Doctor of Business Administration, Cleveland State University, 2020, Monte Ahuja College of Business

Business analytics (BA) continues to be one of the top technology trends in recent years as well as one of the top priorities for CIO's in many large enterprises. Business analytic tools can significantly help small businesses in quickly responding to changing market conditions and improving their organizational performance. However, prior studies report that the adoption rate of business analytics in small businesses is extremely low such that only 32 percent small businesses have adopted Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics solutions till now (SMB Group, 2018). As small businesses constitute a major force in the US economy, a slow rate of adoption of significant technological innovations, such as BA, may be a critical concern that can affect the economy in the longer run. Despite this, the extant small business literature as well as the information systems literature fails to provide an understanding of why small businesses are not receptive to current BA trends. Therefore, drawing upon the theoretical underpinnings of organizing vision theory, strategic orientation literature, and theory of upper echelon, this study investigates the willingness of small businesses to adopt newer innovations in BA. More specifically, this study investigates the impact of the reception of organizing vision of BA by owner-managers, learning orientation of small businesses, analytics orientation of small businesses, and personal characteristics of owner-mangers on small businesses' willingness to adopt BA. By drawing its motivation from prior strategic orientation and BA literature, this study is also among the first one to propose, formally develop, and validate the measurement construct of analytics orientation.

Committee: Radha Appan Dr. (Committee Chair); Raymond Henry Dr. (Committee Member); Sreedhar Madhavaram Dr. (Committee Member); Chieh-Chen Bowen Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Information Systems

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2020, Engineering and Applied Science: Computer Science

Cyber security is a growing issue for organizations today. Larger companies deploy security operations centers to unify their security tools in order provide cyber defense and incident response. Sadly small and medium sized businesses lack the funding to build, operate, and hire the skilled labor required to stand up a SOC (security operations center). The knowledge base required to solve this problem comes from extensive research and is not widely known. A low cost, easy to deploy and operate solution could help bridge the cyber security preparedness gap between large, and small to medium sized businesses by providing the foundation of a security operations center. This will secure the companies deploying a SOC along with the supply chains they are associated with. This paper outlines the automated deployment of a SOC that unifies network security, host based security, threat intelligence, and reporting in an easy to use and low cost platform. This was accomplished by integrating open source projects into a modular, easy to use, and customizable framework to meet the diverse needs of companies. SOC functionality was measurably verified by attacking and mapping resulting detections to common techniques seen in cyber attacks. The resulting SOC framework deploys in under an hour, provides intuitive reporting, and detects 81 of the most common techniques used by hackers. This work is a step in the right direction for securing companies and provides a foundation that can be further improved upon to help shrink the attack surface of the global threat landscape.

Committee: John Franco Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Gowtham Atluri Ph.D. (Committee Member); Raj Bhatnagar Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2020, Environmental Studies (Voinovich)

The depletion of natural resources as a byproduct of widespread, global economic growth has urged several entrepreneurs to think about the environment when starting or conducting business. However, several entrepreneurs and smaller-sized firms struggle with implementing environmentally conscious business practices, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which represent more than 95% of all private sector firms, and are, thus, worth studying in the context of environmental impacts. This research uses survey methods to assess and better comprehend the key drivers and barriers of green business practices by SMEs in the State of Ohio specifically. Results from this study show that a majority of the respondents reported that they have implemented green practices within their business. The two main drivers for engaging in those practices are internal motivations and the opportunity to obtain a better public image. However, respondents also mentioned a lack of capital as the central barrier to implementing green business practices. These results can be used by government and business actors, especially in Ohio, as a benchmark to consider better strategies for implementing green business techniques. Overall, this work helps to better discern best practices and ways to develop more prosperous SMEs without undermining the quality of the environment.

Committee: Gilbert Michaud (Committee Chair); Daniel Karney (Committee Member); Ana Rosado Feger (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Community; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Economics; Environmental Studies; Public Administration; Sustainability

MFA, Kent State University, 2014, College of Communication and Information / School of Visual Communication Design

This study is a study of small business owners and their perceptions on graphic design. The basis for this study was to gain an understanding of whether or not small businesses view professional graphic design as a beneficial service worth pursuing, and why or why not they are employing the services of professional designers. The design process itself is regarded as an important tool; in a study, firms that saw design as a process or used it to innovate increased their sales by 50% more than the norm. Design can also directly affect other areas of a business, such as the firm's image. A recent study suggested that firm image will benefit more from designer involvement in website development and corporate visual identity development if the firm adopts an innovative strategy to experiential design. While these large businesses see major benefits through the deliberate attention to funding for professional design, small businesses, unfortunately, may not have the opportunity to experience these benefits due to budgetary constraints. Small businesses also may fail to recognize the difference in the lesser value of inexpensive options versus the high value generated by professional designers (Holston, 2011). This thesis will be a comprehensive study on the perception of the value of design by small businesses. It will explore their understanding of design, the value it generates, what their metrics are for success within the business, and how design can directly affect those areas. The implications of this thesis will be the ability to start an informed conversation between professional designers and small business on the value of design. Designers will have a better idea of how to sell themselves and their services to small businesses, and those businesses will see the benefits professional design can bring to a company—such as an increased ROI and enhanced firm image. By gaining a deep understanding behind the motivations of a small business, designers can (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Visocky O'Grady Ken (Advisor) Subjects: Design

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, Economics

Spending approximately 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), governments are the biggest buyer of goods and services for many countries. Sound public procurement policies and practices are essential not only to good governance, but also to a strong and stable economy. On the other hand, due to the fact that more than 99 percent of all businesses are small in most of the countries, the involvement of small businesses are vital for the governments seeking to establish competition, innovation and value for money in the delivery of public goods and services. In fact, small businesses are likely to be disadvantage in production costs and lack in knowledge of available contract opportunities. Moreover, since it naturally would fit better to the small businesses, many of them serve to government contracts as subcontractor. In this thesis, I analyze public procurement auctions both empirically and theoretically, focusing on the role and impact of small businesses in government procurement market. To level the playing field for businesses seeking to bid for public sector contracts, many governments adopt small business programs and provide contract opportunities for businesses operated by members of disadvantaged groups. The federal government, for instance, has its goal of awarding 23 percent of its contracting dollars to small businesses. The redistribution arising from such programs, however, can introduce significant added costs to government procurement budgets. In my first essay “Small Business Set-asides in Procurement Auctions: An Empirical Analysis,” I examine to what extent small business set-asides increase government procurement costs, and how set-asides promote access of the beneficiaries to procurement markets. The estimates employ data on Japanese public construction projects, where approximately 50 percent of the procurement budget is set-aside for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Using nonparametric estimation of asymmetric first-price auctions (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Howard Marvel P. (Committee Chair); Lixin Ye (Committee Member); Matthew Lewis S. (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2003, Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics

This study applies a transaction costs framework to characterize the performance of financial intermediaries in central Ohio. The study aims at understanding the economic behavior of financial intermediaries serving the financial needs of small business borrowers in the U.S. with intention to transfer this knowledge to improve the performance of financial intermediaries in developing countries. To achieve this aim, a survey of selected credit institutions in central Ohio was undertaken to test the hypotheses postulated by the transaction costs theory. This theory was also used to examine the potential for adoption of promising lender-borrower relationships to mitigate transaction costs incurred in financial intermediation. Transaction costs were measured by the opinions of key lending informants towards the performance of small businesses undertaking loan contracting in credit markets. An ordered multinomial probit analysis was used to estimate the empirical model of transaction costs and hypothesized determinants. Econometric analysis was performed on two sets of equations. The first set analyzed traditional economic determinants of transaction costs, while the second set addressed both traditional and lender-borrower relationship determinants. The chi-square values generated in the analysis enabled the comparison of the significance of differences between the coefficient estimates generated from the two sets of equations. Results show that the model of transaction costs of financial contracting that incorporated lender-borrower relationship variables had a greater explanatory power than that which included purely traditional economic variables. Empirical results also show that relationships between lenders and borrowers are critical to financial transactions because they facilitate credit-risk management decisions, contribute to competitive advantage, and enhance customer retention. This study draws conclusions that transaction costs incurred by financial intermed (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lawrence Libby (Advisor) Subjects: Economics, Agricultural

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2004, Geography

This thesis is about Ghanaian immigrants' small business experience in Columbus, Ohio, in the United States of America. The thesis focuses on the kind of businesses 12 Ghanaian immigrant entrepreneurs set up, who their customers are, and how they finance such businesses. The discussions of these are in four concepts, namely embeddedness, social capital, social network, assimilation and acculturation. Geographically, the small business establishments through these concepts assist Ghanaian immigrants to construct their space and culture in the United States. This thesis uses ethnographic, biographic, and qualitative fieldwork methods in its investigations. The thesis uses data from in-depth interviews and field observation. Description and comparison are the methods used in analyzing the data. The thesis finds that Ghanaian immigrant entrepreneurs in Columbus, Ohio engage in services industry, personally finance their businesses, and serve mostly their ethnic people.

Committee: Ian Yeboah (Advisor) Subjects: Geography

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2008, Leadership and Change

Today, many US corporations have made great strides to embrace supplier diversity as a social consideration, and most importantly, as a strategic business enabler. From the earlier years of mandating minority inclusion to the realization that diversifying the supply chain creates value by capitalizing on the diverse background and experiences of minority businesses, supplier diversity has emerged as a major business initiative. It is one of the initiatives that contribute to the welfare of the country by building minority communities and strengthening our society. By developing business coalitions and partnerships with minority suppliers there is tremendous opportunity to impact the economic development of minorities and make significant contributions to the growth and development of our nation. The goal of this research is to apply the Delphi methodology to a research study that identifies the skills and knowledge that marks a professional in supplier diversity in the private sector. Additionally, this study is intended to help shape the future of supplier diversity as a professional entity in the business environment. This research is honoring and advancing the cause and status of supplier diversity professionals who possess the drive and commitment to elevate supplier diversity to a profession. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Member); Melvin Gravely PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Business Community; Business Education; Hispanic Americans; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Native Americans