Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present a model of a university-led business support programme that ran in the West Midlands region of the UK. The initiative was designed with the specific aim of assisting businesses to grow into the renewable energy technology markets by engaging them in a spectrum of support activities. A distinctive form of university-industry collaboration was used in the implementation of the programme where the leadership and management roles were carried out by Staffordshire University, while technical consultancy was delivered by external industry experts. The effectiveness of this model is investigated through a survey of businesses assisted by the programme.

The case study first describes the design and rationale of the support programme and then goes on to present findings from a survey conducted with firms who part took in the support programme (41 per cent response rate, n=54).

Respondents’ overall satisfaction with the programme indicate that the university-business collaborative model worked well. However, the survey findings show that businesses preferred group-based activities over one-to-one, direct consultancy type of support. Results suggest that the overall effectiveness of the scheme could have been improved through greater industry focus and better management of companies’ expectations through clearer articulation of the programme's ability and scope for support.

The survey was carried out with participating businesses only four months after the programme had ended, which may have limited the time for programme-related impacts to mature and/or materialise.

The presented model of university-led business support programme and recommendations can be of use to other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as well as business organisations seeking to establish such collaborative initiatives.

This paper contributes to the discourse on university-industry relationships and the nature of business support programmes by presenting a “real-world” case study of a university-led business support initiative. The findings and recommendations may be of interest and use to researchers, HEIs, policy makers as well as business support and training organisations.

Describes international management development programmes at the University of Hawaii. The programmes prepare business people for economic development in the Asia Pacific region and the international marketplace. A unique feature is the strong interaction of participants with multinational and multi‐cultural students.

Access to a strategic planning software package provided a state‐based small business training provider with an opportunity to develop an innovative training/assistance program in financial management for small business. The program aimed to have accountants use the software to provide small business managers with financial management information specific to their firms, in a cost‐effective manner. It was hoped that in so doing, accountants would build the provision of such information into the services normally provided to small business, and the small business managers would recognize the value of such information and begin to use it in the management of their firms. Reports on an evaluation of the program which indicated that the program innovation was an effective means of encouraging and enabling both accountants and small business managers to undertake and utilize financial analysis in the management of small firms.

Identifies problems facing MBA programmes, the type of executives sought by businesses, and the roles academic and business institutions need to play in developing the next generation of managers. Views MBA programmes through an input‐output model with the quality of the output (MBAs) a function of the quality of the input and the efficiency of the process and reveals the problems in business education. To raise the quality of MBAs, schools need to cover material relevant to client firms, to incorporate new materials into existing courses that stress written and oral communication. States that faculty and executives should forge links to evaluate graduates and update classroom material and states faculty should be encouraged to undertake business internships. Corporations have an additional role, they must identify MBAs with potential for senior level management and train them, focusing on leadership negotiating skills, and long‐term planning.

A review of the range of business programmes on offer, research past and present, and specialist institutes/programmes within the Faculty of Business Administration, New York University. Efforts are under way to establish an Institute for International Business with five research directions concerning multinational enterprise, environmental conflict management, international financial management, international banking, trade and industrial structure. These research activities will complement a parallel set of executive programme activities, and each will support curricular innovation and teaching quality.

This paper sets out to apply practically the constructs of the entrepreneurial performance training model to three different training interventions, known as the business start‐up, basic entrepreneurship, and advanced entrepreneurship programmes. Furthermore, the paper aims to measure the business performance indicators and skills transfer that took place after the training interventions.

Quantitative research was conducted, using three validated research questionnaires. The research design consists of a pre‐test, post‐test and post‐post test (ten weeks after the training interventions took place). Factor analysis was done, descriptive statistics arising from opinions and expressions are presented and statistical tests such as the Chi‐square test and ANOVA provide inferential statistics.

The business performance indicators improved for all three training groups after they attended the training interventions. Furthermore, it was proved that skills transfer took place after the respondents attended the training interventions.

The training groups can be measured again after 18 months of three years to really determine the impact of the training interventions. The results of the three training programmes can be compared to see whether the basic entrepreneurship groups gained more skills and their business performance indicators increased more than the business start‐up or advanced entrepreneurship programmes.

The outcomes and implications of this research paper emphasise that it is imperative to design training programmes based on training models that have been tested. This paper highlights some aspects of how constructs used within the training models can be tested.

The entrepreneurial performance‐training model was practically applied and provides a set of expectations for other entrepreneurship models as well as presenting a benchmark against which programme performance can be measured. A unique teaching methodology is portrayed that contributes to the overall effectiveness of the training model.

This paper asks whether enterprise programmes are overcoming the finance gap faced by their disadvantaged participants. Specifically, the paper seeks to assessthe level of finance invested by participants on a leading UK enterprise programme, the New Entrepreneur Scholarships (NES).

The paper draws on a postal and e‐survey of participants on a leading UK enterprise programme, reporting on 472 respondents. Three capital structure variables (personal investment, external private investment and grants) are employed to analyse the importance of various types of funding in NES businesses. These figures are compared with published data about use of different types of finance, including principal sources of funding, in UK start‐ups. Descriptive statistics of perceptions of under‐capitalisation, and needs for additional funding, are also reported.

NES Scholars make significantly lower start‐up investment than is typical in UK small businesses, particularly in terms of personal finance. Finance provided by the programme is important but does not compensate for poor access to personal and loan investment. Perhaps as a consequence, almost half of the Scholars were under‐capitalised.

Implications for policy are discussed at length. In particular, practical options for addressing the under‐capitalisation of businesses started under enterprise programmes are analysed, including increasing and targeting grant finance, providing soft‐loans, improving access to existing sources of public funding for small businesses, easing access to private finance, providing more support for the self‐employed through the welfare and tax credit systems and paying childcare subsidies.

The paper presents novel analysis of the capital structure of businesses started under an enterprise programme and employs this to explore the critical question of whether – and in what ways – these firms are under‐capitalised. It also presents new analysis of the policy options available for improving finance to disadvantaged groups. It fills gaps in the literatures relating to small business finance and small business and social inclusion.

This study explores policy and practice in relation to a peripheral rural region food support programme for small (micro) food enterprises and the impact on business development and innovation.

An exploratory case study methodology is employed focusing on the effectiveness of a local support programme for micro business development in the food sector, in a European Union peripheral, rural location.

The effective integration of policy and practice in the design and implementation of a public/private partnership programme can enable micro businesses to benefit from Government aid in a collective manner that would not have been possible in a Government–micro enterprise dyadic relationship.

The study focuses on one region and on one particular support programme. However, the research highlights the potential benefits that can accrue to micro food producers, and micro companies more generally from participation in such a programme, and identifies the types of support that are particularly effective for these types of organisations. The research identifies the possibilities and challenges of applying the South Eastern Economic Development type programme to other regions.

The success of such support programmes depends on identifying the needs of the participants at an early stage in the programme and in tailoring training and support accordingly. There are benefits from local government working closely with private consultants as brokers for micro enterprise business development and innovation.

Micro enterprises play key economic, social and cultural roles within their local rural community. Collectively they offer opportunities for rural employment and tourism development.

The chapter addresses a major gap in knowledge around the role of policies and supports in assisting business development and innovation in relation to micro size enterprises, and more specifically food micro enterprises based in peripheral, rural regions.

With the accelerated impact of external forces on business school academic programmes, a key question that faculty and administrators must address is whether to continue to pursue incremental curriculum extensions (the traditional approach) or to undertake large‐scale reform and innovation efforts. A case is made that bold thrusts at large‐scale change are more likely to enhance educational relevance, invigorate faculty, and draw the B‐school closer to its primary customer‐the corporate community. Offers a propositional framework, built on seven principles of change applied directly to the process of curriculum change. Each proposition is supported with one or two mini cases drawn from experience within a large, publicly‐assisted university. By building on a series of bold, curriculum thrusts that include constituencies as active partners, a school will transform its character and strengthen quality.