The proliferation of smartphones has spawned a new industry – mobile apps. Managers increasingly recognize the potential for mobile commerce apps to “engage” customers and thereby grow sales. To measure this potential, this paper examines what drives customer usage of apps and whether app usage drives purchases in the online and offline channels.
Often the story of successful places is predicated on the story of an individual who was instrumental in creating institutions and making connections that were transformative for a local economy. Certainly this is the case for Silicon Valley in California and Fred Terman, the Dean of Engineering at Stanford University, USA, who offered his garage to his students, Hewlett and Packard, and encouraged other start-ups. Or George Kozmetsky, the founder of Teledyne, who created the Institute for Innovation, Creativity and Capital (IC2) and mentored over 260 local computer companies in Austin, Texas. Any reading of the lives of these individuals highlights their connection to community and motivations beyond making profits.
The UNC Entrepreneurship Center has publicly expressed its support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and is committed to diversity and being allies to the black community. We will continue to prioritize increasing representation and inclusion in the work that we do at UNC and in the greater community. This session will focus on discussing the various journeys of Black entrepreneurs in our ecosystem.
This event is a networking meetup for Black entrepreneurs in the UNC Entrepreneurship Center community. The event will start with Zoom breakout rooms for networking and authentic conversations followed by a moderated panel discussion with three Black entrepreneurs.
This study investigates how the organizational reporting structure of the university technology licensing office (TLO) and the educational background and experience of the TLO director affect the technology transfer process.
The United States healthcare system has long been been criticized for its segmented approach to finding solutions. But according to Jeff Arnold, Sharecare co-founder, chairman & CEO, platforms focused on personalized and data-driven healthcare solutions could eliminate that fragmentation, providing better, more sustainable care for all.
Kenan Institute Director of Research Christian Lundblad elaborates on the recent discussion around Modern Monetary Theory. This intellectual approach takes an unorthodox view of the nature of government taxation and expenditure, arguing (among other things) that a sovereign nation that can spend, tax and borrow in its own currency faces very different constraints than often modeled in traditional economics textbooks.
Many people dream of starting their own business. But before they can make their dream a reality, one of the first and most important decisions they must make is whether to go it alone or partner with someone they may, or may not, already know. Which approach is better? Kenan Institute Grant Recipient Travis Howell, previews his findings in a soon-to-be-published working paper.
With COVID-19 cases on the rise, much uncertainty remains about how much more damage the pandemic will inflict on the U.S. economy, particularly on certain sectors and small businesses. What is clear, however, is that many businesses will continue to require infusions of capital to stay afloat, and that private sector capital providers will need to play a role in long-term recovery efforts. In this Kenan Insight, we explore how those providers will need to shift their approach to risk assessment in the post-COVID world, and what opportunities might be created for investors who can solve two outstanding issues.
As we approach the one-year mark of state-issued stay-at-home orders, the short- and long-term impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on state coffers is still being assessed. With businesses forced to close and unemployment at near-record levels, state policymakers are scrambling to find ways to make up for lost tax revenue. In this Kenan Insight, we look at both the challenges and opportunities for balancing state budgets in light of this new economic reality.
As with any U.S. presidential election, 2016 forces us to examine issues that are critical to the economy now and in the future. What's Next America brings together CEOs, researchers and policy makers to go beyond prescribed solutions. Thought and action come together in a full day of workshops and panels aimed at having a real impact.
In response to the economic chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government launched its largest fiscal stimulus in modern history—the CARES Act. But with $2 trillion invested in small businesses, unemployment benefits and direct cash payments to households, the CARES Act has still fallen short of its goals to spur consumer spending and restore employment. This Kenan Insight analyzes what went wrong, and offers suggestions for the anticipated next round of federal economic aid.
A panel of experts from the North Carolina CEO Forum, convened by UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and its affiliated Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, offered a press briefing via webinar to introduce a new framework aggregating real-time, non-standard economic and public health data to guide critical policy decisions on economic openness. This press briefing features UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Professor & Kenan Institute Research Director Christian Lundblad, Kenan Institute Senior Fellow & Carroll Family Holdings Founder David Carroll, First Citizens Bank Vice Chair Hope Bryant and Kenan Institute Executive Director and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Professor Greg Brown.
The list of stores that have closed or gone bankrupt in 2020 reads like a “who’s who” of venerable retail giants. Although retailing has been experiencing tectonic shifts for several years, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated both challenges and opportunities. In this Kenan Insight, we explore four major trends in retail, with a particular focus on food retailing.
Five of the top 10 skills identified for business success are entrepreneurial skills, making entrepreneurship education relevant not just for would-be startup owners, but for general business students as well. In this video, Vickie Gibbs, executive director of the UNC Entrepreneurship Center, reveals what UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School is doing to teach these critical skills and address current and future trends in the evolving field of entrepreneurship.
The launch of a new investigative series examining the most critical healthcare issues facing the United States today.
Amid a chaotic year both nationally and globally due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and follow-on effects, private equity deals in healthcare have shown impressive resilience. According to recent research and analysis, healthcare PE deals continue to outpace all other deals – both in volume and value – with the majority of activity focused on the healthcare provider space and biopharmaceutical companies. As total healthcare deal value continues to grow, this panel paused to explore critical questions about how the growth in PE-backed healthcare companies affects patients – including their health outcomes, their medical bills and their access to important health services.
This session delves into three critical aspects of smaller/regional funds. First, is their role in increasing diversity among both capital allocators and entrepreneurs who receive funding. Second, is how pooling capital in diversified vehicles that can invest locally can promote investment by larger VCs/investors. Third, is how regional funds can bridge the divides in communities that lack robust VC ecosystems.