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Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

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Full-Text Articles in Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

Success Factors Of Small Business Owners Of Independent Financial Planning Firms, Joanne Snider Jan 2015

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 …


Networking The Relationships Of Microenterprise Development In Bulgaria, Kristina Ann Harris Jan 2015

Networking The Relationships Of Microenterprise Development In Bulgaria, Kristina Ann Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The networking relationships provided by microenterprise development (MED) organizations foster sustainable and scalable Bulgarian small businesses. Some Bulgarian MED leaders lack the strategies to help sustain small businesses in Bulgaria. Guided by the actor network theory, the purpose of this case study was to explore the strategies MED leaders use to help sustain small businesses in Bulgaria. Data were collected through a semistructured focus group comprised of MED Bulgarian business leaders (n = 4) in Rhodope Mountain Region and company data consisting of financial reports, marketing presentations, and company business plan. The data analysis included using keyword frequency comparisons, coding …


Clarifying Assessment Outcomes For A University-Based Technology Park, Joaquin Guerra Achem Jan 2015

Clarifying Assessment Outcomes For A University-Based Technology Park, Joaquin Guerra Achem

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A private, nonprofit university in Mexico invested millions of U.S. dollars in a strategic initiative to build and operate technology-knowledge transfer parks (TKTP) with the mission of supporting the development of Mexican society's entrepreneurial capabilities. The university, however, lacked an assessment policy for gauging the effectiveness of the TKTP initiative. The purpose of this study was to explore stakeholder values about TKTP effectiveness in order to inform future assessment of TKTPs. The triple helix conceptual framework of collaboration between universities, business and industry, and government informed the design of this study. The central question for this study sought to clarify …


Small Ethnic Restaurant Business Owner Strategies To Remain Operable Beyond 7 Years, Nam Phuong Le Jan 2015

Small Ethnic Restaurant Business Owner Strategies To Remain Operable Beyond 7 Years, Nam Phuong Le

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The failure rate among small businesses is high. More than half of all small businesses fail within the first 7 years of operation. The purpose of this multi-case study was to explore the strategies that successful small ethnic restaurant owners employed to remain operable beyond 7 years. Three successful ethnic restaurant owners who have been operating their restaurant for at least 7 years in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada were selected. Data were gathered from participant interviews and from an examination of available physical artifacts such as the locations, premises, websites, and social media pages. The resource-based view by Edith …


Exploring Knowledge Management Practices In Service-Based Small Business Enterprises, Orlando Skelton Jan 2015

Exploring Knowledge Management Practices In Service-Based Small Business Enterprises, Orlando Skelton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business enterprises (SBEs) are significant contributors to business growth and employment in the United States, but despite governmental support, the failure rate of SBEs is high. Some small business leaders lack the critical management skills to detect or discover when underperformance in revenue-generation is due to gaps in organizational knowledge or business practices associated with managing knowledge assets. Guided by the knowledge-based view of the firm, the purpose of this multiple case study was to address that gap by exploring the skills needed by leaders to understand how deficiencies in their knowledge management practices contribute to underperformance. Semistructured interview …


Independent Retail Business Owners' Perceptions Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act., Bradley A. Hall Jan 2015

Independent Retail Business Owners' Perceptions Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act., Bradley A. Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010 prompted the question of how independent businesses may react to the employer mandate in the PPACA. The law is based on the theory of managed competition and it is more likely to affect businesses with fewer employees than to affect larger businesses that already offer health insurance. The purpose of this quantitative, pre-experimental study was to examine the strategic responses of independent retail business owners in Hillsborough County, Florida, regarding their perceptions of the employer mandate in the PPACA. Before 2014, there was a great deal of non-peer-reviewed …


Marketing Strategies Of Mobile Game Application Entrepreneurs, Talaya Waller Jan 2015

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 …


Factors That Influence A Jewelry Brand's Globalization Process, Mohammed Ahmed Faitaihi Jan 2014

Factors That Influence A Jewelry Brand's Globalization Process, Mohammed Ahmed Faitaihi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Local retail jewelry leaders of Saudi Arabian (S.A.) small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have struggled to survive through declining profits and increasing business foreclosures, thus threatening the sustainability of the Saudi retail sector and the Saudi economy. A globalization strategy to enhance profitability for jewelry retail SMEs in S.A. is needed, given the limited options for improving profitability. Despite this acknowledged need, leaders in S.A. have refrained from such a strategy because they lack knowledge of economic attraction features to target in the globalization process. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study using discriminant analysis was to examine specific countries' …


Understanding Leadership In Small Business From The Perspectives Of Practitioners, Daniel E, Holloway Dec 2013

Understanding Leadership In Small Business From The Perspectives Of Practitioners, Daniel E, Holloway

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many small businesses fail after 5 years, having a negative impact on local and national economies. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore small-enterprise leader-operators’ experiences regarding practices that aid sustainability beyond 5 years. Twenty small enterprise leaders in the United States Midwest who were identified as having 5 years of longevity in leading organizations with fewer than 500 employees were invited to participate. These participants shared their lived experiences through semistructured interviews conducted in-person and by telephone. The dynamic theory of leadership development was used to underpin the study. In the central research question for this study, …


Exploring Income Supplementation For Farm Sustainability, Elizabeth P. Persson Jul 2013

Exploring Income Supplementation For Farm Sustainability, Elizabeth P. Persson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sustainable farms are critical to United States’ food independence and they positively contribute to the global economy. Farms in the United States are not sustainable without profitable supplemental income. The purpose of this case study was to explore the historic profitability of farm income supplementation methods. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory served as the conceptual framework. A purposive sample of 25 farmers from 5 regions of the continental United States completed semistructured interviews and described their personal experiences. Archival supplemental income data came from the United States Department of Agriculture census. All the data were analyzed using coded keywords, phrases, …


Transcending Technological Innovation: The Impact Of Acquisitions On Entrepreneurial Technical Organizations, Bruce Crochetiere Jan 2011

Transcending Technological Innovation: The Impact Of Acquisitions On Entrepreneurial Technical Organizations, Bruce Crochetiere

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technology firms with substantial cash reserves acquire smaller entrepreneurial firms for diversification. In 2006, 3 large firms acquired 28 organizations, with the combined deals exceeding {dollar}4.7 billion. The problem addressed in this study is that new start-up companies with innovative ideas may not mature when they are acquired by larger companies and do not fully articulate potential industry-transcending innovation. This is important because the unsuccessful integration of an acquisition can dismantle innovation and compromises economic inventiveness. Drawing from the disruptive innovation and the resource-based theories, the purpose of the quasi-experimental study was to examine the impact of acquisition by larger …


An Examination Of Small Businesses' Propensity To Adopt Cloud-Computing Innovation, Steven E. Powelson Jan 2011

An Examination Of Small Businesses' Propensity To Adopt Cloud-Computing Innovation, Steven E. Powelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem researched was small business leaders' early and limited adoption of cloud computing. Business leaders that do not use cloud computing may forfeit the benefits of its lower capital costs and ubiquitous accessibility. Anchored in a diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional survey study was to examine if there is a relationship between small business leaders' view of cloud-computing attributes of compatibility, complexity, observability, relative advantage, results demonstrable, trialability, and voluntariness and intent to use cloud computing. The central research question involved understanding the extent to which each cloud-computing attribute relate to small business leaders' …


The Influence Of Spirituality On Servant Leadership Among Small Business Entrepreneurs, Sharilyn D. Franklin Jan 2010

The Influence Of Spirituality On Servant Leadership Among Small Business Entrepreneurs, Sharilyn D. Franklin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Servant leadership, which promotes virtuousness and altruism, is gaining attention as a potential solution to the perceived leadership crisis, as evidenced by the ethical breakdown of some of America's largest corporations. Entrepreneurs, who represent 99% of all employers, play a significant role in the American economy as innovative risk takers and early adopters. As such, it is important to understand how they relate to servant leadership. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore research questions related to (a) the extent to which servant leadership is practiced by small business entrepreneurs, and (b) the relationship between their levels of …