Women-owned businesses continue to drive economic growth in the United States. However, some African American businesswomen lack strategies to obtain capital to start their business. Strategies to obtain funds for a startup is vital to African American women seeking to start and sustain their businesses. Guided by entrepreneurial theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies African American women use to secure financial capital to start new businesses. The participants included 6 African American women business owners in Atlanta, Georgia, with successful experience in utilizing strategies to secure financial capital to start new businesses. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company documents. Yin's 5-step analysis was used to analyze the data. The main themes were challenges of being an African American business woman, motivating factors leading to business ownership, and overcoming bank financing challenges. The implications for positive social change may include addressing the disparity of social, human, and financial capital to start new businesses among African American women.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2016. / Refer to document

This master’s thesis is focused on „THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL FAMILY-OWNED COMPANY“DOPOS HK s.r.o. from Hradec Kralove region. The purpose of the development is an expansion in terms of the capacity (more hired craftsmen, wider sphere of activity) and also of the economic indicators (sales growth, higher number of realized projects). The company will be (for the purposes of this study) subjected to various analyzes as SWOT, Porter etc. Attention will be also paid to benchmarking. The changes in the company will be made based not just on the results (with the aim to eliminate the deficiencies and get to the higher level of company development).

The premise of this paper is to investigate the competition in the real estate brokery industry which could have a distortion caused by bank owned real estate brokery firms. In this investigation we could not confirm that we have a distortion of competition caused by bank owned real estate brokery firms but we can confirm that if bank owned real estate brokery firms would centralize their ownership even further we could have a situation that could look like a distortion of competition caused by bank owned real estate brokery firms. The competition in the real estate brokery business seemed healthy today according to real estate agents in the market but the situation could change rapidly if the political decisions change the amortization requirements, changes in interest rates, turbulence in the global economy etc. / Utgångspunkten i detta examensarbete har varit att undersöka konkurrenssituationen på fastighetsmäklarmarknaden med fokus på begränsningar av konkurrensen som kan orsakas av bland annat bankstyrda mäklarföretag. I detta arbeta har det inte klarlagts att det råder en märkbar begränsning av konkurrenssituationen orsakat av bankstyrda mäklarföretag idag, däremot kan vi konstatera att om ägandet koncentreras ytterligare av de större äklarfirmorna så ökar risken för en begränsning av konkurrenssituationen. Konkurrenssituationen upplevdes som relativ hanterbar av intervjuade mäklare i branschen idag, men den uppfattningen kan lätt ändras då konkurrensförutsättningarna ändras orsakat av bland annat politiska beslut såsom amorteringskrav, förändrat ränteläge, turbulens i den globala ekonomin osv.

Background: Understanding the process of strategy change offers a unique insight into the functioning of an enterprise. While well-researched in the context of Western private firms, this process has attracted relatively little attention in state-owned Chinese enterprises. A research on this topic is particularly pertinent today, when many Chinese state-owned enterprises have attracted attention of international investors and the Covid-19 pandemic situation has created unprecedented challenges for daily operations of enterprises.  Purpose: In order to understand the process strategy change, this research has focused on the elements of the strategy change process and the role of institutional pressures in it on an example of China Eastern airline: a state-owned listed enterprise in China.  Method: This is a qualitative case study based on 7 semi-structured interviews with the employees of China Eastern Airlines. A thematic analysis is used for analyzation of the primary data. Findings/Conclusion: This research has confirmed the presence of concurrent processes of planned and emergent strategy change processes and the impactful role of normative and coercive pressures in the processes of change. Several deviations from the previous theories of strategy change were detected and attributed to the differences in national and organizational culture. The findings of this research confirm the general similarity of the process of strategy change during and outside crisis and highlight the potential cultural differences in strategy change in Western and Chinese firm.

Thesis (LLM. (Development and Management Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Corporate Governance refers to the manner in which companies are directed and controlled. It is concerned with striking a balance between economic and social goals and between individuals and communal goals. The South African Airways (SAA) has recently become one of the worst underperformers amongst the existing State-Owned Companies (SOCs). It has become evident that there was an extensive meddling in SAA’s day to day operations by its chairlady, who has been placing orders and making contractual commitments on the SAA’s behalf, as well as involving herself in managerial decisions in quite inappropriate ways. The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the SAA were changed within a period of four years. It had at some stage developed eight strategies within six years but implemented none of those strategies. The SAA also experienced board infightings which led to the firing of the entire board by the shareholders. The cause of these challenges, as argued in this paper, is poor interpretation and application of corporate governance principles in the SAA. This paper is intended to interpret the principles regulating corporate governance and the application thereof within the context of the SAA. In addition, the paper discusses the comparative analysis with reference to the corporate governance of South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK).

Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Statistics from European region and sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa, indicate that the construction industry is distinctly dominated by males and that women representation is very low. Literature indicates that gender-based discrimination, harsh work environment, insufficient knowledge about the construction industry and the shortage of women who are successful in construction are some of the barriers that discourage women from entering the industry. Therefore, this study focussed on the examination of the factors that contribute to the sustainability, or lack there-of women who are already in the construction industry. This study sought to find out how the women entrepreneurs who are in the industry of construction sustain themselves regardless of the many challenges they face. The study applied qualitative design and used of an interview guide as a tool for collecting data in semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs in the Capricorn district of Limpopo Province. Data was analysed using the thematic content analysis method. The discovery was that women entrepreneurs tend to give away tenders to male counterparts in order for them to do the actual work. The giving away of contracts in turn builds the experience of their male counterparts and their businesses which contributes to the women not being able to have confidence and be sustainable in the construction industry. Women entrepreneurs who managed to sustain themselves in the industry for longer periods attribute their sustainability on hiring the right people with the right skills and qualifications. These women entrepreneurs recommend that support programmes should be made available and accessible to women in the industry as well as those who are entering so that they do not fall into the trap of giving away or surrendering contracts. This study recommends that new women entrants into the industry should be mentored by women entrepreneurs who are actually doing the job to ensure their sustainability in the industry. It also recommends that the existing structures be more visible and to strengthen their support of these women.

The fastest growing segment of business development in the United States comes from small business start-ups, with 42% of these businesses being women owned. Women-owned businesses are annually 25% less profitable when compared to the average small business in the United States. Based on the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this single exploratory case study was to investigate how women small business owners and their employees use financial strategies to increase the profitability of their businesses. Data came from semistructured interviews with 1 woman business owner and 5 business consultants who work for the women-owned small business. The use of company documents, along with the use of member checking with interview transcripts, allowed for triangulation and verification of the themes derived from the interview data. Three prominent themes emerged during data analysis: networking, motivation, and innovation. The data from the results indicated, within this one particular context, women small business owners and their employees used financial resources for networking, motivation, and innovation. Focusing on these practices could result in increased profits for other women-owned small businesses. Women small business owners and their employees may benefit from the study by expanding the knowledge gained from financial strategies to increase the profitability of their businesses. Furthermore, the findings from the study could provide women business owners and their employees with strategies to grow the business, thereby contributing to job growth and the local economy.

This study addressed the perceived relationships among management control systems, business strategy, and organizational performance in U.S. minority-owned manufacturing businesses. Hofer's contingency theory provided a framework for the study, which included a quantitative, survey-based correlational design. Research questions focused on the relationship between financial- and nonfinancial-based management control systems as well as low-cost leadership and differentiation strategies, and how these practices impacted organizational performance. A random sample of 1,000 participants was selected from a population of 2,583 minority-owned manufacturing businesses in the United States. Results of the principal component analysis, Pearson's zero order correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis indicated that financial- and nonfinancial-based management control systems and differentiation strategies were significantly positively related to organizational performance. Low-cost leadership strategy was positively related to organizational performance but was not statistically significant. This study could promote positive social change by providing organizational finance managers with information regarding the appropriate mix of financial and nonfinancial management control system strategies necessary to achieve desired organizational performance.

Abstract The deteriorating financial performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been an increasing concern for the government of Ghana. The contributions of SOEs to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Ghanaian economy have declined, leading to the loss of job opportunities because of the unprofitability and rising debt levels. SOE managers need to adopt strategies to improve the financial performance of their organizations so they can contribute to the GDP and generate employment opportunities. Government, SOE management, and employees will benefit from profitable and sustainable SOEs that have the ability to contribute to the national development agenda. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore strategies Ghanaian SOE managers may use to improve financial performance and reverse unprofitability and unsustainability of SOEs. Transformational leadership theory was used to guide this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 10 Ghanaian SOE managers and SOE documents. Analysis of data generated themes, which included performance management strategies, hindrances to financial improvement, leadership strategies, and core business strategies. By implementing strategies reported by participants, SOE managers may improve the financial performance of SOEs and contribute to the GDP growth of the Ghanaian economy. Findings may be used to promote growth and sustainability of Ghanaian SOEs and thereby increase employment opportunities to improve the social conditions of unemployed youths.