Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Nate Boyer
Oral Defense of Dissertation Research
01/05/11
Doctoral Dissertation Committee:
Mentor: Richard Schuttler, Ph. D.,
Committee Members: Ann W. Armstrong, Ed.D. and Chris Roberts, Ph. D.
Background of the Problem
• Research literature suggested U.S. is losing its ability to innovate to other nations
• Understanding motivation and creativity processes may help regain leadership role
Creativity
Wallas, G. The Art of Thought. 1926. Jonathan Cape, London, England.
Internet-Entrepreneurship
Batjargal, B. (2007). Internet entrepreneurship: Social capital, human capital, and performance of Internet ventures in China. Research
Policy, 36(5), 605-618. doi: 610.1016/j.respol.2006.1009.1029.
Transformational Leadership
Avolio, B. J. (2007). Promoting more integrative strategies for leadership. American Psychologist, 62(1), 25-33. doi: 10.1037/0003-
1066X.1062.1031.1025.
Innovation
Chesbrough, H. W., & Garman, A. R. (2009). How open innovation can help you cope in lean times. Harvard Business Review, 87(12), 68-
76. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=45361940&site=bsi-live.
Social Networking
Kim, W., Jeong, O.-R., & Lee, S.-W. (2010). On social web sites. Information Systems, 35(2), 215-236. doi: 210.1016/j.is.2009.1008.1003.
Social Media
Correa, T., Hinsley, A. W., & de Zúñiga, H. G. (2010). Who interacts on the Web?: The intersection of users' personality and social media
use. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(2), 247-253. doi:210.1016/j.chb.2009.1009.1003.
Problem Statement
• The second research question was: how does the Internet operating environment
influence the Wallas (1926) creative problem-solving steps of preparation, incubation,
illumination, and verification in generating innovations for small
Internet-entrepreneurs in central upstate NY?
Data Collection
• The instrument of data collection was a face-to-face critical incident technique interview
that used semi-structured open-ended questions to solicit participant perceptions
Places the study in perspective among other relevant studies and describes the
important issues, perspectives, and controversies in the field under investigation.
• Literature scarcity may be a result of high small business failure rates, difficulty in
verifying information, and the home-based nature of many Internet-entrepreneurs.
• Phenomenological
• While participants were aware of problem solving software none had used it
• Participants agreed using social media helped gain access to more and better information
• Past ownership and Internet-based business consulting could create bias - Bracketing
Limitations and Delimitations
• Limited to participants who volunteered by way of a referral – snowball sampling
• Reliability of the data was limited to the honesty and memory of the participants
• Innovations were often found to be an ability to solve old and new problems by
looking at the problem differently and using visionary leadership skills, social
networking and social media in the process.
• From a leadership perspective, the study is important in helping current and future
researchers, economists, and business leaders understand how Internet-entrepreneurs’
innovations may influence global competitiveness.
• Use mixed method approach to explore the impact of social media and social networking
• Selecting one advance problem tool and comparing it to others over time
Recommendations for Future Research
• A fourth recommendation for future research would be to explore why there is such a
dearth of U.S.-based and focused scholarly peer-reviewed literature available on the
subject of small Internet-entrepreneurs.
• A fifth research recommendation for the future is to conduct a longitudinal study that
monitors small-Internet-entrepreneurs over time.
• Researchers may want to consider replicating this study with a greater focus on a
specific advanced problem solving tool such as TRIZ, or some other creative
problem solving software
Reflections
• Participants were excited about their prospects for the future
• Social networking and social media were important components of success in the future
• While a majority of participants were service oriented the types of business were diverse
• Transcript review, analysis, and summarization more time consuming than anticipated
Study Conclusions
• Innovation played a major role in all of their past and present business plans
• The Internet is so new businesses need to be motivated, creative, and innovative to succeed
• Most study participants said they were entrepreneurs first and the Internet was secondary
• Participants believed customer service was the most important factor for success
• Understanding and using social networking and social media was critical to business success
Study Conclusions
• Important success characteristics included increased and consistent website traffic,
social media utilization, and understanding how use social networking for their business
• Internet operating environment has potential to speed up the decision making process
• Innovations were often found to be an ability to solve old and new problems by looking
at the problem differently and using visionary leadership skills, social networking and
social media in the process.
Thank You