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Dissertation Prospectus

Factors Relating to the Sustainability of Somali Owned Businesses in Minneapolis

Submitted by

Kerry Mussa

November 28, 2018

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Dissertation Prospectus

Introduction

The city of Minneapolis is emerging as an immigrant-receiving state. According to

Darboe (2003) Minneapolis was a big center for immigrants through the ages and is still

emerging as an immigrant-receiving state due to receiving high numbers of immigrants each

year. According to (Yuen, 2017) the city does have opportunities for several unskilled

people, which also suits the existing refugee community already in the city. Bates & Robb

(2014) is of opinion that this city has a well-developed history of social service as it has

many social development programs that are based on state aid. 

Dhingra & Parker (2015) states that due to the migration, majority of migrant

societies have limited potentiality for purchasing products. In this situation, the regular sales

of any product in the market would not be in a position to survive a short single product life

cycle and move to another repeating cycle. Further, the life of the immigrant people in the

city of Minneapolis is not so easy due to their poverty level, specifically, this is more so true

in case of the Somali people. In fact, the report of the Minnesota State Demographic Center

presented by (Hirsi 2017) states that Somali remain at the lowest step of the socioeconomic

ladder. This is because that approx 57% Somalis still live in poverty and 26% are living in

near-poverty.

According to Kokodoko (2006), living facilities for the Somali are not very attractive

in the city due to the high crime rate. However, there is need to recognize the fact that the

African American population in the region and their growth rate is responsible for the

increase in the demand for the goods and the services in the region (Bokore, 2017), and thus

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said to be also responsible for the flourishing of entrepreneurship in the region. (Yitshaki &

Kropp, 2016) state that the small business growth in the region also contributes to letting

more and more people from other communities enter into the business. According to

(Brenes, Montoya & Ciravegna, 2014), success in entrepreneurship is lucrative as it will

enable building wealth, will let people create jobs and provide them with new opportunities.

Somalis are likely to face challenges in the path to business success as they are a novice in

business practices in the city of their present residence (Al-Dajani & Marlow, 2013). The

challenges improve their social expenses and results in the growth of the demand of the

Somali business in the city (Giardino, 2016). Hence, business owners describe the economic

factors as a motivation factor for their business as their direct impacts on the improvement in

their business’s sustainability, thus showing one of the reasons for them to raise their voice

to reform business policies to address some of the hurdles in the region (Cassia, 2012).

Over the last decade Minneapolis has been a major factor behind the growth in the

demand for the services and goods (Neville, Orser, Riding & Jung, 2014). Due to this

reason, entrepreneurship is flourishing in response to the growing demands of the people.

(Further, Carbonell, Hernandez & Garcia, 2014) states that the growth of small business in

the city also encourages the people of other communities to enter into business since the

success of entrepreneurs can help in building wealth, creating jobs and attracting new

opportunities. Owing to their novice in business practices in the city of their present

residency the Somali are likely to face the existing challenges in the city that is threatening

to block their success path. For this, the people are raising their voice to conduct the reforms

in business policies (Sarah & Shortland, 2013) to address some hurdles.

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The key objective of the current research is to investigate the factors responsible for

the success of the Somalia business owners in Minneapolis. It is clear in literature and

research studies in this area. Earlier researchers did not attempt to explore much of this

subject. Some of the Somali small business owners have sustained for many years in the

region and it is one of the key focus areas and objectives of current research investigation.

According to Anthony (2018), immigrant entrepreneurs make up a significant segment of

business owners in the community we live in. There is a clear gap in the investigations; there

is no focus on the factors responsible for the sustainability of the business in some of the

Somalia business owners.

To address this situation, the community service organizations in the city of

Minneapolis have started to develop a network which helps business owners to achieve

objectives and goals in existing business ventures (Chambers, 2017). Hence, the research

related to this topic is needed as it focuses on the issues that are faced by the business

owners in Minneapolis and which can affect their success in the market. This research study

also proposes to investigate those factors that can help business owners to survive in the City

of Minneapolis. The existing research studies are only reflecting towards the business to

business connective to manage the demand of the people that are not very effective for the

success of business owners in the market. Thus there is a clear gap found in literature

revealing poor infrastructural growth to accommodate the needs of business owners. Thus

the gap requires defining the success factors for Somalis business owners to practice

sustainable business practices. It is imperative to define these success factors because only

than Somalis businesses can truly become sustainable business model.

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Background of the Problem

The differences in the practical implementation and the theoretical framework of

business operations of Somali business people formulated a clear need to conduct further

study in the region. According to Knight (2015) the need to investigate the research factors

responsible for the business success of some of the Somali business owners in the region

formulated the background of research in the current context. The key objective is to find

the factors responsible for the sustainability of their business in the previous years. Further

the research is proposed to be conducted due to inability of past researches to provide

sufficient insights about building a sustainable business model for the Somali organizations.

In this context, this research study will describe those factors that are valuable and

important for the Somali business owners to survive in the Minneapolis market. According

to Alsos, Carter & Ljunggren, (2014) the researchers of the investigation are only focused

on investigating the routine reasons for poverty as well are interested to investigate the

social issues defining the living status of the Somali people in Minneapolis is well known

but the Somali business owner’s sustainability is unknown, they is no focus on the local

support as well there is no study of the infrastructure support being rendered by the local

governing bodies as well as by the United States federal government according to different

data. There is sufficient information available about living conditions and the current profile

of Somali people however there is no much information available to predict whether

Somalis will stand in the market for the next years or not (Bokore, 2017). This is the prime

contributor for the current researchers to conduct this research study.  There are few but

limited research studies like that of (Besser, 2012) that the Government’s and Minneapolis

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elected offices and administration’s concern towards the poor social infrastructure that is

available to the Somali people.

According to Sturdevan (2018) states that the Somali community people have left

their country due to the internal war and life threats to ensure the secure lifestyle in the other

part of the world (Besser, 2012). Due to this, they have reached the Minnesota state which

shows traces of this culture owing to preceding immigrants of the past millennia. Indians

were also Immigrants. (Bagheri, Akmaliah, & Pihie 2014) further explains that the effect of

immigration from one country to the other has also impacted poorly on the Somali people

(Bagheri, Akmaliah, & Pihie 2014). As presented in the introduction it is pertinent to state

that, most of this community people are still living in poverty. This is the main reason that

gives a basis for raising the problem which has been addressed in this research study.

Theoretical Foundation/ Conceptual Framework and Review of the

Literature/Themes

A conceptual framework is basically an analytical tool which always has several

variations and contexts. It is mostly applied in a qualitative analysis where an overall picture

is needed. A conceptual framework is therefore used to make conceptual distinctions and

also organize research ideas. The conceptual framework rest upon the Somali small business

owner sustainability in Minneapolis, According to Sarah Percy & Anja Shortland (2013) this

study has been drawn from the existing literature and data that has been researched and

published by credible peer-reviewed resources.

For Entreprenuership, it is required to understand a theoretical foundation on which

Entreprenuership prospers. This can render good insights regarding how Somali business

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people can organize their activities. Earlier the resource based theory was imperative to the

entrepreneurs to obtain good success (Barney, 1991) but with evolvement of new changes,

legal environment, culture, tradition and history of the industry as well as economic

incentives have become more significant for entrepreneur to consider (Baumal, Litan, &

Schramm, 2009). In this regard, institutional theory furnishes great insights about how the

factors of legal environment, culture and others can be addressed. Institutional theory posits

how individuals and organizations secure their legitimacy and positions by following the

norms and rules of the institutional environment (Scott, 2007). The term institution here

refers to established formal rules (North, 1990). These rules can be derived by the

professions, courts, laws, cultural practices, governmental agencies and regulatory structures

(DiMaggio & Powell, 1991). Entreprenuership and entrepreneurs must be shaped by social

and legal institutions and the behavior of individuals and organizations must be according to

established norms. In this regard, as the focus is towards sustainable business model and

practices, it is necessary to demonstrate level of sustainable initiatives taken by companies

in Minnesota. A report published suggest that there are more than 30 businesses collaborate

to build sustainable initiatives in the state. These organizations are focused towards defining

the circular economy, developing projects and initiatives and telling positive stories about

sustainable development. They are particularly focused to produce clean energy

(Environmental Initiative, 2018). Government has started sustainable movement way back

in 1993 (Minnesota planning environmental quality board, 2018) and this reveals that the

social norms and legal regulations their demand sustainable building activities from

organizations. Entrepreneurs by applying institutional theory guidelines can address the

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issues of sustainable development effectively. Thus, Somali organizations desiring for

growth must follow the institutional theory as the findings suggest.

Institutional theory that is a teleological theory is important but many other

teleological theories are equally important for entrepreneurship. Motivation theories such as

Maslow theory, Herzberg theory and other motivational theories are significant for

entrepreneurs because these theories not only provide imminent information regarding their

own motivation and aim but also the aims of employees. Functional theory is also important

for entrepreneurship as well as the theories of creation and discovery. These theories supply

sufficient guidelines to entrepreneurial activities (Alvarez, & Barney, 2007).

The proposition that Somali conditions are in poverty and most of their business

progression is facing serious hurdles is based on the study conducted in the previous

literature study. Also, the fact that few Somali business owners have succeeded in business

and managed to sustain for over years formulates the basis for further investigation of the

factors responsible for their success. All these conceptualizations are made from the credible

peer-reviewed resources as detailed and referred to in the previous sections (Al-alak, 2014).

Further, for the purposes of conducting a research study in a proper manner, the

formulation of the conceptual framework is an important step as it gives the base to research

study. As a result, research can be able to consider each related aspect which is important

and needed to conduct research related to Somali business owners in an effective manner.

(Abebe & Angriawan, 2014)

Following are the three conceptual frameworks describing the impactful themes.

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Review of the Literature Themes

This conceptual framework describes four impactful themes and that are:

1. Entrepreneurial Factors: This theme includes factors such as age and work experience of

the business owner in defining the success of a business owner, therefore indicating that

when a business owner has insufficient experience in the business he or she is operating,

it is obvious that the business would not be as successful as required (Lechner &

Gudmundsson, 2014). The long-term survival of a business owner depends on the

enterprise factors such as culture, government regulations, market conditions, and

political situation because of the relationship between enterprise and entrepreneurship

(Bagheri, Akmaliah & Pihie, 2014).

2. Business Environment: for the success of a business owner, the external environmental

factors of the business are also important as their direct impacts on the long-term

survival of a business (Craig & Campbell, 2012).

Market knowledge has been looked into in this research stems from the gap between

practical implementation and theoretical framework and of policies that are essential to

positively shape the success in Somali small business. According to (Bates & Robb,

2014)it has been identified in various previous researches and papers that market

knowledge has been a success factor for the Somali small businesses owners to

maintaining sustainability over the past years and more for the business to succeed.

Culture: this study will look at small business implementation, theoretical framework and

business regulation in Minnesota. This also will look at what shapes the Culture of

Somali Small business owners. According to Huarng & Ribeiro-Soriano (2014) cultural

reconciliation as people come together is important for the growth of the small business.

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(Huarng, & Ribeiro-Soriano, 2014) gives evidence which shows that culture from small

may be preferred to draw their own entrepreneurial knowledge to create their own

entrepreneurial plan.

3. Organization skills: the body of literature present on the topic of concern put much

emphasis on the role of the small business owners in Minneapolis to helping Somalia to

achieve and succeed in small businesses. According to Cho & Honorati (2014) it is

explained why the immigrant entrepreneurs are very important in small business in the

communities they are residing in. It has been identified in various previous studies that

have been a small percentage of small businesses in Minneapolis maintain Sustainability

for the past years. Lofstrom, Bates & Parker (2014) discussed the importance of small

business creating income for the individual in an urban area. This study will be taking into

consideration the small business in the Somali community and why few numbers of

business owners succeed.

4. Sustainability: The study will help the researcher as well as readers to identify how the

Somalia small business owners maintaining sustainability. A certain set of success factors

we have to look in Somalia Business owners in Minnesota so as to identify. Yitshaki &

Kropp (2016) explains the business owners have the social responsibility to support the

growth of their businesses. The results indicate that not only do these entrepreneurial

Somali individuals rely on the success of their businesses but so do their extended

networks. Understanding what helps Somali businesses succeed is likely to have far-

reaching implications for their dependents, both within and outside of the United States

(Knight, 2015).

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The theory of (Drucker, 1985) explains the benefits of the resources, innovations, and

behavior of the entrepreneur to the success of an entrepreneurship. The success of a

business owner can be survived with the help of increasing satisfaction and satisfaction and

value to the customer, creation of values to business and effective combination of

resources and materials (Nyameh, 2013). This is an important foundation that indicates that

the success of the business owner is not possible if these factors are not defined clearly.

According to Dobbs (2014) said that reflection is towards the achievement of motivation,

the need for power and the need for achievements are some motivational factors that

ensure the success of a business owner. The theoretical foundation of Leibenstein focuses

on the gap in the market that ensures the success of a business owner if the products and

services offered by that person to address the demand and needs of customers (Caliendo,

Fossen & Kritikos, 2014).

Above defined theories are relevant to the research problem of this research study

because selected theories help the researcher to develop an understanding of the independent

and dependent factors that influence the success of the business owner.    According to

Anthony (2018), there are 70% of the 2,700 owners who took participation in surveyed are

optimistic towards the future of own company. 57% expects revenue increment in 2018 and

55% expects growth in organizational profits.

Problem Statement

It is not known what Success Factor is of Somalia Business Owner in Minnesota

Maintain Sustainability. According to O’Donnell (2014), the reconciliation of

entrepreneurial orientation and strategic resources on small business are very much needed

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to maintain sustainability. The study found that the Small business in Somali in Minneapolis

is influenced by the Somalia community.

This research works on to investigate the facts pertaining to the sustainability of the

Somali business owners in Minneapolis (2014 Loots & Grobler). This problem statement

looks towards the factors which are influencing or affecting the business. The proposed

problem is effective because of the large population of the Somali business owners about

32000 according to the recent censes are now living in the Minneapolis.

There is a need for the identification of the success factors and subsequently, they

need to be analyzed. Such an evaluation of the factors will help them expand their business

activities as well will work to improve the market share and customer base. The analysis of

the defined research problem will allow the Somali business owner to use such aspects in

their business only that may ensure their success. 

The unit of analysis is individuals running business organizations in the Minnesota

community. Therefore a sample of 56 business people has been drawn. The problem

statement is

‘Lack of support for Somalis organizations prevents sustainable development of Somalis

organizations.’

Purpose of the Study

This dissertation focuses on the hindrance factors that are causing problems for the

Somali business owners in Minneapolis where the Somali people live in a larger majority.

The problem statement of this research study reflects towards the “Success Factor of

Minneapolis Somalia Business Owners Sustainability”. It means the main aim of this

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research study to consider only such factors that may improve the sustainability of the

business.

The purpose of this research study is to identify the factors and thereafter analyze the

factors which are supporting the Somali business owners in the city and help them to survive

in the market (Aldrich & Yang, 2013). Further, the purpose of this research study is to

identify the factors which help the Somali business owners to ensure the survival of the

businesses conducted by these Somali business owners in the city of the Minneapolis and

other target markets. Therefore, this research study includes the existing business owners in

the Minneapolis who are coming from the Somali community.

The factors are to be identified by practical insight into the market and once they are

identified they will be analyzed for further focus on the survival of the Somali business

owners and their operations in the city. For conducting this research study, the qualitative

research design is selected as it is a useful method to explore the human perspectives.

Therefore, this research method helps to determine the meaning of the selected research

phenomenon or lived experience related to the Somali business owner with the help of the

description. For this small sample size of the business owners is selected to conduct all

research activities within the proposed time and under the proposed research budget

(Astalin, 2013).

Research Questions

For this research study, the human perspective studies to describe the sustainability

of the business owners through the factors related to business that is presented in the

external business environment in Somali businesses in Minneapolis. According to Bhat

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(2018) phenomenology research phenomenon is used that allows analyzing the holistic

nature of a human’s experience. As a result, the researcher can be able to provide the answer

to the qualitative research questions. As per the nature of this research study, research

questions related to this research study help to find the exact solution of the research

program. Research questions help in framing and exploring the main theme of the research

study which facilitates to use the right direction for accomplishing the research with

credibility and validity. In this context, the following research questions guide this

qualitative study:

RQ1: What is the modus operandi that is being adopted by the Somali Business Owners that

assists them to obtain good success in spite of lack of resources?

RQ2: What are success factors associated with the business owners of Somali community

and how these success factors have contributed their regular business growth for years?

Advancing Scientific Knowledge and Significance of the Study

Hence, this situation increases the need for a new research study that explores the

relationship between the success factors for a business and sustainability of a Somalia

Business Owners in the next upcoming future (Du, 2017). It can therefore be said that this

research study fills the gap by focusing on the sustainability of the business owners in the

context of Minneapolis Somalia Business because it considers different success factors

which help the business owners to ensure the success in the market by defeating the pressure

of the existing social and economic issues to the migrant people (Golden, 2010). This new

research study will help the business owners in Somali in identifying the success factors for

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this business which may help them to survive in the market where the entire factors are just

different from their expectations.

This research study includes the conceptual framework which describes the

relationship between the success factors and survival of the business owners. This

framework is also effective as it is an analytical tool that helps to analyze different context

and variations at a time without ignoring any factor. With the help of this, the researcher can

organize the ideas and develop the conceptual distinctions which help to capture some real

facts related to the research problem and do the research in a way which is easy to apply and

remember.  According to Knight (2015) research study can explain the reason related to the

why the success factors are important for the sustainability of the business owner.

Rationale for Methodology

Research can always be classified in different ways based on the methodology used in

the research itself, the knowledge created, user groups and the problem the research

investigates. There are three main types of research methodologies. These include

Qualitative research methodology, Quantitative research methodology, and the mixed

methodology. The quantitative method is used to measure variables and analyze data using

statistical procedures that provide concrete numerical values that support the studies

research while disregarding the quality of the lived experiences of a phenomenon.

Qualitative research methodology uses observation and interview with questionnaire to

study human participants. Benefits of qualitative research methods are mentioned to justify

its rationality for research. As the research requires feedbacks of human participants,

qualitative research is proposed. The qualitative research method assists to generate a theory

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and is inductive in nature. Qualitative method epistemological orientation is towards

intrepretivism. The ontological orientation of qualitative research method is towards

constructionist (Bryman, 2008). Inductive approach of qualitative method can assist to gain

the hidden meaning and motives of participants because this approach deals with

subjectivity. Here in qualitative research method, open-ended questions are used to gain

greater insights about participants. Attitudes, views and beliefs of participants can be known.

Inductive approach of the qualitative research offers a narrative description too. Qualitative

research ability to focus toward individual behaviour makes this method desirable.

Observation method used in qualitative research method assists to gain understanding of a

complex phenomenon. As the social phenomenon always changes, in this study the role of

qualitative method is justified to select. Quantitative method assists to gain precision in

findings and supports the findings of qualitative research method. Quantitative research

method is known to promote rational decision making as well as objectivity (Hughes, n.d.)

Lastly, the mixed method is a combination of the qualitative and quantitative methodologies

(Yazan, 2015). Using the mixed method requires the researcher to collect and analyze

numerical data using statistical calculations to test hypotheses and collect and analyze

various viewpoints in perceptions using how and why questions to gain a deeper

understanding of the lived experience of its participants (Yazan, 2015). Mixed method or

triangulation method can address the shortcomings of both qualitative and quantitative

research methods.

The mixed methodology is not selected for this study because the researcher does not

seek to test a proposed hypothesis. Additionally, the mixed methodology is an appropriate

selection for researchers seeking to answer quantitative and qualitative questions

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simultaneously (Yin, 2014). In this research, Qualitative research methodology is chosen as

it helps the researchers to basically understand meanings, ideas, beliefs, experience and

ideas through face to face interaction with the respondents (Langkos, 2014). Another reason

why qualitative methodology is appropriate for this research is that it is most appropriate for

the collection of small samples. Its main difference with quantitative research methodology

is that it mainly offers a complete description and analysis of the subject under research

without limiting its scope and the nature of the participants’ responses.

Nature of the Research Design for the Study

Conducting this research effectively, three research design options have been

identified. The design of a qualitative should always be flexible too as it includes a variety

of accepted methods and structures. Theoretically, there are five major types of research

designs as far as qualitative research methods are concerned (Astalin, 2013). These designs

include phenomenological, ethnography, grounded theory, historical and case study. The

phenomenological research design purpose is to describe the live experiences of people as

the research designs examines the lived situations of individuals and analyses the subjective

reality of each individual. Grounded theory purpose is to develop a theory by discovering

the issues of the social system and people’s ability to handle those issues. The grounded

theory is based on formulation of proposition and their testing and redevelopment to create a

new theory. Ethnography research design generally considers culture characteristics and

identifies cultural patterns. Historical research design considers past events to understand the

present and potential future impact of past events. Case study is used to describe in detail

experience of an individual, group, community and institution. The phenomenological

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design type encompasses a description of something that already exists and therefore will

not be used in this study. This research design can be useful to gain live experience of

participants but due to focus of study is to social issues of Somali community and political

and economic factors impacting the Somali business people, this approach is not feasible.

The second design type is ethnography design method which provides a cultural description

of individual human societies (Astalin, 2013) which is not appropriate for this study because

the cultural analysis is not a priority of this study. The third design is the Grounded theory

which includes the collection of data by the use of systematic methodological procedures

and a therefore developing reasonable theory from the data collected and is a selected

design. Historical research design can be used to gain why Somali community does not have

much opportunity for sustainable business practices but the focus of the study is to analyse

contemporary issues, therefore, this research design is not found feasible. The last type of

qualitative research design is a case study which involves the analysis of persons, events,

projects, policies, institutions, and decisions. The case study is not feasible because of in-

depth nature of work required by case study analysis. In this research, the grounded theory

qualitative research design will be used. This is due to the fact that the design follows a

flexible process which is systematic in nature to collect data, code data and lately make

possible connections and show the theories generated from the data (Astalin, 2013). This

design has a unique feature as it allows for the development of a new theory through the

collection and proper analysis of data about a certain phenomenon. In this research study,

therefore, the grounded theory would be more specifically is built through interviews.

56 people were selected to represent an overall view of small Somali businesses in

Minneapolis. One Business owner was selected to be interview from each shop in the

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Taramel mall. The selection criterion is based on the random sampling method that provides

an equal chance to tie each and every participant to be selected in the study. This sampling

method is chosen because it provides high probability for participants’ selection in the study

and is simple to implement.

Sources of Data:

For the data, primary and secondary data sources are collected as this research study

is a qualitative research study is interviewing and questionnaire that contains both open and

close ended questions. The questionnaire chosen is prepared in participants’ language and

use of jargon or complex and technical words is avoided. This is done for better

understanding of the purpose of the questionnaire to the participants. Qualitative research is

a market research method that on most occasions focuses on obtaining data by incorporating

the use of open-ended and conversational communications. (Brannen, 2017).  The primary

data are collected from interviews conducted face to face. According to (Bhat, 2018)

Qualitative method is essential for primary data collection as it collects data at the site where

the participants are and possibly where they might be facing the problems.

Secondary sources are books, published papers and journal articles which provide

already published data related to research problems that have been consulted from the online

resources and the University Library portal. The theories related to the business sustenance

and environmental factors of influence on business continuation are employed in the

research study and they are to develop and justify the selected research questions.

Further, theories related to the research problem will be used to develop and justify

the selected research questions. These theories are discovery theory, creation theory,

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institutional theory and functional theory. There is a limited time scale for research because

of lack of resources and the time set is only four months. As there is limited time available

according to the schedule of the research, the field test, the researcher has used the analysis

of literature reviews that will help to analyze the answers provided by the respondents

(Beiske, 2007).  This method will help the researcher to follow the interview protocol and

maintain the research’s validity.   

Direct interaction with small business owner’s individual on a one to one basis

Sample and Location Details

a)      Location: Minneapolis Minnesota

b)      Population: Owners of the small business

c)      Sample: Minneapolis Suburb (Taramel mall):  Data Collection

A direct interview with a business owner on one to one basis; this procedure has

employed readymade questions for the interview fundamentally meant to be directed to the

business owner.

The analysis of the selected data sources will help in the collection of the existing

data that can directly or indirectly explain the factors which are concerned towards the

sustainability of the business owners in selected business areas. Further, the primary data

source will help the researcher to collect subjective data from the selected respondents about

their understanding and thinking towards the research problem of this research study (Eide

& Kahn, 2008). With the help of this, the researcher can get reliable data related to the

problem of research that facilitates to find applicable research solution only. 

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For obtaining informed consent from participants, a prepared form is provided to

them that includes complete information about the research as well as its purpose.  This

form also describes the participation rights which include the rejection rights of the

participants to take the questionnaire and the right to speak of the participants whom they

can use any time (Eide & Kahn, 2008). Through this, the selected participants are free to

skip any question and free to go out from the research during the data collection process.

With the help of this, research can hold the research’s validity and ethical compliance.

Data Analysis Procedures

According to nature as well as the requirements of this research, the qualitative data

analysis procedures are used. In this context, followings are some steps related to data

analysis procedures that have used:

Developing and Applying a Coding System: for the grounded theory study, two

kinds of coding system are generally used: theoretical coding and substantive coding. In the

process of substantive coding, researcher fractures and analyses the data through open

coding to find a core category. Later researcher applies theoretical sampling and specific

coding of data to saturate core as well as related concepts. The theoretical saturation

approach is realised by consistent comparison of indicators to generate dimensions and

properties of each category. This kind of approach is continued till the findings of new

properties are not possible (Holton, 2007). These coding systems are considered for data analysis.

Summarize the data: In this step, the findings of the research are linked with the aim

and objectives of the research (Brannen, 2017). For this researcher uses noteworthy

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quotations that are a transcript in order to highlight major themes of research within possible

contractions and findings. 

Examining all the information received from Somalia small business owners and

categorizing them depending on how much of the information received. Downloading all

interviews conducted and documenting all the material used.

Examining the small business owners about their business

i) Categorizing depending on how big is the business

ii) Tabulating with a chart and arranging the list of questions on small business

iii) Recombining both the groups together and getting all the information about the small

business.

Ethical Considerations

The ethical consideration required to conduct the study are as mentioned. For

researchers, there are certain guidelines that need to be followed. First, is a researcher must

not influence the study findings with his thoughts. He should have integrity and honesty that

enforces precision in results of a research. His own perceptual bias must not affect research

and he must not provide subjective analysis. These criteria must be fulfilled as a researcher

by me.

Next, researcher should maintain the confidentiality of all participants and it should

be ascertained that no sensitive data should be accessed by unauthorised person other than

researcher or authorised persons. It is a prime responsibility for a researcher to maintain

confidentiality of participants. To conduct the research, questionnaire purpose must be

known to the participants as well as their security and safety during research process.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 23

Participants must provide their consent to participate in the research study and researcher

has responsibility to provide them the nature of research, and findings of research if

participants desire. These ethical considerations must be followed in a research and these

ethical considerations are also deliberated by me. The research data will be collected from

the library, websites of selected business owners, printed material and Journal articles from

Science Direct, Emerald, and other online sources. These sources provide only authentic

data ( Reliable data)-first hand, from experience, unfiltered. Further, terms of informed

consent process have used to provide adequate information and freedom to subject in the

concern of study and ensured that the subject can select any available option (Zyphur &

Pierides, 2017). Such data collected and analyzed in this research is processed in such a

manner that all possible causes for leakage of data would be promptly avoided. Maximum

confidentiality and possible data tampering are avoided.

For this research, the participants would be selected from the community of

Minneapolis Somalia Business Owners only as the research problems directly related to

their sustainability. On the other hand, the data that would be collected from them will be

protected through the providing an agreement paper that will give the assurance about the

anonymity of the participant and confidentiality of the data elements rendered for the

purposes of this research. (Eide, & Kahn 2008). During the research study, the breach of

personal information of the participants and may create the potential concerns. It may affect

the research’s credibility. Therefore, earlier consent from the selected respondents in regard

to the use of collected information will help the researcher to address the concerns related to

the ethical concerns related to the data breach.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 24

The researcher himself will ensure that only confidentiality and no-risk surveys and

observations will be done. In case any identifying information is needed, this will be

confidential and will not be included in the final report. The researcher will ensure that they

follow the ethical standards established by the American Psychological Association. They

are six in total, and they include maintaining confidentiality and privacy, obtaining informed

consent from participants, becoming conscious of various roles, using ethical resources, and

protecting intellectual property rights and these ethical principles are followed in research

(Smith, 2003).

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 25

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Kwame,

First of all, congratulations on coming this far in your academic career where you are

now at work on your dissertation! A dissertation is an enormous undertaking and you

should be commended for taking on such a challenge.

There is some very good writing and research here and there are also some ways that you

can improve your prospectus. In terms of grammar and mechanics, your prospectus

contains some grammatical errors stemming from an inconsistent use of articles and

prepositions. I have attached a lesson on choosing the correct preposition and I

recommend clicking on the hyperlink in a comment headed “Articles” for some help with

their use. There are also some issues with making subjects and verbs agree and using

pronouns so I have attached corresponding lessons on these as well. Your use of singular

and plural nouns could be improved in some areas and, as you will notice from my

comments and from the attached lessons, using articles and pronouns accurately and

making subjects and verbs agree often relates to whether a noun is singular or plural.

I also recommend clicking on the hyperlink in the comments headed “Gerunds,

Participles, and Infinitives” because your choice of verb forms could be improved in

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 33

some areas, particularly your use of infinitives (the preposition “to” + a verb). Since

infinitives involve the preposition “to,” this issue relates to your use of prepositions as

well as verb forms. Also regarding verb forms, be sure to refer to past studies in the past

tense throughout your prospectus

Another issue that ought to be addressed to improve your prospectus is that there is a bit

of a tendency to anthropomorphize in your writing. Please see my comments regarding

this and, for more help with addressing this issue, please see:

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/other/anthropomorphism

Also, be aware of using “this,” “it” in instances where it may be difficult for the reader to

discern what is being referred to. Using “this” or “it” in such instances causes

unnecessary vagueness instead of the concreteness desired in academic writing.

You appear to have omitted words throughout your prospectus so be aware of missing

words when you proofread (particularly missing articles and prepositions). Be aware as

well of including words and phrases that cause a sentence to read less clearly than it

otherwise would (“Concise Writing”). You have also used some words outside of their

correct contexts (“Word Choice”). It is crucial, particularly at the doctoral level, to use a

word only if you fully know its meanings and uses as using words outside of their correct

contexts can result in grammatical errors and issues with sentence clarity. For a

dissertation, it is especially important to use terms related to research accurately.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 34

There are some issues with clarity and grammar in some of the lengthier sentences of

your prospectus so, in addition to making sure that sentences with comments headed with

“Clarity” and “Grammar” are easily understood by the reader, I recommend clicking on

the hyperlinks to the right for some help with composing complex and compound

sentences; I have also attached a lesson on writing clear and simple sentences. The

clarity of your writing would be improved by using conjunctions (ex: “and,” “but,”

“because,” “or,” “so”) more frequently and consistently to indicate the relationship

between subjects, and by employing transitions more accurately to indicate the

relationship between ideas.

Your treatment of sources could use a bit of work. For example, there are some instances

where you have cited a source after referring to your study. As I mentioned in my

comments, such citations are not appropriate because the authors cannot have known

about your study and sentences should be worded and cited in such a way that only the

relevant information is cited. Also, there are some instances where you appear to have

used information from an outside source but have not provided a citation. It is helpful to

keep in mind that, if information from a source is used in a sentence in which that source

is not otherwise named, a citation must be provided. If it seems like nearly every

sentence in some parts of your prospectus thereby require a citation, then this is an

indication that there could be more of a focus on how the topics and studies that you

discuss relate to aspects of your study.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 35

Most importantly, you have used exact wording from an outside source without quoting

or citing that source. It is critical that this is addressed so that you cannot be accused of

plagiarism and I have attached lessons on quoting a source and paraphrasing a source to

help you to do so.

Your citations could be improved because you have included authors’ names in citations

when they are a part of a sentence. If an author’s name is a part of the sentence, only the

year of publication should be placed in parentheses; for example:

According to Smith (2018)….

Please note that I have not offered suggestions for the revision of every grammatical and

mechanical error in your prospectus; rather, I have highlighted the areas that I believe

require the most attention.

In terms of content and organization, it is difficult to assess the alignment of your

problem statement to the purpose statement and research questions because your problem

statement is not worded clearly. Therefore, as a first step towards improving your

prospectus, I recommend formulating a problem statement that is worded as clearly as

possible. In addition, your first research question does not align with your purpose

statement because your purpose statement does not refer to the modus operandi of Somali

business owners so you may need to reword your purpose statement so that it aligns with

such a research question.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 36

After clarifying your problem statement and making sure that it is in alignment with your

purpose statement and research questions, I recommend conducting more research on

sources of data and the theoretical foundation or conceptual framework of a study. The

foundation/framework appears to be discussed inaccurately in your prospectus and the

sources of data that you will use to collect data could be clarified and expanded upon. A

focus in this regard should be how collecting data using the sources of data will enable

you to answer your research questions.

The “gap” in previous research that will be addressed by conducting your study could

also be clarified because you have stated that there is a lack of research on the topic and

then have referred to a study on the topic. When discussing the gap in research that will

be addressed by your study, it would be a good idea to discuss past studies that are

similar to yours and inform the reader about how your study differs from those.

To address the issues that I noted above, I recommend making use of sources that discuss

the components of a dissertation and how they ought to fit together, as well as research

methodology. Many sources, both in print and online, discuss these. You have

conducted some excellent research on your topic; conducting similarly thorough research

on the components of a dissertation, how they ought to fit together and research

methodology will, I think, make the process of writing your prospectus proceed more

smoothly.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 37

If you have not yet done so, I recommend checking out ThinkingStorm’s live tutoring –

there, you can obtain more thorough help with all of the aspects of writing a successful

dissertation prospectus, from grammar and mechanics to organization and content. Best

of luck on your dissertation.

Sincerely,

Derek

Choosing the Correct Preposition

A preposition is a part of speech that introduces additional information about

an action: where, why, or to whom an action occurs.

Popular prepositions include to, by, for, on, in, of, from, about, and with.

These words begin a prepositional phrase—a phrase that includes a preposition

and the object of the preposition. For instance, the song “Under the Boardwalk”

uses multiple prepositional phrases to tell us where the action is taking place.

Under the boardwalk

Down by the sea

On a blanket with my baby

Is where I’ll be.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 38

A prepositional phrase can begin a sentence, or come after the main subject

and verb.

In the event of a fire, walk to the nearest exit.

Walk to the nearest exist in the event of a fire.

If you use too many prepositional sentences in one sentence, the reader can

have trouble following along.

I’ll be on a blanket with my baby under the boardwalk down by the

sea.

We can resolve this issue by splitting some of the phrases into separate

sentences.

When it gets warm, I like to go under the boardwalk down by the

sea. You’ll find me there on a blanket with my baby.

Choosing the Correct Pronoun

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 39

A pronoun takes the place of a noun that has appeared earlier in the text.

We call this earlier noun the antecedent. The pronoun needs to match the

antecedent so that if you inserted the antecedent, the sentence would still make

sense.

The CEO refuses to reconsider her position on benefits.

In this sentence, her stands in for the noun CEO. Using a pronoun removes

repetition from the sentence.

When there are many possible antecedents, readers may be confused about

which is correct:

Although the CEO and the union head met for hours, she refuses to

reconsider her position on benefits.

In this sentence, she probably stands for the union head, since that is the

closest antecedent, but readers may not be sure. In these situations, substitute the

original noun back into place.

Pronouns can be singular or plural. Pronouns can be subjects, objects,

possessive, or reflexive.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 40

Pronoun

Type

Singular Plural

Subject I, you, he, she,

it, one

we,

they

Object me, you, him,

her, it

us,

them

Possessi

ve

my, his, hers, its their

Reflexiv

e

himself, herself,

itself

thems

elves

Your pronouns and antecedents must match. If you are using a singular

noun, you should use a plural singular pronoun later on.

If a student wants to succeed, they will manage their time correctly.

We need to fix this sentence so that the noun matches the pronoun in

number. Many people do not like writing he/she or he or she, so it may be easier

to change the subject to plural.

If students want to succeed, they will manage their time correctly.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 41

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree

The subject of the sentence—in other words, the main noun—should match

the verb in number. A singular subject should have a singular verb, and a plural

noun requires a plural verb.

The cicadas return from their 17-year nap this summer.

The President is secretly afraid of cicadas.

Sometimes matching a subject with a verb is difficult because the subject

may look plural, but actually be one single unit. For instance, a book title may have

a plural noun in it, but since the book itself is a single item, the verb should be

single.

The Ten Commandments is my favorite film to watch on Easter weekend.

The word “commandments” is plural, but the film is singular.

Matching a subject with a verb is also difficult when the subject is followed

by a prepositional phrase.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 42

My favorite of van Gogh’s paintings is “Starry, Starry Night.”

Because the verb is follows a plural noun, you may think it should be plural

as well. But the subject of the sentence is the singular noun “favorite”, so it

should be matched with a singular verb.

How to Write a Sentence

A sentence is a complete statement with ending punctuation. A statement is

complete when it has a subject and a predicate. The subject is the main focus of

the sentence, and the predicate is what the subject does (or what happens to the

subject).

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. is an example of a

sentence. It has a subject, the quick brown fox, and the predicate, jumped over

the lazy dog. It also has a period as its ending punctuation. “The quick brown fox”

on its own is not a sentence because it does not contain any information about

what the fox does or what happens to the fox.

Predicates can be short or long, depending on the type of verb. The

predicate always contains a verb phrase, and may include additional information in

a prepositional phrase.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 43

The quick brown fox jumped.

This can be a complete sentence, because the action can be complete on its

own.

But if we add the prepositional phrase, we know where the fox jumped and

we add some other information that may be important.

You can learn more about sentence clarity at our Writing Resource Center.

Employing Transition Words and Sentences

We use transition words to establish the relationships between different

ideas.

Transitions can extend an idea, compare or contrast it with others, show

cause and effect, or reveal the order in which actions take place.

For instance, however is a contrasting transition word. It tells the reader

that conflicting information is about to be introduced. The words before however

will contrast with the words after it.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 44

Public pressure will decrease the amount of bullying in schools;

however, it is not possible to eliminate all bullying.

If we used the word “therefore” in its place, the sentence would have a

different (and illogical) meaning:

Public pressure will decrease the amount of bullying in schools;

therefore, it is not possible to eliminate all bullying.

Therefore transitions from an action to a result. It is a cause and effect

transition word.

Using these words correctly takes practice. If you are not sure about the

meaning of a word, look it up in the dictionary.

How to Quote a Source

Sometimes when we use the main idea from a source, the exact words used

to express that idea are important as well. This is especially true in literature and

law, where minor word choices can have a significant effect on the meaning. We

can include a quotation in our papers when we want to include the exact words

from our source.

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 45

There is one problem with using quotations: how will readers tell the

difference between the quote and our own ideas and words? We use quotation

marks to separate a quote from the rest of the text.

Everything inside double quotation marks is a quote.

Robert De Niro is famous for saying, “never rat on your friends, and

always keep your mouth shut.”

The quotation marks surround the words De Niro actually said, while

everything else is the writer’s.

We also include an in-text citation for quotations, which appears after the

closing quotation marks. See your style guide or our Writing Resource Center for

more details on what is required.

When a quote runs long (over 40 words or 4 lines), separate it from the rest

of the text by indenting the whole quote.

The wheel was a difficult invention for early humans to master:

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 46

To make a fixed axle with revolving wheels, Anthony

explained, the ends of the axle had to be nearly perfectly smooth

and round, as did the holes in the center of the wheels; otherwise,

there would be too much friction between these components for the

wheels to turn. (Wolchover) 

How to Paraphrase a Source

A paraphrase is information from a source that you have rewritten in your

own words.

When we paraphrase, we should not copy the original quotation. The best

way to prepare a paraphrase is to read the original source, set it aside so you

cannot see it, and then type your first attempt. Afterwards, bring up the source

and compare it to the original. Make sure that your word choices and sentence

structures are different. No three words in a row should match the original source.

Original quotation: “The Syrian Electronic Army has been on a Twitter

hacking jag as of late. Besides the Onion, it also recently got into the

accounts of the Associated Press, NPR, CBS, the Guardian, and the BBC”

(Kerr).

DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 47

Paraphrase: The Onion is not the only victim of the Syrian Electronic

Army. Dara Kerr of CNet explains that other news sites, such as the

Associated Press and NPR, have also seen their twitter accounts

compromised by the group.