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Articles 1 - 30 of 44
Full-Text Articles in Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
Underrepresentation Of Women In C-Suite Positions In North American Technology Companies, Joy Lynn Obey
Underrepresentation Of Women In C-Suite Positions In North American Technology Companies, Joy Lynn Obey
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Women remain underrepresented in C-suite leadership within North American technology firms despite continued organizational attention to diversity and inclusion. The purpose of this flexible-design qualitative multiple case study was to explore how organizational cultures, structures, leadership-development practices, and succession-planning systems influenced women’s advancement toward executive leadership. Guided by a constructivist paradigm, Transformational Leadership Theory, and Social Role Theory, the study examined the experiences of 26 women who currently held, previously held, or occupied near-C-suite roles in North American technology firms. Data were collected through 26 semi-structured individual interviews and six focus groups. Member checking was completed by 25 participants, and …
Artrepreneurs & Business Survival: Bridging The Gap To Creative Success, Ryan Michael Moore
Artrepreneurs & Business Survival: Bridging The Gap To Creative Success, Ryan Michael Moore
Masters Theses
Artrepreneurs — freelance artists and small studio owners within creative industries — frequently lack training in essential business management skills in financial management, client pipeline development, and business sustainability. These factors exacerbate already statistically high business failure rates, adding to the burdens experienced by creative entrepreneurs. Conventional wisdom and guidance for entrepreneurs is found in experience-based advice from books, blogs and business mentors. While these offer valuable insights, the lack of data-driven advice highlights an opportunity to close the knowledge gap. This research investigates visually engaging educational systems to guide the creation of new visual solutions which address these challenges. …
Economic Independence And Professional Legitimacy: Colorado Businesswomen Of The 19th Century, Tyler Brinn Hobbs Freytag
Economic Independence And Professional Legitimacy: Colorado Businesswomen Of The 19th Century, Tyler Brinn Hobbs Freytag
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This dissertation examines the tension between legal reform and lived reality for women in Colorado during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although Colorado became the second state to grant women suffrage in 1893 and was widely celebrated as a national leader in women’s rights, the experiences of three influential women—Augusta Louise Tabor, Mary Elitch Long, and Mary Florence Lathrop—demonstrate how legal progress often failed to translate into genuine social, economic, or professional equality. Using a multidisciplinary analysis of primary sources, including court records, newspapers, diaries, and legislative documents, this study explores the disconnect between written law, its application, …
A Multiple-Case Study Exploring Ineffective Internal Communication Management Strategies Of Small Businesses, Krissandra Seymour
A Multiple-Case Study Exploring Ineffective Internal Communication Management Strategies Of Small Businesses, Krissandra Seymour
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was to address a gap in the existing literature and to offer practical applications for small businesses with virtual employees regarding their internal communication management strategies. Previous research regarding internal communication management strategies predominantly concentrated on larger organizations. However, given the crucial role that small businesses play in the nation’s economy and the increasing employment of virtual employees, it was essential to explore the strategies employed by small businesses in the United States. For this study, 27 leaders from small businesses in the Midwest were interviewed. The findings indicated that organizations lacking effective …
Social Media Marketing Impacts On Sme Customer Engagement And Prodictivity, La'keisha J. Morton-Carter
Social Media Marketing Impacts On Sme Customer Engagement And Prodictivity, La'keisha J. Morton-Carter
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This qualitative multiple case study explored the underutilization of social media marketing among small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs and its impact on customer engagement and business productivity. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, the study examined how SME owners perceive, adopt, and apply social media platforms in their marketing efforts. Data were collected from 38 participants through semi-structured interviews and surveys and analyzed using NVivo 15 software. Thematic analysis revealed five emergent themes: Digital Hesitancy, Strategic Gaps, Customer Engagement Variability, Resource Constraints, and Peer Influence. Findings indicated that while entrepreneurs recognized …
Entrepreneurs’ Inability To Address Employee Grievances In The Small Business Industry, Tedford Hope
Entrepreneurs’ Inability To Address Employee Grievances In The Small Business Industry, Tedford Hope
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Grievances are common in work, indicating major impediments to employee performance. Employee grievances lower productivity, motivation, and work happiness, damaging firms. This flexible design qualitative study investigated and improved understanding of entrepreneurs' failure to resolve employee concerns in Los Angeles' small businesses, resulting in lower organizational performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants—4 executives and 11 junior staff. A thematic analysis identified eight main themes: Small business employee grievances; reasons for grievances; consequences of grievances; resolving grievances; leaders' responsibilities in handling grievances; leaders' mindsets that hinder or improve grievance management; and how to improve leaders' mindsets. Data from this …
The Relationship Of Proximate-Peer Characteristics Of Seed Accelerator Participants To Member Firm Survival Outcomes, Matthew David Crowley
The Relationship Of Proximate-Peer Characteristics Of Seed Accelerator Participants To Member Firm Survival Outcomes, Matthew David Crowley
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This study examined how composite gender and ethnic heterogeneity present at three levels of proximate-peer groups of accelerators—firms, cohorts, and alumni—relate to firm survival within five years after program graduation. This research addresses the problem that accelerator membership alone does not guarantee firm success by examining the factor of heterogeneity on survival using a fixed-design, quantitative, correlational approach via a Cox proportional hazards model. Using archival data from Crunchbase on Y Combinator cohorts running from 2013 to 2017 augmented with demographic output from NamSor, the study investigated whether diversity at various levels of proximate-peer interactions related to the hazard of …
Survival Of The Venture Companies Depending On The Access To Capitals, Ruslan Akhmadullin
Survival Of The Venture Companies Depending On The Access To Capitals, Ruslan Akhmadullin
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Social and entrepreneurial capitals encompass a combination of human, social, and intellectual resources that enable entrepreneurs to identify, create, and exploit business opportunities. This study investigates how the interplay between these forms of capital influences entrepreneurs' access to financial resources and their overall success. Social capital, comprising networks, relationships, and trust, is critical for accessing resources and building credibility with investors. Human capital, including skills, experience, and perseverance, enhances the capacity to navigate entrepreneurial challenges and present viable business proposals. However, traditional funding processes often impose barriers, such as stringent requirements and limited access to capital, that disproportionately affect startups. …
The Failure Of Project Managers To Allocate Resources Effectively Resulting In Failed Or Stalled Kenyan Government Projects, Jectone Oyoo
The Failure Of Project Managers To Allocate Resources Effectively Resulting In Failed Or Stalled Kenyan Government Projects, Jectone Oyoo
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Resource allocation is a vital role of the project manager from the project’s initiation to its completion. The study investigated the failure by project managers in Kenyan government projects to effectively allocate resources leading to the failure or stalling of those projects. This study was aimed at exploring the processes and actions employed by project managers in allocating resources that result in the success, failure or stalling of Kenyan government projects. The researcher collected data by interviewing 30 project managers from six counties across the country that formed the six cases. The study revealed three major themes, resource availability, resource …
The Dynamic Integration Of National Culture In Organizational Structure For Entrepreneurial Success, Qianyu Lim
The Dynamic Integration Of National Culture In Organizational Structure For Entrepreneurial Success, Qianyu Lim
Senior Honors Theses
The impact of culture on management decisions has been heavily researched and discussed in the academic setting. However, the tools and frameworks currently applied in cultural studies present a static version of culture at a certain point in time. As entrepreneurship and its counterpart, intrapreneurship, arise to help create competitive advantage in a quickly shifting economic market, these points raise the question of the opportunity surrounding the consideration of culture as a living model in an equally dynamic business environment. To do so, a reiterative version of Bain’s Structure-Conduct-Performance paradigm will be used to illustrate the impact of culture in …
The Political Economy Of The Igbos Of Southeastern Nigeria: Analyzing The Igbo Entrepreneurship Model (Iem), Eze Simpson Osuagwu
The Political Economy Of The Igbos Of Southeastern Nigeria: Analyzing The Igbo Entrepreneurship Model (Iem), Eze Simpson Osuagwu
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This study examines the relationship between culture and economic development using the case of the Igbo ethnic group of Southeastern Nigeria. The Igbo traditional apprenticeship system has been widely described in contemporary political economy literature as a model for stakeholder capitalism and shared prosperity for sustainable entrepreneurial development. This study draws a sample of 2,000 entrepreneurs from five business clusters across Nigeria in Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Lagos and Abuja to ascertain if there is a significant difference between the entrepreneurs who passed through the traditional apprenticeship system and those who did not. The study employs a Propensity Score Matching technique …
An Examination Of The Perceived Impact Of Social Networking On Discipleship In Yalobusha County, Mississippi, Gary Bernard Walton
An Examination Of The Perceived Impact Of Social Networking On Discipleship In Yalobusha County, Mississippi, Gary Bernard Walton
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Significant technological advancements in this new digital age and culture have increased digital and online technology. However, churches faced many challenges in integrating, creating, and transitioning new media platforms to develop a cooperative network society to train and equip disciples. Some research showed that many clergies vehemently opposed the use of digital platforms for discipleship, primarily because those leaders believed that digital discipleship platforms were insufficient in power to be transformative as compared to what would occur at a traditional church location (Campbell & Garner, 2016). This phenomenological research study aimed to understand better the perceived impact of social networking …
Credit History Controls The Ability Of Small Businesses To Obtain Working Capital: A Case Study, Tiffany Leeona Thompson
Credit History Controls The Ability Of Small Businesses To Obtain Working Capital: A Case Study, Tiffany Leeona Thompson
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this research was to understand how a potential failure of business owners exists and how owners use business credit. In addition, this research includes understanding how business owners obtain working capital within small businesses, resulting in the inability of small businesses to gather the necessary funds to cover the operational costs. I used a flexible design using a qualitative method to gather knowledge from current literature regarding how a lack of credit history in small businesses results in the inability of business owners to obtain working capital. I used a flexible design to identify four elements that …
Empowher: Creating Digital Pathways To Funding And Cultivating Community For Women Entrepreneurs, Nicole Riojas
Empowher: Creating Digital Pathways To Funding And Cultivating Community For Women Entrepreneurs, Nicole Riojas
Masters Theses
”EmpowHER: Creating Digital Pathways to Funding and Cultivating Community for Women Entrepreneurs” embarks on a comprehensive exploration of the dynamic world of women entrepreneurship, deciphering the intricate dynamics that influence their journey to success. With a focus on fostering gender diversity and promoting innovation, this thesis delves into the profound impact of accessible funding mechanisms and community engagement on women entrepreneurs’ trajectories while in the growth stage of their business. As women-owned enterprises continue to rise, this project dissects their economic potential and explores how innovative practices can dismantle the barriers that hinder their progress. By employing various research methods …
Impact Of Cybersecurity Investments On Smaller Organizations, Stephen Mancini
Impact Of Cybersecurity Investments On Smaller Organizations, Stephen Mancini
Journal of Fundamental & Applied Business Research
The challenges of securing an organization from various cyber threats are well known. However, it is particularly challenging for smaller organizations to secure themselves due to an often-perceived limitation on funding, and there exists no clear methodology for how an organization should invest the resources it does have. Furthermore, the need to secure oneself is predicated upon an understanding of the threat actors and their methods. This also presents a further challenge as to what information is needed and how to effectively share said information among organizations to understand the threats and threat actors. The following study demonstrated while there …
Understanding Romania's Poverty: A Historical Overview Of Economics And Politics And Their Implications On Poverty Today, Benjamin Bucur
Understanding Romania's Poverty: A Historical Overview Of Economics And Politics And Their Implications On Poverty Today, Benjamin Bucur
Senior Honors Theses
Romania is a country with a high-income economy that is experiencing considerable growth following its economic reforms of earlier decades. With growth, tendencies for an unequal society are prevalent. Therefore, appropriate economic policies that are specifically targeted toward bottlenecks are essential. This thesis seeks to outline the major types of poverty in Romania while also offering actionable entrepreneurial and educational insights that practically combat poverty at its roots.
Legitimate Business As Mission Ventures And Effective Witness, Summer Rogers
Legitimate Business As Mission Ventures And Effective Witness, Summer Rogers
Senior Honors Theses
This thesis discusses the practice of missionaries creating cover businesses solely for visa purposes, which brings a dishonest presence and harms the ministry. In contrast, Business as Mission (BAM) is a strategic business model to bring the gospel overseas through social, economic, and spiritual impact. Through a literature review, best practices for legitimate BAM ventures are explored based on studies done by BAM professionals and experts. Research shows that Christian businesspeople can establish an authentic image and credible witness through BAM businesses that are integrated into the local community, generate a profit, and incorporate biblical principles into business operations. BAM …
Applications Of Lean In Construction: Benefits From Using The Last Planner System, Mohsin Shareef Al Taie
Applications Of Lean In Construction: Benefits From Using The Last Planner System, Mohsin Shareef Al Taie
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Question: What are the benefits of using the Last Planner System in commercial construction projects in areas with high disruption, e.g. the Civil War in Iraq from 2005-2017. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the benefits of using the Last Planner System with respect to the key project metrics of cost, safety, quality, and time performance in projects operating in highly disruptive environments. Very few qualitative studies have been done on the Last Planner System in commercial construction and none specifically studying work in areas of high disruption. Research Method: The study utilizes qualitative methodology with a …
The Effects Of Leadership Organizational Culture On Employee Performance Resulting In High Turnover, Low Morale, And Decreased Productivity, Damon Brown-Crawford
The Effects Of Leadership Organizational Culture On Employee Performance Resulting In High Turnover, Low Morale, And Decreased Productivity, Damon Brown-Crawford
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The restaurant industry continues to lose billions of dollars in revenue due to the failure of leadership to develop and establish strong working cultures which has led to high employee turnover, low morale, and a decreased productivity. A major leadership problem exists in the restaurant industry in the Southeastern United States as strategies, theories, and cases have impacted the applications applied in the restaurant business world. The study has been purposed and influenced by a qualitative approach, utilizing a case study to gain knowledge of the reasons for the failure of leadership in establishing a strong working culture in restaurants …
Sacred Business: Outlining Business As Mission For The Fulfillment Of The Great Commission, Eli Jackson
Sacred Business: Outlining Business As Mission For The Fulfillment Of The Great Commission, Eli Jackson
Senior Honors Theses
Business as Mission (BAM) is the operation of a for-profit business located in a cross-cultural setting and aimed toward the fulfillment of the great commission. This definition reveals four key success factors for BAM: support, financial and otherwise, for both the business and the missionaries; the ability to gain access to cross-cultural settings; the opportunity to advance the gospel; and the requirement of managing both missional and business goals. Examining each of these areas, along with the historical effectiveness of BAM, reveals that BAM is an efficient and effective missional strategy, which should be used to see the Great Commission …
Understanding How Individual Decisions Contribute To The Success Or Failure Of First-Generation Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Case Studies Of The Nepali Bhutanese In Pittsburgh, Jodi Greco Carver
Understanding How Individual Decisions Contribute To The Success Or Failure Of First-Generation Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Case Studies Of The Nepali Bhutanese In Pittsburgh, Jodi Greco Carver
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) began the process of resettling Bhutanese refugees in U.S. cities in 2008 after many had spent up to 17 years in refugee camps in Nepal. At that time, Pittsburgh became home to 1,000 of these refugees and more than a decade later, their community has grown to an estimated 7,000-8,000 with many entrepreneurs among them (BCAP, 2021). The study included six cases of Nepali Bhutanese entrepreneurs in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area which were compared to better grasp the operational links between decision making and business success or failure while considering how embeddedness …
The Effects Of Lean Management In Nonprofit Operations, Brandon Diaz
The Effects Of Lean Management In Nonprofit Operations, Brandon Diaz
Senior Honors Theses
Many nonprofits desire to serve the segment of society that is helpless or in distress, and this paper seeks to demonstrate that the implementation of Lean management into nonprofit operations aids a nonprofit in accomplishing its vision of service. The goal of this essay is to combine Lean management with nonprofit operations to develop a more sustainable method of managing nonprofit operations. This essay will be written from a Christian point of view, so partnership with the Church will be considered when discussing Lean operations. Lean management is effective in reducing waste and increasing efficiency in nonprofit operations; however, only …
The Power Of Investing To Alleviate Poverty, Zachary Sicher
The Power Of Investing To Alleviate Poverty, Zachary Sicher
Senior Honors Theses
Hundreds of millions of people across the world are affected by extreme poverty each day. At the same time, investing has generated more wealth than anything in the history of the world. Because of the great success of investing in generating wealth, there must be a way for investing to be used to assist in the alleviation of poverty. To examine this possibility, one must consider the root causes of poverty, the reasons for the success of investing, and how poverty is currently being alleviated, to effectively develop a way for investing to be used to help alleviate poverty.
Small Business, Big Change: How Start-Ups Positively Affect The Community Around Them, Kaylee Spears
Small Business, Big Change: How Start-Ups Positively Affect The Community Around Them, Kaylee Spears
Senior Honors Theses
Usual measures of success refer commonly to financial means. In a world where success is synonymous with money, small businesses may appear to fall short of the standard. However, these measures do not comprehensively translate to small, family, or start-up companies. Incorrect measurements of success can skew the data when it comes to start-ups and family businesses, but new standards can bring to light just how large an impact small business can make. This thesis seeks to identify better ways to measure success for small businesses through non-financial means, research current examples for relevance, and provide insight for start-ups on …
The Impact Of Customer Collaboration On Agile Product Development Success In Technology Startups Within The Pacific Northwest, Chad Ryan Thompson
The Impact Of Customer Collaboration On Agile Product Development Success In Technology Startups Within The Pacific Northwest, Chad Ryan Thompson
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
While agile software development is being adopted in more organizations recently, many products using the methodology are still failing in the market due to inadequate customer collaboration despite the purported benefits. Within start-ups, where speed and early market penetration can be the death or success of a company, understanding if using agile software development including adequate customer collaboration makes a significant difference is important. A study which investigates the impact of including customer collaboration in the agile product development process could uncover whether or not a product is successful within technology focused start-up’s in the Pacific Northwest. This research could …
Therapeutic Delivery Technology And Its Economic Impact, Paul E. Savas Jr.
Therapeutic Delivery Technology And Its Economic Impact, Paul E. Savas Jr.
Senior Honors Theses
Therapeutic delivery technology is a current area of high interest in both university and industrial settings. These technologies are being developed in order to deliver therapeutic agents, such as genes, proteins, and drugs, to patients more efficiently. Nanoscale delivery vehicles have proven to be useful for these applications; these vehicles may either be naturally produced or chemically synthesized. The physical properties of these nanomaterials must be characterized correctly using instrumentation that evaluates their size, morphology, and potential for agglomeration. These technologies represent a high-growth economic area that fosters entrepreneurship and innovation. Because of this innovative spirit, research and economic interest …
Project Management And The Temporary Relocation Of The Decoupling Point: Hermeneutical Phenomenological Study, Christopher Hicks
Project Management And The Temporary Relocation Of The Decoupling Point: Hermeneutical Phenomenological Study, Christopher Hicks
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This study investigates, understands, and describes the value of engaging a project manager to support a customer-driven project that creates a random supply chain demand event. Specifically such an event would require the temporary re-positioning of the decoupling point between the supply push and demand pull within the supply chain. In response to the challenges of this type of event, this study will focus on two specific project manager roles. First, the project manager would act as an extension of a customer-driven project and serve as a conduit for the voice of the customer (VOC) into the supply chain. Secondly, …
An Exploration Of Internal Controls And Their Impact On Employee Fraud In Small Businesses, Kent Lachney
An Exploration Of Internal Controls And Their Impact On Employee Fraud In Small Businesses, Kent Lachney
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain greater understanding of the current practices of the internal control systems of small businesses and to explore the effectiveness of their systems in comparison with anti-fraud activities recommended by forensic accountants. The researcher selected five small businesses that were members of the Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce and had fewer than 100 employees. The researcher interviewed the owners and/or managers of the businesses, reviewed and analyzed company documentation, interpreted data, made observations, and offered recommendations. The researcher asked each participant to respond to questions related to the five elements of …
How To Make It As A Maker: Maximizing Customer Experience To Increase Brand Value In The Saturated Marketplace Of Paper Goods And Gifts, Hannah K. Lynch
How To Make It As A Maker: Maximizing Customer Experience To Increase Brand Value In The Saturated Marketplace Of Paper Goods And Gifts, Hannah K. Lynch
Masters Theses
The following thesis investigates the saturated conditions of the paper goods and gift industry, while addressing how the problem of competition discourages start-up brands. Targeted towards rising creative entrepreneurs with ambition to enter the marketplace, the thesis affirms opportunity for breakthrough created by the Maker Movement and identifies strategies for success through attention to customer experience. Based on the trending demand for experience, suggested strategies highlight the primary areas with opportunity for visual application, including brand, product, packaging, social media, and point of purchase. Scholarly research employs primary and secondary resources, along with case studies of successful brands in a …
Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney
Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney
Senior Honors Theses
Poverty is a major problem that reaches millions of people around the world. Although many organizations and individuals work daily to combat this, much of the work done to reduce poverty lacks sustainability and serves only to remedy to the effects of poverty, rather than create a solution to the causes of poverty. Microfinance can be very basically defined as the provision of banking to the impoverished who would not otherwise have access to these services. This purpose of this thesis is to show that microfinance is the ideal solution to the poverty problem by using research and evidence from …