Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

The Idea Of Creativity, The Creativity Behind An Idea, Knowledge@Smu

Knowledge@SMU

Many people believe that creativity is important to their line of work – from salespeople to accountants, lawyers to administrators – but few people seem to believe that they have what it takes to be creative. Even fewer people think that their employers are helping them to be creative. What lies behind the mystical creativity holy grail that makes it so elusive yet incredibly seductive? Creativity expert Fredrik Härén provides some insights into how we think about creativity and what makes companies like Google, Apple and Pixar tick.

Economic Outlook 2010: Innovation, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

This article discusses the importance of innovation to individuals and the overall economy.

Interview No. 1504, John Romero

Paso del Norte Entrepreneurship Oral History Project

John Romero got his start in his father’s tax preparation office when he was in the 7th grade. By the age of 14, John and his other siblings would assist their father with tax return preparation. After graduating from Cathedral High School, John worked at a Safeway grocery store, working his way up to different positions within the store. During this time, John and his siblings continued to help their father at his tax business during tax season from January until April. John would work at Safeway, then work at the commissary part time and attend The University of Texas …

Interview No. 1503, Carlos Eduardo Casillas

Paso del Norte Entrepreneurship Oral History Project

Carlos attended school in the United States while living in México with his family and at the age of 19, his father decided to move the family to the United States permanently. Carlos Sr. owned a transportation business and Carlos would tinker with the bus ticket machines. His fascination with computers grew and he got a degree in computer science. After college Carlos worked for his father some more before starting his own company, Icon Technologies. Icon Technologies went dormant and Carlos along with his business partner Ruben Ramirez started E.R. Computer Doctors in 2002. At E.R. Computer Doctors, Carlos …

Sustainability Through Profitability: The Triple Bottom Line, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

Today’s highly competitive, globalized world requires organizations and businesses to think differently about how they are going to stay in business. Businesses can no longer afford to focus on profits as their sole purpose for existence. Organizations must instead think about the “Triple Bottom Line” and its implications for their ability to grow their brand, customer loyalty and profits.

Farrell’S Nursery Company Limited Brand Identity Project, Peter Dee

Other resources

Peter Dee - Strategic Design and Marketing Consultant, was responsible for the design and development of the brand identity for the Farrell’s Nursery Company which was used on business cards, letterhead, signage and website.

Farrell’s unique plant nursery is always full of fresh ideas, inspiring plants and solutions for every garden. You'll find an extensive range of plants and people who provide expert advice and a range of associated services at all times of the year.

Beyond Big Business For Student Work Placement, A Guide For Family Businesses And Community And Voluntary Groups., University College Cork, Roadmap For Employment Academic Partnerships, Higher Education Authority

Practice guides

No abstract provided.

Transitions Within The Ecosystem Of Change, Willie Cheng

Social Space

The ecosystem paradigm provides a framework to understand and influence the forces of change facing the nonprofit sector. In this extract from the forthcoming book, “The World That Changes The World: How philanthropy, entrepreneurship and innovation are transforming the social ecosystem,” Willie Cheng describes the social ecosystem framework, its change enablers and macro-trends.

College Interns: An Entrepreneurial Response To A Cost-Conscious Economy, Jacqueline S. Scerbinski

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

College interns often possess information-age skills that are not familiar to workers who have been on the job for several years. Interns may be future sources for new employees. There is also the added benefit of observing and evaluating an intern for future consideration, as a full-time employee, after graduation. Giving junior employees the opportunity to supervise interns is also a way of evaluating the junior employees’ potential as a supervisor. The employment of college interns should be a mutually beneficial endeavor. As with all successful endeavors, the employment of interns requires planning and supervision.

The Impact Of Entrepreneurial Personality Traits On Perception Of New Venture Opportunity, Jun Yan

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

This empirical study examined links between entrepreneurial personality traits and perception of new venture opportunity in a sample of 207 respondents. Four entrepreneurial personality traits were included to predict respondents’ perception of new venture opportunity. They are (1) achievement motivation, (2) locus of control, (3) risk propensity, and (4) proactivity.The results of multiple regression analysis show that three of the four entrepreneurial personality traits—locus of control, risk propensity, and proactivity—related significantly to perception of new venture opportunity in expected directions. Among the three personality traits, proactivity was found to have the strongest influence over entrepreneurial perception. No significant relationship was …

The Glass Ceiling Women Face: An Examination And Proposals For Development Of Future Women Entrepreneurs, Janet Nixdorff, Theodore H. Rosen

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

As of 2007, there were an estimated 10.4 million businesses in the United States that were owned and operated by women. The number of women-owned firms has continued to grow at around twice the rate of all firms for the past two decades (Center for Women’s Business Research, 2008). On the other hand, women comprise only 15.4 percent of corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies (Catalyst, 2007b) and, in 2003, held only 14.8 percent of board seats in the Fortune 500 (Catalyst, 2007a).To better understand the glass ceiling faced by both female entrepreneurs and women leaders, the research on women’s …

Western Kentucky University Annual Report 2010: Bridging The Gap

SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise)

No abstract provided.

Tao Of Downfall: The Failures Of High-Profile Entrepreneurs In The Chinese Economic Reform, Wenxian Zhang, Ilan Alon

Faculty Publications

Through historical reviews and case studies, this research seeks to understand why some initially successful entrepreneurs failed in the economic boom of past decades. Among various factors contributed to their downfalls are a unique political and business environment, fragile financial systems, traditional cultural influences and personal characteristics. Notwithstanding that these factors should be further tested through empirical studies, those high-profile entrepreneurs are oblivious but essential actors in the grand theatre of China's economic transformation and their failures have contributed to the swift development of the Chinese entrepreneurship over the last 30 years.

From The Editors, Herbert Sherman, Joshua Shuart, Laurence Weinstein

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

No abstract provided.

New England Journal Of Entrepreneurship, Spring 2010

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

No abstract provided.

Entrepreneurial Inclination Of Students At A Private University In Malaysia, Manjit Singh Sandhu, Kamal Kishore Jain, Mohar Yusof

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Most past studies on students’ entrepreneurial intention tend to focus on the phenomenon in developed countries.There is limited research on entrepreneurial intention of university students from developing nations. This article intends to close this gap by providing some insights into students’ entrepreneurial inclination in a developing country, Malaysia. A total of 234 students from three faculties at both graduate and undergraduate levels were surveyed to examine their entrepreneurial inclination and also to examine the relationship between their demographic and social characteristics with entrepreneurial inclination.The study found strong entrepreneurial inclination among the students. Significant difference was found between students studying part …

New England Journal Of Entrepreneurship, Fall 2010

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

No abstract provided.

Smes And Poverty Alleviation In Nigeria: Marketing Resources And Capabilities Implications, Olalekan U. Asikhia

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

This article seeks to identify the mediating role of marketing resources and capabilities in small and medium enterprises (SMEs)—poverty alleviation relationship. A qualitative approach of conceptualization of the interconnectedness of the major variables of the study is undertaken. Despite several development programs of SMEs and poverty alleviation, the poverty level of Nigerian SMEs has dragged with incidence of high SMEs failure. Marketing resources and capabilities are suggested as probable missing links between SMEs and profitable exchanges that lead to wealth creation, thus alleviating and eradicating poverty. While empirical study in this direction is vital, the current conceptual model shows that …

Abandoning Ship At Scandia, Inc.: Part A, Barry Armandi, Adva Dinur, Herbert Sherman

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Scandia, Inc., is a commercial vessel management company located in the New York Metropolitan area and is part of a family of firms including Scandia Technical; International Tankers, Ltd.; Global Tankers, Ltd.; Sun Maritime S.A.;Adger Tankers AS; Leeward Tankers, Inc.; Manhattan Tankers, Ltd.; and Liu’s Tankers, S.A. The company’s current market niche is the commercial management of chemical tankers serving the transatlantic market with a focus on the east and gulf coast of the United States and Northern Europe. This three-part case describes the commercial shipping industry as well as several mishaps that the company and its President, Chris Haas, …

Ua62/3 January Newsletter, Wku Small Business Development Center

University Organizations

Newsletter created by the WKU Small Business Development Center.

Beyond Big Business For Student Work Placement, A Guide For Placement Practitioners., University College Cork, Roadmap For Employment Academic Partnerships [Reap]

Practice guides

No abstract provided.

Return To Growth, Eric Thompson, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Business in Nebraska

U.S. Macroeconomic Outlook

After 18 months of decline, the United States economy returned to growth in mid-2009. Growth was tepid at first, with U.S. gross domestic product rising by just 2.2% in the 3^rd quarter. But, growth was much more rapid in the 4^th quarter, portending a solid recovery in 2010 and 2011. Economic expansion will be broad-based, with both household consumption and business investment rising, and employment increasing in most industries. The reasons for recovery are typical of other recoveries. Initially, the recovery is powered pent-up consumer demand among households who have retained spending power. Later, there …

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 …

Social Entrepreneurship In Context: Identity Emergence And Legitimation, Noushi Rahman Phd, Imran Chowdhury Phd

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Community ecologists, who consider the interdependence among organizations of different forms (Hannan and Freeman, 1986), have argued that that legitimacy can flow between organizational forms if they are sufficiently related or proximate in cognitive space (Ruef, 2000). De alio legitimation, the process by which an established population can facilitate the institutionalization of an emergent population, greatly minimizes the time period needed for the new form to achieve a taken-for-granted status (Dobrev, 2001). While some studies have looked at how this process operates across populations of organizations within the commercial sector, no study has looked at how this legitimacy might travel …

A First Course In Entrepreneurship Fundamentals, Part Ii, Alex Stewart

Management Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Altis: A Microfinance Startup In Nepal, Jacen Greene, Scott Marshall

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

In Sanjay Karki’s role as Deputy Director for the Nepal office of Mercy Corps, he had worked on a number of poverty reduction programs. But his current initiative presents the most daunting challenges he has yet faced. One of the most promising innovations in poverty alleviation was the concept of microfinance, the provision of small-scale loans and other financial services to poor entrepreneurs. And although the government of Nepal strongly supported microfinance models, a decade-long civil war ending in 2006 had severely disrupted government services and worsened poverty. In the terai, or plains, of Nepal, government and non-profit microfinance institutions …

The Accelerator, Volume 4 Issue 7, Winter 2010, Christa Santos

The Accelerator

No abstract provided.

From The Associate Editors Of Education/Minority And International Business, Sean M. Hackett, Miles K. Davis

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

From the editors of the Spring 2010 Special Section—Entrepreneurial Education, Minority and International Business.

Faith-Based Entrepreneurship, M. Yaqub Mirza, Miles K. Davis

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Interview of M. Yaqub Mirza by Miles K. Davis. Dr. Mirza attributes both his personal and business success to following Islamic principles.This interview outlines the Islamic principles he uses to guide his investment in new ventures and how those same principles shape his management style and attitude toward corporate social responsibility.

Use Of Self 101: The Case For Teaching Personal Development In The Entrepreneurship Curriculum, Marty Mattare

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship education is rapidly growing, both in the number of schools offering programs and in the range of courses. But, survey data shows that entrepreneurship education is more likely to focus on how to evaluate business opportunities, write a business plan, present a proposal to investors, and conduct analytical exercises to determine value. The success of a venture begins with the entrepreneur, and as students become entrepreneurs, they will need to wear a variety of “hats” and serve as the primary finance, marketing, human resources, and operations person. High self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, and well-developed interpersonal skills have been shown to …