Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify pre‐loan factors that ultimately impact post‐loan risk ratings of small business in southern Arkansas. Design/methodology/approach – Ordinary least squares linear regression analysis is conducted on small business data to determine which...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine if rural firms can utilize technology to communicate with their customers, compete for business, reduce costs, and improve operations to maintain competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – Businesses in the service area were...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify important elements of a strategy to facilitate small farmer participation in international supply chains for fresh produce. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs survey data collected from a national sample of US fresh produce...

Purpose – To extend the research focuses of downtown business districts beyond the urban planning literature through application of the resource‐based theory of the firm. Downtowns may act like firms (with a collection of SBUs), and therefore should possess resources that provide competitive...

This article compares the educational background and years of work experience of students entering a Microenterprise Training Institute (MTI) program. Hypotheses were developed and tested to determine whether human capital attributes (education and work experience) influenced students' ability...

This study applied Job Descriptive Index (JDI) to measure job attitudes among approximately 80 employees of four different small businesses. Through a standardized procedure, each employee filled out the survey form, responded to a structured interview, and then completed the survey form again....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine both the characteristics of the business customers and the types of venture which make use of online loan applications. Despite the growth in the use of technology in banking and the advent of online banking, little research has been conducted...

Purpose – This study aims to examine the relationship among three main constructs of financial status, e‐commerce components, and Hispanic small businesses' (HSBs') perceptions regarding the contracting process of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as they pertain to HSBs and...

Purpose – This study seeks to examine the impact of owner's knowledge of information technology (IT) on business and IT strategic alignment, as well as on IT use in the small firm context, using the resource‐based view as a theoretical foundation. Design/methodology/approach – A random...

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the relationship between broadband availability and firm establishment growth rates by employment size and by industry to assess the impact of broadband on small business growth in Kentucky. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a modified growth...