University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs Education ETDs Summer 7-2017 Strategic Management in Small Business: An Exploratory Study Nicholas Gary Schlereth Ph., MBA University of New Mexico Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.edu/educ_hess_etds Part of the Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, and the Health and Physical Education Commons Recommended Citation Schlereth, Nicholas Gary Ph. "Strategic Management in Small Business: An Exploratory Study.edu/educ_hess_etds/85 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Education ETDs at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact disc@unm.
Nicholas Schlereth Candidate Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: David Scott, Chairperson Shawn Berman Todd Seidler Evan Frederick i STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN SMALL BUSINESS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY by Nicholas G., Gerontology, University of South Florida, 2011 M., Exercise Science, The Citadel, Military College of South Carolina, 2014 MBA, Strategic Management and Policy, University of New Mexico, 2017 Ph., Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences, University of New Mexico, 2017 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2017 ii DEDICATION To my amazing Wife, Thank you for your unending support and patience with me as I pursued my dreams. The completion of these degrees and our adventure in New Mexico would not have been possible without you. It is as much your accomplishment as it is mine, because you provided me the opportunity and support to accomplish this achievement. To my family, Thank you for your continued support and guidance.
You exposed me to education and sport at a young age and it has become my life. You provided me the foundation for which I have built my own educational journey, and join the family business of education. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The first person that I would like to acknowledge is my wife, Amber. I know this journey has been filled with many days where I may not have fully comprehended everything you told me because my brain is wrapped up in thoughts surrounding the pursuit of the degrees.
You have been there step-by-step to keep me moving in the right direction, and taking a job to ensure that our family is able to get by while I pursue my dreams. I know that you may not fully understand everything that I research or talk about, but I’m so fortunate to have you along with me on this process. I love you and thank you for all that you do for me. Mom, Dad, & Natalie, you all have enabled me to follow my dreams.
In my life so far, I have gotten to experience many things and I thank you for your support along the way. Mom and Dad, you instilled in me the value of education from the start, watching Dad work on his degrees while I was a little boy, to pushing me to strive for my best in the classroom. Natalie, I know I haven’t been the most visible big brother around home, missing some of your accomplishments, but know that I’m very proud of you and thank you for keeping me motivated by you pushing the envelope with your academic accomplishments. Thank you to my family for all you have done to aid in me achieving my goals and dreams.
Scott, from our first discussion when I was trying to decide which program to attend, you told me “you can do whatever you want, with this degree.” You had me sold on the opportunity to attend the University of New Mexico and pursue my Ph. Thank you for the opportunity to follow my dreams and for allowing me to find my own path as an academic. Thank you for working with me and becoming a mentor to me in the process. Berman, little did I know that when I signed up to take your class in my first semester at UNM that I would find my passion for stakeholder theory and community engagement.
I guess it was always inside of me, but you opened the door and allowed it to come out and flourish. Thank you for the countless opportunities you afforded me at UNM, from being your GA, Washington Campus, meeting Ed Freeman, and co-teaching together. I know your schedule became busy, but I wanted to thank you for taking the time to have discussions with me beyond school, about work & life. You will forever be a mentor to me.
Seidler, thank you for working with me and giving me a variety of opportunities to advance myself as a scholar and educator. With your busy schedule, your door was always open to me stopping in and chatting for a few minutes, giving you updates on my progress and life in general. You have been monumental in my educational journey at UNM and I can’t thank you enough for your continual guidance and introduction to SRLA. Thank you and I look forward to your continual guidance and mentorship.
Frederick, I knew nothing about social media but thank you for taking the time to talk with me and provide me the opportunity to expand my work. Your door was always open for me to stop in and chat, thank you for always offering me your wisdom. Your classes challenged me and made me push myself to become a better scholar and live the motto of “chase the experience, not the grade.” Thank you for everything along my educational journey and I look forward to your continued mentorship as I step out into the world of academia. Barnes, thank you for taking the time to discuss college sport with me.
A great deal of the time, I would voice my concerns and we would have through provoking discussions that increased my ability to think critically about the industry. Thank you for your support of my other pursuits in the program, putting me in touch with the Gildan New Mexico Bowl and supporting me in a push to bring case study teams to CSRI. I will miss our banter in your office but look for your continued guidance and mentorship. To all of those who I didn’t mention, I would not have been able to accomplish my goals without your friendship.
Mike, Dax, Fred, Alonzo, Mark, Adam, and Amie just to name a few. Your friendship and ability to work with me has been amazing. Thank you again for all that you all have done, this isn’t a process you go through alone. Know that I am always willing to assist you in any way possible.
v STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN SMALL BUSINESS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY by Nicholas G., Gerontology, University of South Florida, 2011 M., Exercise Science, The Citadel, Military College of South Carolina, 2014 MBA, Strategic Management and Policy, University of New Mexico, 2017 Ph., Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences, University of New Mexico, 2017 ABSTRACT Small businesses make up approximately 98% of all businesses in the United States, but little is known about how they engage with their communities and engage in strategic management (Small Business Administration, 2016). To understand more about how small businesses engage in these practices, this study seeks to explore these topics through a technology enhanced qualitative study design (Marshall & Rossman, 2015). The study sought to replicate face-to-face interviews through an online survey with open- ended questions designed to learn from small business decision makers regarding their actions and the actions of their organizations. The study had 45 total participants from three metropolitan cities in the United States.
The study produced themes generated from an inductive thematic analysis done by hand and the use of text analysis software, Leximancer. Triangulation was used to try and understand the true meaning of concepts pertaining to small businesses. The results of the study presented a variety of themes that focused on the system of entrepreneurism and how it impacts decision-making in small business. The results of this study are intended to encourage future work in the areas of strategic management and small business.
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………….x LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………xi CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….1 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………6 Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………….8 Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………9 Research Questions……………………………………………………………….11 Definitions of Terms…………………………………………………………….11 CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW….13 Small Business Decision Maker…………………………………………14 Small Business External Relations………………………………………16 Small Business Sponsorship of Sport……………………………………19 Strategic Partnership Development………………………………………………21 Social Partnerships……………………………………………………….28 Stakeholder Theory………………………………………………………………31 Responsible Leadership………………………………………………………….37 CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………40 Participants……………………………………………………………………….41 Albuquerque, New Mexico.41 Charleston, South Carolina………………………………………42 Tampa Bay Area…………………………………………………44 Participant Recruitment (Mailing List)………………………………….46 Instrument Delivery & Project Timeline……………………………………….48 Inductive Thematic Analysis…………………………………………….49 Leximancer………………………………………………………………51 Research Questions………………………………………………………53 Research Question 1…………………………………………….55 vii CHAPTER 4 – RESULTS…………………………………………………………….59 Research Question #1 – Community Engagement………………………………60 Defining Community Social Responsibility…………………………….60 Defining Community Social Responsibility (Hand Analysis)….60 Defining Community Social Responsibility (Leximancer)…….65 Preventing Community Engagement…………………………………….66 Preventing Community Engagement (Hand Analysis)………….66 Preventing Community Engagement (Leximancer)…………….69 Conclusions for Research Question #1………………………………….70 Research Question #2 – Strategic Management…………………………………71 Engaging in Strategic Management…………………………………….71 Engaging in Strategic Management (Hand Analysis)……………71 Engaging in Strategic Management (Leximancer)………………72 What is Planned for in the Strategic Planning Process………………….74 Combined Results for Research Question #2.75 Conclusions for Research Question #2………………………………….77 Research Question #3 – Strategic Partnerships…………….80 Why or Why Not Engage in Strategic Partnerships…………………….82 Why or Why Not (Hand Analysis)………………………………82 Why or Why Not (Leximancer)………………………………….91 No (Leximancer)…………………………………………………92 Combined Results for Research Question #3……………………………93 Research Question #3 Conclusions….96 Research Question #4 – Leadership & Strategic Management………………….96 Developing Leadership & Strategic Management Skills……………….97 Developing Leadership & Strategic Management Skills (Hand Analysis)…………………………………………………………………………………97 viii Developing Leadership & Strategic Management Skills (Leximancer)…………………………………………………………………………….98 Continue to Develop Leadership & Strategic Management Skills………99 Continue to Develop Leadership & Strategic Management Skills (Hand Analysis)………………………………………………………………………….99 Continue to Develop Leadership & Strategic Management Skills (Leximancer)……………………………………………………………………………100 Research Question #4 Combined Analysis…………………………….102 Conclusions for Research Question #4……………………………….106 Qualitative Perspective…………………………………………………108 Representativeness of Sample………………………………………….111 Research Question #1 – Community Engagement…………………….112 Research Question #2 – Strategic Management……………………….114 Research Question #3 – Strategic Partnerships & Sponsorships…….117 Sponsorships……………………………………………………118 Research Question #4 – Leadership & Strategic Management……….123 System of Entrepreneurism…………………………………………………….123 Rethinking the System of Entrepreneurism…………………………….129 Sport Organization Sponsorships……………………………………………….132 Takeaway #1: Community Engagement……………………………….133 Takeaway #2: Strategic Management………………………………….133 Takeaway #3: Strategic Partnerships………………………………….133 Takeaway #4: Leadership………………………………………………134 Future Directions……………………………………………………………….147 APPENDIX A – SURVEY INSTRUMENT…………………………………………147 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Conceptual Model……………………………………………………………30 Figure 4.1 Defining Community Social Responsibility Leximancer Map………………62 Figure 4.2 Leximancer Map for Community Engagement………………………………66 Figure 4.3 Preventing Community Engagement Leximancer Map…………………….4 Overall Analysis for Research Question #1………………………………….5 Strategic Management Engagement Leximancer Map………………………73 Figure 4.6 Planning in Strategic Management Leximancer Map………………….7 Strategic Management Leximancer Map…………………………………….8 How Small Business Decision Makers engage in Strategic Partnerships Leximancer Map…………………………………………………………………………81 Figure 4.9 Why or Why Not Engage in Strategic Partnerships Leximancer Map……….10 Sponsorship Considerations Leximancer Map…………………………….11 Yes Leximancer Map……………………………………………………….12 No Leximancer Map……………………………………………………….13 Research Question #3 Combined Analysis Leximancer Map………………95 Figure 4.14 Develop Leadership & Strategic Management Skills Leximancer Map……98 Figure 4.15 Continue to Develop Leadership & Strategic Management Skills Leximancer Map…………………………………………………………………………………….16 Combined Results for Research Question #4 Leximancer Map………….103 x LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Definition of Terms…………………………………………………………….1 Albuquerque, New Mexico……………………………………………………42 Table 3.2 Charleston, South Carolina……………………………………………………44 Table 3.3 Tampa Bay Area………………………………………………………………45 Table 4.1 Distribution Figures for Email Survey Distribution………………………….2 Demographics of Participants…………………………………………………57 xi xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Small business is one of the primary economic drivers in the United States, accounting for 54 percent of U. sales and providing over 55 percent of jobs to Americans (Small Business Administration, 2015). Small businesses are often the primary economic driver of smaller communities, with the communities relying on the firms to be a force of support for the community, giving the community an identity (Niehm, Swinney, & Miller, 2008). The wide range of praise for small business development and support for its sustainability in communities is important.
However, little is known about how small businesses engage in strategic management practices.