Rick Holden

Graduate entrepreneurship: intentions, education and training

Purpose – The papers purpose is to present an introduction to the special issue is that positions and explores some of issues and challenges in the field of graduate entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines a range of issues and themes and introduces papers of six authors/author teams. The introductory paper is divided into three sections: what is graduate entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial intentions; and education and training.Findings – The paper finds that, despite increasing attention on graduate entrepreneurship, there remains a lack of research on entrepreneurial intentions and enterprise/entrepreneurship education and training in varied and multiple contexts. This special issue includes research from a number of countries, including England, Ireland, Australia and the USA.Originality/value – The paper provides the basis for a more nuanced understanding of entrepreneurial intentions and related education and training – of interest to both researchers and policy makers in te...

Graduate career‐making and business start‐up: a literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide a selective review of literature on the career‐related decision‐making processes in terms of the transition from student to business start‐up, and the nature and influence of support and guidance.Design/methodology/approach – Primarily, a critical review of a range of recently published literature (1995‐2005) addressing the theoretical and practical aspects of the journey from student to start‐up. The literature is divided into sections: the graduate labour market: a state of flux; Conceptual and definitional issues; Career choice and decision‐making; and Start‐up training and support.Findings – The paper finds that despite an increasing body of theoretical and empirical literature on career choice in general and on the career choice to start‐up a business in the form of intention models, there remains a lack of in‐depth research on the stories, circumstances, contexts and complexities of graduates on their journey from student to business start‐up. A tr...

A Conceptual Model of Management Learning in Micro Businesses: Implications for Research and Policy

Purpose – This article proposes the development of a conceptual model to help understand the nature of management learning in the micro business context and to inform research and policy discourse. Design/methodology/approach – The model is developed on the basis of a literature search and review of academic and grey literature. Findings – The model highlights the unique nature of the micro business learning environment. Meeting the diverse interests of micro business managers is a major challenge for agencies seeking to promote and deliver management and leadership skills. An intervention approach founded upon the relationship between the micro business manager and the intervention agency is crucial to the successful design and delivery of relevant services. Research limitations/implications – The research identified a lack of literature associated with learning in the micro business context. The model should therefore be considered as partial, to be tested in practice and subject to revision as new understanding unfolds. Practical implications – The conceptual model suggests that the foundation of successful intervention should be the interests of the managers themselves. Closer relationships between a flexible supply-side and the micro business manager provide the foundation to improve the relevance of these interventions in the micro business context and to encourage access to learning opportunities amongst the employed workforce. Originality/value – The research subject and the development of a unique conceptual model may be of use to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.(Publication abstract)

Entrepreneurial intentions among students: towards a re‐focused research agenda

Purpose – This paper aims to address the need for a re‐focused research agenda in relation to graduate entrepreneurship. An important theme for some years has been the effort to monitor attitudes and intentions of students towards starting up their own businesses. It is timely, however, to raise some questions about both the impact of this research and likewise the general approach it has taken in understanding the phenomenon of graduate entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a large data set (over 8,000 students) from one UK region. Specifically, it presents data from the 2007/2008 Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI) survey within the Yorkshire and Humberside region and reflects back over previous iterations of this research.Findings – The paper identifies three key outcomes. First, it establishes that across all years of the survey a substantial minority of students consistently hold relatively strong start‐up intentions. Second, the paper highlights that, despite considerable eff...

The transition from higher education into work: tales of cohesion and fragmentation

Purpose – This series of papers aims to explore the transition from higher education into work. It reports on research undertaken over a period of two years and which sought to track a number of young graduates as they completed their studies and embarked upon career of choice.Design/methodology/approach – The approach adopted is defined and discussed as one of “common sense”. Alongside the notion of “common sense” the paper deploys two further concepts, “convention” and “faith” necessary to complete a rudimentary methodological framework. The narratives which are at the heart of the papers are built in such a way as to contain not only the most significant substantive issues raised by the graduates themselves but also the tone of voice specific to each.Findings – Five cases are presented; the stories of five of the graduates over the course of one year. Story lines that speak of learning about the job, learning about the organisation and learning about self are identified. An uneven journey into a workpl...

“Graduateness” – who cares? Graduate identity in small hospitality firms

Discusses the second phase of a project on graduate employment in small hospitality firms. It explores the data from the first phase of the project using the concept of graduate identity. The views of both graduates and their managers are examined. The reflections on the data suggest that a complex relationship exists between graduates, their managers and graduate identity. Suggests that hospitality graduates in small firms fail to develop a sense of graduate identity and that their managers lack understanding on how the employment of graduates “makes some difference”. Nevertheless, it is affirmed that graduate identity offers a useful perspective for much‐needed further research on the transition of graduates into SME employment.

New graduate employment within SMEs: still in the dark?

Purpose – A report conducted for the Government in 2002 concluded that public policy, although rising to the challenges presented in stimulating a stronger relationship between supply and demand in the SME graduate labour market, was essentially “running blind”. SMEs were clearly playing an increasingly important role in the wider graduate labour market, yet the evidence base on patterns of recruitment, deployment and graduate contribution was weak and insubstantive. The purpose of this paper is to revisit this issue and critically review research undertaken since 2002.Design/methodology/approach – A decision was taken to critically review the research literature published in the UK on graduate employment in SMEs since 2002 as this was the year that the original report was presented to the Government. The methodological design draws out the main findings from the 2002 report and the associated research agenda. This is then used as a basis from which to evaluate recent research. The methodological design e...

Employing graduates in SMEs: towards a research agenda

In the context of a somewhat turbulent graduate labour market, attention is being focused on the employment of graduates in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper takes an initial “sounding” of our understanding about the transition of graduates into such organisations. While research data provides some insight into the barriers which work to discourage more SMEs from recruiting graduates, this understanding appears inadequate and insufficiently segmented to provide a detailed knowledge of the problems. A prevailing assumption is that graduates lack skills required by SME employers. Yet the limited research findings reveal ambiguity about the extent to which SMEs effectively deploy graduate labour. The article proposes an agenda that highlights the need for two types of research. First, a clearer picture of current trends in the SME graduate labour market. Second, a richer understanding of the real experience of graduates, and their managers, in relation to employment in an SME and the implications of such for both the supply and demand sides of the graduate labour market.

Organisational learning in a public sector organisation: a case study in muddled thinking

Organisational learning practice within the public sector is relatively under researched. This paper draws on case study data from a local authority committed to the creation of a “learning organisation” culture; data generated through the evaluation of two programmes implemented as part of this strategic objective. The article contends that tensions between the need to deliver specific improvements in the organisation and the desire to encourage creative innovation led to an uncertainty surrounding the most appropriate model of learning to pursue the broader goal. Both programmes exposed tensions between opportunities for individual growth and traditional values which constrained that growth beyond the individual. The article concludes that for organisational learning in the public sector to be effective it must be collective, processual and above all cognisant of organisational power patterns.

From student to entrepreneur: towards a model of graduate entrepreneurial career‐making

This paper examines the process of transition from student to graduate entrepreneur. The aim is to develop a typological framework that captures the key person–environment dimensions involved in this transitional journey. This paper draws upon interview data from 15 graduates, all of whom had established their own business within five years of graduation. The paper engages with two dimensions that, we argue, usefully capture an important dynamic of the student‐to‐entrepreneurship transition: (1) the entrepreneurial maturity of the individual; and (2) the complexity of the business idea. The paper maps qualitative data from the graduates onto a framework based on these dimensions. This offers the basis for an enhanced understanding of the graduate entrepreneurship process. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for theory and practice and, importantly, further research.