Implementing service excellence in higher education

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the importance of service excellence in higher education. The research upon which this paper is based employed a phenomenological approach. This method was selected for its focus on respondent perceptions and experiences. Both structured and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect relevant data on service excellence. The focus of the research study was on achieving and implementing service excellence in higher education. Findings are analysed and results are grounded in relevant theories and the principle of service excellence. Preliminary results suggest that implementing service excellence establishes a direct link between a workforce and successful competitive strategies. In order to compete efficiently and effectively in their niche market, higher education institutions need to implement service excellence to ensure both internal and external customer satisfaction. A strong institutional culture that values internal customers can help achieve a motivated workforce, loyalty, high performance, innovation and a distinctive institutional competitive advantage. The qualitative data collected for this study reflect respondent perceptions and opinions. Individuals perceive and experience things differently. Although the service excellence approach is applicable to service organisations, its transferability to other sectors might affect its validity. The paper investigates how service excellence is achieved in industry and how it could be applied to promote competitive advantage in higher education

International entrepreneurship education: postgraduate business students experiences of entrepreneurship education

Objectives The study aims to enhance understanding of the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in meeting the expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students participating in UK business & management education. Specifically, it explores within sample groups of learners: RQ1. What is the typical profile of the international students’ prior education and work experience? RQ2. What do students expect from studying an entrepreneurship PG course in the UK? RQ3. What are their experiences of, and learning outcomes from, the entrepreneurship course? RQ4. What benefits regarding their skills and knowledge do they perceive result from participation? Prior Work International Postgraduate education has grown substantially in the last decade (UUK, 2010). There has been significant growth in international postgraduate student participation in UK business related subjects, involving both MBA and other Masters’ programmes such as MSc in Management and a range of specialist awards, which increasingly offer Entrepreneurship as a core or option. Prior research focuses on transnational comparisons between France, Germany and Poland (Packham et al, 2010) USA, Spain and China (Pruett et al, 2009) Africa and Europe (Davey et al, 2011) China (Millman et al, 2010) and Poland (Jones, et al, 2011) with relatively little research specifically addressing entrepreneurship for international students on postgraduate courses in the UK (Hall and Sung, 2009, Liu, 2010). Approach This article originates in the authors’ experiences in running postgraduate entrepreneurship modules for international students in UK Business Schools. They found that students often experienced concerns about a ‘mismatch’ between their expectations of UK business and management education and their actual experiences, with experiences of cultural tensions between prior learning experiences and their acculturation to the requirements and norms of UK business education. The study is a microcosm of a wider issue as these concerns are shared more generally by international Postgraduate students. Results The results confirmed that career development was a major motivator for international study in the UK. Interest in entrepreneurship is increasing but there are tensions between the expectations of the postgraduate experience and the experienced reality. Entrepreneurship was in some cases seen as a distinctive ‘peak experience’, but cultural factors, learning effectiveness and linguistic capability need to be addressed in designing learning programmes. Implications The study contributes new evidence and ideas to the debate on entrepreneurship education in meeting the career expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students participating in entrepreneurship education, especially in the light of new curricular guidance (QAA, 2012) and UK government regulation. Value It offers suggestions for educators on the effective design and delivery of entrepreneurship for international students in the rapidly changing and competitive postgraduate market

Training needs for women-owned SMEs in England

Originality/value – The study offers original primary research into the contributory growth factors for women-owned enterprises in a representative area of Britain, identifies key issues, maps survival and success factors, and assesses women entrepreneurs' training needs and preferences.Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate the needs and preferences for training among growth-oriented women-owned SMEs in the East of England. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative data were collected through 108 on-line questionnaires, and the means analysed using SPSS. Qualitative data collected in response to open-ended questions were inductively analysed and interpreted. Findings – Only one fourth of respondents received growth-oriented training in the previous two years, with an average duration of 3-5 days per year. Programmes most in demand concerned innovation and opportunity recognition, business evaluation and growth considerations, developing strategic customers and customers care, customer relationship management, as well as selling, networking and negotiation skills. High demand for these programmes corresponds to others results identifying contributory factors to higher enterprise performance and growth: product/service quality, new product/service development, appropriate marketing, effective use of websites, selling skills and informal networking. Research limitations/implications – The scope of the project is limited to service sectors and sole proprietorships. Geographic scope is limited to the East of England. These limits nonetheless provide a reasonable base and rationale for the scope of the study. Practical implications – With a better understanding of the capacity building requirements of women entrepreneurs in growth businesses, appropriately designed training programmes can be developed to help women achieve higher levels of entrepreneurial success

How does enterprise & entrepreneurship education influence postgraduate students’ career intentions in the new era economy?

Purpose Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Education (EEE) is seen as a major contributor to economic growth and development in the post-2008 environment we term the ‘New Era’. The role of EEE in enabling graduates to develop entrepreneurial intentions and career plans is therefore of major importance. This paper explores how EEE can influence postgraduate entrepreneurship and career initiation in the context of the New Era economy at an international level. Methodology/Approach The paper explores the learning experiences of a group of 60 postgraduate international students who completed an Entrepreneurship programme at the University of Lincoln which included the development of personal learning narratives and career plans. The students were exposed to the Opportunity-centred entrepreneurship approach and the ‘Entrepreneurial Effectiveness’ model in the QAA guidelines (2012). Their narratives were analysed to assess: - Prior career intentions - Proposed career intentions resulting from the EEE programme - Application of learning arising from the EEE programme - A survey of students was used to validate the narratives Findings EEE has a wider influence on personal development and career planning than simply the intention to create new ventures. This paper builds on a prior study of international postgraduate students’ orientation to entrepreneurship education in their expectations of UK Higher Education, which confirmed that career development is a major motivator for international study in the UK (Rae & Woodier-Harris, 2012). The paper contributes new understanding of the relationships between EEE and graduate career intentions, especially at PG and international levels. The paper explores personal growth, confidence and identity development, formation of new career intentions and the application of learning. The international dimension is considerable and this is discussed. Implications The paper has implications for the marketing, design and delivery of EEE at international and HE institutional levels, as well as for the practices of educators in designing, validating and delivering programmes for entrepreneurial career development, at national and international levels. Originality/Value The paper contributes new understanding to the role of EEE in postgraduate career initiation at international level in a period of significant and complex economic transformation

The impact of entrepreneurship education on succession in ethnic minority family firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that entrepreneurship education can have on succession in ethnic minority family firms that operate in the highly competitive UK economy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a complex conceptual model of ethnic minority graduates' economic activities and outlines the possible influence that entrepreneurship education can have on succession in their family firms. An illustrative case study is presented of an ethnic minority graduate who returned to work in the family firm. Findings – It emerges that entrepreneurship education provision in UK HEIs is insufficiently customised to, and focused on, the specific entrepreneurial needs of graduates. Educators should take into account the complex socio‐economic and cultural differences between native and ethnic minority learning environments. Effective entrepreneurship education emerges as crucial to the survival and growth of ethnic minority family businesses in the UK and could contribute positively to ownership transfer in this type of firm. Research limitations/implications – The proposed theoretical model has not been empirically tested and it is only indicative of the impact that entrepreneurship education could have on succession in small ethnic minority family businesses in the UK. Originality/value – Although prior research has explored various aspects of ownership succession, this article focuses specifically on the impact that entrepreneurship education can have on succession in small ethnic minority family firms

Enterprise and entrepreneurship in English higher education: 2010 and beyond

Objectives This article reports the results of a complete survey of enterprise education in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England, undertaken in 2010 by the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE) on behalf of the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE). The survey builds on prior work undertaken by the NCGE in England in 2006 and in 2007 (NCGE, 2007; Hannon, 2007). Approach The survey aimed to establish a complete picture of curricular and extra-curricular Enterprise & Enterpreneurship education. The survey uses a similar structure to the previous survey, enabling comparison to be made with enterprise provision over the 2006-2010 period, as well as with the 2008 European survey of entrepreneurship in HE (NIRAS, 2009). Results The results provide a stocktake of enterprise education provision in participating HEIs and highlight the connections in institutional strategies between enterprise education, incubation/new venture support, graduate employability, innovation and academic enterprise. It reveals ‘hotspots’ and gaps in enterprise provision and offers ‘benchmarks’ for the sector. Implications The article offers a summary of the implications for the future development and sustainability of enterprise education in HE, in relation to policy, funding and other changes in the sector. It also considers these issues in relation to recommendations from professional educators and Government policy for future development of enterprise in HE and comments on the policy impact of this work. Value The timing of the survey, in May-July 2010, was important as it reflected the end of a period of over ten years of sustained investment in enterprise in Higher Education by the previous Labour Government in the UK, through a range of funding initiatives. As major public expenditure reductions in support for HE and enterprise activity followed, this represented the ‘high water mark’ of publicly funded enterprise activity in the HE sector, and raised the question of how enterprise education and support activities would become sustainable for the future. The report analyses existing provision, assesses its development over the 2006-2010 period, and provides conclusions and recommendations covering future policy, development, resourcing, and sustainability of enterprise and entrepreneurship provision in Higher Education

Building regional capacity: lessons from Leadership South West

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleAuthors' draft; final version published by Emerald; available online at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Purpose: In this paper the authors present their experiences and insights from an HE-led initiative to build leadership capacity within the South West of England in order to the shed light onto the processes and mechanisms of regional capacity building. Methodology/approach: The approach was one of participative action research, whereby the authors were actively involved in the shaping and delivery of the initiative, responding to ongoing feedback and reflection. The account given within this paper is an autoethnographic case study that identifies the main phases and lessons learnt from the initiative. Findings: The paper identifies a number of discrete phases within the initiative, some of the challenges and how they were confronted and concludes with a set of ten principles that may help support regional capacity building initiatives for management and leadership. Originality/value: Despite increasing emphasis on capacity building and a tendency to promote leadership as a lever for change, limited academic research has been conducted into either of these processes at a regional level. This paper seeks to contribute to both theory and practice in these areas by combining the insights of an academic and a practitioner involved in one such initiative and highlighting the underlying and emergent processes therewith

Financial education in small ethnic minority businesses in the UK

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to set out to evaluate the financial education needs of ethnic minority SMEs in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom. Design/methodology/approach - A postal survey was used to investigate the financial needs of owner/managers in 64 ethnic minority SMEs and a control sample of 23 non-ethnic SMEs. Findings - The results show that owner/managers of micro-businesses have lower educational achievements as well as higher financial education needs than their counterparts in small and medium-sized firms. In contrast, owner/managers in small and medium-sized businesses have relatively higher educational achievements and a better appreciation of the role of financial education. Similar trends were observed in non-ethnic SMEs in the control sample. Originality/value - This article makes an empirically rigorous contribution to a relatively under researched aspect of SME research. The authors recommend that government agencies collaborate with leaders of ethnic minority communities to raise awareness of the benefits of education in general and financial education in particular. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited