Lynn M. Martin

No gender in cyberspace?: Empowering entrepreneurship and innovation in female‐run ICT small firms

– To explore how information communication technologies (ICT) and the internet offer new opportunities for women to develop as entrepreneurs and innovators. To add to the literature and provide updated research to raise awareness about female‐run ICT small businesses., – Uses qualitative research methodology for case studies of female entrepreneurs and thematic grid analysis to form a major part of text analysis. The approach is influenced by the need to examine closely the nature of the enterprises or phenomena under investigation and to ask pertinent questions related to their particular mode of operations., – Shows the background of small firm development and innovation as well as personal and company characteristics, personal contacts and IT networking in obtaining information and customers. Reflects also the concern of female entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities in gaining financial backing and recognition of themselves as committed and successful entrepreneurs., – The main limitation is the small size of the sample (ten firms). There are implications for further work on gender analysis. The sample, though small, has contributed insights into the challenges facing women entrepreneurs in business and questioned the constraints on ethnicity for others. Technology is a great equaliser and the research has added further discussion on the economic contribution of female entrepreneurs., – Shows guidance on qualitative analysis using personal interviews and thematic grid analysis of textual data, as well as presenting findings., – Contributes to the literature due to the scarcity of publications concerning female‐operated ICT small businesses. The paper is useful for researchers wishing to pursue entrepreneurship and gender studies.

Enterprise and entrepreneurship in English higher education: 2010 and beyond

Purpose – This article aims to report 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.Design/methodology/approach – The survey aimed to establish a complete picture of curricular and extra‐curricular enterprise and entrepreneurship 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.Findings – The results provide a stock‐take 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 aca...

Exploring business growth and eco innovation in rural small firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore eco innovation in rural small firms. It looks at the motivations of rural small business owners for eco innovation and the extent to which rurality is important. Owner-managers’ perceptions of how eco innovation had, or would, contributed to growth in the future are also explored. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study involving micro-level exploration of eight growth-oriented rural small firms and their implementation of eco innovation. These case studies involved semi-structured interviews, observation of practices in the firm and review of documentation and web-based materials. Findings – Within each of the case study businesses, eco innovation involved changing business processes to reduce waste and to reduce the amounts of raw materials consumed. Rurality was described as very important due to closeness to the impacts of climate change and firms’ visibility within their local communities. Although none of the businesses identified g...

An unusual job for a woman? Female entrepreneurs in scientific, engineering and technology sectors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand more about the conditions which foster certain women’s resilience in science engineering and technology (SET) entrepreneurship. The research responds to the so-called “leaky pipeline”, which sees progressively smaller numbers of women participating in SET at each developmental stage from training to employment, and asks why some women establish and grow their businesses while others are discouraged. Design/methodology/approach – In all, 15 female SET entrepreneurs, with businesses that had progressed beyond the initial start-up phase were selected from national databases. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and documentary records over a six-month period and analysed using both manual and software-based thematic review. Responses were mapped to bring narratives to the forefront, and were compared using relevant literature on emerging gender topics. Findings – Findings suggest that female SET entrepreneurs undertake a continual process of...

Cross-university enterprise education collaboration as a community of practice

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the views of partners as to the process and operation of TE3 in relation to community of practice (CoP) principles in order to identify success factors fundamental to continued active participation in and promotion of enterprise education.Design/methodology/approach – This study used a narrative methodology via semi‐structured interviews. The aim was to capture both positive and negative perceptions of involvement from key partners within the project. A manual thematic approach was taken to analyse the data collected and through this common threads, trends and issues were identified.Findings – The findings of this paper focus on the nature, benefits and power of this unique cross‐university collaboration, in facilitating and stimulating enterprising and entrepreneurial activity amongst students, graduates, and potentially, local small to medium‐sized enterprises.Practical implications – These findings are set within the context of delivering some key polic...

Internationalization of a ‘Born-again Global’: How a Family-led Crisis Enabled the Realization of Internationalization Opportunities

Abstract This paper examines a number of related areas: entrepreneurship, small business management, family firms, and international business. A qualitative case study method is applied to examine how an established family firm can progress entrepreneurially, developing its customer and supplier base overseas and, in the process, its home market. This nevertheless represents a pattern for the firm, and reflects enterprising family members taking charge and being supported by other family members during the lifetime of the firm.