Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Sociology, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

The purpose of this creative project was to provide those Black entrepreneurs interested in the trucking industry with information necessary for success in this dynamic field. This learning package was developed to satisfy two specific goals.The first goal was to provide future Black entrepreneurs with a background of the trucking industry. The second goal was to prepare an effective instructional learning tool for Black entrepreneurs going into the trucking industry.The problem of meager statistics on Blacks in the trucking industry led me to the development of my study. / Department of Urban Planning

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Justin Schorr. Dissertation Committee: William Mahoney. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 327-329).

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the characteristics of the successful small black-owned enterprises in Dade County, Florida. A descriptive and correlational research approach was employed in this study, in which there were two phases: an initial questionnaire study of 353 small black-owned businesses, and an interview study of 20 randomly selected most successful and 20 least successful small black entrepreneurs. The main conclusions in the study are (1) the characteristics are not the same for all successful small black-owned firms, (2) success factors are not identical for all small black-owned firms, (3) the majority of small black-owned firms are deficient in critical successs factors, (4) the relationship between staff development, leadership styles, HRD skills and success is significant, (5) the majority of small black entrepreneurs are not extremely aware of the value of staff development to the success of their firms. The recommendations for further research are (1) experimental studies need to be carried out to analyse further the relationship between HRD skills and success in black-owned firms as the findings of this study should be treated as exploratory, (2) to confirm or disconfirm the findings as, unlike this study, other studies have reported a significant relationship between certain selected critical factors and success in small firms, (3) to test the relationship between the awareness of staff development (as a success factor) and success in small black-owned firms, and (4) to examine further the relationship between leadership styles and success in small black-owned firms.

The Acres Homes Transit Company in Houston, Texas is Texas' first African American owned and operated bus company. Some say it is the first in the South. The company was developed during the height of the civil rights period. It serves as an establishment of economic empowerment during the oppressive civil rights era. The video is a historical visual documentation of the bus company from its beginning to its end. An accompanying written profile describes the research process, the pre-production, production and post-production stages, as well as future proposals for the documentary.