Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

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

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Lionel de Souza

Abstract

Economic sanctions can result in more than a 70% decrease in business activities in a sanctioned country. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to identify the strategies import and export small business owners use to sustain businesses under economic sanctions. The population for this study was import and export small business owners in the state of Khartoum, Sudan. General systems theory served as the conceptual framework and underpinned the study. The data collection included semistructured interviews and government financial reports. Adhering to an interview protocol, conducting transcript reviews of participants' interviews, member checking, and methodological triangulation represented the measures to ensure dependability, trustworthiness, creditability, transferability, and confirmability of the research. The thematic data analysis involved data cleaning, uploading the transcribed interviews into qualitative data analysis software, reorganizing the data, coding relevant information, and methodological triangulation against financial reports from the Central Bank of Sudan and the World Development Bank Indicators. The results from the thematic data analysis led to the identification of some major themes, notably, innovative strategies to secure funding and increase business sustainability despite the unfavorable economic climate consequent to the prevalent economic sanctions. The consensus among participants denoted that creative strategies presented the only choice to overcome the adverse business climate. The study findings may contribute to positive social change as the knowledge from it may aid in the improvement of employment, the living standards, and the prosperity of small businesses and societies in Sudan.

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