El presente trabajo de investigación recoge la problemática acontecida en nuestro país y agudizada por la emergencia sanitaria Covid-19, en donde, a consecuencia del aislamiento y distanciamiento social las ventas presenciales se han reducido considerablemente, llevando a muchas empresas peruanas a reinventarse y a otras a cerrar definitivamente. Uno de los grupos económicos más afectados con esta situación son las MYPES (micro y pequeñas empresas), las mismas que para subsistir han adoptado las tecnologías de comercialización digital actualmente disponibles; por dicha razón y en vista de la necesidad y la oportunidad que esto supone, este trabajo evalúa la viabilidad de constituir una empresa consultora dedicada a la transformación digital para MYPES, haciendo uso de los medios digitales más utilizados en el mercado. Con la finalidad de generar rentabilidades atractivas, este emprendimiento hace uso de la metodología “Lean Startup”, que propone invertir en los costos mínimos e indispensables para la operación, lo que significa una inversión reducida al inicio, en comparación con otros emprendimientos de similares características. Esta metodología de emprendimiento se documentó en el año 2011 por Eric Ries en Silicon Valley (EEUU) en su libro “El método Lean Startup”. Así mismo, la estrategia de comercialización a aplicar es la que se describe en el libro “Dotcom Secrets” de Russell Brunson que consiste en emplear inicialmente un señuelo de ventas, siendo esta estrategia muy poco utilizada por las empresas actualmente. Finalmente, al realizar el análisis financiero se concluye que el presente proyecto cuenta con un nivel de rentabilidad de 69.61% superando el 20% de rentabilidad esperada. / This research work collects the problems that occurred in our country and exacerbated by the Covid-19 health emergency, where, as a result of isolation and social distancing, face-to-face sales have been considerably reduced, leading many Peruvian companies to reinvent themselves and others to close definitively. One of the economic groups most affected by this situation are the MYPES (micro and small companies), the same ones that to survive have adopted the digital marketing technologies currently available; For this reason and in view of the need and the opportunity that this implies, this work evaluates the viability of establishing a consulting company dedicated to digital transformation for MYPES, making use of the most widely used digital media in the market. In order to generate attractive returns, this venture makes use of the “Lean Startup” methodology, which proposes to invest in the minimum and essential costs for the operation, which means a reduced investment at the beginning, compared to other ventures with similar characteristics. This entrepreneurship methodology was documented in 2011 by Eric Ries in Silicon Valley (USA) in his book "The Lean Startup Method". Likewise, the marketing strategy to be applied is the one described in the book "Dotcom Secrets" by Russell Brunson, which consists of initially using a sales lure, this strategy being very little used by companies today. Finally, when carrying out the financial analysis, it is concluded that this project has a profitability level of 69.61%, exceeding the 20% expected profitability. / Trabajo de investigación

African American entrepreneurs in Houston, TX, lack the emotional intelligence required to be self-employed and remain in business. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to gain a robust understanding of what strategies African American entrepreneurs can adopt to increase emotional intelligence, which will aid them in remaining in business beyond the first 5 years. The central research question focused on common understandings of the strategies African-American entrepreneurs in Houston, TX, adopt to increase their emotional intelligence such that it contributes to them remaining in business beyond the initial 5 years. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was the emotional intelligence theory. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample consisting of 15 African American entrepreneurs from Houston, TX who have been in business for a minimum of 5 years. The interviews consisted of open-ended questions. A thematic analysis was conducted on 15 interviews. Eight themes were developed from the data analysis: emotional intelligence, leadership styles, emotional reactions, maturity level, training, business sustainability, communication, and flexibility. Consistent emotional intelligence training emerged as useful in African American entrepreneurs' business sustainability. The potential implications for positive social change stem from African American entrepreneurs developing more sustainable organizations. The findings of this study may be used by stakeholders and organizational leaders to provide the opportunity to build more emotionally intelligent organization.

Saudi Arabian entrepreneurs face major difficulties with the country's complex regulatory system. Based on Schumpeter's theory of entrepreneurship, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to reveal the lived experiences of Saudi entrepreneurs in navigating regulatory procedures in Jeddah. Data were collected through prolonged, face-to-face phenomenological interviews with 22 Saudi businesspeople who started successful businesses. The van Kaam method and member checking helped validate the transcribed data, which were subsequently coded into 4 themes. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) obstacles in regulatory processes, (b) lack of information, (c) cumbersome procedures and need for alternatives to stringent protocols, and (d) persistence strategies needed to maneuver through inflexible regulations. For entrepreneurship progress among these individuals, business rules needed to be comprehensible, shorter, and less bureaucratic. These findings also suggest that, once entrepreneurship rules are transparent, Saudi Arabia may become a choice country for international businesses. These findings have implications for positive social change by informing the efforts of governmental authorities in their work towards effective regulatory processes as roadways to the economic well-being of businesses and communities, and could be a catalyst to boost foreign investments in the country.

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The entrepreneurial learning process within business incubators, particularly among novice entrepreneurs in Sweden's entrepreneurial landscape, still needs to be explored. The present study, centered around the question, "Through a social constructivist perspective, how do novice entrepreneurs learn within business incubators in Sweden?", adopts a social constructivist perspective to fill this knowledge gap. Using a qualitative, inductive approach and the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), the study focuses on novice entrepreneurs at the Uppsala Innovation Centre (UIC), Sweden. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews and a two-step sampling method, while data analysis was grounded in Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory. This methodology aimed to unravel the intricacies of the entrepreneurial learning process within the UIC. These findings offer valuable insights to novice entrepreneurs and a particular business incubator, suggesting how they might structure more conducive incubator environments for effective entrepreneurial learning. It also underscores the importance of networking within the incubator's environment. However, these findings have certain limitations. They are based on data from a single Swedish incubator and may not be generalized across diverse entrepreneurial ecosystems. Moreover, the reliance on self-reported experiences introduces potential biases. Future research should address these limitations by incorporating multiple incubators across different countries and by introducing diverse perspectives and external assessments for more comprehensive and objective findings. The study concludes that providing a conducive social constructivist environment in business incubators is essential for fostering effective entrepreneurial learning, with emphasis on learning from networking with the more knowledgeable others (MKOs). These conclusions offer valuable directions for policy-makers, incubator managers, and novice entrepreneurs, aiming to enhance the sustainability and success of startups in dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems.

This paper investigates the strategic framing approaches implemented by tech entrepreneurs in developing economies to attract financing from venture capital (VC) firms in developed economies. The study addresses the limited research in the field of entrepreneurship, specifically focusing on entrepreneurs’ subjective perspectives on strategically framing their startups to secure VC investment from developed economies. Additionally, it aims to make an initial contribution by exploring how these tech entrepreneurs in developing economies strategically frame their start-ups to attract VC funding from developed economies. The research methodology involves conducting semi-structured interviews with tech entrepreneurs who have successfully attracted VC financing through strategic framing.By analysing the interview data, we dive into the strategic framing approaches utilized by these tech entrepreneurs, with a particular emphasis on entrepreneurs in Kenya as the sample case, to secure financing from VC firms in developed economies. The insights shared by the interviewed tech founders highlight the crucial factors they strategically consider when framing their startups to attract VC financing. This strategic framing process involves extensive research, multiple iterations of pitch decks, metrics, and legal frameworks for a startup to raise VC financing. This study provides valuable insights into how entrepreneurs strive to understand venture capitalists’ perceptions of the Kenyan tech startup landscape and the criteria VC firms seek prior to making investments. Such knowledge empowers startup founders to position themselves strongly in terms of financial opportunities during the scaling and shaping phases of their tech startups. It is important to note that this study focuses on a small group of tech entrepreneurs in Kenya and may not capture potential industry, cultural, geographical, and personal variations. Nevertheless, it represents an initial attempt to explore the framing strategies of these startups when raising VC investments.

Competencies play a vital role in achieving success in any endeavour. In the context of entrepreneurship, having the right set of competencies is crucial for attaining sustained success throughout the venturing process. This study adopts a qualitative approach to explore and compare the perspectives of entrepreneurs regarding the competencies they deem essential with the research findings of Kunene (2008) on the same subject. By incorporating diverse viewpoints, the aim is to enhance the accuracy and comprehension of this topic. The research methodology involves the application of grounded theory to analyse data collected through semi-structured interviews. A total of six interviews were conducted, involving participants from Sweden, and Iceland. The interviewees held various roles, including CEO, Founder, Entrepreneur, mentor, board member, and investor. By delving into the insights shared by these experienced professionals, the study seeks to uncover the competencies considered important at different stages of the venturing process. The findings obtained from this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the competencies required to navigate and achieve success in the dynamic landscape of entrepreneurship. / Kompetenser spelar en avgörande roll för att uppnå framgång inom vilket företag som helst. Inom entreprenörskapet är det avgörande att ha rätt uppsättning kompetenser för att uppnå långsiktig framgång under hela företagsprocessen. Denna studie antar en kvalitativ ansats för att utforska och jämföra entreprenörers perspektiv angående de kompetenser de anser vara väsentliga med forskningsresultaten från Kunene (2008) inom samma ämne. Genom att inkorporera olika synpunkter syftar studien till att förbättra noggrannheten och förståelsen av detta ämne. Forskningsmetodologin innefattar tillämpningen av förankrad teori för att analysera data som samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Totalt genomfördes sex intervjuer med deltagare från Sverige och Island. Intervjupersonerna hade olika roller, inklusive VD, grundare, entreprenör, mentor, styrelsemedlem och investerare. Genom att fördjupa sig i de insikter som delas av dessa erfarna yrkesverksamma syftar studien till att avslöja de kompetenser som anses vara viktiga vid olika stadier av företagsprocessen. Resultaten från denna studie bidrar till en djupare förståelse av de kompetenser som krävs för att navigera och uppnå framgång i den dynamiska entreprenörskapsmiljön.

This dissertation consists of three essays on firms' behaviors under staggered treatment adoption. The first essay draws information from a micro-lender and a credit bureau to identify the causal effects of small loans on the financial health of a group of small U.S. business owners. To achieve this, we exploit temporal variations in the loan disbursements and use an estimation strategy that controls for potential biases due to treatment effect heterogeneity. The results suggest that even small loans are effective in generating lasting positive impacts on widely accepted financial health indicators, such as Vantage Score (Credit Score), Debt-to-Income Ratio, and Credit Utilization Ratio. We obtain similar robust results for subprime and startup borrowers, who are known to face difficulties in securing credit. The second essay combines unionization data from the National Labor Relations Board and financial data from Compustat to examine the causal effects of unionization on the financing decisions of publicly traded firms in the United States. In this essay, I exploit temporal variations in the election date of unionization across firms and use a dynamic difference-in- difference estimation strategy to identify the effects of unionization on a range of financial indicators, including the Debt-to-Equity ratio, market leverage, book leverage, long-term book leverage, net leverage and cash to asset ratio. I find that unionization negatively affect firms' financing decisions. For example, after unionization, firms rely less on leverage to raise capital. At the same time, unionization offers incentive to firms to hold more cash in hand. My analysis also suggests that the effects of unionization vary according to the political and institutional structure of the states in which firms operate. For instance, the impacts on the outcome variables are more pronounced for the firms in democrat-led states and for firms which operate in states without right-to-work laws. The effects of unionization are also more noticeable for multi-establishment firms versus one-establishment firms. In addition, we find that the effects vary according to the margin of support for unionization within a firm. The third essay examines the causal effects of unionization on innovation activities of publicly traded firms in the United States. As in the case of chapters 1 and 2, the analysis uses a dynamic difference-in-difference estimation strategy on a dataset that is compiled using information on unionization data from the National Labor Relations Board, financial data from Compustat and KPSS patent data. My analysis encompasses a wide range of innovation indicators, including the number of patents, number of forward citations, market value of patents, average citations, number of patents to RandD expenditures ratio, number of citations to RandD expenditures ratio, number of patents per 1000 employees, capital expenditures to sales ratio and RandD expenditures to sales ratio. The findings suggest a small positive impact of unionization on most of these innovation indicators, with the exception of market value of patents and number of patents to RandD expenditures ratio. I also find that the effects of unionization vary according to political orientations of states, industry type, firm size and firm age. The results demonstrate that the effects on innovation are more pronounced for smaller and younger firms and for firms operating in democrat-led states as well as manufacturing firms. / Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis is a collection of three self-contained essays that examine the firms' behaviors in contexts where not all the units received the treatment at the same point in time. In the first essay, we investigate how small loans affect the financial health of small business owners. By analyzing data from a lender and credit bureau, we identify the causal effects of receiving loans on the financial health of borrowers. The results indicate that even small loans have a positive and lasting impact on credit scores, debt-to-income ratios, and credit utilization ratios. This research also sheds light on the effects of loans on borrowers with less favorable credit status or those starting a new business, who often face challenges in accessing credit. In the second essay, the focus shifts to the impact of unionization on the financing decisions of publicly traded firms in the United States. We examine the causal effects of unionization on various financial indicators. The findings reveal a negative effect of unionization on metrics such as debt-to-equity ratio, market leverage, and book leverage. However, cash holdings experience an increase. Furthermore, the effects of unionization vary based on the political and institutional structure of the states where firms operate, as well as the margin of support for unionization within a firm. The impact of unionization is more pronounced in democrat- led/without right-to-work law states, multi-establishment firms and when the support for unionization is stronger among employees. In the third essay, we investigate the effects of unionization on innovation activities within publicly traded firms in the United States. By analyzing unionization data, financial data, and patent data, the study examines the causal effects of unionization on various innovation indicators. The results reveal a small positive impact of unionization on most innovation indicators, such as the number of citations, number of patents per 1000 employees as well as ratio of number of citations to RandD expenditures. However, the effects on market value of patents and number of patent-to-RandD expenditure ratios are not statistically significant. Moreover, the analysis considers factors like political orientations of states in which the firms operate, industry type, firm size and firm age. The findings indicate that the effects on innovation outcomes are more pronounced for smaller firms, younger firms, firms operating in democrat-led states and manufacturing firms.

This thesis investigate the role of entrepreneurship in the education sector of rural areas inIndia. The goal of this research is to elaborate on the needs of entrepreneurs in rural areas ofIndia where educational facilities and resources are inadequate for the upliftment ofeducation. The research focuses on the obstacles experienced by entrepreneurs in theeducation sector in rural areas and how they can be overcome. The study scrutinizes theimpact of entrepreneurship on education outcomes in rural India. To accomplish the aim, thestudy is based on a blended technique approach, which involves drawing upon survey datafrom the Ministry of Education India, Ministry of Rural Development, India, Ministry ofSkill Development and Entrepreneurship, India, a survey floated to an international andnational crowd, as well as individual interviews with people working in rural India and theeducation sector. The research is particularly relevant given the developing requirement ofquality education in rural areas of India, and the role that entrepreneurs can play in deliveringinnovative solutions to address this need. In the end, this thesis contributes to how we mightinterpret the potential for entrepreneurship to drive positive change in the education sector inrural India.

Women entrepreneurs play increasingly important roles in job creation and sustainable economic growth in developing economies, including sub-Saharan Africa. While Nigeria has made progress in closing gender gaps in women’s employment rights, financial inclusion and access to resources remain challenges for many women who seek to start and grow businesses. Barriers to venture creation are particularly problematic for women entrepreneurs living in rural Nigeria. Yet, few studies have examined women entrepreneurs’ access to capital in the context of rural Nigeria, including the perceived value of informal lenders and government support programs. This thesis informs the literature by reporting on women entrepreneurs who own and operate retail micro-enterprises in rural, South-West Nigeria, specifically Atakunmosa West, Osun State. The study findings demonstrate the value and limitations of informal lenders, such as Ajo and Esusu, in bridging institutional voids in banking practices and technology-enabled money services. Drawing on the social feminist and resource-based theory, the study advances a conceptual model of the gendered context of financial inclusion and considers the implications for research and policy.