Doctor of Business Administration
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Item An Exploration of the First Nations Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: A Multiple-Case Study of Canadian First Nation Entrepreneurial Support Organizations and their Role in First Nations Entrepreneurship(2024) Brooks, Natasha; Schneider, BettinaEntrepreneurship serves as a central channel to increase economic activity and express self-determination. However, First Nations entrepreneurship has remained stagnant and well below the national average since 2001. One of the main barriers to First Nations entrepreneurship is access to capital and continued financial and non-financial support. The long-lasting and persisting complexities of the Indian Act and settler-colonialism exacerbate these barriers. Barriers remain despite a plethora of support services offered by First Nations Entrepreneurial Support Organizations (FNESOs). However, First Nations entrepreneurs rarely utilize these services. This study explores why there is an underutilization of FNESO services and supports through information gathering utilizing qualitative semi-structured interviews drawing on 22 participants located across Canada, including FNESO employees and First Nations entrepreneurs. The results are presented via three case studies. This study employs reflexive thematic analysis to identify key themes through the lens of entrepreneurial ecosystem theory and conduct a cross-case analysis of the enabling and constraining factors of First Nations entrepreneurship. The case studies reveal key domains enabling and constraining First Nations entrepreneurship, finance, culture, and support top the list in impacting this form of entrepreneurial support in Canada. A focus on strengthening support of these three elements could, quite possibly, contribute to more FNESOs mobilizing support, therefore strengthening the broader First Nations entrepreneurial support ecosystem.Item An Assessment of Supply Chain Resilience Capabilities in Nigeria's Downstream Oil and Gas Sector(2024) Ameh, Eneojo, Benjamin; Wafai, HassanNigeria's downstream oil and gas sector (O&G), a critical driver of economic growth, faces an intricate web of challenges that continue to disrupt the O&G supply chain and impede its contribution to the national economy. Despite implementing deregulation in 2023 as a one-size-fits-all strategy to improve the O&G supply chain performance against various disruptions, fuel scarcity and price volatility persist. This qualitative study investigates supply chain capabilities in the downstream O&G sector in Nigeria through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholder organizations in Nigeria's downstream O&G sector. The study identifies the challenges disrupting Nigeria's O&G supply chain in the downstream O&G sector, including infrastructural challenges, security and social issues, external and global factors, and a lack of good governance and responsible management. The study categorizes supply chain resilience capabilities into three main categories. Pre-disruption capabilities include risk management, accurate forecasting, supply chain visibility and monitoring, collaboration and information sharing, technology and digitalization, infrastructural readiness, expertise and training, and regulatory policies and compliance. During-disruption capabilities encompass inventory and distribution management, supply chain flexibility, collaboration and communication, technology and digitalization. Post-disruption capabilities include technology digitalization, collaboration, supply chain flexibility, and performance indicators. The study suggests integrating organizational-level recommendations with system-level recommendations to achieve supply chain resilience, which includes aspects of infrastructural readiness, good governance, and responsible management. The study's findings address gaps in business practices and policy formulation in enhancing the resilience of Nigeria's downstream oil supply chain, with significant positive impacts on households, businesses, and the broader Nigerian economy.Item Our Voices, Our Stories: The Role of Gender in Family Business Succession in Canada(2024) Schooler, Dawn; Etmanski, CatherineThis qualitative study focused on the role of gender across leadership, succession, and transition planning within family-owned businesses. With growing calls to understand the underrepresentation of women in senior leadership roles and succession strategies of family-owned businesses, this research was timely and relevant. From a business education perspective, academic institutions have an opportunity to intentionally create programs designed to expand the pool of students who consider entrepreneurship a viable career alternative. Scholars and practitioners alike are exploring the environment of family enterprises as an ideal setting in which to understand entrepreneurial learning due to the embeddedness of students in both family and educational systems. Utilizing narrative inquiry and narrative interviews, this research explored the interplay of gender, leadership, and family business systems engaged in succession and transition processes. This report presents findings and key narratives drawn from 10 research participant interviews with members of women-led family businesses. The findings, which reveal the impact of gender within and across family and business systems regarding leadership and succession processes, may advance entrepreneurship education, the efficiency and connectedness of families who are in business together, and the trusted advisors who serve alongside these important family business systems.Item Facilitating Multidisciplinary Team Functioning in Child and Youth Advocacy Centres using Shared Mental Models(2024) Parker, Naomi, Jay; Scott, CatherineChild Advocacy Centres/Child and Youth Advocacy Centres (CAC/CYAC) are places where children who have experienced abuse can go and receive the support they need in one location. CAC/CYACs use a multidisciplinary team (MDT) to respond to cases of child abuse by offering coordinated and collaborative investigations, forensic interviewing, medical evaluation, mental health and therapeutic supports, and victim support (National Children’s Alliance, 2022). The MDT includes professionals from law enforcement, child protection services, prosecutors, medical and mental health professionals, victim advocates, and CAC/CYAC staff. The underlying premise of CAC/CYACs is that the inter-professional response and diverse expertise results in better decision making and improved outcomes for children and families (Jackson, 2012). While these diverse professions are a hallmark of effective CAC/CYACs, merging to provide integrated, inter-professional services continues to be an obstacle to achieving the desired outcomes (McGuier et al., 2022). There is a significant body of literature which describes various organizational capabilities that influence effectiveness of integrated and inter-professional service delivery initiatives like CAC/CYACs. However, there is also a noted lack of specificity about how these broad factors can be used to improve team functioning (Evans et al., 2016; Li et al., 2018; Seaton et al., 2018). Evans and Baker (2012) introduced the idea of shared mental models as a theory to examine the operational effectiveness of an integrated service delivery environment and as a facilitator to inter-professional service delivery. Shared mental models could serve as a framework to understand the collaborative operational processes necessary for individuals from across sectors and with diverse expertise to work together for better decision making and improved outcomes for children and families. There is, however, insufficient empirical assessment of the relationship between shared mental models and the quality of integrated and inter-professional service delivery (Evans et al., 2014). The aim of this research was to explore how shared mental models could be used to improve MDT functioning in CAC/CYACs. Four methodological approaches were used in this exploratory sequential mixed methods research: individual interviews and document review to understand the operating context and relevant background of each participating CAC/CYAC; facilitated card sorting (Gisick et al., 2018) to inform the development of a survey and provide initial insights into the use of shared mental models as a framework to improve MDT functioning; a survey to identify and understand the extent to which shared mental models are evident in MDTs; and finally, focus groups to support the interpretation and contextualization of the results. This research presents preliminary findings that show that a shared mental model framework can be an important facilitator for MDT functioning in CYACs. The concept alone, however, is not enough to improve MDT functioning. The effectiveness of the overall approach is rooted in a contextual understanding of CYAC operating environments and their organizational capabilities. In this research, the methodological approaches described above were specifically designed to deepen contextual understanding (i.e., engaging CYAC staff through data collection and analysis, mapping specific attributes of each CYAC to statements that describe shared mental models).Item For the Fun of It: A Culture Theory Study on How Fun Informs E-scooter Experiences(2024) Nygaard-Petersen, Karly; Kajzer Mitchell, IngridThe rising popularity of shared e-scooters within urban transportation systems represent a shift towards low carbon alternatives yet there remain limited investigations into the affective dimensions, such as experiences of fun, within e-scooter consumption. By focusing on the consumptive experiences of 18 e-scooter users, this study aims to understand How do experiences of fun inform micromobility consumption in urban populations? A market-oriented ethnography was undertaken across five markets in the Pacific Northwest. Rooted in Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), the study utilized qualitative techniques including electronic transit diaries, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and video recordings. The findings informed three research outputs: i) a journal manuscript that advances a theory of consumer fun where themes of corporeality, freedom, (re)discovery through novelty, social bonds & identity, and temporality were identified and discussed in context of consumer behaviour; ii) a policy-focused manuscript exploring how nostalgia in shared e-scooter experiences promotes enjoyment; and, iii) practice-oriented insights shared with industry via conference presentation and supporting digital media. Together, this research underscores the significance of affective and emotional aspects in consumers' e-scooter experiences that is highly relevant for our understanding of consumer behaviour by providing a more complete account of how fun originates for consumers. It also helps inform the service delivery and managerial decisions in the operation of e-scooter and other businesses which have experiential consumption as part of their value offering, as well as for policymakers and planners concerned with supporting a shift towards more sustainable cities.