H. Doug Watts

Owner-managers and Business Planning in the Small Firm:

This article explores the ways in which the characteristics of the owner-managers of small firms influence whether or not those firms have a business plan. The focus is primarily on antecedent influences on owner-managers such as education and prior experience. Data are drawn from a survey of the owner-managers of small metalworking firms in Sheffield, UK. Around half the sample of owner-managers possess a business plan. Antecedent influences on owner-managers showing a significant association with the possession of a business plan include an above average level of education, previous work experience in a large firm immediately before setting up their firm and running firms in sectors outside their previous experience. Not surprisingly, possession of a business plan showed a positive association with those owner-managers with a growth orientation. It is concluded that owner-manager characteristics can be important in explaining the presence/absence of a business plan within the small firm.

Owner-managers, clusters and local embeddedness: small firms in the Sheffield (UK) metal-working cluster

The primary objective of this paper is to explore the ways in which the characteristics of owner-managers influence the extent to which their firms are embedded within local clusters of economic activity. Data are drawn from an interview survey of a random sample of small metal-working firms in Sheffield, UK. The data are analysed using non-parametric statistical methods to test bivariate relationships. Owner-manager attributes are found to have no influence on the extent of the use of local material supply networks but they do influence the extent of dependence on local markets. Owner-managers born and bred in the local region with limited formal education, working as an operative (rather than executive) prior to start up and with many years experience are more likely to rely on local markets. Owner-manager characteristics are also linked to participation in business networks. Those with most experience and those previously working for large firms are more likely to participate. It is concluded that owner-manager attributes can be important in explaining the level of embeddedness of small firms in a cluster of economic activity and that such attributes need to be built into theories of cluster behaviour.

Revisiting Marshall's Agglomeration Economies: Technological Relatedness and the Evolution of the Sheffield Metals Cluster

Potter A. and Watts H. D. Revisiting Marshalls agglomeration economies: technological relatedness and the evolution of the Sheffield metals cluster, Regional Studies. According to Alfred Marshall, firms receive increasing returns from a trinity of agglomeration economies: a local pool of skilled labour, local supplier linkages and local knowledge spillovers. This article re-examines the mechanisms underlying Marshalls agglomeration economies in the Sheffield metals cluster wherein Marshall discovered them. Despite the clusters decline, empirical evidence is found that the mechanisms underlying Marshallian agglomeration economies continue to occur within the surviving metals industry. However, upon closer examination, Marshallian agglomeration economies have evolved to become more prevalent amongst plants that use related metals technology. The results highlight the importance of technological relatedness to cluster survival.

The Influence of Plant Profitability on Plant Closures in Multi-locational Firms

This paper explores the effect of plant profitability on the closure decision in multi-locational manufacturing firms where the firm is selecting between different sites undertaking similar production activities. The paper draws upon a new interview survey of large multi-locational manufacturing firms. Analysis of the interview data shows that plant profitability is the key to understanding only one-third to one-half of selective closures and that decisions taken by subsidiaries are more likely to rely on plant profitability measures than decisions taken at the corporate head office. In analyzing a regional economy, a poor level of plant profitability is indicative of a plant at risk of closure but the absence of such a characteristic is not necessarily an indication of an assured future for a plant.

Stability and change in the supply chains of multinational plants: the managerial voice

High levels of stability over the five-year period 1991–96 are observed in the supply chains of plants in Yorkshire and Humberside in the UK owned by multinational enterprises (MNEs). Stability is explained by a lack of alternative suppliers, satisfaction with existing suppliers, perceived benefits derived from continuity, sunk costs in existing suppliers and managerial complacency. Where supply chain patterns have changed, changes are associated with changes in production, changes in supply chain strategy, or exogenous factors, such as heightened competition and changes in the geography of potential suppliers. High levels of stability in the geography of the supply chain provide a challenge to arguments that there is now a rapid process of globalisation within MNEs. Nevertheless, where change is taking place, MNEs are moving towards increased globalisation in their sourcing strategies rather than towards a deeper embeddedness in their host regions.

No‐tutor groups in geography: the student experience

Abstract The author explores the use of tutorial groups which are run by the students rather than a member of staff. This has advantages as student numbers increase, but it is also argued that it is educationally beneficial for the students. An evaluation of these no‐tutor groups reveals their pitfalls, the benefits, and the kinds of students most suited to this approach.

Cross-Border Plant Closures in Context: Some Evidence from the UK

Cross-border closures are defined as arising when a firm ceases production of a commodity in one EU country but maintains production of the same commodity in another EU country. Analysis of a new data set drawn from a comprehensive review of press reports for the years 1995-9 shows that the number of UK plant closures associated with cross-border closures within the EU is surprisingly small.

Shades of green: the greenfield concept in HRM

Reviews the concept of a “greenfield site” within human resource management (HRM) and shows that the ways in which distance is conceptualised or measured in describing greenfield sites needs to be made explicit. This is particularly important when comparing different studies and in attempting generalisations about the introduction of new HRM practices on greenfield sites. The distance factors which may impose a constraint on the introduction of new HRM practices at a greenfield site are the site’s distance from a firm’s existing operations, its distance from geographical concentrations of similar economic activities and its distance from regions with traditional patterns of management‐employee relations. Concludes by arguing that it is inappropriate to treat the greenfield factor as a dichotomous variable and that there are various shades of green.