Strategies Used by Military Spouse Small Businesses During a Military Relocation

Authors

Sandra D. Heredia, Walden UniversityFollow
Patricia Fusch, Walden UniversityFollow

Abstract

There are over 615,000 women military spouses and 1,786 known military spouse business owners who relocate every 2 to 3 years to follow their active duty spouse. The research problem addressed was the lack of strategies military spouse small business owners used to sustain their business during a mandatory military relocation. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies 5 women military spouse small business owners, located at military installations in the Midlands and Pee Dee regions of South Carolina, used to sustain their businesses during a relocation. The sampling method used was census sampling. The systems theory was the conceptual framework of this research supported by sustainability, strategic management, and event system theories. In-depth semistructured interviews and archival documentations were the chosen methods of data collection. A CADQAS software was used to organize the data and content analysis method was to analyze the data gathered from the interviews and documents. The emergent themes were small businesses, work-life balance, business finance, barrier to business ownership, initiatives to support military spouses, and personal finances quality of life.

Keywords

Small Businesses, Military Spouses, Women, Relocation, System Theory, Work-Life Balance, Business Finance, Barriers to Business Ownership, Multiple Case Study, Qualitative Method, System Theory, Census Sampling

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Sandra D. Heredia is a retired military officer with 30 years of service from the United States Air Force. She was an enlisted member and crossover and earned her commissioned. Dr. Heredia has been assigned to and in leadership positions at levels from squadron to Air Staff to included numerous deployed locations. She led numerous teams and subordinates to a plethora of awards from base-level to Air Force-level. Dr. Heredia served several years as a board member on the Habitat of Humanity and chaired a committee. Dr. Herdia earned her doctorate degree in business administration with an emphasis in entrepreneurship from Walden University. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: Sandee_q@hotmail.com.

Dr. Patricia Fusch is contributing faculty at Walden University. Her research focuses on leadership, manufacturing, women in business; ethnographic design, case study design, change management initiatives, focus group facilitation, and organizational development. Dr. Fusch has experience as a performance improvement consultant in the public and private sector. Her publications can be found in The Qualitative Report and in The International Journal of Applied Management and Technology. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: patfusch@hotmail.com.

Publication Date

7-24-2020

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4418

Recommended APA Citation

Heredia, S. D., & Fusch, P. (2020). Strategies Used by Military Spouse Small Businesses During a Military Relocation. The Qualitative Report, 25(7), 1919-1945. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2020.4418