Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

James J.A. Glenn

Abstract

Lack of leadership skills in women-led businesses can result in high business failure rates. Women business owners who do not know how to improve their leadership skills could face difficulties succeeding in business. Grounded in the transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that women business owners in the events planning business use to improve leadership skills to succeed in business beyond 5 years. The participants included five women in the events planning business in Cameroon, Central Africa, who successfully developed strategies to improve leadership skills to succeed in business beyond 5 years. Data were collected via semistructured interviews, publicly available documents, and observations of participants’ business facilities. Yin’s 5-step data analysis process was used to analyze data. Three themes emerged: embracing leadership attributes, acquiring leadership capabilities, and conceptualizing the playing field. The key recommendation from this study is for women business owners to attain leadership attributes such as engagement ability, accountability, courage, and humility through mentoring, followership, experience, and training. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve business performance, improve job creation and standard of living, reduce crime, and increase tax revenue to the local government.

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