Andreas Walmsley

Graduate career‐making and business start‐up: a literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide a selective review of literature on the career‐related decision‐making processes in terms of the transition from student to business start‐up, and the nature and influence of support and guidance.Design/methodology/approach – Primarily, a critical review of a range of recently published literature (1995‐2005) addressing the theoretical and practical aspects of the journey from student to start‐up. The literature is divided into sections: the graduate labour market: a state of flux; Conceptual and definitional issues; Career choice and decision‐making; and Start‐up training and support.Findings – The paper finds that despite an increasing body of theoretical and empirical literature on career choice in general and on the career choice to start‐up a business in the form of intention models, there remains a lack of in‐depth research on the stories, circumstances, contexts and complexities of graduates on their journey from student to business start‐up. A tr...

Entrepreneurial intentions among students: towards a re‐focused research agenda

Purpose – This paper aims to address the need for a re‐focused research agenda in relation to graduate entrepreneurship. An important theme for some years has been the effort to monitor attitudes and intentions of students towards starting up their own businesses. It is timely, however, to raise some questions about both the impact of this research and likewise the general approach it has taken in understanding the phenomenon of graduate entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a large data set (over 8,000 students) from one UK region. Specifically, it presents data from the 2007/2008 Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI) survey within the Yorkshire and Humberside region and reflects back over previous iterations of this research.Findings – The paper identifies three key outcomes. First, it establishes that across all years of the survey a substantial minority of students consistently hold relatively strong start‐up intentions. Second, the paper highlights that, despite considerable eff...

Surprise and sense making: undergraduate placement experiences in SMEs

Purpose – This paper seeks to explore undergraduate placement experiences in tourism and hospitality SMEs, focusing on the notions of surprise and sense making. It aims to argue that surprises and sense making are important elements not only of the adjustment process when entering new work environments, but also of the learning experience that placements provide.Design/methodology/approach – In‐depth interviews were conducted with 20 students who had recently completed a 48 week placement.Findings – The paper finds that the surprises students encountered were not as dramatic as the literature on organisational entry suggests. This is partially explained by students already having gained substantial amounts of work experience prior to the placement. A number of SME‐characteristic employment experiences were confirmed while others were questioned.Research limitations/implications – Further detailed research is required that takes a more holistic account of the placement experience in order to understand mor...

New graduate employment within SMEs: still in the dark?

Purpose – A report conducted for the Government in 2002 concluded that public policy, although rising to the challenges presented in stimulating a stronger relationship between supply and demand in the SME graduate labour market, was essentially “running blind”. SMEs were clearly playing an increasingly important role in the wider graduate labour market, yet the evidence base on patterns of recruitment, deployment and graduate contribution was weak and insubstantive. The purpose of this paper is to revisit this issue and critically review research undertaken since 2002.Design/methodology/approach – A decision was taken to critically review the research literature published in the UK on graduate employment in SMEs since 2002 as this was the year that the original report was presented to the Government. The methodological design draws out the main findings from the 2002 report and the associated research agenda. This is then used as a basis from which to evaluate recent research. The methodological design e...

From student to entrepreneur: towards a model of graduate entrepreneurial career‐making

This paper examines the process of transition from student to graduate entrepreneur. The aim is to develop a typological framework that captures the key person–environment dimensions involved in this transitional journey. This paper draws upon interview data from 15 graduates, all of whom had established their own business within five years of graduation. The paper engages with two dimensions that, we argue, usefully capture an important dynamic of the student‐to‐entrepreneurship transition: (1) the entrepreneurial maturity of the individual; and (2) the complexity of the business idea. The paper maps qualitative data from the graduates onto a framework based on these dimensions. This offers the basis for an enhanced understanding of the graduate entrepreneurship process. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for theory and practice and, importantly, further research.

Internships in SMEs and Career Intentions.

The literature on internships (also placements) emphasises their importance in career development, even seeing them as a launch pad for graduate careers. Indeed, universities use internships to enable students to develop a range of skills and to help clarify and refine employment intentions and career goals. Traditionally, most internships have taken place in large organisations. More recently, however, policy‐makers have encouraged internships in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper reports the findings of a British study and contests the unproblematic treatment of the relationship between SME internship and career intentions in the context of tourism education. An explanatory model is developed to show how an interplay of factors come together to undermine the influence of largely positive SME internship experiences on SME employment intentions. The implications of this analysis for both policy‐makers and researchers are particularly important at a time of upheaval in the graduate labour market.

Pushed or pulled? Exploring the factors underpinning graduate start-ups and non-start-ups

The study explores the nature and mixture of push–pull factors in the journey from higher education into graduate entrepreneurship. Using longitudinal data from 15 graduates of a British university, it compares graduates who started their own business with graduates that did not. Importantly, both groups had initially indicated a strong desire to start a business on completion of their degrees. Three main themes are identified: personal characteristics; environmental support and context; and the business idea. These are utilised to examine the similarities and differences in the nature and mixture of push–pull factors leading either to start-up (SU) or non-start-up (NSU). Whilst findings revealed SUs tended to share many similarities with NSUs, differences appeared to cluster around some personal characteristics, views of the labour market and their business idea. The paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the complexities involved in this transition. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the Hospitality Industry

This paper seeks to explore the relationship between hotels and climate change. The role of hotels in contributing to climate change, and the impacts they face as a result of climate change are discussed. The paper then explores to what extent the accommodation sector is engaging in behaviour to reduce its contribution to climate change and why it is in its own self-interest to do so. Subsequent to these discussions, examples are then provided of how different hotels and hotel chains are responding to the challenges of climate change focusing at first on mitigation and then adaptation. A brief discussion of sustainable supply chain management is also provided given its importance in tackling the causes of climate change. The examples should not be interpreted as being representative of the sector as a whole, but rather serves to illustrate the range of activities currently being undertaken in the sector.

Corporate Social Reporting and Practices of International Hotel Groups

There is increasing pressure for corporations to disclose their sustainability management practices. Often this takes place through corporate social and environmental reports, and companies leading on good CSR practice now allow access to an audit of the information contained within these reports. A recent KPMG study (KPMG International, 2008) has shown that CSR reporting is becoming the norm in large corporations. Whereas in 2005 only 50% of companies included CSR in their reporting, the figure for KMPG’s 2008 report stands at almost 80%.

Governance implications of the UN higher education sustainability initiative

This paper aims to review the progress of a sample of (n = 307) signatories in the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative which commits higher education institutions (HEIs) to make smart commitments to achieve one or more of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).,A preliminary survey of n = 307 HEIs via online questionnaire and database search was conducted.,Findings reveal a difference between HEI governance, that is “instrumental”, and governance, that is “holistic”, in relation to sustainability.,Implications identified for achieving SDGs in general and for academic–business partnerships, in particular.,Practical implications for enterprise (developing a tool to measure sustainability mindset) and for enterprise education (sharing of best practices from other HEIs).,Improved understanding of the sustainability mindset will inform decisions about approaches to governing and operationalising sustainability in organisations.,The survey is not original but the emphasis on sustainability mindset (compassion, empathy and connectedness to SDGs) is.