Business Commons^™

Strategies For Sustaining Success In Small Businesses In Nigeria, Mina Johnson-Hart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Enterprise owners in Nigeria who need more entrepreneurial skills and an understanding of the business environment may need help sustaining their market share. Nigerian small business owners are concerned with the need for entrepreneurial growth strategies because it could reduce business profitability sustainability and lead to entity failure. Grounded in the entrepreneurial orientation theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies Nigerian small business owners implement for sustaining success beyond 5 years. The participants were three small business owners in the professional services sector who developed strategies for sustaining success beyond 5 years. Data were …

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 …

Strategies For Developing Sustainable Supply Chain Links With Local Producers, Edwin Che Ngwa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Failure to sustain agriculture supply chain links with local producers may lead to supply chain disruptions affecting the flow of products and materials. Successful strategies are essential for agribusiness supply chain managers to maintain profitability. Grounded in the value-based supply chain model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies agribusiness managers used to develop sustainable supply chain links with local producers to maintain profitability. Semistructured online interviews were conducted with six Cameroon agribusiness managers who developed sustainable supply chain links with local producers for more than 5 years. Data analysis of the interviews and administrative …

How Covid-19 Has Accelerated The Shift Towards A More Sustainable Fashion Industry, Samantha Frances Casey

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Sustainability in fast fashion is a pertinent issue as the fashion industry is one of the most environmentally damaging industries. Fashion retailers have started to integrate sustainability initiatives, but consumer preference is vital to making firms change their practices. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2020, worldwide lockdowns exposed the fragility of the consumer-driven fast-fashion business model. This thesis will examine how COVID-19 has and will continue to impact sustainability in the fashion industry. More specifically, this thesis will examine the implications of consumer sustainability preferences brought about by the pandemic. These implications accelerate the preexisting sustainability trends …

The Conceptualization Of Women’S Empowerment By Microlenders In Egypt And Its Link To Sustainable Development, Yasmina Abdellatif

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how microlenders in Egypt conceptualize women’s empowerment and how they see it contributing to achievement of the UN sustainable development goals. Ten Egyptian microlenders were interviewed to understand how they defined and assessed empowerment, the strategies they used to support empowerment, and which sustainable development goals they felt their programs were addressing. Results revealed that, overall, microlenders sought to empower women in economic, social, psychological, and familial ways, and that they used indicators to measure empowerment under each area. They also supported empowerment through mentoring, training and follow-up with their beneficiaries, and by working to include men. …

New England’S Underutilized Seafood Species: Defining And Exploring Marketplace Potential In A Changing Climate, Amanda Davis

Masters Theses

New England’s seafood industry has been searching for opportunities to diversify their landings and build resilience as it faces socio-economic challenges from a changing climate. Developing markets for underutilized species is one way the New England community could help their seafood industry build resilience. This thesis identified New England’s underutilized fish species and explored their marketplace potential by examining their availability in a changing climate, current availability to consumers, and consumers’ responses. In Chapter I, I account how New England’s seafood preferences have changed over time. In Chapter II, I identify New England’s seven underutilized seafood species: 1) Acadian redfish …

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …

Residential Housing Renewable Energy Savings Calculator, Eric J. Robinson

Honors Thesis

Frequently renewable energy investment has been thwarted by principal-agent disconnects. Chief among these is the disconnect in the rental market between tenants and landlords; whereby, the tenant may desire to invest in renewable energy sources but has no means to. An additional disconnect occurs between homeowners and their utilities providers. This study seeks to explore the disconnect between tenants and landlords and better align their motivations through intelligent contract design for sustainable investment. If renewable energy is proven profitable as a long-term investment, landlords will be more apt to invest and collect an energy/utility fee included in the cost of …

Sustainable Supply Chain: Maintaining A Competitive Advantage In Retail Organizations, Sherman M. Arthur

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some retail managers encounter challenges with efficiency and responsiveness in their attempts to gain and maintain a competitive advantage in the retail industry. Many retail managers are receptive to changes in global markets, technology, and customer demands. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the strategies that some retail managers used to motivate their sales associates to maintain a competitive advantage in the retail industry. Maintaining a competitive advantage increases profitability and customer satisfaction. Sustainable Supply Chain Management was the primary conceptual framework for this study. The purposive sample consisted of 4 retail managers from a …

Methane Production By A Packed-Bed Anaerobic Digester Fed Dairy Barn Flush Water, Sean Richard Thomson

Master's Theses

Packed-bed digesters are an alternative to covered lagoon digesters for methane production and anaerobic treatment of dilute wastewaters such as dairy barn flush water. The physical media of packed-beds retain biofilms, often allowing increased treatment rates. Previous studies have evaluated several types of media for digestion of dilute wastewaters, but cost and media fouling have setback commercial development. A major operational cost has been effluent recirculation pumping.

In the present effort, a novel approach to anaerobic digestion of flush dairy water was developed at pilot-scale: broken walnut shells were used as a low-cost packed-bed medium and effluent recirculation was replaced …