Today’s Undergraduate Students … Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs?

It is often said that owning a small business is part of the American Dream. Collectively, U.S. small businesses represent an estimated 99 percent of all employers (U.S. Small Business Administration, 2002). Interest in creating and owning a small business has never been greater than it is today: new business formation in the U.S. has broken successive records for the last few years, growing at a rate of between two and nine percent and totaling over one-half million annually

Entrepreneurial Orientation among the Youth of India: The Impact of Culture, Education and Environment

Expanding the level of entrepreneurial activity within all nations is an increasingly important political and economic goal, especially for developing countries. Literature suggests that culture, education and environment play key roles, yet these attributes vary greatly across nations. This study explores the level of interest in entrepreneurship among what may be India’s next generation of entrepreneurs, namely undergraduate business students, and draws comparisons with students enrolled in the US. Despite a combination of social structures and cultural values within India that historically constrained entrepreneurship, a number of efforts in recent years seem to have significantly shifted the national mindset regarding entrepreneurship, particularly among India’s youth who were found to demonstrate a significantly higher level of interest in starting new ventures than their US counterparts

Towards a Stage Model for E-Business Adoption Among SMEs: Preliminary Results for Manufacturing and Service Firms

The ubiquity of the Internet has allowed companies of any size to engage in e-business. However, e-business adoption among Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) is limited because of resource constraints and a failure to understand the strategic value of e-business. In an effort to better understand the value of e-business to SMEs, this paper examines the use of over 100 e-business applications by over 400 SMEs in five different industries. Cluster analysis suggests a three stage model for e-business evolution in which firms progress from making only nominal use of the Internet to convey company information, to supply chain and order management applications in a transitional stage, to more extensive and integrated use in subsequent stages. Evidence of differences in use is also presented for firms that are manufacturers versus service providers

Understanding Adoption of Internet Technologies Among SMEs

The Internet has been viewed as a powerful tool enabling small firms to "level the playing field" when competing with larger firms. Yet, the benefits of e-business are accruing to larger, rather than smaller, firms. While numerous studies have been conducted in other countries to examine the use of the Internet by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), similar studies focused on U.S. small firms have not yet emerged. Using the Commission of the European Communities' stringent definition of SMEs, this paper identifies significantly different patterns in e-business usage among 395 micro, small, and medium-sized firms. While using the Internet to find information and to enhance the company/image brand is important for all firms, the smallest of firms attach greater importance to using the Internet for research purposes and lesser for communication reasons (i.e., e-mail). This pattern is reversed for larger (i.e., small and medium sized) firms

A Profile of Successful Use of the Internet among West Michigan Family Businesses

Most business scholars agree that the Internet, which emerged as a commercial medium for both information and transactions in 1990s, has forever changed the business landscape. E-business applications support all parts of an organization’s value chain, including promotion, procurement, production, recruiting, and more; and there has been a steady increase in online buying in terms of unit volume, dollar volume, and as a percent of total sales (Scheleur and King, 2003). While there is anecdotal evidence that family owned businesses (FOBs) are going online at a rapid pace (Messmer, 2000), there has only been one empirical study reported in the literature focusing on family businesses’ use of the Internet (Bird et al., 2002). This study (Davis and Harveston, 2000) indicates that the use of technology within family firms influences growth and internationalization. However, how and why this occurred is uncertain

Entrepreneurship / Small Business Programming within Correctional Facilities

The full-text download for this paper is an extensive abstract of the project

Royal Beginnings: Supply Chain Decision Making in a Bridal Shop

Set in a small community in Michigans Upper Peninsula, the owner of a bridal and formal wear shop is focusing on the firms business strategy, especially with respect to supply chain/vendor management. The shops merchandise includes wedding and bridesmaid gowns, mothers and flower girl dresses, prom dresses, and accessories. It also rents tuxedos for men. There are typically around 150 wedding gowns, 300 bridesmaid gowns, and 150 mothers dresses in the store. Brides frequently spend 12 hours (or more) shopping in the store before they make a buying decision; they typically seek stylish gowns in high-quality fabrics and reasonably pricing. Because approximately 60 percent of the stores revenues come from sales of wedding apparel, vendor-related decisions are critical

Who’s Next? Succession Planning at Royal Beginnings Bridal Shop

The 67-year-old owner of a bridal and formal wear shop in Michigans Upper Peninsula is eyeing retirement, so is beginning to contemplate alternatives for the continuance of her nearly 25-year-old business. All of the owners children (now married, and with families of their own) reside hundreds of miles from the store, and the oldest grandchild (a granddaughter) is 14 years old not a likely successor if the owner would like to retire within the next year or two. An expert seamstress and the owners right-hand girl (a long-time employee) has expressed no interest in acquiring the business. And although various local businesspeople have expressed an interest in Royal Beginnings, they lack the funds to buy it. Consequently, the owner is contemplating developing an advertising campaign to appeal to those outside the immediate area (i.e., in major metropolitan areas, such as Chicago, Detroit and Grand Rapids). For them, she feels, Michigans Upper Peninsula offers a beautiful landscape and a quieter, slower-paced and simpler lifestyle. Royal Beginnings focuses primarily on the growing population of Millennial brides (those turning 27 years before 2030); its customers were brand- and quality-conscious, sought unique products, and increasingly turned to online retailers to research gowns and make purchases. The case provides a general overview of retail operations within a small apparel (bridal and formal wear) shop, as well as insights into its market and the suppliers behavior. It focuses on succession planning in a business where there are no viable family successors. Note: I am also on NACRA\u27s Board of Directors and am Associate Editor of Case Research Journal, which is published by NACRA. I will be participating in Board meetings for both groups at the conference