Business Commons^™

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 …

Resources, Innovative Outcomes, And The Symbolic And Substantive Performance Of Entrepreneurial Firms: An Examination Of Independent Popular Music Artists, John A. Deleon

Management Dissertations

The importance of innovation to the success of entrepreneurial firms has been well established in prior work. Yet, important gaps still remain. I draw from the innovation literature, the resource-based view, and institutional theory in order to address how entrepreneurial firms are able to find success through innovation in competitive environments. Specifically, following Penrose’s (1959) approach to the resource-based view, I argue that two resource categories, creativity-related resources and management-related resources, form antecedent conditions for innovative outcomes. I divide these innovative outcomes into two separate components, innovative output and innovative uniqueness. Further, I argue that innovative output and innovative uniqueness …

The Relationships Between Entrepreneurs' Gender, Attitudes Toward Seeking Assistance From Entrepreneurship Centers, Utilization Of Centers, And Entrepreneurial Success, Scott C. Manley

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Despite the proliferation of entrepreneurship centers, little is known about the reasons entrepreneurs appear reluctant to utilize their services. Although women are more likely than men to seek help in most settings, some research appears to suggest that this tendency may not apply to entrepreneurs. This is interesting given the financial underperformance of female-owned firms and research showing that entrepreneurship centers are effective and thereby lead to economic development. To better understand these issues, I propose and test a new conceptual framework of entrepreneurial help seeking that considers how entrepreneurs vary in their attitudes towards seeking professional help. In addition, …

The Relevance Of Economic, Institutional And Cultural Determinants For Venture Capital Investments. A Us-Europe Comparison., Nadja Benes

Master's Theses

This study analyzes the determinants of early-stage VC investments by identifying characteristics in the economic, institutional, as well as cultural framework that could explain the diverging levels of early-stage VC investments across countries. Data was assembled for 16 countries during the period from 1995 until 2013. The results indicate that countries that are more open to trade are associated with higher levels in early-stage venture capital. A higher unemployment rate negatively affects a country’s level of early-stage VC funds. Higher R&D expenditures as a proxy for the technological and innovation capacity in a country as well as a higher value …

Enterprising Outsiders: Livelihood Strategies Of Cape Town’S Forced Migrants, Madeleine Ann Northcote

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Although refugees and registered asylum-seekers have a legal right to work in South Africa, research shows that prevailing anti-immigrant attitudes and South African employers’ suspicion of these migrants’ documents makes employment extraordinarily difficult to acquire. This thesis investigates how, in the face of such challenges, forced migrants in Cape Town secure their day-to-day livelihoods. The research is based on semi-structured, open-ended interviews with thirty-two refugees and other forced migrants who live and operate in the Cape Town area, as well as five key informant interviews with employees of refugee service organizations. It also draws from literature on both South Africa’s …

Three Essays On Institutions, Entrepreneurship, And Development, Adam Smith

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Each of the three essays contained in this dissertation examine the relationship between institutions and entrepreneurship. The underlying theory that institutions shape entrepreneurs' outcomes is well established. However, the ways in which they do so turn out to be quite nuanced and show marked dissimilarities where low income individuals are involved in the entrepreneurship process. Each essay seeks to understand and identify what contexts individuals are more likely to participate in meaningful, development-oriented entrepreneurship. In essays I and III, the focus is on individuals at the bottom of the economic spectrum.

Essay I links opportunity entrepreneurship to the presence of …

Behaviors Contributing To Native American Business Success, Stacey Bolin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Native Americans start fewer businesses than do other U.S. populations, and the receipts and employment of those businesses are 70% lower than the U.S. average. However, little knowledge exists concerning Native American (NA) business success. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the likelihood that attitudes toward entrepreneurship, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control predict business success amongst NA business owners. Understanding the factors that contribute to NA business success is imperative to developing best practices for business owners and business support agencies. The theory of planned behavior served as the theoretical framework for this study. Of the …

Marketing Strategies Of Mobile Game Application Entrepreneurs, Talaya Waller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mobile game application entrepreneurs can offer many benefits to the U.S. economy; however, 80% of the entrepreneurs in this study stated that marketing their mobile applications was a major business challenge. Successful strategies that entrepreneurs have used to overcome their mobile game application marketing challenges may be beneficial to other entrepreneurs. Based on Schumpeter's theory of economic development and new value creation of technological innovation, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the strategies that entrepreneurs have used to market their mobile game application development businesses successfully. Twenty mobile game application entrepreneurs from northern California, who successfully sustained …

Success Factors Of Small Business Owners Of Independent Financial Planning Firms, Joanne Snider

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small Business Administration statistics indicate that 20% of small businesses fail within the first 2 years and 50% fail within 5 years. The purpose of this case study was to explore the success factors and strategies of 12 small business owners of independent financial planning firms who achieved profitability beyond 5 years. A gap exists in the literature concerning such business owners, and their experiences provide valuable information to others desiring to start or maintain a financial planning business. The conceptual framework was entrepreneurship theory and Porter's 5 forces model of competitive strategy. The data were gathered via semistructured interviews …

Brazilian Women Entrepreneurs: Exploring Strategies For Building Sustainable Business Organizations, Maria Ana Church

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Brazilians create an average of 1.2 million new registered enterprises annually, but some struggle to keep their business in operation. Thirty percent of the new ventures are unable to survive the first year, and 58% go out of business after the first 5 years. The goal of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of Brazilian women entrepreneurs concerning the strategies needed to build sustainable business organizations in Brazil. The individual concepts of sustainable development, sustainability, business strategies, and business models served as the theoretical foundations for the study. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 20 women entrepreneurs …

How Millennial Generation Entrepreneurs Use Mentors To Improve Business Performance, Nathanael David Robert Moulson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Successful small businesses are critical to the success of the global economy, but they continue to fail at high rates. Mentoring is a technique proven to improve the performance of new entrepreneurs and their businesses. Building on the conceptual framework of adult learning theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore how millennial generation small business owners participating in the Futurpreneur mentoring program used mentors to improve the performance of their small businesses. Data included semistructured interviews with 6 successful participants of the mentoring program, experience profiles of these participants, and public information about Futurpreneur. The intent …

Factors Required For Small Business Sustainability In Nigeria, Preye Elizabeth Buowari

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Nigeria, many small businesses fail before their 5th anniversary. Small businesses make up a major percentage of the businesses in Nigeria and provide jobs for 50% of the populace. The purpose of this qualitative multi-unit case study was to explore the factors required by small businesses in Nigeria to sustain operations beyond the first 5 years. The conceptual framework grounding this study was general systems theory. A review of the literature focused on small business failure and factors required to sustain a business longer than 5 years. Data collection occurred through semistructured interviews of a purposeful sample of 3 …

Technological Factors For The Sustainability Of The Small Business Entrepreneur, Noghor Pessu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technical innovation creates challenges for the small business entrepreneur who uses global activities in the marketplace. Information technology and the technological innovations of the World Wide Web are driving competitiveness in the marketplace with a loss of market share for the individual business owner. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of a purposive sample of 20 small business owners in the metropolitan Atlanta area regarding the effect of technology, technological insertion, and application for long-term sustainability. Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory served as the conceptual framework of this study. Data were gathered …

The Relationship Between Personality Traits, Goal Orientation, And Preferred Paths To Value Creation: The Case Of Latent Entrepreneurs., Michael J. Kay Phd

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examined the relationship between personality and the preferences expressed by latent entrepreneurs among different ways of creating value. Latent entrepreneurs are individuals who would prefer to be an entrepreneur rather than a salaried employee. Latent entrepreneurs take all the first time decisions on entering entrepreneurship and their entry choices have been linked in the literature to their expressed preferences. The study addressed the personality-value creation relationship through two goals. The first addressed the personality-value creation preference relationship directly. Value creation was operationalized using the Competing Values Model (Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983). Each approach to value creation was regressed …

Propuesta De Retención Estudiantil Con El Fin De Disminuir La Deserción Académica En El Programa De Administración De Empresas En La Universidad De La Salle Bogotá, Nicolás David Tunjo Arboleda

Administración de Empresas

La deserción estudiantil en la Universidad de la Salle es un tema de importancia debido al incremento de estudiantes que por múltiples causas no han terminado sus estudios de pregrado en el programa de administración de empresas en los últimos años. En este contexto la deserción implica consecuencias socioeconómicas para el país, ya que es un problema generalizado que atraviesa todo el sistema de educación nacional a nivel de pregrado donde uno de los factores significativos es el económico. Existen estudios que demuestran las altas tasas de deserción nacional, afirmando que de cada dos estudiantes que ingresan a cursar su …

Ética, Responsabilidad Social Y Emprendimiento: Su Gestión En El Proceso Del Éxito Empresarial, Ana María Herrera Martínez, Alexandra Torres Wilches

Administración de Empresas

El presente artículo es de carácter deductivo ya que es un análisis realizado en base a autores, libros e informes especializados, con el propósito de brindar un acercamiento al desarrollo que ha generado en los diferentes planteamientos de ética, responsabilidad social, y emprendimiento y como estos. elementos se cohesionan en el proceso del éxito empresarial, como un factor clave para el buen desempeño de los procesos internos de una organización y cómo a través del recurso humano y el concepto de emprendimiento se puede gestionar y dar soluciones a proyectos cuyo impacto sean socialmente responsables. ; en la actualidad las …