Understanding Small Business Networking and ICTs: Exploring Face-to-Face and ICT-related opportunity creation mediated by Social Capital in East of England Micro-businesses

Small businesses that are sole traders or micro-businesses—with few, if any employees notoriously suffer from a ‘liability of smallness’ (Aldrich and Auster 1986), including poor access to various resources. However, many authors argue that the inherent problems of smallness can be overcome with networking and good network connections. Resources, the opportunities to access them and other benefits apparent from networks and networking are readily apparent in the literature. However, few articles, if any, have examined small business networking from the perspective of this study—using in-depth qualitative methods, the theoretical construct of social capital and exploring the increasing role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in networks and networking—as part of understanding a variety of entrepreneurial opportunities. This article provides much needed empirical insights on how and if ICTs support opportunity creation amongst small businesses within a spatial and social network perspective. Its ‘media ecology’ approach does not over-prioritise the role of ICTs, but instead examines their interrelationships with face-to-face contact—putting technology in its ‘place’. The article focuses on the notion of ‘opportunity creation’ from networks, since this is the outcome critical for the small businesses themselves in order to generate economic benefits for their business. It seeks to provide a higher level, outcomebased framework that helps specify the various sorts of opportunities created by networks for small businesses, based on original ethnographic material and findings from a case study of East of England micro-businesses

Offshoring research directions

Outsourcing and offshoring provide companies with ways to achieve their business objectives better or more cost effectively or despite a shortage of specific resources. From a research point of view, outsourcing and offshoring have mostly been studied as something that large companies do, not small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, the business rationale for outsourcing and offshoring appears to be at least as compelling for SMEs as they are for large companies. NOT-12-0

A PROPOSED MODEL OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CHARACTERISTICS DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTREPRENEUR FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS MAJORING BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BY USING COGNITIVE APPRENTICESHIP IN SOCIAL NETWORK

The objective of the research are (1) to study current situation of cognitive apprenticeship learning model in Facebook for higher graduate education and corporate governance characteristics of small and medium entrepreneurs. (2) To develop learning model in corporate governance characteristics of small and medium entrepreneurs for undergraduate students using cognitive apprenticeship learning model in Facebook. Data collecting method in this study was questionnaire, corporate governance characteristic for SME test. The evaluation form about corporate governance characteristic of small and medium entrepreneurs collect information from the sample group who are 51 in the third years, or higher years of undergraduate students majoring in fields related to small and medium entrepreneurs, business owners, traders, and small and medium entrepreneurs management. Data analysis methods are statistic, frequency, percentage, average, standard deviation, and content analysis

Governing and accelerating transformative entrepreneurship: exploring the potential for small business innovation on urban sustainability transitions

The alluring yet nebulous concept of transformative change is increasingly gaining traction in conversations about pathways to more sustainable futures. As such, new conceptual tools are needed to illuminate variety of actors, interests, and capacities at play in potentially radical experiments. This paper draws upon multi-level governance theory, sustainability transitions scholarship, and sustainability entrepreneurship literature, to interrogate the transformative potential of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We (1) identify characteristics of SMEs that might make them relatively more able to produce radical innovations, (2) explore dimensions of the broader socio-political context that influence the likelihood of this potential to be translated into action in urban spaces, and (3) discuss implications of these dynamics for transformative sustainability governance

Industrial policy for the medium to long-term

This report reviews the market failure and systems failure rationales for industrial policy and assesses the evidence on part experience of industrial policy in the UK. In the light of this, it reviews options for reshaping the design and delivery of industrial policy towards UK manufacturing. These options are intended to encourage a medium- to long-term perspective across government departments and to integrate science, innovation and industrial policy

Productive, Unproductive and Destructive Entrepreneurship: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration

Drawing on Baumolís concepts of productive, unproductive and destructive entrepreneurship and relevant amendments, this thesis aims to contribute to the entrepreneurship literature by developing a conceptual framework which allows operationalising the concepts for empirical assessment. Furthermore, using data from longitudinal survey, author makes one of the first attempts to address the concepts empirically. The results provide with support for the conceptual framework highlighting the importance to shift the focus from firmsí activities to output on both, venture and societal levels, short and long term, when concepts are addressed empirically. Overall findings suggest that productive entrepreneurs are those who are less involved in behaviour such as tax avoidance or illegal business and show a higher level of entrepreneurial orientation.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64372/1/wp917.pd