Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Diversifying Funding Streams For A Nonprofit Behavioral Health Organization, Danielle Hurt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business sustainability is essential for any nonprofit organization. Revenue diversification can play a key role in business sustainability. In this case study, the revenue diversification practices and challenges of an international, behavioral health, nonprofit organization based out of the western United States were examined. The organization provides training, support, and resources in an experiential modality of behavioral health treatment for clients worldwide. Data collection processes consisted of a review of current revenue diversification literature, semistructured interviews with three senior-level leaders in the organization, and a review of select organizational documents. The Baldrige Excellence Framework for Healthcare provided a proven framework …

Funding Strategies For Small Business Sustainability, Ayokunle O. Iyanda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

About 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years of operation, lacking access to capital being a contributing factor. The high failure rate is of great concern to the business owners; their livelihood and employees are jeopardized. Through the pecking order theory lens, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small business owners use to access capital to sustain the business past the first five years. Eight small business owners who successfully operated for more than five years in Georgia and Illinois participated in the semistructured interviews. Through thematic data analysis, four themes …

The Effects Of Foreign Direct Investment On Gender Inequality In Uganda, Peter Oogu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Gender inequality is one of the greatest global development challenges. In the developing countries, including those in Sub-Saharan Africa, work-place gender inequality hinders the emancipation of women. The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the effects of foreign direct investment on gender inequality in the Ugandan private sector. Chabot and Duyvendak’s transnational diffusion theory and Becker’s theory of economic discrimination formed the theoretical foundation for the study. The research questions dealt with the relationship between foreign direct investment and the percentage of female workers, the percentage of women in leadership positions, and the gender wage gap in …

Alternative Finance Strategies For Small Business Sustainability And Growth, Kim Hyde

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many small business leaders lack alternative financing strategies to sustain and grow their businesses. Small business leaders are concerned with accessing financial capital to ensure sustainability. Grounded in Donaldson’s pecking order theory (POT), the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore alternative finance strategies some small business leaders use to sustain and grow their businesses. Participants comprised five small business leaders in Oakland, California, with successful experiences using alternative financing strategies to raise financial capital for their businesses. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, archival organizational documentation, and physical artifacts. Yin’s 5-step analysis process guided the data …

Nonprofit Strategies For Alternative Revenue Generation And Sustainability, Aretha Lepearl Day

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn the post-2008 Great Recession era of a highly volatile global business environment of increased competitiveness, diminishing predictable revenues, and depleting philanthropy, many nonprofit leaders struggle to sustain their organizations. Volatility is important to nonprofit leaders because such fluctuations create unpredictability, which threatens their organizations' financial stability for short-term survivability and long-term sustainability. Grounded in Elkington's triple bottom line conceptual framework, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore nonprofit leaders' strategies for short-term survivability and long-term sustainability. The participants comprised 3 senior leaders in a nonprofit located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States who …

Knowledge Sharing Among Finance Employees In The U.S. Banking Sector, Russell Lascko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractBanking is one of the most knowledge-intensive sectors, relying heavily on accrued knowledge and the experiences of employees. Knowledge sharing is the most crucial, yet most difficult, process in knowledge management due to human behavior. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the factors that influence finance employees in the banking sector to participate in knowledge sharing with their colleagues. The overarching research question focused on these factors. The conceptual framework included the self-determination theory, theory of planned behavior, Vroom's expectancy theory, and the socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization model. Criteria for the selected participants included more …

Small And Medium Scale Firms Financing Strategies In Nigeria, Anthony Ogochukwu Chukwu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past studies highlighted that small and medium scale enterprises contributions to nations’ economy have been minimal due to their inability to access the sufficient funds for their operations. The challenge is that small business owners lack the right strategies to raise finances required for business operations. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of small and medium scale enterprise owners in raising of finances from lending institutions. The conceptual framework emphasized the concepts of business environment, financing institutions, knowledge, and experience of small business owners as related to small and medium scale enterprise funding. The research …

Strategies For Mitigating Voluntary Employee Turnover In Small Businesses, Eric Regneco Gant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractVoluntary employee turnover costs businesses significant resources in training and recruitment. An employee’s voluntary turnover could cost small business owners $3,000 to $10,000 in training and recruitment costs and reduce company performance, profitability, and competitive advantage. Grounded in Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that owners of small businesses in the eastern United States use to mitigate voluntary employee turnover. Data were collected from semistructured telephone interviews with five small business owners with at least three years of experience mitigating voluntary employee turnover. Data were analyzed using Yin’s five-step approach. …

Microfinance For Smallholder Farmers: The Lived Experience Of Borrowers In Akaki, Ethiopia, Amsalu Alemayehu Gutema

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Microfinance was intended to help smallholder farmers (SHFs), but the results have been disastrous for some individuals who have been unable to repay loans, often displacing them from their land. A lack of understanding of the lived experiences of borrowers complicates a full analysis of microfinance as a tool for poverty alleviation. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of SHF borrowers in Akaki District, Ethiopia, related to microfinance loan repayment decisions. Habermas's critical social theory, which divides the social world into lifeworld and system, was the conceptual framework for the study. The …

How The Rise In Student Loan Debt Affects Residential Real Estate, Heather Nicole Dufour

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Student loan debt has increased significantly over the past several years. At the same time, there has been a historic drop in first-time home buyers. What remains uncertain is if these two trends are related. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between student loan debt and home ownership for young adults in the United States. The theoretical foundation focused on consumer behavior through Maslow’s motivation-need theory. Individual-level longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 was used to examine more than 3,000 participants’ responses regarding their student loan debt and home ownership status, …

College Administrators Strategies To Implement Online Education Services For Increasing Enrollment Revenues, Denise Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Financial stability in higher education continues to decrease as enrollment declines. Higher education administrators who do not address declining enrollment may experience lost revenues, potentially leading to inoperability. Grounded in Kotter’s eight-stage process for leading change, the purpose of this qualitative single case, descriptive study was to explore strategies college administrators use to increase enrollment revenues. The participants were four college administrators who successfully increased enrollment revenues. Data were collected using semistructured, virtual interviews and organizational documents. Yin's 5-step approach was used to analyze the data, and five themes emerged: dedicated support from leadership, enhance online services, improve communication, reinforce …

Strategies For Improving Small Restaurant Success Rates Beyond Three Years, Joseph Wilder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Only 65% of new restaurants remain in business after the first three years of operations. Leaders of small restaurants who lack strategies to ensure sustainability witness significant financial losses in their organizations. Grounded in the general systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies small restaurant owners use to sustain their business beyond three years. A purposeful sampling of three small restaurant owners in Washington County, TN, who successfully used strategies to ensure sustainability beyond three years participated in this study. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, financial documents, and public websites and …

Relationship Between Working Capital Management, Strategies, And Performance Of Nigerian Manufacturing Firms, Ayebainasuoton Francis Alagoa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many Nigerian manufacturing firms have faced working capital management anomalies due to concerns of balancing profitability and liquidity that led to most business failures. To remain competitive corporate managers and business leaders of manufacturing firms need to operate optimally in working capital by understanding the association between working capital management (WCM), working capital strategy (WCS), and performance. Using the cash conversion cycle theory as the linchpin, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between WCM, WCS, and performance. The study utilized secondary financial data spanning 2014 to 2018 from a random sample of 54 publicly …

Retrospective And Forecasting Analysis Of Increased Long Term Care Demand In Niagara, Breanne Alissa Hines

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A problem exists within the Canadian healthcare system as many patients experience longer lengths of stay (LOS) in acute care (AC) and complex care (CC) beds within hospitals because of a lack of long term care (LTC) facilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extra days patients wait for placement and assess the benefits of increasing the number of LTC beds. The theoretical framework used was the four-level model of the health care system. Research questions involved 2017-2019 data for the number of LTC beds required to eliminate waits and evaluate beds needed in the future. This …

The Impact Of Financial Education On The Lives Of Cherokee Nation Citizens, Ron Pense

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Financial literacy is something that is important for financial well-being for individuals, but it is lacking, leading to problems such as inadequate saving and poor financial decision making. This research was conducted to examine the impact of financial education for citizens of Cherokee Nation on saving and financial decision making and was grounded in prospect theory and quasi-rational economics. Accordingly, the research questions focused on the extent of differences between individuals with and without financial education for decision making and saving as well as the extent demographic factors play a role. The research design was non-experimental causal comparative with financial …

Strategies To Prevent And Detect Occupational Fraud In Small Retail Businesses, Marquita V. Davis, David Harris Iii

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

The objective of this multiple case study was to explore internal control strategies owners of small retail businesses in southeastern Pennsylvania used to prevent and detect occupational fraud. The results of this study indicated that there are areas for action that owners of small retail businesses could take to prevent and detect occupational fraud. Strategies business owners could implement to protect their businesses from occupational fraud include monitoring, employee identity documents to track employee activity, separation of duties, and communication with employees. Small business owners serve their communities by focusing on wealth distribution, including donations to local charities that foster …

Strategies For Retaining Life Insurance Sales Agents, Jose Pablo Pescador

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The total number of life insurance sales agents has decreased from 535,000 in 1990 to 323,700 in 2014, averaging a total of 8,829 life insurance sales agents leaving the life insurance industry annually. Effective retention strategies of life insurance sales agents may provide a sustainable workforce in the life insurance industry. Guided by Ambler and Barrow’s employer branding theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies branch managers used to retain life insurance sales agents. The 6 participants in the study implemented effective retention strategies to retain life insurance sales agents within 2 life insurance …

Bidding Strategies For Winning Construction Bids In South Africa, Momoh Vandi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The failure of small business managers to understand various bidding strategies leads to losing construction bids. The lack of management skills, limited access to markets, weak customer relationships, lack of appropriate technology, and government bureaucracy are problems small business managers face when preparing to bid for construction contracts. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore bidding strategies small and medium enterprise business managers use to win construction bids. The participants comprised 5 business owners of small- and medium-sized construction enterprises in Johannesburg, South Africa. The conceptual framework was the theory of constraints. Data were collected using …

Communication Of Fiduciary Risk For Workplace Retirement Plans, George Blount

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than 100 new 401(k) plan complaints were filed between 2016-2017, the highest two-year total since 2008-2009. Plan sponsors of retirement plans face personal financial liability for the risks associated with litigation focusing on their fiduciary responsibility. Grounded in the behavioral governance framework, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the communication of risk for workplace retirement plans. The participants comprised 10 business leaders who are fiduciaries responsible for their company’s retirement plan with a national geographic footprint. Data were collected from semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Themes of benchmarking, the efficacy …

Consumer Credit Card Debt And Immigrants: A Cross-Sectional Study Of U.K. Immigrants’ Financial Capability, Paul Wesley Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study is the ubiquitous nature and high level of consumer debt associated with certain demographics; however, research in the context of immigrants in the U.K. are limited. The problem is the lack of information about the association between credit card debt and immigrants, specifically on whether the income gap between U.K. immigrants and British citizens affects the level of consumer debt. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional correlational study is to examine whether there is an association between the income gap that exists between immigrants and British citizens and their respective levels of consumer debt, …

Relationship Between Csr Reporting, Csr Indices, And Financial Performance Of Hardware And Software Organizations, Cesar Castellanos

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizational leaders around the world spend millions of dollars on ineffective corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and CSR reporting strategies. Understanding the relationship between CSR reporting, CSR indices (CSRi), and financial performance is necessary to minimize unnecessary expenditures among organizational leaders. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study, grounded in Frederick’s CSR theory and Freeman’s stakeholder theory, was to examine the relationship between CSR reporting, CSRi, and financial performance of hardware and software organizations. Data were collected from the Security Exchange Commission and the official websites of 25 hardware and software organizations that were part of Fortune 500 between the …

Financial Advisory Firms’ Strategies For Diversifying And Growing Clients’ Portfolio, Gerald Lee House

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Less than half of all U.S. households have some form of retirement assets. Advisors who fail to use alternative investment strategies may not accumulate enough retirement assets for their clients. Grounded in Markowitz's modern portfolio theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore alternative investment strategies financial advisors use to enhance the growth and diversification of their clients' retirement assets. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company documents from 4

financial advisors in Georgia and South Carolina who had successfully incorporated alternative investments in their clients' retirement portfolios. Thematic analysis was used to analyze …

Relationship Of Organizational Structure And Capital Structure On Financial Performance Of Banks, Adam Kakande

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Poor financial performance is a challenge for policy makers, industry regulators, investors, bankers, and business leaders. Understanding the relationship between organizational structure, capital structure, and financial performance is vital for business leaders to promote their long-term survival. Grounded in agency cost theory, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between organizational structure, capital structure, and financial performance of new commercial banks in Uganda to promote their long-term survival. Archived data were analyzed using 60 bank-quarter observations of 5 Ugandan commercial banks closed within 5 years after opening, restructuring, merging, or undergoing an acquisition by another …

Strategies For Improving Rural Small Startup Business Owners Success To Prevent Closures, Hector Lora

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners with unsuccessful startup strategies can negatively impact business sustainability. Small business owners are concerned about startup strategies because 50% of new, small business owners fail within the first 5 years of operation. Grounded in the systems theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies 4 rural, small startup business owners in Tennessee used to prevent closure within the first 5 years of operation. The participants selected successfully implemented strategies to avoid business closures. Data were collected using semistructured face-to-face interviews and revised reports published by the Center for Rural Affairs, U.S. Economic …

An Examination Of Corporate Financial Performance Within Corporate Socially Responsible Standard & Poor 500 Companies, Kevin J. Utzig

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many managers are failing to predict and respond to the evolutionary changes within their firm’s business environment. Some experts believe that any company not utilizing a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy will lose customers, which will have a direct impact on the firm’s financial performance. Managers lack a clear understanding of the impacts of CSR strategies on corporate financial performance. The purpose of this quantitative multiple regression-based study was to examine what relationship existed between an organization’s CSR strategy and its financial performance. The conceptual frameworks for this research were stakeholder and triple bottom line theories. These frameworks were selected …

Strategies Small Business Leaders Implement For Outsourced It Solutions For Business Sustainability, Jessica A. Folkes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses in the United States have a high failure rate within their first 5 years of operation. Small business success is vital to the economy because it drives revenue, income, and job creation. Grounded in rational decision-making theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small business owners and leaders implement for effective outsourced IT solutions for business sustainability. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with 10 purposefully selected business owners and leaders in the Houston, Texas, metro area and from a review of documentation from archival records. Yin's 5-step analysis guided the coding …

Perceptions Of The Value Of Financial Education In African American Creditworthiness, Melvin Thomas Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research suggests a disparity for African Americans within the banking system, as they are denied credit at a higher rate than other ethnic groups. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of African Americans financial training in regards to qualifying for consumer loans. The conceptual framework was based on seminal theories on credit risk assessment and critical race theory. The research questions were designed to address banking officials' perceptions of financial training and the effectiveness of training in improving African Americans' credit. A phenomenological design was employed with the purposeful sample of 9 banking officials within …

Nonprofits’ Financial Health And Healthy People 2020 California Program Outcomes, Tammie Vanessa Johnson-Lozolla

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are essential for implementing U.S. health promotion policies such as the Healthy People 2020 Nutrition and Weight Status 9, 10.4, and 15.1 program goals. Obtaining and sustaining NPO funding are pervasive problems. Prior research has focused primarily on NPO financial measures without taking into consideration a conjoint assessment of program outcomes connected to their primary mission. This study examined the influence of financial, accountability, and transparency measures on a selection of California NPOs whose program goals focused on Healthy People 2020 nutritional outcomes. Using Mohr’s program theory lens, this quantitative study examined financial strategies and administrative components …

Business Funding Strategies For Women-Owned Small Businesses, Jefreda R. Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, limitations in funding allocation threaten the viability of small business success. In the United States, women start businesses at faster rates than men do, but women business owners continue to experience challenges in accessing capital to sustain their businesses. Grounded in pecking order theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to identify business funding strategies women small business owners in Birmingham, Alabama, used to sustain their businesses for more than 5 years. The participants for this study were 3 women small business owners in Birmingham, Alabama, who have used business funding strategies to …

Nigerian Women Entrepreneurs’ Strategies For Financial Inclusion: A Generic Qualitative Inquiry, Oluwatoyin Madein

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women in Nigeria are approximately 50% of the population and operate significantly in the micro, small, and medium enterprises. Women entrepreneurs in Nigeria are experiencing business failure, early exit, stagnant growth, and low return on investment due to inadequate finance. This study’s specific management problem is that many women entrepreneurs in Nigeria lack strategies to develop financial literacy and access to external loans for business sustainability. Using the concepts of financial inclusion and financial exclusion, the purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to explore the strategies women entrepreneurs use and whether they have the required experience and knowledge of financial …