Business Commons^™

Renewal Health - An E-Commerce Wellness Business, Olivia Helen Griffin

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Kitchen Invasion: Restaurants’ Business Model Innovations During The Covid-19 Crisis, Jaewoo Jung

Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation explores how and why firms facing the same exogenous threats react differently, leading to different business model innovation (BMI) processes. I examine BMI in a context that has been hard-hit by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions—the restaurant industry. Employing a mixed-method research design, I conducted a longitudinal, inductive comparative case study of 17 restaurateurs in the same geographic region to explore how they have responded to the pandemic and how their BMI unfolded over time. To generalize my understanding of these processes, I then analyzed large-scale media data about the restaurant industry using topic modeling. In this quantitative analysis, I …

The Faceid Canine Door Business Plan, Oliver Maxwell Martins

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Financial Feasibility And Factors That Lead To Profitability For Small-Scale Farmers In Rwanda., Saheed Adeniyi Orimadegun

Masters Theses

This study will analyze small-scale poultry farming in the Musanze district of Rwanda. Poultry farming offers a source of protein and economic subsistence for households in this region but studies suggest that the smallholder farmers need training for effective production of broiler for these purposes. To this end, a project - Feed the Future Tworore Inkoko, Twunguke (TI) - funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the African Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) Foundation, and led by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) and Zamura Feeds Ltd., was initiated to help the smallholder broiler farmers …

Immigrant Entrepreneurship And Job Creation In The United States: A Historical Analysis And Future Projection Model, Joelle M. Jarjoura

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Decline Of American Entrepreneurship: An Analysis Of Causes Of Macro Market Trends And A Changing American Economic System, Owen Flomberg

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The High Rise Storage System, Justin H. Harmon

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

One Shot Pub: A Business Plan, Ben Dale

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Yes, We Can Brewing Company, Madison Hailey Murphy

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Meg Hutchinson Business Plan- Flo+Co., Margaret E. Hutchinson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Holistic Health Solutions Business Plan, Sophie Lange

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Family Endorsement In Venture Creation And Sustainability, Thomas Daniel White

Doctoral Dissertations

Entrepreneurship research has shown that family social support is an important factor in an entrepreneur’s venture creation and sustainability efforts, yet little is known about the nature and impact of family processes that occur prior to venture start, or how early endorsement of a venture impacts the entrepreneur. These processes are important to consider, because they may facilitate or inhibit ongoing family social support and influence the entrepreneur’s venture creation and sustainability decisions. Utilizing a family systems theoretical framework, I draw on theories of self-perception, social support and conservation of resources to address three issues. First, I introduce the construct …

The Creative Collaborative: Enabling The Creative Industries In Knoxville, Bradley R. Landenberger

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Highly-Educated Immigrant Entrepreneurs' Location Decisions, Nastaran Simarasl

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I draw on theories from sociology, economics, and economic geography, namely ethnic enclave theory, location theory, and heterolocalism theory to investigate factors that highly-educated immigrant entrepreneurs take into account when they decide where to locate their start-up. In doing so, I use an experimental method, conjoint analysis, on a sample of first-generation graduate students at the University of Tennessee to examine the factors that highly-educated aspiring immigrant entrepreneurs take into account when deciding about their start-up location. This dissertation is one of the first studies to bring theories from other disciplines to provide a more comprehensive understanding …

The Family Ties That Bind: Essays That Examine And Extend The Microfoundations Of Socioemotional Wealth Theory, David Scott Jiang

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine and extend the microfoundations of socioemotional wealth (SEW) theory. While burgeoning research finds that a focus on SEW, or a controlling family’s stock of nonfinancial and affective utilities in a firm, predicts unique family firm outcomes, we know surprisingly little about emotion and family dynamic’s assumed causal roles in these unique outcomes. I address these theoretical needs with five related essays. In the first essay, I review the extant SEW literature, identifying unexamined cognitive, affective, motivational, and social assumptions in theoretical arguments and integrating psychological research to offer new directions for studying the microfoundations of …

The Munch: An Integrated Business Plan, Alexandra Barton

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Four-Hour Film Festival, James Christopher Agan

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Local Foods Purchasing In The Farmers' Market Channel: Value-Attitude-Behavior Theory, Christopher Thomas Sneed

Doctoral Dissertations

From farmers’ market booths to kitchen tables, demand for locally-produced foods has increased significantly over the last decade. Yet, despite increasing popularity of local foods, theoretically-based research of this topic has just begun.

This study fills this gap in literature and broadens the current research base by utilizing Value-Attitude-Behavior Theory to explore local foods purchasing in the farmers’ market channel. The impact of four values (food novelty, food safety, civic engagement, and environmental concern) on consumers’ attitudes regarding farmers’ market design perceptions, farmers’ market social perceptions, and local foods quality perceptions are examined. In turn, the impact of these attitudes …

Agency Theory And Stewardship Theory Integrated, Expanded, And Bounded By Context: An Empirical Investigation Of Structure, Behavior, And Performance Within Family Firms, Kristen Joie Madison

Doctoral Dissertations

Studies abound investigating whether agency or stewardship theory is more applicable within family firms. Both theories predict enhanced firm performance, but starkly contrast in behavioral assumptions and structural prescriptions. Agency theory assumes an economic model of man; agent behavior is based on self-interest and may conflict with the principal’s interest. Governance structures that control and monitor agents are prescribed to thwart opportunistic behavior and better align the goals of the principal and agent. Stewardship theory assumes a humanistic model of man; steward behavior is based on serving others and therefore will align with the principal’s interest. Governance structures that empower …

International Taxation And Initial Foreign Entries, Hannah Grace Alexander

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Of Personality To Entrepreneurial Performance: An Examination Of Openness To Experience Facets, Adam R. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

The role of personality has resurfaced in entrepreneurship research. The results surrounding the broad personality traits have varied. Although openness to experience has been found to generally have a positive relationship with entrepreneurial intentions and performance (e.g., Zhao, Seibert, & Lumpkin, 2010), conflicting and inconsistent results have emerged (e.g., Baron & Markman, 2004; Ciaverella, Buchholtz, Riordan, Gatewood, & Stokes, 2004). Therefore, an in-depth look at the facets of openness to experience may offer additional information.

The present investigation used a sample of founder/owners and examined the facets of openness to: fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas, and values. Specifically, it was …

Faith-Based Business Leadership & Decision-Making A Case Study Of Knoxville, Tn’S 4mse And 4 Market Square, Martha Elaine Goddard

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Marketing Opportunities For Small-Scale Organic Wine Producers In Slovenia: Proposing A Wine Cluster Model, Maja Djorcev

Masters Theses

The organic wine sector provides high quality artisan products as well as public goods and services and is gaining an importance in a global context. As such, this approach to wine production is seen as a potentially significant source of economic development and an initiator of change in local, rural areas. However, despite recent growing public and scientific interest in alternative approaches farming, organic wine production is still poorly researched.

This thesis focuses on examining the characteristics, challenges, and goals of the organic wine sector in Slovenia through the eyes of ten participant winemakers. Each participant winemaker is a small-scale …

Viral Online Content And The College Market Using Ratemyprofessors.Com And Howstheliving.Com As Case Studies, Aeron L. Glover

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Africa: The Next Frontier, Jack A. Parker

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Redeeming Hope Ministries, Elizabeth Tiller

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Weak Signals In American History: Applying Historical Events To Present Decisions In Business, Taylor Diane Robinson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Knoxville Area Rescue Mission And Ut Fraternity System, Armond M. Agassi

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

"Motorbike Guide For Westerners": Entrepreneurial Development And The Creation Of A Cultural Tourism Product In Transitional Vietnam, Karl Russell Kirby

Masters Theses

Vietnam is undergoing economic transition from a command economy to an economy with greater market characteristics. Transition is fundamentally reshaping the country through economic liberalization and increased exposure to foreign markets. The Vietnamese are developing institutions necessary for market growth and international tourists are arriving in ever-larger numbers. This research project is a case study of businesses that provide guided motorbike tours and evaluates the businesses based on two criteria: as a study of institutional growth during economic transition and as an examination of tourism production through guide interpretation. The author interviewed and observed sixteen guides in Vietnam—from Dalat in …

Facebook And College Students: Is Marketing Effective, Kelsey Craig

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.