potential of the crowdfunding market in sub-Saharan Africa by 2025. The objective of this paper is to make an inventory of Crowdfunding activities in Africa, region with a most restrictive access to bank loan by SMEs, start-ups and young entrepreneurs. It appears from the economic and socio-cultural realities that Africa is a region with more potential catalyst for crowdfunding industry takeoff. However, there are many factors which are presented in this study as potential inhibitors of African CF market competiveness. This study has …

Sme’S Cost Of Debt: A Meta-Analysis Of Borrower, Creditor And Financial Statement Verification Attributes, Thomas R. Loy, Stefan Mohrmann

The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

Private firm financing, given the far-reaching importance of non-publicly traded companies for global output and employment, is still a relatively underexplored area. Since the seminal work of Petersen and Rajan (1994), only a small branch of research into private firms’ cost of debt has been established. We aggregate the full body of this research that has empirically investigated antecedents of private firms’ cost of debt in a meta-analysis. The foremost antecedents can be categorized into either borrower, creditor or financial statement verification attributes. Our results reveal a set of 11 highly significant and robust determinants.

Entrepreneurial Investment Evaluation Decision-Making: A Focus On Venture Capitalists, Business Angels And Early-Stage Entrepreneurs In South Africa, Boris Urban, Marco Antonio Moreno

The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

Business angels (BAs) and venture capitalists (VCs) are important sources of finance for entrepreneurs in emerging markets for raising start-up and growth capital. Recognising that entrepreneurial investment evaluation decision-making is a highly complex process, and that there are limited studies focused on evaluation criteria used by both BAs and VCs’, this article undertakes an empirical investigation by identifying, classifying and statistically testing the rank importance of investment criteria in South Africa from an early-stage entrepreneurial perspective. Results indicate that the rank importance for the different investment criteria is relatively similar for VCs and BAs, and the only ranking difference observed …

Determinants Of Loan Repayment Performance Of Micro And Small Enterprises: Empirical Evidence From Somali Regional State, Ethiopia, Yitbarek Weldegerima Kiros Mr.

The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) were introduced to reach a large number of active poor people who are excluded from the formal financial institutions due to rigorous collateral requirements. As an instrument of MFIs, Microfinance was introduced to address the financial need of the active poor people. To operate successfully MFIs have to unquestionable ensure that the loan expended to the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) have to be repaid back so as he MFIs can have a financially sustainable and viable operation. In light of this, this research study was conducted to analyze the factors affecting loan repayment of MSEs financed …

Islamic Profit And Loss Sharing Contracting Versus Regular Equity In Entrepreneurial Finance: Risk Sharing And Managerial Incentives, Abdulali Hadizada, Peter Nippel

The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance

An entrepreneur shares business risk with the investors providing capital for her firm. Risk sharing is per se beneficial, but also results in an agency problem from diminished incentives for the entrepreneur. This classical trade-off depends on the financial contracting between the entrepreneur and the financier. As an alternative to debt or equity, we consider musharaka financing, an Islamic profit and loss sharing contract. First, we show that debt is inferior to equity or musharaka even though debt financing ensures first best efforts in our model. Whether financing with equity or by use of musharaka results in higher utility for …

European Report On Prisoner Reintegration Through Entrepreneurship And Psychology., Thomas M. Cooney, Martina Brophy, Nida Ul Habib Bajwa, Maggie Clune, Mindaugas Galeckas, Niklas George, Andrada Istrate, Oana Murgeanu-Manolache

Reports

It has been well documented that reintegration into the workforce is a key factor in reducing recidivism amongst people with a criminal record. However, mainstream employment poses a challenge for many individuals with criminal histories who experience discrimination from prospective employers. Entrepreneurship or self-employment offers an alternative pathway into the labour market but it is not widely promoted as a viable career option. In recent years, in-prison entrepreneurship education programmes (particularly in the USA) have grown in prominence to offer participants another option in terms of future labour market activation. Despite the recorded success of these initiatives, the adoption of …

Digital Entrepreneurship: Context And Conceptualization, Kisito Futonge Nzembayie, Anthony Paul Buckley

Books/Book Chapters

Recognizing how the lines between digital and traditional forms of entrepreneurship are blurring, this forward-thinking book combines digital technology and entrepreneurship perspectives to advance knowledge on this paradigm-shifting typology of entrepreneurship.

Architectural Dimensions Of Socially Driven Venture Capital Firms: Social Innovation In The Capital Markets, Raymond Jones, Manjula S. Salimath

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – Private equity and venture capital (VC) firms in the capital markets sector invest capital with the primary goal of delivering economic value. However, some firms in the capital markets sector have started to shift this focus to create (i.e. invest in) social value. More specifically, traditional VC firms are starting socially oriented funds, while other firms have emerged to focus solely on investments in social enterprises. These VC firms are contributing to an interesting paradox – performance metrics are not measured by profit alone but also by social innovation. From an architectural perspective, the authors examine the implications …