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Article
Publication date: 9 October 2020

Cristian Gherhes, Tim Vorley and Chay Brooks

Despite their economic significance, empirical evidence on the growth constraints facing micro-businesses as an important subset of small and medium enterprises remains scarce. At…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite their economic significance, empirical evidence on the growth constraints facing micro-businesses as an important subset of small and medium enterprises remains scarce. At the same time, little consideration has hitherto been given to the context in which entrepreneurial activity occurs. The purpose of this paper is to develop an empirically informed contextual understanding of micro-business growth, beyond firm-level constraints.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on 50 in-depth interviews with stakeholders and micro-business owner–manager entrepreneurs (OMEs henceforth) in a peripheral post-industrial place (PPIP henceforth).

Findings

The paper shows that, beyond firm-level constraints generated by their OME-centric nature, there are “additional costs” for micro-businesses operating in PPIPs, specifically limited access to higher-skilled labour, a more challenging, “closed” business environment and negative outward perceptions stemming from place stigmatisation. All of these “additional costs” can serve to stymie OMEs' growth ambition.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is based on a limited number of interviews conducted in one region in England. However, the contextualisation of the findings through a focus on PPIPs provides valuable insights and enables analytical generalisation.

Originality/value

The article develops a context-sensitive model of micro-business growth constraints, one that goes beyond the constraints inherent in the nature of micro-businesses and is sensitive to their local (socio-institutional) operating context. The implications serve to advance both how enterprise in the periphery is theorised and how it is addressed by policymakers and business intermediaries to support the growth of micro-businesses.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 August 2009

Briga Hynes

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of business growth as it applies to the social enterprise. It examines if social entrepreneurs have a growth agenda, how this…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of business growth as it applies to the social enterprise. It examines if social entrepreneurs have a growth agenda, how this is achieved and the challenges encountered in achieving firm growth.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory study involves the completion of a series of four case studies of established social enterprises.

Findings

Social entrepreneurs do have aspirations to grow their enterprise, where growth is perceived from multiple perspectives, primarily underpinned by the provision of a perceived social value. Firm growth is predominately measured from the external beneficiary perspective rather than internal financial metrics. Sourcing financing, staff retention adjusting to different roles in managing the enterprise and measuring the scale and impact of their business are the primary challenges encountered. The creation of social value and profit generation are not mutually exclusive in the social enterprise when social entrepreneurs confront the challenges of growth within a business context.

Originality/value

The findings from the research provide a more holistic understanding of growth in the social enterprise. This detail adds to an under researched topic in the Irish context, puts forward recommendations on what is required by policy to assist the social entrepreneur take their business to the next level and presents areas for further research to advance a topic that is still in its infancy.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2018

Colleen E. Mills

Creative industries, such as the designer fashion industry (DFI), are among the toughest in which to establish sustainable business ventures. While studies have examined how…

Abstract

Creative industries, such as the designer fashion industry (DFI), are among the toughest in which to establish sustainable business ventures. While studies have examined how networks and social capital contribute to independent DFI start-ups and why such businesses fail, these studies have been largely restricted to well-established entrepreneurial spaces like London, which differ in structure and size compared to emerging DFI entrepreneurial spaces in small economies like New Zealand. This chapter addresses this gap in the creative enterprise literature by presenting findings from an examination of 12 New Zealand fashion designers’ accounts of their responses to start-up challenges. The analysis, which paid particular attention to the relationship between social capital and reported strategic practice, revealed that the designers’ challenge profiles and strategic responses were linked to very ‘biographical’ personal networks and their personal enterprise orientations. While those designers with well-established networks started the most resilient businesses, the analysis revealed that even these designers were not necessarily particularly strategic when tapping into the social capital embedded in their networks. Overall, the findings provide further confirmation of the importance of social capital and network management during start-up. Most significantly, they demonstrate why designers need to be forward looking and employ a strategic approach to developing and accessing social capital and when making business decisions. Those who did so were more likely to have viable ventures than those who accessed social capital in order to react to unanticipated challenges.

Details

Creating Entrepreneurial Space: Talking Through Multi-Voices, Reflections on Emerging Debates
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-372-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2016

Renae D. Mayes, Colette T. Dollarhide, Bowen Marshall and Alexis Rae

The purpose of this paper is to examine how multicultural counseling students expressed their understandings about themselves and others in relation to diversity. The authors…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how multicultural counseling students expressed their understandings about themselves and others in relation to diversity. The authors wanted to know how cognitive development, affective development, and sense of self-evolved during a multicultural counseling class to examine all aspects of growth.

Design/methodology/approach

Themes from a phenomenological qualitative analysis of journals from a multicultural counseling class suggest that students struggle with cognitive challenges (dealing with ambiguity, internalizing multicultural concepts, and self- and other-acceptance) and affective challenges (anger, guilt, and fear) in attaining multicultural growth.

Findings

This expanded view of multicultural growth that includes affective challenges can fill a prior gap in understanding how multicultural learning occurs.

Research limitations/implications

Implications are explored for counselor educators and supervisors.

Originality/value

Recent use of journals to provide empirical insights into student growth include a study by Cohen et al. (2015), who used qualitative analyses of journal contents to examine growth in student attitudes toward geriatric clients, death, and dying. Knowing that student journals can provide insights into changing multicultural attitudes, and that qualitative methodology can provide tools for analysis, the authors decided that it might be possible to better understand multicultural growth by studying the journals written in a multicultural counseling class.

Details

The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4880

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 May 2017

Steven Davidson, Wei Ding and Anthony Marshall

To better understand the challenges and opportunities facing China, the IBM Institute for Business Value in cooperation with Oxford Economics surveyed 1,150 executives from across…

Abstract

Purpose

To better understand the challenges and opportunities facing China, the IBM Institute for Business Value in cooperation with Oxford Economics surveyed 1,150 executives from across China. Survey respondents represented a variety of industries and included executives from Chinese corporations, start-up enterprises, the government sector and educational institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

This report shares the executives’ vision for the Chinese economy, and proposes actions to help spark growth and positive change.

Findings

The Chinese executives surveyed see the current economic environment in China as encompassing five main challenges – immature services sector, declining domestic consumption growth, lending decisions creating over investment in some sectors, declining export growth and environmental issues impacting economic development.

Practical implications

The article identifies the six most important ways to accelerate China’s growth according to the executives:

Originality/value

Despite challenges, Chinese executives are optimistic about the country’s economic growth prospects. In fact, 93 percent of executives believe China will maintain stable to high growth of more than 5 percent over the next five years. And almost a quarter of them believe China will be able to return to its recent very high growth rates in excess of 8 percent.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 45 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2012

Vinnie Jauhari

The purpose of the study is to explore the strategic growth challenges for the hospitality industry in the context of India. As the tourism industry is growing, Indian and global…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to explore the strategic growth challenges for the hospitality industry in the context of India. As the tourism industry is growing, Indian and global firms face new challenges which need to be addressed.

Design/methodology/approach

The study involved obtaining practitioner insights by conducting an industry round table discussion with senior managers who are in leadership positions with international and national hotel brands. The data so collected were then corroborated by a literature review.

Findings

The major challenges are in the domains of human resources (in terms of skill and knowledge base), land acquisitions, technology deployment as a strategic tool and understanding the dynamics of new generation consumers.

Practical implications

The paper has policy implications for both industry practitioners and government bodies setting up governing mechanisms for this industry segment.

Originality/value

There is very little formally documented research in the domain of hospitality management in an Indian context. This holds significance for other growing economies as well.

Details

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4217

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 September 2016

Brian Leavy

The challenge of sustaining growth seems to be getting steeper and steeper. This Masterclass provides context for two recent books that have valuable insights to offer to company…

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Abstract

Purpose

The challenge of sustaining growth seems to be getting steeper and steeper. This Masterclass provides context for two recent books that have valuable insights to offer to company leaders and strategists on how to build resilience and sustain growth in increasingly dynamic and uncertain global competitive markets.

Design/methodology/approach

In The Founder’s Mentality: How to Overcome the Predictable Crises of Growth (2016), well-known Bain strategy consultants, Chris Zook and James Allen offer a strategy for consciously embedding “the founder’s mentality” into the culture of young firms as they scale or rediscovering it in mature firms that might be stalling and losing their way. For strategy and innovation guru, Vijay Govindarajan, sustaining growth increasingly requires being able to pursue simultaneously two very different types of activity and mindset – exploiting a legacy business while exploring new business opportunities. He offers a very practical framework for approaching this challenge in The Three Box Solution: A Strategy for Leading Innovation.

Findings

The “founder’s mentality” refers to “a collection of specific behaviors and attitudes best exemplified by the traits of great founders that if properly cultivated in the rest of the organization, can lead more reliably to sustainable growth.” Some young firms fail to establish a founder’s mentality from the outset, while many mature founder-led companies come to lose their sense of insurgency and other key founder’s mentality traits over time. “Just about every company, at any stage in its life, can benefit from the attitudes and behaviors that make up the founder’s mentality.”

Practical implications

Govindarajan argues that “asking what assumptions must be true for this idea to be highly profitable” and testing the most critical of these “as early and as inexpensively as possible” is ‘the best way to reveal an ill-conceived project.

Originality/value

The two books, taken together, provide a wealth of insight for leaders seeking to diagnose their firm’s growth problems and looking for potential solutions for reviving innovation and growth.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 44 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 October 2015

Md Nuruzzaman

The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry…

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry supply chains (SCs) in emerging markets. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of these external stakeholders’ elements to the demand-side and supply-side drivers and barriers for improving competitiveness of Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry in the way of analyzing supply chain. Considering the phenomenon of recent change in the RMG business environment and the competitiveness issues this study uses the principles of stakeholder and resource dependence theory and aims to find out some factors which influence to make an efficient supply chain for improving competitiveness. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the case application of this study. Following a positivist paradigm, this study adopts a two phase sequential mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study is then carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of top and middle level executives of different garment companies of Dhaka city in Bangladesh and the collected quantitative data are analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling. The findings support eight hypotheses. From the analysis the external stakeholders’ elements like bureaucratic behavior and country risk have significant influence to the barriers. From the internal stakeholders’ point of view the manufacturers’ and buyers’ drivers have significant influence on the competitiveness. Therefore, stakeholders need to take proper action to reduce the barriers and increase the drivers, as the drivers have positive influence to improve competitiveness.

This study has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study represents an important contribution to the theory by integrating two theoretical perceptions to identify factors of the RMG industry’s SC that affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. This research study contributes to the understanding of both external and internal stakeholders of national and international perspectives in the RMG (textile and clothing) business. It combines the insights of stakeholder and resource dependence theories along with the concept of the SC in improving effectiveness. In a practical sense, this study certainly contributes to the Bangladeshi RMG industry. In accordance with the desire of the RMG manufacturers, the research has shown that some influential constructs of the RMG industry’s SC affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. The outcome of the study is useful for various stakeholders of the Bangladeshi RMG industry sector ranging from the government to various private organizations. The applications of this study are extendable through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

Details

Sustaining Competitive Advantage Via Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, and System Dynamics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-764-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2016

Cristian Gherhes, Nick Williams, Tim Vorley and Ana Cristina Vasconcelos

Micro-businesses account for a large majority of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, they remain comparatively under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to take…

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Abstract

Purpose

Micro-businesses account for a large majority of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, they remain comparatively under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to take stock of the extant literature on growth challenges and to distinguish growth constraints facing micro-businesses as a specific subset of SMEs from those facing larger SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

The study consists of a systematic review of 59 peer-reviewed articles on SME growth.

Findings

Micro-businesses distinguish themselves from larger SMEs by being owner-manager entrepreneur (OME) centric and are constrained by a tendency to be growth-averse, underdeveloped capabilities in key business areas, underdeveloped OME capabilities, and often inadequate business support provision.

Research limitations/implications

The use of keywords, search strings, and specific databases may have limited the number of papers identified as relevant by the review. However, the findings are valuable for understanding micro-businesses as a subset of SMEs, providing directions for future research and generating implications for policy to support the scaling up of micro-businesses.

Originality/value

The review provides a renewed foundation for academic analysis of micro-business growth, highlighting how micro-businesses are distinct from larger SMEs. At present, no literature review on this topic has previously been published and the study develops a number of theoretical and policy implications.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 23 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2021

Ann Elida Eide, Øystein Moen, Tage Koed Madsen and Mohammad Javadinia Azari

The main purpose of this study is to increase the scholarly understanding of managerial growth aspirations in small firms. Research has shown that managers' aspirations are…

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to increase the scholarly understanding of managerial growth aspirations in small firms. Research has shown that managers' aspirations are important to ensure firms' growth, but researchers know less of where their aspirations come from and how variation in these aspirations shapes organizational outcomes. By focusing on two growth strategies of particular importance for small firms – innovation and internationalization – the authors map out how managers' ambitious aspirations may create negative organizational effects and also how they may counteract such effects.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs structural equation modeling (SEM) on a sample of 249 Norwegian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Findings

The findings of this study suggest that managerial experience is associated with high aspirations as well as high change effectiveness on the managerial team. The authors find that ambitious growth aspirations are associated with exploration in the form of radical innovation but also lead to reduced employee well-being. Managers' level of perceived change effectiveness, on the other hand, is positively associated with radical innovation and also raises employee well-being.

Research limitations/implications

This study highlights the positive and negative effects of managerial aspirations on different organizational outcomes. Further, it shows that managerial teams working effectively together in the face of change is important for the well-being of employees. Results confirm the positive relationship between aspirations for growth and applied growth strategies in organizations. The data sample is, however, extracted from one country only, and the authors cannot exclude the possibility that findings will be different elsewhere.

Practical implications

To ensure successful growth, managers should combine ambitious aspirations with attention to the top management team's (TMT) experience levels and change effectiveness. Assessment of possible needs for development and adjustments could ensure growth processes with limited negative effects for employee well-being.

Originality/value

By distinguishing between growth through international sales (exploitation) and growth through a more change-intensive strategy of radical innovation (exploration), the authors investigate how variations in managerial aspirations and perceptions influence organizational growth processes. This paper paints a unique picture of how managers can be both the cause and cure of employee well-being in change-demanding situations.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

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