Robert Newbery

Home based business sectors in the rural economy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to challenge calls for a monolithic rural home‐based business (HBB) sector and instead propose meaningful sub‐sectors of HBB that fit within contemporary rural economic development theory. This informs business support and policy objectives.Design/methodology/approach – Survey analysis of rural microbusinesses in the North East of England compares home‐based and other rural microbusinesses to illustrate their defining characteristics. Case study interviews are then used to test theory development and provide greater understanding about the motivations and aspirations of HBB owners.Findings – The research demonstrates that the rural HBB sector is not homogenous. For some, the home is the business, for others it is a convenient location and for others it is not the place of work, simply the registered business address. This has significant implications for the needs of each type of business and their prospects for growth.Research limitations/implications – This paper i...

Export Promotion Programmes and SMEs’ Performance: Exploring the Network Promotion Role

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the network promotion role of export promotion programmes in driving small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) export performance. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a dual institutional and network-based approaches to internationalisation, the study tests an integrative model that explores the mediating role of SMEs’ relationships in the link between government export promotion programmes (both informational and experiential forms) and export performance. The model was tested using a sample of 160 UK small and medium exporter firms. The data were analysed through a structural equation modelling technique. Findings The study finds that whilst both informational and experiential export promotion programmes improved all forms of SMEs’ relationships, only experiential forms had an indirect effect on export performance. Further, only relationships with foreign buyers had a positive impact on export performance. Research limitations/implications The results of this research provide directions for export promotion organisations in targeting their network support provision and for SMEs in utilising such a support. The study calls for similar research in different contexts to validate the proposed model. Originality/value This study brings novel findings to the extant literature by conceptualising and validating the importance of the “network promotion” element of export promotion programmes.

Determinants of the performance of business associations in rural settlements in the United Kingdom: an analysis of members’ satisfaction and willingness-to-pay for association survival

Research into business associations indicates that many associations suffer from very high levels of inactive members and fail to deliver significant benefits to members. In order to improve provision, the objective of this paper is to understand the determinants that drive or limit performance of rural business associations. Previous research has focused on the ratio of perceived costs to benefits as informing the decision to remain a member. However, in small associations, membership may be more influenced by social norms than the logic of rational choice. Using measures of satisfaction and willingness to pay for association survival as in-group measures of performance this paper finds that (1) for small associations, group size is critical, (2) associations are valued higher in communities where trust is lower, (3) funding by public bodies may be counterproductive to long-term development aims, and (4) the degree of rurality is insignificant in explaining association performance.

Rural enterprise and neo-endogenous development

A ‘neo-endogenous approach’ to rural development explores the inter-relationship between entrepreneurship and its spatial context. Neo-endogenous development is defined as “endogenous-based development in which extra-local factors are recognised and regarded as essential but which retains belief in the potential of local areas to shape their future” (Ray, 2001: 4). The key principle is harnessing local resources, including human and social capital, while also recognising the importance of extra-local influences. Results from a large-scale survey, undertaken by CRE researchers in January 2009, describe the characteristics of rural businesses in the North East region. Building on earlier work by Bosworth (2008; 2009a, b) and Atterton (2005, 2007), analysis draws out the importance of in-migrant business owners in establishing and running rural businesses and the ways in which they differ from locally-born owners. In-migrants are important ‘neo-endogenous facilitators’ drawing new information and knowledge into rural areas through their extra-local networks. However, their contribution to the rural economy depends on their integration and embeddedness within their local community. Drawing on the work of Murdoch (2000: 417) who argues that the network approach is useful as a means of holding the ‘inside’ and the ‘outside’ together in one frame of reference, rural business associations are then viewed as providing such a context and space for the mediation of local and extra-local networks. The chapter contributes to our knowledge of the diversity of entrepreneurial activity across all sectors in rural areas, and highlights the importance of extra-local resources for local development.

Evaluating the impact of serious games: the effect of gaming on entrepreneurial intent

Purpose Serious games are playing an increasingly significant role across a range of educational contexts. Business focused serious games can provide students with an authentic learning experience and their use has been increasingly taken up by business school faculty, including those delivering entrepreneurship education (EE). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of participation in a serious business game on the entrepreneurial intent (EI) of undergraduate students. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design. It employs a modified version of Linan et al.’s (2011) EI model in the form of a questionnaire survey completed by 263 undergraduate business and management students. Findings A logic regression model was used to analyse the survey responses. The research findings indicate that the serious game used in this study has a significant negative impact on EI. Gender and role model effects are also identified from the analysis. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it demonstrates the impact of serious business games on EI during the enterprise awareness stage of a student’s EE. Second, it provides a foundation for exploring the role that serious games can play in educating the potential entrepreneurs of the future.

The Character of Rural Business Relations

Rural spaces are often associated with strong community ties (Reimer, 1997; Atterton and Bosworth 2012) but the simultaneous spread of infor- mation technology and advances in personal mobility in the ‘Network Society’ (Castells, 2005) have stretched the geography of many rural networks and relations. In this context, this opening chapter considers the role of rural businesses as essential nodes in rural networks and the value that network relations can bring to smaller, rural enterprises.

Sustaining business networks: Understanding the benefit bundles sought by members of local business associations

Local business associations can be important mechanisms for stimulating inter-firm cooperation leading to economic growth and development. However, previous research suggests that the unfulfilled expectations of their members can lead to low participation, high membership churn and network instability over time. As a departure from studies that have explored why local associations supply certain benefits and services, this paper draws on an original, demand side membership survey of local business associations to identify for the first time the bundles of benefits sought by members. Two bundles of benefits (instrumental and info-social) relating to thin and thick models of rational choice, respectively, are identified in explaining why firms join and remain part of associations. The relevance of these bundles to members was found to vary with business profile and length of membership, with the value of instrumental benefits reducing over time, whereas the demand for info-social benefits remained relatively stable. The findings have important implications for local strategies for sustaining business networks.

Beta:: An Experiment in Funded Undergraduate Start-up

This paper reports on an evaluation of a funded undergraduate project designed to enable student business start-up. The programme, entitled ‘Beta’, provides undergraduate students with £1,500 of seed-corn funding. The key objective of the project is for the participants to exit it with a viable and legal business entity through which they can start trading on completion of the course. The study adopts a case study approach and evaluates all aspects of the Beta programme, the actors involved and its processes and practices. The authors examine the development of the project and the challenges and hurdles that were identified and overcome to realize the projects goals.

SMEs’ export propensity in North Africa: a fuzzy c-means cluster analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the determinants of small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) propensity to export using data from a North African country, namely Algeria. Drawing on the extended resource-based view, the study examines the role of firms’ resources and capabilities in explaining the probability to export. Design/methodology/approach The study employs the nascent fuzzy c-means clustering technique to analyse a sample of 208 Algerian SMEs. The sample included both established and potential exporters operating across various sectors. A combination of online and face-to-face methods was used to collect the data. Findings While a preliminary analysis established the existence of five clusters exhibiting different levels of resources and capabilities, further discernment of these clusters has shown significant variances in relation to export propensity. In short, clusters exhibiting combinations that include higher levels of export-oriented managerial resources showed greater export propensity, whereas clusters lacking such assets were less likely to display high export propensity, despite superior capabilities in marketing and innovation. Practical implications The findings provide a more comprehensive insight on the critical resources shaping SMEs’ internationalisation in the North African context. The paper holds important implications for export promotion policy in this area. Originality/value The study makes a twofold contribution. First, the use of the fuzzy c-means clustering technique to capture the joint influence of discrete resources and capabilities on SMEs’ export propensity constitutes a methodological contribution. Second, being the first study bringing evidence on SMEs’ internationalisation from the largest country in the African continent, in terms of landmass, constitutes an important contextual contribution.

Enhanced Entrepreneurial Learning through Visual Experiential Learning

Abstract This study considers the impact of an experiential visual-based learning pedagogy on students undertaking a business start-up module. The current undergraduate student is different with a dependency culture on a range of electronic media (e.g. mobile phone, laptop, tablets) underpinning their existence. The term ‘digitally demanding’ has been coined to describe such individuals. Such individuals think and act in a different way expecting immediate personal solutions to problems they encounter. Thus, there is a need to challenge their mindsets and thought processes to think in a creative and innovative manner to identify appropriate decisions. Educational pedagogy requires a significant mind shift to create enterprising and creative individuals for the modern organisation. The focus of this study is upon enabling students to develop a valid and robust business idea through use of visual learning methods that is described here as ‘rapid entrepreneurial action’.