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As the twenty‐first century beckons, the competitive terrain of the UK food retailing industry is set to change. A host of forces signal the need for food retailers to embark on programmes of strategic change in order to find a defendable position within an increasingly competitive industry. Highlights the strategies adopted by successful retailers in Northern Ireland which reflect adaptation to environmental forces. Identifies some of the opportunities which are available to food retailers in other regional centres throughout the UK, together with suggestions for their exploitation through a focus on shopping in provincial towns.

Changes in female food shopping habits and in retailing locations have prompted a major survey investigation of food shopping by members of the University of Ulster. The survey, which included interviews with 300 women, was carried out at three out‐of‐town shopping centres in Northern Ireland. The findings reveal that many of the shoppers were employed and were constrained by “time”: time for shopping and time for cooking. Critical time pressures influenced the choice of retailer, shopping times and product purchases, thus sending a number of important signals to food retailers in Britain.

Outlines the anticipated effects of the Channel Tunnel on the transportation of goods from a peripheral region. Argues that the combined effects of the Single European Market and the opening of the Channel Tunnel are likely to disadvantage industries within peripherally‐located regions such as Scotland, the North of England, Wales and Ireland. Presents some findings from a study which was carried out within Northern Ireland to assess the vulnerability of peripherally‐located firms to the effects of forthcoming events. The findings, based on 89 firms within five industrial sectors, highlight a need for regional firms to enhance their awareness of the effects which the Channel Tunnel is likely to have on performance and hence a need to prepare for this forthcoming infrastructure development.

Student assessment and the development of transferable personal skills are receiving increasing attention in higher education establishments. Examines the potential for enhancing student learning through the development of groupwork, presentation and self‐ and peer‐assessment skills. Describes a methodology which indicates the approach adopted and a questionnaire evaluates students’ impressions of the process. Concludes that skill development does take place and that students find groupwork an enjoyable learning experience. With regard to self and peer‐assessment, students were not as enthusiastic. Ultimately, there is a need to continue to involve students so that they can see evaluation in a positive, developmental light and to encourage students to take a more proactive role in assessing their performance.

Attempts to show that environmental issues are becoming increasingly important as an attribute of the quality of goods and services. However, although firms appreciate the importance of good environmental practices there is a lack of awareness of how this can best be achieved, particularly in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Suggests that one way to enhance understanding among SMEs is to consider environmental responsibility as part of the quality attributes which customers may expect from suppliers. Presents a quality profiling approach which is based on customers’ perceptions, which should assist an SME to: establish the importance of environmental factors with respect to other attributes in the purchasing decision; and evaluate the organization’s performance on key product/service attributes relative to its main rivals. Discusses the role of governments and other bodies in relation to encouraging a proactive environmental approach among SMEs.

Issues such as the development of transferable personal skills and student assessment are receiving increasing attention in higher education establishments. Reports on an investigation into the enhancement of work‐based skills within a university environment. Presents a learning strategy which describes the approach used in developing group work, presentation and self‐ and peer‐assessment skills, and evaluates by questionnaire students’ impressions of the process. Reports the results which suggest that skill development does take place and that students find group work an enjoyable learning experience. Conceptually, students appreciated the need for self‐ and peer‐assessment, but had difficulties with implementing it in practice. Argues that, ultimately, there is a need to continue to involve students so that they can see evaluation in a positive, development light and to envcourage sudents to take a more proactive role in assessing their own performance.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief history of the evolution of the Diana Project and the Diana International Research Conference. The authors examine the impact of the publications, conferences and research contributions and consider key factors in the success of this collaborative research organization. They discuss the ongoing legacy, suggesting ways to extend this into the future.

This paper uses an historical narrative and a citation analysis.

The Diana Project was founded by five women professors in 1999 with the purpose of investigating women’s access to growth capital. Following a series of academic articles, and numerous presentations, the first Diana International Conference was held in Stockholm, Sweden. At this convening, 20 scholars from 13 countries shared their knowledge of women’s entrepreneurship, venture creation and growth, culminating in the first volume of the Diana Book Series. Since then, 14 international conferences have been held, resulting in 10 special issues of top academic journals and 11 books. More than 600 scholars have attended or participated in Diana conferences or publications.

Contributions from the Diana International Conferences’ special issues of journals and books have advanced theory across topics, levels, geographies and methods. Articles emerging from Diana scholars are some of the top contributions about women’s entrepreneurship and gender to the field of entrepreneurship. Future research directions are included.

This analysis demonstrates the success of a unique woman-focused collaborative research initiative and identifies key success factors, suggesting how these might be expanded in the future.

To date, more than 600 scholars have participated in the Diana International Conferences or publications. Diana is the only community dedicated to rigorous and relevant research about gender and women’s entrepreneurship. Going forward, efforts to expand work on education for women’s entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship faculty and careers, and women entrepreneurs, gender and policy will take place to extend this legacy.

The paper is unique in that it is the first to show the substantial legacy and impact of the Diana project since its inception in 1999. Further, it demonstrates how a feminist approach to entrepreneurial principles can yield insights about this unique research initiative and collaborative organization.

Small and medium enterprise (SME) research into the meaning and perception of success is now reaching beyond (the somewhat stereotypical) extrinsic success measures such as sales, number of employees, and profit. Researchers now identify the goals and expectations of the owner(s) of a business as central to their likely performance and preferred success metrics. Therefore, this paper aims to overlay perceptions of success and gender to establish whether success is conceptualised in the same way across genders.

The study analyses the responses from 375 male and female SME owners to a range of quantitative success metrics and also explores the responses provided to a number of qualitative questions surrounding the owners' perceptions of success.

Although the average female-owned business in the study is significantly smaller than the average male-owned business, they perform equally well on extrinsic measures that relate outputs (profit) to inputs (assets and hours worked). Further, the female SME owners appear to be more satisfied with both the success of their business and their lifestyle, than their male counterparts.

The findings suggest that the social feminists hold sway (men and women have different perceptions of success) and there is value in incorporating a feminine perspective when examining what business owners are looking for from their ventures. That is, measures of SME success need to adopt a person-centered perspective.

To date, research on women’s entrepreneurship has largely been focused on how gender roles may constrain the venture process, or cause role conflicts for women pursuing an entrepreneurial career. While acknowledging the validity of such perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to apply a broader perspective of career-life development, answering the call for a more nuanced and embedded understanding of an entrepreneurial career.

This paper presents a constructionist, relational analysis of the experiences of 13 Canadian women who started their business following the life transition to motherhood. Interview data were coded using grounded theory methods.

The conceptual model captures the influence of the mothering role in shaping the transition into entrepreneurship, illuminating the reciprocal relational processes of context, choice and outcomes in the career-life development of mother entrepreneurs.

While this is a small sample, and findings are not generalizable, application of relational theory of career-life offers implications for supporting women’s transition to, and continued success in, entrepreneurship.

Career theory offers practical application to the management of mother entrepreneurs’ career-life development.

To date, there has been limited application of career theory to entrepreneurship, particularly to understanding the gendered, relational career-life experiences of mother entrepreneurs.