Ignatius U. Ekanem

Diversification in ethnic minority business

Purpose – To provide an initial assessment of the nature and extent of the involvement of Asian‐owned firms in the creative industries in London; to identify and assess any barriers they face; and draw out the implications for policy.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study, undertaken in late 2002. Data sources included official statistical data and previous reports, as well as a programme of semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews with 23 Asian entrepreneurs spread across eight sub‐sectors.Findings – Asians are making a significant contribution to Londons creative sectors, although they do face a number of specific constraints. Some of these are specific to the creative industries but others are shared with other small firms. However, few of these constraints appear to be exclusively Asian.Research limitations/implications – There are some limitations relating to the small scale of the study and its focus on a single geographical location.Practical implications – The research shows how (cultural) ...

“Insider accounts”: a qualitative research method for small firms

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to present a detailed description of the qualitative research method adopted by the author in his doctoral research into the investment decision‐making process in small manufacturing enterprises; and to inform small firm researchers generally, particularly those who may be considering the use of a qualitative research methodology for the first time in the study of processes of decision‐making.Design/methodology/approach – “Insider accounts” is an innovative qualitative methodology, which involves in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews and direct observation, conducted longitudinally in a case study approach. It is a research method, which includes detailed accounts from the actors themselves, incorporating the actual motives and behaviour of owner‐managers. It is based on a philosophy that the “objects” studied are in fact “subjects”, producing accounts of their world.Findings – The finding in the study for which this methodology was used is that owner‐managers pred...

Is there a debt finance gap relating to Scottish SMEs? A demand-side perspective

This paper investigates whether or not there is evidence of market failure in the provision of bank finance to Scottish SMEs. The key question is whether SMEs have been experiencing difficulties because of the unsuitability of the business case they were putting to the banks or because of sub-optimal lending practices. The paper draws upon evidence from the 2006 Annual Small Business Survey (Scotland), based on a survey of 1014 Scottish SMEs, and a follow-up in-depth survey of 39 SMEs that had reported problems in accessing bank finance. While the findings show that less than one-fifth of the firms trying to access bank finance encountered problems and that only a small minority had to abandon their projects completely as a result, both start-up and early stage businesses and manufacturing SMEs were disproportionately likely to experience problems. These were largely attributed by owner-managers to their lack of a track record of debt management in the case of young businesses and difficulties of providing the necessary collateral in the case of manufacturing SMEs. The risks associated with projects involving product and market diversification was also a factor. The paper concludes that these funding gaps are likely to have become larger since 2007 as a result of the credit crunch.

A fresh start and the learning experience of ethnic minority entrepreneurs

This paper focuses on ethnic minority entrepreneurs whose businesses failed within the first 3 years of trading, but were starting afresh with the help of the Brent Business Venture Fresh Start in Business programme. The paper aims to identify why the entrepreneurs had previously failed; what prompted them to start again; what was different about their business approach and practices second time around; and how key lessons had been learned as a result of their previous experiences that can improve their prospects for success in the future. The resultant insight derives out of an evaluation study of the Fresh Start programme, the methodology for which included initial telephone interviews with 20 ethnic minority entrepreneurs spread across eight business sectors, during which profile data were collected. The second phase of the study involved in-depth face-to-face and semi-structured interviews with the 20 entrepreneurs. The main findings suggest that failed entrepreneurs learn from their mistakes and actions embedded in the development processes and activities underpinning their first business venture attempt and are more successful second time around. The key learning processes and activities include learning from customer feedback, from interface with suppliers, from interaction with peers and from the fostering and facilitating inputs of provision such as the Fresh Start programme. The ability to learn by doing, problem-solving and opportunity-taking is important. The study concludes by highlighting key identified management capabilities which can improve the likelihood of new venture success, and in particular the value of giving future focus to the nature and form of effective strategic learning processes and activities that successful owner managers undertake and how these could be nurtured as part of the would-be entrepreneursmanagement capabilities tool box.

Liquidity management in small firms: a learning perspective

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on liquidity management in small firms and how this may be best met. It seeks to present results from eight case study firms to demonstrate different types of learning in small firms.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a qualitative methodology that involves in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews and direct observation, conducted longitudinally in eight case study companies.Findings – The findings suggest that liquidity management is either based on owner‐manager past experiences, experiences of others or is strongly influenced by industry norms, which are shared rules within the industry, and not based on the calculation of costs and benefits of particular causes of action.Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to the extent to which it can be generalised to a wider population of small firms. The main implication is that policy makers should facilitate networking opportunities where owner‐managers can interact with external advisors.Originality/...

Entrepreneurial learning: gender differences

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in the entrepreneurial experiences between male and female entrepreneurs. The study investigates what entrepreneurs learn, how they learn, who they learn from and what prompted such learning. Design/methodology/approach – The data under analysis is drawn from a qualitative study which involves in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted longitudinally as a case study in ten firms over a period of five years. The case study findings are analysed and discussed using a learning framework. Findings – The findings suggest some differences in the learning experiences between male and female entrepreneurs. Whilst male entrepreneurs were more likely to challenge and depart from industry norms, thus utilising double-loop learning process, female entrepreneurs were more likely to engage in “routinised” learning which enhances confidence, thus adopting the single-loop learning process. Research limitations/implications – The main implication of the study for policy makers is that unique training, networking and support programmes should be designed for women entrepreneurs. The study is limited to the extent that it can be generalised to a wider population of small businesses. Originality/value – To date, there have only been speculations and little understanding about whether there are differences in the entrepreneurial learning experiences between men and women. Thus, policy makers have little guidance as to whether or not unique training and support programmes should be designed for female entrepreneurs. The study is novel in so far as it was conducted longitudinally over a period of five years to sufficiently follow the learning behavioural pattern of entrepreneurs in different business sectors.

Factors influencing the use of e-commerce by small enterprises in Nigeria

The aim of this paper is to assess the factors influencing the use of e-commerce by small enterprises in Nigeria. The study adopts a qualitative methodology which involves in-depth, semi-structured interviews and direct observation in order to derive answers to such questions as ‘why’ the system is adopted and ‘how’ the Nigeria economic conditions influence the system. The study suggests that the main factors which motivate the adoption of e-commerce by small businesses in Nigeria are market expansion and reduced market costs. The findings also indicate that increasing access to the Internet and changing lifestyle enable the success of e-commerce in Nigeria. The implications of the study are discussed.