Introduction

The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was to identify areas of leadership and management that affect the success and failure of small businesses. The results of this study might help new or future small business owners improve their management processes and leadership methods to achieve success. This chapter details the methodology followed in the conduct of the study. Specifically, the chapter contains specific information on the procedures the researcher followed in the recruitment of participants, data collection and data analysis. The chapter also contains details on the researcher's role in the study, the instruments used and the steps taken to ensure ethical responsibility.

The researcher identified the IPA research approach as the most appropriate and suitable design. In IPA studies, the researcher aims to develop a deep understanding of the meanings that individuals attach to specific experiences from their own perspective (i.e., description and interpretation; Gill, 2015). IPA researchers focus on creating a highly detailed idiographic account through the participants’ own interpretative description of experience (Gill, 2015; Pietkiewicz & Smith, 2014). This researcher recognized the uniqueness of the contexts and circumstances of each business owner; thus, the aim of this study required an idiographic account, not a nomothetic solution to the issue of business success and failure.

Specifically, the researcher utilized the IPA approach to address the following research questions:

R1. How do small business owners perceive the relationship between management and leadership skills and small business success or failure?

R2. What do small business owners identify as management problems that lead to success or failure?

R3. What do small business owners identify as leadership problems that lead to failure?

R4. How do small business owners perceive the need for management and leadership skills to succeed in the small business arena?

Small businesses include independently owned and operated companies, which are not dominant competitors in the business field of operation. The specific phenomenon or issue investigated in this study included the high failure rate of small businesses in the United States. This phenomenon was investigated through the phenomenological research tradition, which emphasizes individual's interpretations of experiences and the creation of meaning based on such interpretations (Reiners, 2012).