Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

David Gould

Abstract

Most restaurants in the United States fail during their first year of operation and many survivors do not last past 5 years. The problem was that some fast-casual restaurant (FCR) leaders do not understand and cannot identify innovation strategies for business sustainability. The purpose of this multiple-case study was to explore what innovative strategies are used by successful FCR leaders in the U.S. state of Delaware to overcome business challenges and achieve sustainability beyond 5 years. The conceptual framework was based on Schumpeter’s entrepreneurship innovation theory. Data were collected from 12 leaders (owners, managers, and supervisors) of six FCRs in Delaware that had been in business for 5 or more years. Sampling selection strategy included FCR leaders with 3 or more years of experience. Data sources included telephone and virtual semistructured interviews with the leaders and social media posts, official publications, and other related documents. Data were analyzed using NVivo 12. The findings included a total of 51 innovation strategies with 12 top highlighted themes or strategies from four primary categories. These four major categories were management and entrepreneurship, business and sustainability, technology and integrated systems, and social diffusion. The social change implications of this research include identifying innovative sustainability strategies to sustain FCRs in Delaware. Using these strategies, FCR employers may potentially generate sustainable profits and benefit the local economy by maintaining current employees, creating additional jobs, and sparking continuous social improvement.

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