Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Unilever Platinum Stores: Building A Brand For The Community, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Unilever's idea of assisting the owner of a flood-stricken mom and pop shop in Thailand has blossomed into a plan that seeks to benefit the local community

An Examination Of The Volunteer Coordinator's Influence On Church Volunteers' Intent-To-Continue At The Largest Protestant Churches, Jason Berton Golden

Dissertations

Volunteers contribute to the production of goods and services by easing the burden of the paid workforce while not increasing costs. Today’s volunteers tend to be highly trained, skilled professionals looking for a place to invest their time and skills. Churches are the largest single recipient of many volunteers’ efforts. Despite this fact, volunteerism is on the decline in churches.

Once recruited, attrition rates can climb as high as 40% in the first 12 months following training of volunteers. Therefore, the greatest challenge churches face is turnover. Not only does turnover lead to reduced production; it also incurs added expenditures …

New Dentist News (May 2015), Ada Committee On The New Dentist

New Dentist News

New Dentist News offers timely information on scientific, social, educational, political and economic developments affecting new dentists. This collection is historical and items may not reflect current standards. For up-to-date information contact the ADA. The New Dentist News was alternately titled ADA Lifeline, 1997-June 2001.

Design, Programming, And User-Experience, Kaila G. Manca

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis is a culmination of my individualized major in Human-Computer Interaction. As such, it showcases my knowledge of design, computer engineering, user-experience research, and puts into practice my background in psychology, com- munications, and neuroscience.

I provided full-service design and development for a web application to be used by the Digital Media and Design Department and their students.This process involved several iterations of user-experience research, testing, concepting, branding and strategy, ideation, and design. It lead to two products.

The first product is full-scale development and optimization of the web appli- cation.The web application adheres to best practices. It was …

Developing A Workshop To Help Small Businesses Get Unstuck, Lauren G. St. George

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This master’s project presents my journey of developing and running a two-day workshop specifically designed to help entrepreneurs get unstuck. It includes principles, frameworks, and materials developed for this two-day workshop. Inspiration for this project came from my own entrepreneur experience over the last 13 years. Over that time period I have encountered many roadblocks and found that the resources available to established small business owners were limited and those that do exist did not always meet my needs. This workshop has been developed keeping in mind the two things that are most important to small business owners, time and …

Investment, Duration, And Exit Strategies For Corporate And Independent Venture Capital-Backed Start-Ups, Bing Guo, Yun Lou, David Perez-Castrillo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We propose a model of investment, duration, and exit strategies for start-ups backed by venture capital (VC) funds that accounts for the high level of uncertainty, the asymmetry of information between insiders and outsiders, and the discount rate. Our analysis predicts that start-ups backed by corporate VC funds remain for a longer period of time before exiting and receive larger investment amounts than those financed by independent VC funds. Although a longer duration leads to a higher likelihood of an exit through an acquisition, a larger investment increases the probability of an IPO exit. These predictions find strong empirical support.

Battle Of The Streets: Food Cart Edition, Ninna Mendoza

Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research

Through this paper, I wanted to highlight the unique struggle of food carts in Chicago, IL. Unlike other major cities in America, in Chicago, it is illegal to sell freshly prepared food from a cart. However, given the unique characteristics of food carts, legalizing this practice could greatly benefit the city and its people.

Thinking Bigger: Pushing Singaporean Entrepreneurship To The Next Level, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The environment in Singaporehas become more conducive forentrepreneurship. What lies aheadand what lessons can other Asiancountries learn?

Become A Future-Focused Leader: Use Three Megatrends To Grow Your Rural Business, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

No one can predict the future; however, rural entrepreneurs and business owners can use a future-focused leadership approach, which includes examining megatrends, to shape the future of their businesses. Megatrends are global shifts that influence society, the economy and the environment. This article discusses three megatrends shaping the future of rural businesses:

1) The Rise of the #GigEconomy

2) Living with Purpose and Meaning

3) The Decentralized Marketplace

The article also provides coaching tips for rural entrepreneurs on how to use megatrends to grow their businesses.

While many companies are struggling to keep up with the rapid rate of change, …

Cooper Foundation Grant To Expand [Nebraska] Innovation Studio, Troy Fedderson

Nebraska Innovation Studio

Cooper Foundation grant to expand Nebraska Innovation Studio.

The Cooper Foundation of Lincoln has provided a grant of $200,000 to support the Nebraska Innovation Studio, a 16,000-square-foot maker space in the Innovation Commons Building at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

"This charter investment in Nebraska Innovation Studio embodies one of the hallmarks of Cooper Foundation grant making,” said Jack Campbell, chairman of the board of trustees of the Cooper Foundation. "We strive to provide early investment in ventures of significant promise, and the development of this maker space certainly fits the bill."

The one-of-a-kind place for all kinds of makers will let …

Effective Networking: A Key Success Factor For Small Business Owners, Glenn Muske, Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

Finding answers to your questions often starts with knowing who to call. And knowing who to call is made easier by building and maintaining an effective network.

Glenn Muske, small business specialist for North Dakota State University Extension, outlines effective ways to build your network online and in-person. Check out the Glenn’s small business guide to networking, "Effective Networking: A Key Business Success Factor," and add it to small business game plan for success!

Standing Out From The Competition Through Marketing: A Guide For Small Business Owners, Glenn Muske, Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

It can’t be said enough that “build it and they will come” is just a myth. A “one-and-done” effort will not get you what you want, either. Developing a successful business means putting a marketing plan that creates and maintains awareness of your product and/or services.

Learn how to build your marketing plan from Glenn Muske, small business specialist for North Dakota State University Extension with his guide on "Standing Out From the Competition Through Marketing."

Connecting With Others Brings Business Success: Are You Engaged? A Guide To Effective Networking For Small Business Owners., Glenn Muske, Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

Finding answers to your questions often starts with knowing who to call. And knowing who to call is made easier by building and maintaining an effective network.

Glenn Muske, small business specialist for North Dakota State University Extension, outlines effective ways to build your network online and in-person. Check out the Glenn’s small business guide to networking, "Effective Networking: A Key Business Success Factor," and add it to small business game plan for success!

Marketing And Your Small Business: A Guide For Small Business Owners, Glenn Muske, Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, Alyssa Dye

Community Vitality Initiative

It can’t be said enough that “build it and they will come” is just a myth. A “one-and-done” effort will not get you what you want, either. Developing a successful business means putting a marketing plan that creates and maintains awareness of your product and/or services.

Learn how to build your marketing plan from Glenn Muske, small business specialist for North Dakota State University Extension with his guide on "Marketing and Your Small Business."

Acupuncturists As Entrepreneurs: Experiences Of New Professionals Founding Private Practices, Susan Sloan

Doctor of Management

The entrepreneurship aspects of private professional practice has been largely overlooked in both the literature and most graduate school professional programs, including acupuncture and oriental medicine (AOM). Because selfemployment in a private practice is the path for the majority of acupuncturists at the present time, they must exhibit entrepreneurial behaviors, and they receive little support from the profession. This research explored 12 new professionals’ experiences founding their private practices in depth using narrative methodology in order to gain insights to guide future research and interventions. Analysis focused on cognition/perception (C), social capital (S) and entrepreneurial learning (L) process aspects in …

Becoming An Online Business Owner, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Here are four ways to start an online business as quickly as over the weekend

Entrepreneurship As A Sign Of Common Grace, Bruce D. Baker

SPU Works

Entrepreneurship benefits society in many ways. It delivers obvious and tangible economic blessings. The spiritual blessings of entrepreneurship are harder to see, and yet these are essential in order to arrive at a more complete understanding of the role entrepreneurship plays within a virtuous society. This paper considers common grace as a helpful lens through which to view the spiritual reality of entrepreneurship and to discern the intangible contributions it provides to economic shalom. Viewed from the perspective of common grace, we can see that entrepreneurship bears witness to the beauty, creativity, power and the responsibility bestowed upon God’s image …

The Power Of Point Of Sale Improving Growth, Profit, And Customer Service In A Retail Business, Matthew Cote

Honors Projects in Marketing

For many small businesses, creating a captivating retail experience is the key to success, and finding the right technologies to enable that experience is crucial for sustaining a competitive advantage. This project is a case study designed to evaluate and select a Point of Sale (POS) system and Inventory Management (IM) system for a small business based upon its specific industry needs. The project creates a three step framework leading up to the real world implementation of these systems and uses the Rhode Island based company - Wildwood Inc. - as the subject of the study. Wildwood Inc. is a …

Core Conversations For The Greater Good: An Exploration Of Intrapersonal Communication As A Self-Leadership Strategy In Social Entrepreneurs, William L. Cowen Iv

All Theses And Dissertations

Social entrepreneurs actively create and apply business and communication strategies to support societal causes. They face many leadership and logistics challenges including the need to balance simultaneously mission advocacy and enterprise administration. This qualitative, phenomenological study examines how social entrepreneurs experience intrapersonal communication, conversations within oneself, as a self-leadership strategy that impacts mission and constituents. Within the vast intrapersonal communication field, this study specifically explored the concepts of self-talk, inner voice and inner dialogue, as well as imagined interactions, where conversations are rehearsed or replayed for perceived strategic advantage. The literature examined showed intrapersonal communication, self-leadership and social entrepreneurship all …

Do Payment Types Affect Consumer Preferences?, Arvind Agrawal

Marketing & Entrepreneurship Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Through a survey-based experimental study, we assess the influence of payment type (credit and debit cards) on consumer purchase intentions. We find that consumer use of credit cards stimulates intention to purchase whereas the use of debit cards lessens consumer intention to purchase. We test the influence of payment type on consumer intention across three purchase situations – buy a TV (control condition), buy a TV plus accessories (buy more condition), and buy a more expensive TV (upgrade to better quality condition). Consumers using credit cards demonstrate positive purchase intentions when faced with a decision to “buy more” and when …

Dental Practice Success Vol. 2 No. 1, American Dental Association, Publishing Division

Dental Practice Success

No abstract provided.

2015 Ijbe Front Matter, Tamra Connor

International Journal for Business Education

1. Editorial Board
2. President's Letter
3. SIEC-ISBE International

Social Structure, Reasonable Gain, And Entrepreneurship In Africa, Gerard George, Reddi Kotha, Priti Parikh, Tufool Alnuaimi, Abubakr S. Bahaj

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In the context of desperate poverty, characterized by households at subsistence level that experience economic loss and social fracture, explanations for why individuals undertake entry into entrepreneurship are limited. We find that individuals rely on their social relationships to enable entrepreneurial activities that have the potential to create a reasonable income gain. In a sample of 1,049 households in rural Kenya, we test whether the disintegration of social structure attenuates entrepreneurial behavior. When coupled with factors such as income loss, gender of the household head, and access to communal resources, social structure plays a pivotal role in entrepreneurial action. We …

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 …

Influence Of Business Information Use On Sales Performance Of Smes In Lagos State, Adebowale Ojo, Sydney Akinsunmi, Oluwatimilehin Olayonu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) are crucial drivers of every nation’s economy. However, reports suggest SMEs in Nigeria have not performed creditably well in terms of sales. Hence, they are yet to contribute to a large extent to the economic growth and development of the country. Considering that business information is an indispensable resource in overall business performance, one is forced to question the availability and utilisation of business information by SME owners. This study examines the influence of business information use on the sales performance of SMEs in the information technology sector in Lagos State. Employing a survey …

Ciputra Tjipoetra [Indonesia, Chairman Of Ciputra Business Group], Ciputra Tjipoetra

Digital Narratives of Asia

Ciputra is the Founder and Chairman of Ciputra Business Group, an Indonesian property conglomerate. He tells DNA how he worked and navigated his way through Indonesia's political and business scene to build his business empire and shares his thoughts on entrepreneurship and leadership.

Students Hone Creativity In [Nebraska] Innovation Studio Course, Troy Fedderson

Nebraska Innovation Studio

Students hone creativity in Nebraska Innovation Studio course.

This is the true story of twenty-three University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) students from various academic backgrounds, picked to work together and learn about new technologies; to find out what happens when people start tinkering and begin to develop bigger ideas.

This is "Making for Innovation," a unique, first-time UNL course offered in the new Nebraska Innovation Studio at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

The class, which is worth three credit hours and meets for lectures on Tuesdays and lab projects on Thursdays, is taught by Shane Farritor, Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and …

It Takes A Community: On-Time Graduation For At-Risk Youth, Sheila L. Gray, Danielle A. Craig

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Cultivating Youth is an at-risk student community agency and organization collaboration that provides opportunities to 1) attend leadership training and college level classes, 2) retrieve and receive duel credits to achieve graduation, and 3) directly apply learned life-skills and workforce preparation to applied experiences while building self- esteem.

It is a full circle approach to improve quality of life.

Facebook: The Power Of Leverage, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Entrepreneurs like Suria Mohd have gained a large following of Facebook users that enables her to enjoy a thriving business and celebrity status in Singapore’s television scene. Here’s how.

The Tech Start-Up And The Serial Entrepreneur, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Focus on your goals to succeed, and herding many little startups will not lead to one eventual big success