Fay-Spina, D (2017) Exploring business planning strategies of women-owned small businesses in the construction trades. PhD thesis, Walden University, USA.
Abstract
Many small businesses fail to survive past 5 years, listing the primary reason given for failure as inadequate business planning strategies. The construction industry provides the building and upkeep of physical infrastructure (buildings and roadways) in developed societies and is a major contributor to the gross domestic product for many nations. In the United States, the construction trades primarily consist of small businesses, with a smaller portion of the sector classified as women-owned. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the business planning strategies that successful women-owned small business (WOSB) construction leaders in New Jersey use for sustainability and growth. Contingency theory and expectancy theory of motivation served as the conceptual framework for this study. The sample was comprised of 3 women small business owners in the construction trade in New Jersey. Data collection included semistructured face-to-face interviews, a review of organization documents, business website review, and field notes. Member checking strengthened creditability and trustworthiness. Based on Rowley’s 3-step data analysis plan and a thematic analysis of the data, 5 themes emerged: constant review of goals and plans, communication and teamwork, reliance on expertise, networking, and continuous education. The findings in this study may contribute to social change by providing knowledge for sustainability and growth of women owned businesses (WOBs). By putting the findings to practical use, WOBs could sustain beyond 5 years, which would positively influence society by enhancing the local economy, promoting job development and fostering positive community relations.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Fusch, P |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | education; failure; motivation; sustainability; trust; contingency; small business; women; communication; community relations; teamwork; owner; Jersey; United States; gross domestic product; thematic analysis; case study; interview |
| Index terms: | construction industry, contingency theory, women, owner, case study, teamwork, gross domestic product, conceptual framework, Jersey, community relations, small business, documents, thematic analysis, networking, face, strategy, motivation, United States, local economy, New Jersey, interview, physical infrastructure, society, data analysis |
| Subjects: | theoretical framing, Geography, communities and social development, organization, psychology, economic analysis, management, professional development, methods and analysis, community engagement, sociology, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, data collection methods, communication, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Geographical Context, Stakeholder Management, Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Digital Applications, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here