Free Essay About Combined Evaluations

Background Information

There are over four million registered small businesses that are owned by people from minority communities in the United States of America. Since 2007, these businesses have provided employment opportunities for over 4.5 million people. Additionally, the small businesses owned by people from minority communities have generated over 660 billion dollars in terms of revenue (Minority Business Development Agency, 2010). Many of the studies on entrepreneurship focus on the success of businesses even though little information of business failure exists (Arasti & Zandi, 2010). By inference, an individual’s knowledge on entrepreneurship is incomplete if it lacks the acknowledgment of business failure (Arasti, 2011). Until there is a clear understanding of the factors that result in business failure, the general understanding of concepts on entrepreneurship is not complete (Arasti, Zandi & Talebi, 2012).

Problem Statement

Hook: More than half of startup small businesses fail before the first year of operation is over Meek, A. (2015, 01).
Anchor: Statistics are abounding regarding the failure rates of businesses. This is especially the case for small businesses, particularly those owned by people from minority communities. Engel (2013) reported that 50% to 70% of new businesses fail before eighteen months after they are initiated.
General business problem: By starting a new business, owners assume particular risks. Some individuals often embark on small business initiatives without adequate preparation and/or information and the business fails. Due to the lack of preparation and information, they are not able to navigate the challenges that small business owners from minority communities face.
The specific business problem: Some small business owners lack the necessary information to succeed in business beyond 5 years. Weltman (2007) opined that the biggest hurdle for small businesses owned by people from minority communities is the access to capital. However, even with the high failure rate and the difficulties in acquiring credit, soma small businesses owned by people from minority communities have still found success. What strategies do these businesses employ in order to succeed past five years? (Hillman, 2001).

Purpose Statement

The aim of this qualitative multiple-case study is to explore the strategies that the owners of small businesses required in order for their businesses to success past the first five years of operation (Bosma et al., 2004). The population of this study will comprise of three owners of small businesses, a day care business, a mechanic shop and a car dealership, which are located in New York City, New York State. These three businesses have nurtured their businesses to success, and have operated successfully past the first five years.

Significance and Social Impact

The outcomes of this doctoral study are of importance to the business world. It is necessary for small businesses to comprehend the strategies they need in order to ensure that their businesses thrive well and operate past the first five months. Additionally, the data that is collected from this study may contribute to changes in the society by contributing to the success of existing businesses and inspiring other people to start their businesses (Franco & Haase, 2009). The theories derived from this study will also provide insights into the strategies necessary to build resiliency in startup businesses, thereby ensuring their success past the first five years of operation. An understanding of the strategies required to ensure the success of new businesses will provide essential information to key stakeholders in venture financiers, entrepreneurs in new ventures and government policymakers (Liao, Welsch & Moutray, 2009).

Central Research Question

The following is the central research question for this study:
What strategies do small business owners need to succeed in business beyond 5 years?
Conceptual Framework
The gestation of a startup business is influenced by numerous factors. The conceptual framework below shows the interplay of these factors (Greene & Owen, 2004).

IRB Requirements and Identifying Interviewees

Two respondents have been identified to take part in the small-scale qualitative research project. The two respondents are minority business owners in the local town. One of the respondents is called Doreen Pratt while the other respondent is called Latoya Inverary Cleo Stewart owns a small daycare business in the local town. I know these two individuals personally.
For over fifteen years, I have watched these two businessmen navigate various socioeconomic challenges to nurture their businesses into the sturdy entities they are presently (Williams, 2008). Their input through in-depth interviews will help build perspective and shed light into the resilience of businesses owned by minorities even in the context of numerous and potentially crippling challenges and high rates of failure (Berman-Rubera, 2012). Information from these two successful entrepreneurs is vital in explaining the resilience of small businesses owned by minorities in the face of adversity (Dana, 2007).
The two respondents identified above are cleared based in the simplified requirements of the Institutional Review Board. More precisely, they are of sound mind, aged above eighteen years and are not imprisoned. I do not hold any supervisory obligations on either of the respondents. In collecting information from these respondents, the doctoral study will further adhere to the requirements of the Institutional Review Board, with special focus on the confidentiality of the information collected from the respondents.

Research Design

The Recursive Relationship between Research Design and Data Collection
When designing a research proposal, it is important to understand that a recursive relationship exists between the research methods in the study and the data collection methods. The implication of this is that the approach used in the research method is by application also used in the data collection methods. In order to sufficiently comprehend this, we can consider a qualitative study. Qualitative studies are designed using particular approaches that may not be used in quantitative research.
The same approach should be applied in the data collection methods. More precisely, the data collection methods employed in a qualitative study use qualitative approaches. A case study research method can employ the use of focus group discussions as the qualitative approaches to data collection. The same applies to quantitative studies where the use of quantitative research methods such as surveys requires the use of quantitative methods of data collection, such as questionnaires. Additionally, longitudinal and crossectional studies require longitudinal and crossectional data collection methods respectively. Understanding the presence of this recursive relationship is critical to the development of the research. Among the ways, understanding the presence of the recursive relationship helps bring focus to the study. The data collection techniques to be used in the study are determined by the conceptual and theoretical perspective explored in the study. In order to ensure that the data collected in the study is the product of the entire study and not merely a function of the data collection methods used. The recursive relationship helps bring focus by ensuring that the data collected in the study is consistent with the conceptual and theoretical perspectives of the research methods (Kothari, 2005). For instance, quantitative data may not be sufficient adequately to explain the perspectives highlighted if the research methods used were qualitative. As such, it is important that the data collected in such a study is qualitative, hence the need for qualitative data collection methods. The same illustration applies to quantitative research. By exploiting this recursive relationship, I can ensure that my study is focused on the research problem through the collection of appropriate data (Laursen, Little & Card, 2012).

Research Design

The most appropriate study design for the doctoral proposal is the qualitative research design. Firstly, the respondents chosen for the doctoral study were very few, two to be precise. The qualitative research design allows the researcher to study the few respondents in an in-depth manner. The central research question in the doctoral study assumes a narrow scope. However, in-depth inquisition into the targeted concepts is required in order to sufficiently answer the central research question. It is precisely why the qualitative research design is the most appropriate (Vogt, Gardner & Haeffele, 2012). The doctoral study aims to understand how some small businesses are able to succeed past the initial five years. In this regard, the respondents for the doctoral study were operators of businesses that had succeeded past the initial five years. Using the qualitative research design is appropriate because it allows the researcher to explore emic perspectives. More precisely, the qualitative research design allows the researcher to explore insider perspectives by way of capturing and understanding the personal experiences of the business owners, experiences that are vital in explaining the success of small businesses past the first five years (Vogt, Gardner & Haeffele, 2012). In using the qualitative research design, the researcher will use a case study as the traditional method. The use of the case study as the traditional method is appropriate in this doctoral study because it allows the researcher to collect detailed information that may not be possible using other traditional methods. The qualitative data collected is rich, detailed and in greater depth compared to data collected using other traditional methods. This will enable the exploration of the targeted concepts in the study (George & Bennett, 2005).

Establishing Quality

Quality concerns are present in all the stages of research using qualitative methods. This is from the development of the research concept, research questions, data collection, analysis and the interpretation of the findings of the research. One of the sources of quality concerns in qualitative studies is in the understanding of the question by the interviewee. In this regard, the study in question incorporated measures to ensure the quality of data. One of the measures incorporated by the study was two pilot studies. The first pilot study incorporated was an unstructured and exploratory interview (Bergman & Coxon, 2005).
In this interview, the researcher sought to enquire from the interviewees the key components of the research questions. The second pilot study serving as measure to ensure the quality of data required the interviewees to paraphrase the research questions, thereby assessing the understanding of the research questions. From the two pilot studies, the researcher obtained the interviewee’s perspectives on various aspects of the study and the assumptions of the interviewees in what the study was investigating (Bergman & Coxon, 2005).
Another quality concern in qualitative studies is the rigor and rigidity of the conduct. Several methods have been proposed for addressing this quality concern that are evidently used in this study. One of these methods is the collection of detailed and in-depth data from the respondents. This has been done by using probes to seek for clarifications from the interviewee on issues and responses that are ambiguous and vague. Other factors that had an indirect influence on this include the qualifications and experience of the data collection research assistants, training and adequate supervision during the data collection and data analysis phases of the study (Spencer et al., 2003).
The methods of addressing the quality concerns that are incorporated in the study are appropriate for the traditional qualitative method used; the case study (George & Bennett, 2005). Case studies seek for detailed information in order to adequately explain different social phenomenon. It is necessary for the researcher to address the rigor and rigidity of the conduct in the study as a quality concern in order to ensure that the data collected is detailed enough to sufficiently explain various social phenomenon. Additionally, the use of the pilot studies was influential in redesigning the interview schedules in order to augment the validity of the data collection tool (Spencer et al., 2003).
I reckon that further methods of addressing quality issues are not necessary in the study. As richly discussed in the above paragraphs, the researcher was keen to use various methods of addressing the quality concerns in the qualitative study. The use of these methods was influential in ensuring that the data collected was of quality and by extension the conclusions and inferences made from such data. As far as the evaluation is concerned, it is also important to note the appropriateness of the research design and the traditional method used for the social problem under study and how the combination of the two relates to quality. The use of the case study as the traditional methods in qualitative study was appropriate given the general and specific problems under study. It enables the one to collect data with sufficient depth to explain the phenomenon in the general and specific problems (Golafshani, 2003).

Data Analysis Methods

The data analysis methods used were very appropriate for the research design chosen for the doctoral study. The research design used in the doctoral study was a case study, a qualitative approach. As such, the data analysis methods used were appropriate because firstly, they are commonly used for qualitative data, and secondly, the data analysis methods help the researcher to identify the themes that are highlighted in the transcriptions from the interview (Birks, Chapman & Francis, 2007). All the aspects of the methods of data analysis were sufficiently described and justified. The researcher was keen to describe in fine details the data analysis approach. This included details on how the data was going to be grouped and coded (Brent & Slusarz, 2003) and how the themes would be identified from the transcripts (Ryan & Bernard, 2003).
Additionally, the researcher was also keen to justify the choice in the data analysis approach by citing various scholars in qualitative studies. While the data analysis methods chosen in the doctoral study were appropriate and effective for analyzing the collected information with the aim of answering the central research question, the same outcome could have been achieved using other methods of data analysis (Bernard, 2010). Firstly, there was a heavy reliance on preset categories as the criteria for theme identification. Better outcomes would have been achieved by supplementing the preset categories with emergent categories. This is because it adds recurring themes that may not be present in the list of preset categories (Merriam & Associates, 2002). Additionally, the results from the data analysis can be tempered by observer impression. This offers a platform upon which trends from the analysis of data are compared for consistency. This would have increased the effectiveness of the data analysis exercise.

Coding of the Interview and Theme Analysis

Given that there was limited knowledge on the subject matter, the coding process was based in the grounded theory. In this approach, themes that were identified and established from a priori ideas were disregarded. Instead, the focus was on identifying new themes from the data recorded from the interview (Saldana, 2012).

Codes Developed from Interview Transcript

The following codes were developed from the transcript written from the recordings of the interview.
1. Capital
2. Expertise
3. Social perceptions
4. Attracting customers
5. Information

Developing the Codes

As highlighted earlier, I used the grounded theory in developing the codes from the interview transcript. Rather that look for themes established through existing theories, I looked for patterns and themes in the responses as they were given. I considered the frequency with which certain themes presented. Some themes were repetitive across different interview questions, and as such, formed part of the codes (Creswell, 2013). I also considered the causation factor. This is where certain themes seemed to cause other themes. With respect to causation, these themes were also selected as codes. The other factors that I considered were the correspondence factor, differences, similarities and the sequence. At this point, there was no evolution of the codes. This is something I anticipate in the coming discussions through categorization and recoding (Saldana, 2008).

In-text Coding

Interviewer: How does this affect the success of the business in the long run?
Interviewee: Where such capital is required for operations or expansion, small businesses may close shop or fail to expand respectively.
Interviewer: How would you rate the ease of getting the startup capital, especially for the small business owners from minority communities?
Interviewee: I would imagine it is hard given that many of the small business owners may not have the collateral required for loans, and the fact that getting credit is expensive.

References

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Appendix1: Interview Guide
Initial probe questions
In your understanding, what is the aim of this interview?
What type of business entity do your operate?
Depending on whether the business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership, what influenced your decision on the business entity?
What is your responsibility in the business?
Targeted Concept Questions
Given that many small businesses fail before the end of the first year, what measures did you take to ensure that your business is not another statistic?
What are some of the challenges that you faced when starting up your business?
What influence did the availability of capital have on your ability to startup the business and the subsequent operations?
Given that you are members of minority communities, how would you rate the influence of social perceptions in you start up process?
What do you think is the most common cause of failure for small businesses in the first year of operation?
Targeted Follow up Questions
What is the biggest obstacle for small business owners?
What are your experiences with your startup business?
What source of capital did you use when starting up your business?
How would you rate the ease of getting the startup capital, especially for the small business owners from minority communities?
How does this affect the success of the business in the long run?
Wrap-up Question
In retrospect, what would you wish was different when you were starting up and how would this have affected the outcome of your startup differently?
With regards to eliminating the obstacles to startups, what might you suggest to potential entrepreneurs?
Appendix II: Interview Transcript
Interviewer: Insert your name
Interviewee: Latoya Inverary
Interview setting: Interview conducted in the office in her business premises at 3.45 on a Friday afternoon.
(Start of interview)
Interviewer: In your understanding, what is the aim of this interview?
Interviewee: To determine what strategies are required by small businesses to succeed.
Interviewer: What type of business entity do you operate?
Interviewee: I operate a day care called Starling with Doreen Pratt as a partnership.
Interviewer: Depending on whether the business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership, what influenced your decision on the business entity?
Interviewee: We decided to start a partnership because individually we lacked the right combination of important elements, money and expertise.
Interviewer: What is your responsibility in the business?
Interviewer: I am one of the two directors of the business.
Interviewer: Given that many small businesses fail before the end of the first year, what measures did you take to ensure that your business is not another statistic?
Interviewer: By partnering with Doreen Pratt, I ensured that as a partnership, we had the capital and expertise to run the business.
Interviewer: What are some of the challenges that you faced when starting up your business?
Interviewee: Initially, we had challenges attracting customers to the business. Additionally, we had problems with certification during the initial states.
Interviewer: What influence did the availability of capital have on your ability to startup the business and the subsequent operations?
Interviewee: Seeing that I had the required capital from my savings, it was relatively easy to start and stay afloat.
Interviewer: Given that you are members of minority communities, how would you rate the influence of social perceptions in you start up process?
Interviewee: As I noted earlier, it was initially difficult to attract customers to the business. I believe it had to do with the social perceptions.
Interviewer: What do you think is the most common cause of failure for small businesses in the first year of operation?
Interviewee: I believe it is lack of information on how to run a business. Having the capital to start is not just enough.
Interviewer: To what extent do you think racial discrimination, especially for minority businesses is a factor in the failure or success of their small businesses?
Interviewee: It is a factor yes. The social perceptions associated with minorities may make customers shun the business. However, I would rate it below lack of information.
Interviewer: What is the biggest obstacle for small business owners?
Interviewee: I would say that the biggest obstacle is access to the capital.
Interviewer: What are your experiences with your startup business?
Interviewee: Start up businesses are challenging. The resolve of the business owner, especially in times of aridity and adversity are tested severely. It is even more challenging when there are institutional challenges such as delayed certification and lack of capital.
Interviewer: What source of capital did you use when starting up your business?
Interviewee: I started with my savings.
Interviewer: How would you rate the ease of getting the startup capital, especially for the small business owners from minority communities?
Interviewee: I would imagine it is hard given that many of the small business owners may not have the collateral required for loans, and the fact that getting credit is expensive.
Interviewer: How does this affect the success of the business in the long run?
Interviewee: Where such capital is required for operations or expansion, small businesses may close shop or fail to expand respectively.
Interviewer: In retrospect, what would you wish was different when you were starting up and how would this have affected the outcome of your startup differently?
Interviewee: I wish I had the expertise when I was starting up. I might have chosen another business entity where I have total control.
Interviewer: With regards to eliminating the obstacles to startups, what might you suggest to potential entrepreneurs?
Interviewee: If you cannot start on your own, team up with other like minded people so that you are risk averse.
Conclusion: The element of qualitative research is the human factor. As such understanding various human approaches requires human expression. Performing interviews with key respondents helps gain insights into the approaches of the respondents. Performing interviews allows the researcher to venture deeper into the mindset of the respondents. In this way, the researcher can understand why various phenomena exist like they do. This qualitative study is a part of the qualitative doctoral study. These parts contribute to the body of knowledge required when performing doctoral studies using the qualitative research design.