Business Commons^™

Design Thinking & The Entrepreneurial Mindset In The Collegiate Music Classroom, Antonina M.C. Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the implementation of design thinking andan entrepreneurial mindset into a collegiate music classroom, where students have an interest in applying business acumen and entrepreneurship to their future plans as teaching and performing artists. The following questions guided this study: 1) are there benefits to introducing design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset to music students as they transition from student to professional?; 2) will the addition of these approaches give students greater confidence as arts entrepreneurs?; 3) how can design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset methodologies be successfully introduced and practiced throughout …

The Ties That Blend: Social Capital And Family Firm Innovation, Dustin L. Odom

Theses and Dissertations

The research project empirically assesses the influence of an under-researched aspect of social capital on the family firm’s entrepreneurial behaviors. Specifically, blending social capital, which consists of bonding social capital and bridging social capital that develops between family firms and external family stakeholders, is considered in examining the family firm’s engagement in innovation efforts. Additionally, familial tie strength and outside business ownership of external family stakeholders are argued to moderate the proposed relationship between blending social capital and family firm innovation. The surveying methods for assessing the hypothesized relationships included conducting a two-wave study with adapted, modified, and validated scales. …

Transition Analysis Of Innovative Technologies Into Military Applications, Cristian J. Henandez-Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense (DoD) invests over 1 billion dollars annually in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) efforts. These SBIR efforts are similar to venture capital investments, where a transition beyond seed funding is considered a success. A baseline study of 2015-2018 Air Force SBIR investments indicates that 8.8% of the efforts secured long-term funding. Current data allows for an assessment of whether or not a project scores long-term funding; however, there is no measurement of whether or not the technology transitions to DoD usage. Transition is the rate at which SBIR investments are fielded or integrated into a military …

A Survey Of Barriers/Challenges To Improve Sbir Participation & Commercialization Success, Benjamin L. Berezin

Theses and Dissertations

The composition of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is changing. Within the last decade we have witnessed a decline in the percentage of new entrants, especially among Small Businesses. The Department of Defense’s base of small business participants experienced a drop of 23% from 2015-2021. New entrants provide novel capabilities and increase competition, spurring innovation essential for continued economic and military advantage. Small Businesses represent well over 40% of the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product and have vastly outpaced large firms at a magnitude of 16.5 times as many patents per small firm.

The Air Force deliberately targets funding for …

Survive And Thrive: An Exploration Of Methods Implemented By Small Businesses In The Construction Industry To Sustain Their Business Beyond 5 Years, Tamar Barsoumian

Theses and Dissertations

Small businesses represent an influential portion of the American economy yet retain a high rate of closure especially in their early years, therefore; this study sought to address a lack of available research regarding small businesses in the construction industry, by investigating the methods and strategies existing small business owners use to support business survivability, in the regionally specific area of Southern California. The purpose of this study was to investigate strategies used by existing construction industry small businesses, identify the challenges experienced as a construction industry small business organization in Southern California, and determine how the small business owners …

Evaluación De Las Competencias Digital Y Emprendedora En Estudiantes De Una Universidad Colombiana, Luis Eduardo Buitrago Rojas

Theses and Dissertations

La presente investigación tiene por nombre la Evaluación de las Competencias Digital y Emprendedora en Estudiantes de una Universidad Colombiana, el investigador Luis Eduardo Buitrago Rojas realizó la presente investigación en el año 2023 Disertación Aplicada, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. Palabras clave: competencias digitales, competencias emprendedoras, estudiantes universitarios, educación superior Este estudio evaluó las competencias digital y emprendedora de estudiantes universitarios en un programa transversal en una universidad colombiana. El objetivo de la investigación fue identificar el nivel de competencias digitales y emprendedoras de los estudiantes. El estudio utilizó dos …