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- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
- Creators: Arizona State University
- Creators: Buss, Ray
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Status: Published
Description
A common concern among musical performers in today'’s musical market pertains to their capacity to adapt to the constantly changing climate of the music business. This document focuses on one aspect of the development of a sustainable, entrepreneurship skill set: the production of a recording. While producing the recording Chocolates, the author examined and documented the multiplicity of skills encompassed with a recording project. The first part of the document includes a discussion of various aspects of the recording project, Chocolates, through an entrepreneurial lens, and an evaluation of the skill sets acquired through the recording process. Additionally, the inspiration and relevance behind the recording project and the process of collaboration between the two composers from whom I commissioned new compositions, Noah Taylor and James Grant, and myself is considered. Finally, I describe the recording and editing processes, including the planning involved within each process, how I achieved the final product, and the entrepreneurial skills involved. The second portion of this document examines a broad range of applications of entrepreneurship, marketing, and career management skills not only within the confines of this particular project, but also in relation to the overall sustainability of a twenty-–first century music-–performing career.
ContributorsStuckemeyer, Mary (Author) / Micklich, Albie (Thesis advisor) / Carpenter, Ellon (Committee member) / Hill, Gary (Committee member) / Schuring, Martin (Committee member) / Spring, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This dissertation examines the role that business counselors in a public entrepreneurial development program play in improving the Entrepreneurial Specific Human Capital (ESHC) of nascent and active entrepreneurs. Through multiple research methodologies, this study identifies the types of ESHC provided by business counselors then compares them to the types of ESHC commonly accepted as necessary for entrepreneurial success. The comparison reveals a number of insights for policy and research, most notably a minimum portfolio of skills necessary for entrepreneurial success. This study also examines the methods counselors use to help entrepreneurs acquire higher levels of ESHC. These methods allow counselors to assist entrepreneurs in recognizing and overcoming common barriers to business growth, and a model of entrepreneurial business growth barriers has been produced which depicts these barriers as conceptual-operational transition points for the entrepreneur. Additionally, this dissertation develops important information about the use of the business plan in entrepreneurial development, and uncovers a number of moderators in the relationship between the use of the business plan and entrepreneurial success. Finally, the study produces detailed information about ESHC which has potential for scale development, and highlights a number of insights for policy and research that have not been identified previously.
ContributorsDahlstrom, Timothy R (Author) / Chapman, Jeffrey I. (Thesis advisor) / Phillips, Rhonda (Committee member) / Knopf, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The jobless recovery of the Great Recession has led policymakers and citizens alike to ask what can be done to better protect regions from the cascading effects of an economic downturn. Economic growth strategies that aim to redevelop a waterfront for tourism or attract high growth companies to the area, for example, have left regions vulnerable by consolidating resources in just a few industry sectors or parts of town. A promising answer that coincided with growing interest in regional innovation policy has been to promote entrepreneurship for bottom-up, individual-led regional development. However, these policies have also failed to maximize the potential for bottom-up development by focusing on high skill entrepreneurs and high tech industry sectors, such as green energy and nanotechnology. This dissertation uses the extended case method to determine whether industry cluster theory can be usefully extended from networks of high skill innovators to entrepreneurs in traditional trades. It uses U.S. Census data and in-person interviews in cluster and non-cluster neighborhoods in Dayton, Ohio to assess whether traditional entrepreneurs cluster and whether social networks explain high rates of neighborhood self-employment. Entrepreneur interviews are also conducted in Raleigh, North Carolina to explore regional resilience by comparing the behavior of traditional entrepreneurs in the ascendant tech-hub region of Raleigh and stagnant Rustbelt region of Dayton. The quantitative analysis documents, for the first time, a minor degree of neighborhood-level entrepreneur clustering. In interviews, entrepreneurs offered clear examples of social networks that resemble those shown to make regional clusters successful, and they helped clarify that a slightly larger geography may reveal more clustering. Comparing Raleigh and Dayton entrepreneurs, the study found few differences in their behavior to explain the regions' differing long-term economic trends. However, charitable profit-seeking and trial and error learning are consistent behaviors that may distinguish traditional, small scale entrepreneurs from larger export-oriented business owners and contribute to a region's ability to withstand recessions and other shocks. The research informs growing policy interest in bottom-up urban development by offering qualitative evidence for how local mechanics, seamstresses, lawn care businesses and many others can be regional assets. Future research should use larger entrepreneur samples to systematically test the relationship between entrepreneur resilience behaviors to regional economic outcomes.
ContributorsAuer, Jennifer Claire (Author) / Chapman, Jeffrey (Thesis advisor) / Johnston, Erik W., 1977- (Committee member) / Jurik, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
In order to cope with the decreasing availability of symphony jobs and collegiate faculty positions, many musicians are starting to pursue less traditional career paths. Also, to combat declining audiences, musicians are exploring ways to cultivate new and enthusiastic listeners through relevant and engaging performances. Due to these challenges, many community-based chamber music ensembles have been formed throughout the United States. These groups not only focus on performing classical music, but serve the needs of their communities as well. The problem, however, is that many musicians have not learned the business skills necessary to create these career opportunities. In this document I discuss the steps ensembles must take to develop sustainable careers. I first analyze how groups build a strong foundation through getting to know their communities and creating core values. I then discuss branding and marketing so ensembles can develop a public image and learn how to publicize themselves. This is followed by an investigation of how ensembles make and organize their money. I then examine the ways groups ensure long-lasting relationships with their communities and within the ensemble. I end by presenting three case studies of professional ensembles to show how groups create and maintain successful careers. Ensembles must develop entrepreneurship skills in addition to cultivating their artistry. These business concepts are crucial to the longevity of chamber groups. Through interviews of successful ensemble members and my own personal experiences in the Tetra String Quartet, I provide a guide for musicians to use when creating a community-based ensemble.
ContributorsDalbey, Jenna (Author) / Landschoot, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / McLin, Katherine (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Spring, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Over the past few decades, businesses globally have advanced in incorporating the principles of sustainability as they strive to align economic outcomes with growing and complex social and environmental demands and opportunities. This transition is conditioned by the maturity, scale, and geographical location of a business (among other factors), with particular challenges placed on small enterprises in middle- to low-income communities. Within this context, the overarching research question of this dissertation is why and how business incubation processes may foster sustainable enterprises at the middle and base of the socioeconomic pyramid (MoP/BoP). To explore this question, in this project I used as a case study the experience of a network of social business incubators operated by Tecnologico de Monterrey, a private, non-profit, multi-campus university system in Mexico. Centering on its campus in Guadalajara and in order to understand if and how MoP/BoP businesses address sustainability, I developed a current state assessment of incubator processes, analyzing during two semesters the activities of incubated entrepreneurs and their goals, motivations, and outcomes. The general expectation at the outset of the study was that Tec's social business incubation process, in both its design and implementation, focuses on the economic viability and outcomes of incubated projects and hence does not promote entrepreneur commitment to sustainability goals and practices. The general approach of the research project involved a qualitative, in-depth ethnographic assessment of participants. Data were collected by means of the following research tools: (a) archival and documentary review, (b) participant observation, (c) surveys of participants (entrepreneurs and advisors/mentors), and (d) semi-structured interviews of participants. The overall design of the research was inspired by the transitions management approach and by the intervention research method, while qualitative results were assessed under the grounded theory approach. Results of the research are reported under three general categories: (a) analysis of entrepreneur goals, motivations, and outcomes, (b) identification of social and environmental opportunities, and (c) review of the role of social networks and broader support structures. While results confirmed the general expectation of the study, it was possible to establish (based on the interaction with the entrepreneurs and other actors) that there is both interest and commitment to identify and explore opportunities in social and environmental issues. Thus, the dissertation concludes with a proposal for potential future interventions in this social incubator, exploring a new vision and strategies for a transition to a more sustainability-oriented approach. Finally, key recommendations define the most critical elements of an agenda for transition in the social incubation process at Campus Guadalajara and provide input for other efforts.
ContributorsWood, Mark Williams (Author) / Redman, Charles L. (Thesis advisor) / Wiek, Arnim (Committee member) / Basile, George M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of gendered communication on women's behavioral intentions regarding nonprofit and for-profit entrepreneurship. Women represent half of the U.S. workforce, but only about one third of all American entrepreneurs are women. Feminists have argued that because entrepreneurship is largely understood as a masculine activity, women — who are predominantly socialized to espouse a feminine gender role — are less likely to become entrepreneurs. Previous scholarship and the particular theoretical lens of social feminism suggest that communication about entrepreneurship that is congruent with a feminine gender role would lead to the recruitment of a greater number of women entrepreneurs. Findings of the current study, however, suggested the opposite, providing support for poststructuralist feminist theory. Women who viewed a feminine entrepreneurship recruiting brochure about entrepreneurship reported themselves to be more feminine and less likely to report intentions to become entrepreneurs than women who viewed a masculine entrepreneurship recruiting brochure. These findings suggested that feminine communication may prime women to think of themselves as feminine, which may then lead them to view themselves as not masculine enough to be entrepreneurs. The applications of these findings stretch beyond engaging more women in entrepreneurship and also extend to scholarship that investigates gender's effects on women's pursuit of other masculine careers, including those in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Until the larger discourse on entrepreneurship changes to be inclusive of femininity, it is unlikely that strategies that feminize entrepreneurial activity in controlled situations will have an effect on changing the patterns of women's entrepreneurial intentions.
ContributorsIffert, Audrey (Author) / Montoya, Mitzi M. (Thesis advisor) / Rund, James (Thesis advisor) / Niemczyk, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Over the past several decades, social network remains the most prevalent and prominent in the strategy and organization theory literature. However, despite the considerable research attention scholars devoted to exploring the implications and mechanisms of social ties and networks in management and organizational contexts, the following question has largely remained understudied: To what extent can top managers' personal ties and networks actually contribute to their firms? This thesis will strive to explore this research question by theoretically highlighting three logically consequent managerial decisions: (1) "When"--when will top managers choose to use their personal ties and networks in their firms; (2) "How"--will top managers use their managerial ties and networks to serve the best interest of their firms or to satisfy their self-interests; and (3) "So what" --how would the decision of using managerial ties and networks to benefit their firms influence other decisions of the firms. Using both primary data and archival information from Chinese firms, I will empirically test the step-wise framework. I expect this thesis to contribute to both strategic leadership and social network research and management practices.
ContributorsJiang, Han (Author) / Cannella, Albert A. (Thesis advisor) / Hoetker, Glenn (Committee member) / Mesquita, Luiz F. (Committee member) / Devers, Cynthia E. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This dissertation focuses on entrepreneurial and business performance indicators as determinants of Arizona charter schools' quality. The study utilizes a mixed-method inquiry with focus on qualitative research, exploration, and implementation studies. It draws data from surveys with charter operators performed by Education Team Partners (ETP). All survey results are drawn from the ETP database. The study reviews the genesis and evolution of charter schools. It reviews the social agreement within the context of public policy analysis, and the public-private partnership nature within the context of entrepreneurship and business management. It attempts to develop a research-based foundation for future action research to complement the newly introduced performance management plan (PMP) measurement and evaluation system in Arizona. The research includes four group indicators for measuring charter schools' business productivity and performance. They are studied in relation to three groups of indicators for measuring charter schools' quality. The case studies include two existing and two future charter schools. Study results indicate that all participating charter operators confirm the significance of the liquidity ratio in relation to any aspect of charter school quality covered in this study. The participants indicated a strong relationship between the capacities of their schools to utilize external resources and all indicators of charter school quality. This study draws two important conclusions. First, charter schools are business organizations, despite the fact that they receive public funds. Operationally, they differ substantially from district schools and government agencies and depend on market forces. Second, charter schools cannot survive inefficient management practices, as market forces tend to drive them out of business, regardless of academic success and student achievement levels. The intended implications from this study include: first, increased awareness about the importance of understanding business indicators in relation to charter school quality; second, the need for more research associated with the business and finance components of charter schools. As the body of collective knowledge about charter schools expands, the relationship between various business indicators to measures of quality should be routinely studied within larger populations, which may allow for an improved measurement system and applications of advanced statistical methods.
ContributorsHristov, Alexander (Author) / Cayer, N Joseph (Thesis advisor) / Thor, Eric (Committee member) / Edwards, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In the First Innovations Initiative at Arizona State University students are exposed to the culture of innovation and the entrepreneurial process through two courses situated intentionally within an American Indian sustainability context. In this action research dissertation, a summer field practicum was designed and implemented to complement the two in-classroom course offerings. The first implementation of the new summer field practicum was documented for the two participating students. A survey and focus group were conducted to evaluate the spring 2011 classroom course and, separately, to evaluate the summer field practicum. Students in the spring 2011 course and summer field practicum reported that they were stimulated to think more innovatively, gained interest in the subject area and entrepreneurial/innovation processes, and improved their skills related to public speaking, networking, problem solving and research. The summer practicum participants reported larger increases in confidence in creating, planning and implementing a sustainable entrepreneurship venture, compared with the reports of the spring in-classroom participants. Additionally, differences favoring the summer practicum students were found in reported sense of community and individualism in support of entrepreneurship and innovation. The study results are being used to revamp both the in-classroom and field practicum experience for the benefit of future participants. Specifically, the American Indian perspective will be more fully embedded in each class session, contemporary timely articles and issues will be sought out and discussed in class, and the practicum experience will be further developed with additional student participants and site organizations sought. Additionally, the trans-disciplinary team approach will continue, with additional professional development opportunities provided for current team members and the addition of new instructional team members.
ContributorsWalters, Fonda (Author) / Clark, Christopher M. (Thesis advisor) / Jarratt-Snider, Karen (Committee member) / Kelley, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Higher education institutions in the state of Arizona have experienced a reduction in government funding due to the economic challenges the state is facing combined with an ongoing national recession. Three higher education institutions studied are located in Phoenix, Arizona. The three higher education institutions are Phoenix College, Arizona State University and The University of Phoenix. An analysis of documents made public by each institution was conducted and high level administrators at each institution were interviewed to learn about revenue streams currently active and planned. The results of this set of analyses were presented to the leadership team of Phoenix College in a three-hour strategic planning and priority setting meeting. The action research study assisted Phoenix College administrators in gaining knowledge about and initiating action plans to increase revenue through entrepreneurial strategies. Increased funding is necessary to offset reductions in state aid and property tax revenues. Implementing entrepreneurial strategies to increase funding can promote self-reliance and flexibility and can mitigate the damage to institutional mission success that is threatened by reductions in traditional funding. The strategic planning and priority setting exercise conducted at Phoenix College produced three immediate outcomes: it informed the community of practice about entrepreneurial strategies to increase funding that are in use by higher education institutions located in greater Phoenix, Arizona; it influenced the community of practice to examine entrepreneurial revenue streams and; it committed the leadership team to pursuing and enlarging three additional revenue streams.
ContributorsKakar, Casandra Gwen (Author) / Clark, Christopher M. (Thesis advisor) / De Los Santos Jr., Alfredo G. (Committee member) / Giovannini, Eugene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011