Robert G. Wyckham

The Needs of Small Business Owners: Perceptions of Entrepreneurs and Service Providers

Abstract Many government and private organizations have a stake in increasing the rate of success of new business ventures in Canada. Federal, provincial and municipal governments, private and public banks, educational institutions, chambers of commerce and other organizations provide services with the objective of encouraging entrepreneurship and sustaining new ventures. Are the services offered the ones that owners of startup business require? Do entrepreneurs attribute the same level of importance to start-up assistance as do the providing organizations? The data from this study indicate agreement on the types of venture services needed, but disagreement on how important those services are to startup business managers. Entrepreneurs in different industries rate access to various types of assistance quite differently.

Assessing the Impact of Entrepreneurial Education: Canada and Latin America*

AbstractAn examination of eight studies of Canadian and Latin American university-based entrepreneurship education programs was carried out. The data suggest that there is a role to be played by universities at the pre-start-up, start-up and post-start-up stages of the entrepreneurial education process.

Dealing with misleading advertising in the face of declining government resources

During the 15 years from 1980 to 1994, more than 150,000 complaints of misleading advertising were received by Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada (now Industry Canada). Over the same period, 1,580 prosecutions were initiated and 1,154 convictions were obtained. Within the context of the actions that flow from the receipt of a misleading advertising complaint, this study examines the actions that flow from the receipt of a misleading advertising complaint, and the probability that a complaint will lead to a conviction. It analyses the equality of protection from misleading advertising across the country; and the product categories and the media which generate the largest number of convictions. The trend in investigations, prosecutions and convictions is down. The author concludes that with Industry Canada playing a changed and diminishing role in the regulation of misleading advertising, other means must be sought to deal with this problem.ZusammenfassungIn den 15 Jahren von 1980 bis 1994 erhielt die zuständige kanadische Behörde 150,000 Beschwerden wegen irreführender Werbung. In der selben Zeit wurden daraufhin 1,580 Verfahren eingeleitet, aus denen 1,154 Verurteilungen resultierten.Die vorliegende Studie befasst sich mit den Klagen, die sich aus Beschwerden über irreführende Werbung ergeben können, und mit der Wahrscheinlichkeit, mit der eine einzelne Klage zu einer Verurteilung führen wird. Sie prüft die Gleichmässigkeit des Schutzes gegen Irreführung über das ganze Land Kanada hinweg und analysiert die Produktkategorien und die Werbemedien, die zu den meisten Verurteilungen führen. Zahlenmässig geht der Trend sowohl bei den eingeleiteten Verfahren wie auch bei den Verurteilungen abwärts.Der Autor kommt zu dem Schluss, dass andere Wege im Umgang mit irreführender Werbung gefunden werden müssen, wenn die übliche behördliche Verfolgung an Bedeutung verliert.

The Language of Advertising

Advertisers are accused of degrading the English language by deliberate misspelling, the use of slang, the creation of new words and expressions and the use of language which does not conform to the conventions of standard English. This article presents data from a study of language attitudes and practices of Canadian and British advertising agency personnel. These language attitudes are examined in terms of the positions of pop grammarians, those who oppose language change and see English as bound by strict rules, and language liberals, those who argue that English is what native born speakers speak. It is concluded that the language of advertising should not be judged only against the conventions of standard English. Clarity of communication with target audiences and the creative use of language must also be used to measure the quality of language in advertising.

Incidence of Entrepreneurship in the General Population

Abstract Given the importance of entrepreneurial activity as a driver of the economy, it is vital to know, with some accuracy, the number of startups and shut-downs of businesses in any given period. An examination of the many sources of data on business births and deaths in Canada suggests major weaknesses in that information. Differences in definitions, methodology and data bases result in a wide variation in estimates. These data problems are exacerbated by the growth of self-employment and the informal economy. A pilot study of the incidence of entrepreneurship conducted in Vancouver indicates that the number of small businesses in Canada may be quite a bit larger than official estimates. Without accurate information governments, banks and other institutions are not in a position to develop policy and take actions to encourage entrepreneurship.

Self-regulation of sex-role stereotyping: Educating the advertising industry

This study indicates that, even though a massive education campaign has been conducted, knowledge about industry standards for self-regulation of sex-role stereotyping among one group of Canadian advertising practitioners is very low. However, the data suggest that awareness and access to industry standards, once achieved, yield a more positive orientation to self-regulation.ZusammenfassungWie diese Studie zeigt, ist unter kanadischen Werbepraktikern die Kenntnis über Branchenstandards für die Selbstregulierung von Geschlechter-Stereotypen bemerkenswert gering, und zwar trotz einer massiven Aufklärungskampagne, die in diesem Land durchgeführt worden ist. Allerdings deuten die Ergebnisse auch darauf hin, da\ einmal erworbene Kenntnisse solcher Standards und der Zugang zu ihnen zu einer stärker positiven Orientierung gegenüber der Selbstregulierung führen.

Spending attitudes of consumers: Pilot studies in French and English Canada

Pilot studies of consumer spending attitudes were conducted in Vancouver in 1970 and Quebec City in 1973. Responses to a set of bi-polar scales designed after the semantic differential indicate a 50/50 split between modern and traditional spending attitudes for the French-speaking sample from Quebec City. English-speaking respondents in Vancouver showed a 60/40 split on the modern spending side. The strongest responses to the modern end of the scales for both camples were to the phrases: “I love to spend money” and “spending gives me a lift.” Two traditional phrases which received strong support were: “When I spend money I am very careful” and “I find it less painful to pay cash than to charge it.” More modern spending attitudes were found to be associated with higher social class, more education and, to some extent, more optimism about future financial prospects in both samples. Lower incomes and lower status occupations were related to more traditional spending attitudes in the French-speaking sample. Age, family life cycle stage, marital status and sex did not seem to differentiate spending attitudes.