Entrepreneurship represents a means of increasing personal freedom and designing an attendant lifestyle. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies sole proprietors used to sustain their small business operations beyond five years and attain profitability levels necessary for freedom and autonomy. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews of 10 entrepreneurs who answered open-ended interview questions, granted access to archival documents, and direct observation of their business operations. The conceptual framework was emancipation theory addressing personal freedom through business autonomy. With the modified van Kaam method, the identification of emerging themes involved identifying groupings, clusters, and unrelated antecedents all of which yielded such themes as customer service, personal control, and creativity. The customer service theme was prevalent throughout the interview. The personal control theme arose from participants' perceptions of emancipation, business autonomy, and personal freedom. The creativity theme appeared through the comments of all participants; each participant alluded to the power of creativity and vision. Determination mattered to all the participants. The participants harped on the need for inward strength necessary to overcome all obstacles. Results from this study may contribute to social change assisting sole proprietors in strategies to grow their businesses to profitability, attain personal freedom, and contribute to community economic development which in turn would extend to benefits a stable economy across the community for a safe and progressive society.

The purpose of the study was to analyze several determinants of profit on a simulated northern Utah dairy farm. A linear programming model was developed to accomplish this. Optimal conditions on the farm were estimated and then other model applications were made to evaluate the importance of milk price, cropland ownership, and corn silage production and feeding. The significance of cow quality also was estimated. Optimal conditions on the farm gave rates of return to capital between savings rates and loan rates obtainable at a financial institution. Marginal values derived for land did not support the current asking price of land. The marginal values derived for cows would support higher levels of investment in the cows than current prices of the cows. Optimal crop mixes and rations also were derived. Milk price had a direct effect on financial measures of the farm's well-being. Increasing herd size was found to be a logical response to a decrease in milk price. Cropland ownership had an inverse effect on returns but a direct effect on annual income. Corn silage production was found to be more important for a poorer herd than a better herd. However, corn silage production and feeding had a near neutral effect on measures of financial well-being.

This study was an extension of a study submitted in April 2014 by Sheldon D. Holt entitled “Ambient Temperature, Calf Intakes, and Weight Gains on Preweaned Dairy Calves”. A major component in a profitable dairy operation is the raising of female calves as replacement heifers; but since no direct income is generated by calf raising alone, it is often overlooked as a potential profit area on a dairy farm. Calf management practices that ultimately impact milk productivity and reproductive performance during a heifer’s lifetime begin at birth. This study examines the effect of calf starter intake on calf growth, measuring specifically calf weight. How calf starter intake affected production costs was also examined. Other factors included in the study were seasonal change, hip height, days since birth, and weather conditions. The cost of calf starter is one of the main contributors to total production cost in raising dairy calves. Since the amount of starter intake consumed by the calves in this study was measured by Holt, a cost analysis can be performed using these data. Therefore, the first two objectives of this study are to 1) develop a model which minimizes cost of starter feed (which is a variable controlled by the dairy producer) and 2) use the model developed under objective 1) to find the breakeven point (where the cost of an input is less than or equal to the value gained from that input) and conduct sensitivity analysis with respect to this point. Although an analysis was performed on the data at the close of its collection in 2014 by S.D Holt, there are several econometric issues that were not adequately addressed before these analyses were performed. The following problems have been found in the data: functional form, multicollinearity, heteroskedasticity, and serial correlation. Any interpretation or prediction based on these data, without these issues being resolved, is not reliable. In order for interpretations and predictions based on these data to be valid, the last two objectives of this study are to 3) define in detail the econometric problems that existed in Holt’s study and 4) find and implement solutions to econometric problems that existed in that study.

Bakgrund: Mindre ideella organisationer fyller en central funktion i ekonomin och är en del av den växande ideella sektorn. Därför har en större angelägenhet vuxit fram när det kommer till de mindre ideella sektorns redovisning. Det finns ingen särskild lag som tillämpas för de  mindre ideella organisationerna och de är heller inte tvingade att upprätta en särskild redovisning, vilket medför att det inte heller finns någon fastställd redovisningsprocess för dessa ideella organisationer.   Frågeställning:  Hur ser redovisningsprocessen ut i mindre ideella organisationer och vad påverkas den av?   Syfte: Det finns generellt sett få studier som fokuserar på redovisningsprocessen i ideella organisationer och när det kommer till mindre sådana har inga tidigare studier gjorts. Arbetet syftar därför till att belysa och öppna upp området. Arbetet syftar även till att bidra med kunskap genom att beskriva den process som genomgås vid redovisning av den mindre ideella verksamheten samt undersöka vad som påverkar denna process.   Metod: För att uppfylla arbetets syfte genom att besvara dess frågeställning, har en kvalitativ metod använts. Datainsamlingen består av fyra genomförda semi-strukturerade intervjuer där respondenterna är redovisningsansvariga inom fyra mindre ideella organisationer. Ett strategiskt urval gjordes där nio redovisningsansvariga tillfrågades, men enbart fyra av dem hade möjlighet att medverka.   Resultat & Slutsats: Redovisningsprocessen ser inte likadan ut i alla mindre ideella organisationer men alla förefaller sig genomgå en process och ha utarbetade rutiner. Det ideella syftet medför att involverandet av revisor blir en väsentlig kostnadsfråga och den största skillnaden. En avvägning får göras kring nytta och kostnad. Samtidigt väljer de hellre att anlita en professionellt kunnig person än att riskera att det blir fel. Alla steg i redovisningsprocessen genomförs noggrannt för att upprätta en redovisning av god kvalitet, vilket visar medlemmarna hur pengarna använts och för att uppfylla de normer och värderingar som samhället har. / Background: Small non-profit organisation’s play a central role in the economy and are a part of the growing non-profit sector. Therefore a greater concern has emerged when it comes to the small non-profit organisations accounting. There is no specific law set up for small non-profit organisations and they are not obliged to set up a separate accounting, which means that there is no established accounting-process for these organisations.   Framing of question: What does the accounting-process for smaller non-profit organisations look like and what affects it?   Purpose: There are generally few studies that focuses on accounting in non-profit organisations and when it comes to smaller ones no previous studies has been found. This study therefore aims to highlight the area. The study also aims to contribute with knowledge by describing the process that is being implemented when the accounting is being established and examining what affects this process.   Method: To achieve the purpose of this study a qualitative method has been used. The data was gathered through four semi-structured interviews. The respondents are responsible for the accounting within their respective smaller non-profit organisations. Through a strategic selection, nine respondents were asked but only four of them had the opportunity to participate in our study.   Result & Conclusion: The accounting-process does not look the same within every small non-profit organisation, though they follow a process and have prepared routines for how the work should be performed. The nonprofit purpose entails that the involvement of the auditor becomes a significant cost issue where balance regarding benefit and cost is considered. Though, they rather choose to hire a professionally knowledgeable person than risk making mistakes. Every step is carried out carefully to establish a report of good quality which shows the members how the money has been used and to meet the norms and values of society.

Since its conception, the concept of ‘market orientation’ has been largely regarded as an employee-perceived phenomenon due to its focus on employees as the unit of analysis. The examination of market orientation from customer perspective (‘perceived market orientation’) remains an under-researched topic, particularly within the non-profit sector. The present study seeks to address this research gap through an investigation of the role of ‘perceived market orientation’ in affecting ‘customer participation’ with churches as the research context. The use of churches as a research context has become increasingly common in studies of non-profit and services organisations. Although the implementation of marketing techniques in the church context has been extensive, there has been little examination of the effectiveness of these methods in encouraging church participation. Consequently, previous studies in this area have failed to contribute to a theoretical understanding of how marketing can be used to motivate participation. It is thus apparent that there is a need for more research in this area to examine the potential role of concepts such as ‘perceived market orientation’ and ‘brand image’ in affecting church participation. This research incorporated two stages of research design in the form of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The qualitative phase involved in-depth interviews with Church Goers (CGs) and Non Church Goers (NCGs). Insights gained from the interviews helped the present author to incorporate relevant constructs as predictors of church participation in the conceptual framework. The quantitative phase involved the distribution of self-administered questionnaires using convenience sampling technique. CG respondents were approached through Assemblies of God (AOG) church leaders in Melbourne metropolitan and suburban areas whereas NCG respondents were recruited through newspaper advertisement. A total of 564 usable questionnaires were obtained representing 42% of the total number of respondents approached in both groups. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were employed to establish construct reliability and validity as well as measurement invariance. Subsequently, the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was employed to analyse the hypothesised relationships between key constructs in the conceptual framework. The results of the study indicate that ‘perceived market orientation’ plays an important role in affecting the church participation of both CG and NCG respondents. An examination of corollary hypotheses reveals that ‘interfunctional coordination’ performs the strongest effect on church participation. Further, ‘customer orientation’ was only found to be significantly associated with church participation in CG group whereas ‘competitor orientation’ was not found to be positively associated with church participation in either group of respondents. The ‘brand image’ construct in the present study was developed to examine the church’s ability in creating a unique brand identity (uniqueness), monitoring brand values (reputation), and managing brand communications (orchestration) from the perspectives of existing (CG) and prospective (NCG) members. The analysis found that ‘brand image’ is a unidimensional construct which is positively associated with ‘perceived market orientation’, ‘perceived benefits’, and ‘church participation’ in both sample groups. The study also examines the significance of ‘perceived benefits’ in affecting church participation. The construct was found to be significantly associated with church participation in both sample groups. Among the three dimensions of ‘perceived benefits’, the construct of ‘social benefits’ was found to perform the strongest effect on church participation in both sample groups. The present study offers significant practical implications for non-profit managers in general and church leaders in particular. Due to the significance of market orientation and brand image in encouraging customer participation, it is recommended that non-profit managers and church leaders embrace market orientation and brand orientation to reach out their target segments more effectively.

The research applied multi-criteria decision-making analysis to donor decisions regarding the choice of a particular charity in order to identify which donor attitudes are significant in the giving decision. Factors affecting the appeal of major charities in Health and Disability were compared. The giving decision has not been widely researched overseas and particularly in New Zealand there is a need to do this in order to better manage Not-for-profit marketing resources. 24 factors associated with giving decisions were identified and quantified giving rise to a fully-specified giving model and potentially direct benefits to charitable organizations. The research has made a contribution to our understanding of donor choice determinants and giving models.

The aim of this study is to understand the importance of public relations activity in non-profit organisations. The study emphasizes the bearing public relations activities can have on non-profit organisations in the contemporary world. This is especially true in an over communicated society where the vast majority of organisations compete to gain access to the scare media resources to put their message across to their potential clients, supporters and customers. Non-profit organisations generally have to depend on the donor agencies and therefore fail to attract a sizeable public relations budget. On the one hand, these organisations lack the resources to launch a successful public relations campaign and on the other the lack of knowledge and interest among general staff members makes it even harder for a public relations campaign to be developed or successfully launched. In this study, I used both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to collect and analyse data. The data were collected from two non-profit organisations based in New Zealand working in the area of child welfare. The primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires. A single semi-structured interview was conducted with each team leader of the two selected organisations. However, this was like skimming the surface and in-depth interviews would have helped me to collect richer data. On the other hand the data collected was sufficient for this research and it helped me to create a holistic understanding of the topic. The findings of the research highlight that most non-profit organisations working in the area of child welfare find it hard to market themselves due to a lack of funds and employee involvement. Although the findings from the study are significant; caution is necessary in applying the results to other scenarios and in making generalizations. One of the key findings from this research is that both organisations did not use public relations as a strategy. Most decision related to public relations was made on random basis and no long term strategic plan was made to adopt public relations as a core strategy to build creditability among their stakeholders.

Business decisions have a massive impact on the world — in fact we could clearly see it and feel it how devastating was the global economic crisis in 2008. Until now the global economy has been trying to recover. There is no doubt that when the forces in control of the economy fail to act responsibly, everyone suffers. If we obsess over the short term, we’ll never be sustainable in the long term. When we find a way to create value while also acting in the best interests of society and the planet, everyone benefits. Though these forces may sometimes seem to be out of our control, the reality is that we all have a part to play. The way we choose to behave as a professional and as a member of the business community has an incredibly important impact. Non-profit student-led organization Oath Club is a response to the lack of awareness and education for future business leaders in business schools. By promoting ethical behaviors Oath Club aims to develop new quality of self-integrity within management students. By understanding the Oath our members will represent a personal commitment to lead with purpose, act with integrity, and understand the reach, power, and responsibility of business. With this believe and commitment Oath Club members will be spreading the idea and leading by example to creating sustainable values for their organizations and communities they function in.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 18, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>The concept of the balanced scorecard was introduced by Harvard professors Robert</p><p>S. Kaplan and David P. Norton in 1992 when organizations realized that it was no</p><p>longer sustainable to focus only on financial objectives in order to stay competitive.</p><p>The balanced scorecard was traditionally developed for use in for-profit organizations</p><p>but with its fundamental idea that the financial perspective does not always cover</p><p>what is most important, it has also been implemented in non-profit organizations</p><p>where profit maximization is not the main objective. Although the balanced scorecard</p><p>is presented to be an effective management system for survival in a more</p><p>challenging and competing environment it has also been strongly criticized by several</p><p>authors as well as organization that have unsuccessfully implemented it. Empirical</p><p>studies evaluating this relatively new management control system are still rather</p><p>limited, especially in non-profit organization which made us eager to look deeper into</p><p>the effects of using the balanced scorecard and we identified a research problem;</p><p><em>Is the balanced scorecard an effective management system that improves the</em></p><p><em>performance of a local public administration in Northern Sweden?</em></p><p>For this study we identified our alignment toward the positivistic scientific ideal. We</p><p>have further chosen a deductive approach as the already existing theory of the</p><p>balanced scorecard is the base of our research. We have used a qualitative research</p><p>strategy where our empirics are based upon eleven semi-structured interviews with</p><p>leaders in Skellefteå municipality where they have given their perception of the</p><p>balanced scorecard and its influence on the organization management. Our main</p><p>purpose has been to evaluate whether the usage of the balanced scorecard is</p><p>improving the performance of Skellefteå municipality. In the process of evaluating our</p><p>results it has been made evident that the management system is perceived as</p><p>performance increasing even though areas of improvements do exists. One example</p><p>of improvement could be to develop an IT-tool to facilitate the reporting of the</p><p>balanced scorecard as it is at present experienced as a very time consuming process</p><p>since it is manually completed. Skellefteå municipality has put a lot of time and effort</p><p>on the implementation of the balanced scorecard as well as on developing suitable</p><p>perspectives and objectives for the management system. Furthermore, the</p><p>municipality has emphasized the importance of communicating and follows up</p><p>processes to improve the quality of the system. This careful implementation and</p><p>utilization is something that has lead to a balanced scorecard that increases the</p><p>performance of Skellefteå municipality</p>