Richard Bent

Missed Opportunities? Reaching the Ethnic Consumer Market

Changing population demographics within the UK have become a source of increased interest to marketers as companies have realized the importance of targeting their products and advertising efforts towards minority and ethnic groups. In addition, as the UK’s ethnic minorities grow in both numbers and in terms of prosperity, so does the commercial significance of this market. A clearer understanding of both the nature of changing markets and the relative importance of different minority ethnic groups as consumers is imperative to facilitate both consumer understanding and business development; marketers need to understand better how to target these people, what they have in common with the mainstream and where the differences lie. This paper seeks to describe current understanding of ethnic consumers and their impact on the marketplace while highlighting an area where future research is potentially of considerable benefit.

The challenge to c‐stores: Edinburgh South Asian responses

While no two businesses are the same, examples from Edinburgh Pakistani community convenience store owners illustrate business survival strategies developed in response to increased environmental challenges presented by changing consumer behaviour, increased competition and demographic variations. These are related to the individual’s motivation, experience and family business background, and include exiting the sector, gaining recognised qualifications and alternative employment, and involving second and third generations in expanding family business activities. The resulting smaller, but stronger, convenience(c)‐store sector continues to provide opportunities for individual businesses, thus maintaining the economic and social benefits for the ethnic minority community and the wider city population.

Composing a database of minority enterprises in Scotland: a discussion based on the concept of mixed embeddedness.

Purpose – To address the issue of the low take‐up of available ethnic business support the article proposes the composition of a database for Scotland, thereby providing baseline data on minority businesses and hence providing a sampling frame for future research. The database will hold the following information: name and gender of the business owner, sector, location, number of employees as an indicator of company size, generation, the year in which the business was established, as well as the legal form of ownership of businesses.Design/methodology/approach – The database draws from the concept of mixed embeddedness as well as the political agenda of the Scottish Executive for the sector. Data sources used are commercial databases, the Yellow Pages of Scotland, local business registers across Scotland, a telephone survey and personal contact/networking with businesses.Findings – In order to facilitate the composition of a Scottish database of minority businesses, this article has looked at existing theo...

Public sector business support providers: marketing business support to the ethnic business sector

Purpose – The economic and social importance of minority ethnic‐owned businesses (MEBs) is widely recognised, but it is also well‐known that the providers of business support services have so far fallen short of the ideal in identifying, targeting and communicating with MEBs. This study seeks to add to the very limited academic literature on the topic by investigating the application of marketing principles to the task, in Scotland.Design/methodology/approach – Data for interpretation were collected by six semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with public‐sector business‐support providers in Edinburgh and Glasgow.Findings – Providers are aware of the lack of awareness among MEBs of the services available, and the consequent poor take‐up rates. Some have made limited efforts to initiate change by beginning to differentiate their products and services, and market them proactively, but others still favour a generic approach. A constraint on further progress is the lack of useful databases.Research limitations/...

Staff motivation in small food manufacturing enterprises (2): the perceptions of owners and managers

Earlier work examined the factors that affected staff motivation and satisfaction in small food businesses, focusing on staff whose roles did not include overall responsibility for the firm. As part of this work, 38 small food processing and manufacturing companies in Scotland were recruited and data collected using interviews and questionnaires. In order to examine the topic in greater detail and to offer a more complete perspective, the owners and/or managers of the 38 firms were interviewed and the results presented here as a contrast. Results highlighted differences in perception between the owner/managers and those staff who took part in the earlier data collection.

Keeping it in the family: family, priorities and succession in Scottish landed estates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the strategic approach adopted by the current owners of family-held estates in Scotland to explore the approaches that have led to multigenerational ownership. Design/methodology/approach A social constructionist epistemology was adopted to consider the manner in which owners of large landed estates perceived the strategic approach adopted by the family and the implementation of that strategy. A purposive sample based on the most senior member of the family currently involved in the ownership of five family estates, was developed, drawing heavily on personal contacts and a pre-existing level of trust between the researcher and the families involved. Findings All respondents had inherited their primary estate. Some had inherited or developed parallel businesses, or indeed both. All see it as their “duty” to pass the estate on and to act as trustees for the next generation. One of the key recurring themes was that despite the legal structures, all respondents had a strong standpoint that they did not really “own” the primary estate or many of the businesses, but rather felt that they were trustees or stewards for the next generation. This culture of obligation to the next generation defines this group of families and steers their actions with regards to the business and their family relationships. Research limitations/implications The limitations to this study lie primarily in the small sample size. Further research would enable a wider sample group to be developed and possibly explain the success in retaining the business within the family. Longitudinal research could also be undertaken to see if the family’s culture changes over time and the impact that this has on the family’s survival rates and in this context the impact that the businesses have on their local economy would merit further exploration. Originality/value The originality lies in the sample group, about whom limited research is available. The research presented here draws heavily on personal contacts and a pre-existing level of trust between the researcher and the families involved.

The role of context understanding South Asian family firms in Scotland and the succession paradox

The role of context for family firms is important and is one facet of the space that family firms require to develop, survive and thrive (Seaman, 2012, 2013). The country in which the family firm is based is one important aspect of context, providing the business environment and influencing the environment in which the family grow and develop. This paper considers the role of context in understanding the development of family firms amongst the Asian community in Scotland. The businesses tend to be the result of post-1950 migration that are less likely than other forms of family business to have been passed on to a second or subsequent generation (Scottish Government, 2011). One outstanding question is the degree to which this dilemma influences the future strategies and indeed survival of the business. The literature around family businesses contains considerable evidence that family businesses desire succession but in many cases this does not translate easily to a coherent and ultimately successful succession plan. The succession paradox that appears to exist with South Asian family firms in Scotland may be that they often do not desire succession but may achieve succession by dint of the context in which they operate.

Succession planning in minority ethnic family enterprises

The paper presents interview findings derived from a sample of small Scottish businesses. Owners comments form case studies of succession planning and describe associated decision making processes of ownership, transfer and control, inter-generational relations and kinship networks. Timing, cultural knowledge and conflict resolution are seen as keys to successful succession. The units are located in the east of Scotland and are first/second generation South Asian owned enterprises. From this exploratory work, we question whether exiting formal models of support (based upon larger firms) can assist SME owner managers in planning their succession processes, and the paper highlights a need to embed support within government policy initiatives and delivery mechanism more appropriate to the needs of smaller companies.

Family Values: Influencers in the Development of Financial and Non-financial Dynamics in Family Firms

The role of family values is considered here as one potential contributor to heterogeneity. The pursuit of profit as an end goal may be key for many family businesses, but there are well-documented cases of businesses where corporate citizenship and philanthropy are integral to the business model. Earlier work has highlighted that where one family has a predominant level of control in a business, their family values may assume greater importance and thereby be more likely to influence strategy. Within this chapter, we propose that the concentration of family values that occurs when one family has a predominant level of control within the business may be a key contributor to the development of financial and non-financial dynamics, representing one way in which strategy is developed and implemented.

Over the hedge: hidden networks in knowledge transfer

This paper develops the Edinburgh knowledge hedge (Bent et al., 2010) to introduce the largely hidden role formal and informal networks in the process of linking SMEs and business support agencies, presenting a model to assist in identifying remaining barriers to knowledge exchange. The model is applied to a detailed case study of primary business support experience, laying the foundation for practical and theoretical developments. It is proposed that the model will provide a basis for future qualitative research in this area. A conceptual framework is developed to capture the complexity of knowledge exchange between SMEs and business support agencies and providers. Within the case study SME owners and business advisors identify areas not resolved by formal/informal networks, aiding the development of case specific strategies to get both parties ‘over the hedge’.