1. INFORMED CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH

Saint Francis University - Division of Professional Studies

PROJECT TITLE: Exploring the Interplay between Teal Practices and Familiness on Performance and Succession Outcomes in Family-Owned Small Businesses

You are invited to play a crucial role in a research project conducted by Joseph Coray from the Division of Professional Studies at Saint Francis University. This project, part of a dissertation being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Tricia McFadden, Dean of the Division of Professional Studies, in partial completion of an Executive Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership and Innovation degree, relies on your valuable insights and experiences.

NON-PARTICIPATION STATEMENT
We’re inviting you to take a survey for research. Taking part in the research project is completely voluntary and you may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time. There are no negative consequences if you don’t want to take it. If you start the survey, you can always change your mind and stop at any time. You may also refuse to answer any research-related questions that make you uncomfortable. Please note that your responses will be kept strictly confidential and will only be used for the purposes of this research project.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
We want to understand the characteristics and traits that make family-owned small business thrive; we will be looking at influence of family members in business management, values and decision-making, as well as generations, cultural heritage, and community engagement as correlated to business performance and sustainability. The insights from this study could provide valuable strategies and practices for enhancing the performance and sustainability of small businesses.

PROCEDURES
You will be one of approximately 300 subjects invited to participate in this project through the online survey tool. Rest assured, the survey does not require personal information and all responses will be kept strictly confidential. The survey will ask about your business, its operations, its values and purpose, and the business performance and succession plans. It will take about 19 minutes to complete. We will collect the anonymous participants’ data and conduct statistical analysis, testing the relationship between variables. The survey questions include descriptions of types of businesses, growth over time, cultural and ethnic heritages, and values that motivate business owners. They also seek to understand how the business owners view their employees, customers, the community, and other stakeholders.

CONFIDENTIALITY
All participants will remain anonymous. We are not collecting any specific information that will identify the business itself, the business owner, the location, or any other private or personal identifiable information. All collected information will be held confidential and maintained within legal limits.


 
 33% of survey complete.

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