Small business smart business: final report

The Small Business Smart Business (SBSB) program is in it\u27s fifth year of operation and while acknowledging the changes that have occurred to SBSB over the past five years, it was determined that a review of the effectiveness of SBSB in connecting small business to the VET system would be of benefit in planning for SBSB in 2005 and beyond. The SBSB program was initially designed to provide eligible small businesses with a training voucher valued up to $200.00 towards approved training and was aimed at improving the productivity of their business. Emphasis was placed on ensuring a wide range of training options were available that could be tailored to meet particular small business needs. The program has been delivered exclusively by Business Enterprise Centres (BEC\u27s) in Western Australia through a network of 27 regional and 10 metropolitan BECs

Towards a framework for exploring children\u27s analytical thinking and creativity in technology

Technology education provides children with opportunities to be creative as they engage in problem solving and make products that address human needs. When thinking creatively, children generate new ideas through remote associations and brainstorming and this type of thinking is enhanced when attention is allowed to wander in a relaxed and uncompetitive environment. Research shows that the two mental states (generative and nongenerative/analytical) cannot exist simultaneously (Howard-Jones 2002). It follows that at some point in the technological process a child&rsquo;s generative mental state needs to give way to a nongenerative, analytical state so that the child can focus on analysing information. This research project aims to investigate the impact of analytical thinking on creativity in the context of technology education in young children.<br /

Developing a framework of training for the older small business owner : final report

This study was conducted as a result of the critical issue of the ageing population and the implications this will have on the workforce. An employment option for older workers is to become self-employed and to start their own small businesses, rather than to continue working in mainstream employment, which becomes increasing difficult as employees age. The option of self-employment may be a viable option for older people as uncertainty of employment tenure in mainstream employment continues to increases over time and is a way to utilise work skills and competencies that have been acquired over years of work experience. The results show that self-employment is not necessarily a first choice for many older people, as the perceived high level of risk associated with starting a business is a significant barrier. For those that do start their own business, which is an increasing trend, the age of the new business owner has an influence on the type of business information and related training they require in order to operate their businesses successfully. The study was conducted in the first quarter of 2005 and employed both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. 270 small business owners participated in quantitative part of the study and an addition 15 older small business owners were interviewed in order to gain more in-depth insights into the issues facing older small business owners

Local learning and employment partnership: North Metro: environmental scan

Young people are vital to all communities and encouraging and supporting them to participate in education and training is a significant way to ensure that communities maintain a skilled workforce. However, there are many barriers to young people staying in the community, not the least of which is a lack of appropriate jobs. That is, jobs that the young people want to do, but are sustainable for the individual as a career path and not on a casual basis. These jobs normally involve some form of training or further education. Marrying the needs of industry in terms of their current and future workforce requirements with the career or work aspirations of the up and coming workforce (the age cohort being the subject of the study) is seen as the major challenge. For example, retail is a predominant employer of young people but as they mature most leave the industry, principally because of the wage structuring of the sector. However, the sector in itself is a sustainable industry for the cohort

CBD economic enhancement project : Final report

The City of J oondalup engaged the Small & Medium Enterprise Research Centre at Edith Cowan University to review the activities of the business community in the Central Business District (CBD) in order to support the City\u27s strategic development plan. This report provides data to inform the future strategic decisions for the City concerning how it will grow and develop its CBD. The project aimed to identify the key indicators of current economic activity within the CBD, which could then be used to assist in the development of a more targeted approach to continuous growth and development strategies for the area

On-line training for SMEs: final report

This research aimed to explore the appropriateness of on-line training delivery methods for small business owner/managers. It is widely recognised that training and education are effective ways to reduce small business failure. In Australia, small business accounts for 96 percent of Australian private sector, non-agricultural businesses and they employ 47 percent of the private sector, non-agricultural workforce. Not surprisingly then, encouraging the development of the skills of the workforce has emerged as a major priority for government policy. However, what is also recognised is that many small business owner/managers (SBOs) have limited e-competencies. Results of this research confirmed this and also demonstrated that SBOs have a poor understanding of the concept of on-line training. It would appear, therefore, that many SBOs first need to acquire the technical skills to enable them to undertake on-line training and they also need a better understanding of what is possible through this method of training delivery

Smart business incubators : the Australian context

The aim of this collaborative study was to research the current status of Australian incubators and develop a benchmark based on successful business incubators, using criteria such as tenant and manager selection, operating indicators and exit criteria..

Small business owners: too busy to train?

Purpose – The reason often cited for the poor relationship between small businesses and their uptake of vocational education and training is that small business owner-managers claim that they are too busy to engage in training or any type of learning activity and that most training is of little value to them. The aim of the research is to examine the relationship between these factors. Design/methodology/approach – Using qualitative research methods the study collected data of the knowledge, attitudes and needs of small business owner-managers, both before and after participation in a training program. Findings – This study has indicated that small business owners are interested in skills development and training opportunities, provided that they are directly applicable to the current situation in their business, and as long as the delivery process is carefully structured in terms of location, time of day, and length of session. Practical implications – The success of a human resource management training program offers both an incentive for other educators to continue to pursue small business participation and useful guidelines for the implementation and the development of new programs for the small business sector. Originality/value – The approach taken in this research has offered important insights into the value of training and how it is evaluated by small business owner-managers. This is important as owner managers are the primary decision makers about whether or not training takes place

Differential Effects of MitoVitE, α-Tocopherol and Trolox on Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial Function and Inflammatory Signalling Pathways in Endothelial Cells Cultured under Conditions Mimicking Sepsis

Funding: This research was funded by The British Journal of Anaesthesia/Royal College of Anaesthetists (PhD studentship to Beverley Minter). Acknowledgments: We are very grateful to Professor M.P. Murphy, MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Wellcome Trust/MRC Building, Hills Road, Cambridge, UK for the generous gift of MitoVitE used in all the experiments, without which this work would not have been possible.Peer reviewedPublisher PD