Paul Westhead

Family Firm Research: The Need for a Methodological Rethink:

The scale of family company activity in the United Kingdom was measured with regard to several family firm definitions. This study confirms that family companies are a numerically important group of businesses. Policy makers and practitioners must, however, be aware that the scale of family firm activity in any developed economy is highly sensitive to the family firm definition selected. Within a bivariate as well as multivariate statistical framework, marked demographic differences were identified between family and non-family companies with regard to several family firm definitions. We suggest that bivariate studies comparing the management practices and performance of family and non-family firms may have identified ‘demographic sample’ differences rather than ‘real’ differences. Implications for future research exploring the management and performance of family and non-family firms are discussed.

Novice, portfolio, and serial founders in rural and urban areas

To encourage economic development policy makers and practitioners need to understand the backgrounds and objectives of entrepreneurs who own businesses in rural as well as urban areas. In this study rural firms owned by novice, portfolio, and serial founders were compared. In addition, urban firms owned by novice, portfolio, and serial founders were compared. At the founder level of analysis, similarities as well as differences in the personal background, work experiences, reasons leading to the start-up of businesses, and personal attitudes to entrepreneurship of these three types of founders were explored. At the organizational level of analysis, finance, employment and performance differences between the businesses owned by the three types of founders were analyzed. Implications for policy makers and researchers studying entrepreneurial careers and independent businesses over time are discussed.

Factors associated with the provision of job‐related formal training by employers

Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to detect the combination of factors associated with the provision of job‐related training provided by employers located throughout the United Kingdom. The efficacy of broad brush policy initiatives to encourage the provision of training in all very small firms is questioned. A case for targeting training provision assistance is presented.

The Shell Technology Enterprise Programme: benefits reported by students and “host” employers

To assess the short‐term effectiveness of the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP), students and “host” employers who participated in the programme in 1994 were interviewed prior to and 12 months after completing the programme. The short‐term benefits of the programme for participating undergraduate students and independent “host” businesses are highlighted. The long‐term implications for Shell UK Limited and the wider policy community are discussed.

Habitual Entrepreneurs Experiencing Failure: Overconfidence and the Motivation to Try Again

Although it has been argued that overconfidence can lead to failure (Hayward et al., forthcoming), business failure can undermine assumptions about the self that are integral to (1) confidence in ones decision-making accuracy and (2) the motivation to engage in tasks.

Chapter 6 Building the Foundations for Academic EnterpriseSimon Mosey et al.Building the Foundations for Academic Enterprise: The Medici Fellowship Programme

Despite a recent increase in government funded intervention schemes a number of attitudinal and operational barriers continue to constrain university technology transfer in the UK (Wright, Birley, & Mosey, 2004). A recent report commissioned by the UK government (Lambert, 2003) asserts that the inability of some universities to develop links with industry is a key barrier to the commercialisation of research. Moreover it is argued that academics focus exclusively upon their research due to the explicit link to career progression (Slaughter & Leslie, 1997). As a result academics, in the main, remain reluctant to explore the potential for commercialising their research. This paper considers a novel fellowship scheme aiming to overcome these barriers by retraining academics and encouraging them to interact with their peers and with industry practitioners to help commercialise research within their schools.