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The purpose of this paper is to reveal how managers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can utilise their participation in research-based training to enable innovation and growth.

Action research and action learning from a longitudinal study of ten SME managers in the wind turbine industry are applied to reveal SME managers’ learning and the impact of the application of learning in the wind turbine industry.

The findings of this study show that SME managers employ a practice-shaped, holistic, cross-disciplinary approach to learning. This learning approach is supported by theory dissemination and collaboration on perceived business challenges. Open-mindedness to new learning by SME managers and to cross-disciplinary collaboration with SME managers by university facilitators/researchers is required.

The research is conducted within the wind turbine industry, in which intense demands for innovation are pursued. The findings require verification in other industry contexts.

This research contributes strategies for SME managers to utilise research-based training and for universities regarding how to work with SME training. In addition, public bodies can enhance their understanding of SMEs for innovation and growth. The learning approach that is suitable for specialisation in larger organisations is not suitable in the SME context.

SME learning is enhanced by a social approach to integrating essential large-scale industry players and other SME managers to create extended action and value from learning.

The findings reveal the need for extended theory development for and a markedly different approach to SME training from that used for training managers in larger companies. This topic has received only limited attention in previous research.

Learning in organizations is well-recognized as a key determinant of innovation and success in competitive markets, and a rich literature examines learning mechanisms in large-sized and professionally-run organizations. Relatively little is known about the learning processes in family-run firms, most of whom are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) led by a single family SME owner-manager connected in a family network. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how family SME owner-managers engage in learning and how those learning processes are affected by family SME-specific characteristics.

Using pragmatic learning theory as an interpretive lens, this study conducts a qualitative multi-case study involving 61 interviews in family SMEs with family SME owner-managers, family members, employees and customers.

The within- and cross-case analysis helps identify the mechanisms, barriers and enablers of learning and innovation in family SMEs. The study develops and pinpoints the family owner managers’ “functional overload” as a major barrier to learning and employee empowerment, family-members’ support and customer feedback as critical resources in overcoming such functional overload. Yet, these resources turn out to be major amplifiers of functional overload in later phases of the learning process, thus impeding learning and innovation.

The study provides novel insights into learning processes and innovation within family SMEs, outlines the double-edged involvement of family members, employees and customers for learning processes, and provides nuance to pragmatic learning theory.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that action learning (AL) may provide a means of successfully developing small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

The literature around SME learning suggests a number of processes are important for SME learning which similarity, it is argued, are encompassed in AL. AL may therefore offer a means of developing SME. This argument is then supported through the results of a longitudinal qualitative evaluation study conducted in the north‐west of England, which involved the use of AL in 100 SMEs.

The paper finds that the discursive and critical reflection aspects of the set environment appeared to be of great utility and importance to the SMEs. Sets also had an optimum level of which helped them find “common ground”. Once common ground was established set members often continued to network and form alliances outside of the set environment. SME owner‐managers could discuss both personal and business. Finally, AL offered the opportunity to take time out of the business and “disengage” with the operational allowing them to become more strategic.

In this paper both the literature review and the results of the evaluation suggest AL may offer a means of engaging SMEs in training, which is relevant and useful to them. AL offers a way for policy makers and support agencies to get involved with SME management development while retaining context and naturalistic conditions.

This paper attempts to move beyond other articles which assess SME response to government initiatives, through examining the literature around SME learning and constructing a rationale which proposes that AL encompasses many of the learning processes suggested in the literature as effective for SME development.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how employees in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) practise and view workplace learning at three different life-cycle stages.

It is a qualitative study using a sample of 30 Hong Kong SMEs classified into inception, high-growth or maturity stage, from which firms in each stage were randomly selected and interviewed until data saturation was reached. Snowball sampling was adopted during interviews and data were examined through thematic analysis.

Consistent themes (patterns) from 134 semi-structured interviews are identified, addressing both similarities and differences in the nature of the practice of workplace learning in SMEs between life-cycle stages.

More similar comparative studies in other parts of the world, including quantitative surveys on larger samples, with either SMEs or multinational corporations, are encouraged to enrich the current findings.

If organisational growth is a priority, SME owner/managers should support employees’ work and learning in a timely fashion. As the study finds, individual learning and inter-organisational learning are considered “a must to have” for employees, regardless of which stage the firm is at. When an SME enters high-growth, however, more opportunities for group learning are particularly beneficial. For mature SMEs, it is essential for learning to move towards systemisation and include a professional development component to meet employees’ career expectations, not just their work demands.

The results advance the body of knowledge in SME learning from the life-cycle perspective. As one of the first studies in bridging these areas, it brings new implications to academic researchers and SME practitioners.

This study examines employees' learning preferences in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at different life-cycle stages.

The study has two phases. Phase I classified a sample of 30 Hong Kong SMEs into three different life-cycle stages (inception, high growth or maturity). Phase II then explored/compared their employees' learning practices in terms of importance using a mixed-method design through an online learning questionnaire followed by face-to-face semi-structured interviews.

Based on a list of 32 learning practices common to SME workplaces, the study identified how SME employees perceive the importance of a learning practice. The top 5 and the bottom 5 learning practices in SMEs across life-cycle stages are presented to promote best interests for SME executives.

While SME learning is highly varied, this study sheds light on some traceable context about it as an SME grows. Similar studies with additional SMEs, including SMEs in other locations, are encouraged to strengthen the findings.

The findings help SME executives understand what learning practices are most important (or least important) for their employees, given the life-cycle stage of the firm. Aligning a business with employees' learning preferences in a timely fashion is a managerial decision to be made for driving organizational effectiveness.

It is among the first studies connecting employee learning in SMEs and organizational life cycle to address a critical but missing inquiry.

The article aims to explore critically and contribute to the development of the social learning debate by providing a conceptual analysis of the influential and meditational role played by power and politics in the small and medium‐sized enterprise (referred to hereafter as SME) owner/manager's practice. One of the key influencing elements in the SME on the learning process is that of the owner/manager, having both the power and legitimacy to influence practice.

The article adopts a social constructionist perspective, which enables and recognises a participatory view of the world. Such a perspective enables one to draw attention to the situated, mediate and local nature of practice and learning.

The article's perspective is connected to the belief that learning stems from the participation of individuals in complex social activities, by recognising that power relations can directly mediate the interpretative ideologies within social interactions.

The article seeks to draw attention to the social conflicts that are experienced by SME owner/managers. The issue of power and politics has not featured strongly in current debates surrounding learning and the SME owner/manager; current writings have tended not to explore the relevance of these issues.

The article builds on and seeks to extend the recent writings surrounding learning and the SME owner/manager, the emphasis of which is social dynamic and emergent nature, by drawing on the mediated nature of social practice, revealing the influence of both power relations and politics that underpin learning in the social context of the SME owner/manager.

The paper sets out to suggest that knowledge in the SME enterprise is embodied as evident in such notions as tacit knowing and learning, and embedded grounded in the situated social historic contexts of individual lives and work. This supports the view that the nature of knowledge is inherently indeterminate and continually evolving.

A practice‐based approach focuses towards, the point of action, enabling the researcher to observe knowing as an intimate recursive feature of organisational life, the local in which traditional dualisms lose their meaning, in the specific context of real time practices, in that the knowing subject and the known objects cannot be treated in isolation and opposed to one another, the given and the emergent co‐exist and presuppose one another.

The paper offers the suggestion that a social process perspective offers a means of engaging the SME enterprise in more effective knowledge creating activities, and fostering innovation, which is both relevant and useful to them.

The paper offers the suggestion that a social process perspective offers a means of engaging the SME enterprise in more effective knowledge creating activities, and fostering innovation, which is both relevant and useful to them.

The paper seeks to extend the current conceptualisations of organisational learning developing the view that learning is no longer associated with the diffusions of pieces of knowledge, but rather it is viewed as the process of developing of situated identities based on participation in a process of social engagement and interaction.

This paper gives executives new perspective on how well employee learning is being managed in their small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The study adopted a rigorous mixed-method approach through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, from categorizing a sample of Hong Kong SMEs into appropriate growth stages (inception, high-growth or maturity) to exploring their respective learning practices in their workplaces.

The most popular learning practices in SMEs at each growth stage are compared accordingly with the most/least important learning practices perceived by their employees from another set of results (Tam and Gray, 2021). Differences or mismatches are noted for reporting.

Additional samples of SMEs, including those in other countries, are encouraged to broaden the horizon.

The findings help SME executives understand the dynamics of employee learning in their workplaces across growth stages. Knowing what learning practices are offered by the firm and what learning practices are valued by the employee will practically improve the firm’s training/learning strategies to benefit organizational development.

It is among the first studies examining SME learning with firm growth as well as sorting the learning practices into some traceable patterns for managerial convenience.

This paper reports on the development of a workplace‐based e‐learning programme for small and medium enterprise (SME) managers in five European countries. The course is designed to address the specific needs of SME managers who, it has been noted, represent a significant proportion of the EU workforce but often experience difficulty in finding time or resources to undertake relevant training. The aim of this paper is to present the design principles developed to underpin the programme. These principles were developed specifically to address the need for greater pedagogic structure in the design of e‐learning courses.

The course design was informed by a literature review of e‐learning and management learning and by a set of focus groups conducted to identify the specific concerns of SMEs with regard to accelerating their learning in the workplace. The course structure was further refined through trial workshops in all five partner countries.

The paper presents a pedagogic framework and a structured set of design features, both of which were built into the course as a result of the research undertaken. It also provides reflections on the efficacy of the design process that resulted in the formation of the design principles, and also the prospects for e‐learning programmes in supporting accelerated learning in the workplace.

The design process and reflections may usefully be extracted to inform other cross‐national or SME‐focused e‐learning programmes.

The paper draws on theory and research data to demonstrate the importance of thorough research in e‐learning course development.

Learning and development are critical to a business’s success. This paper aims to focus on organizational factors at multiple organizational levels that facilitate learning culture in a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in northwestern China.

This study is qualitative in nature. A single case study method is used to explore an SME’s organizational factors that facilitate learning culture.

This paper categorizes the organizational factors into seven dimensions: shared vision, creating continuous learning opportunities, informal learning that promotes inquiry and dialogue, collaboration and team learning, knowledge management systems, work–family enrichment and encouragement and support. This paper also compares the findings with learning culture models from Western research.

Chinese culture has far-reaching and fundamental effects on many East Asian countries and regions. For SMEs in similar cultural settings with a collectivist orientation, future research may focus on the effect of the work–family enrichment on learning culture.

Work–family enrichment was found to be an important factor that influences learning effectiveness in this Chinese small business based on traditional values in Chinese culture.