Steve Johnson

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)

Lifelong learning and SMEs: issues for research and policy

Research evidence suggests that SMEs are significantly less likely than larger employers to provide or fund formal training leading to qualifications for employees. The training (or more accurately learning) that does take place in most SMEs tends to be informal, on‐the‐job and related to short‐term business objectives or problems. There are strong arguments to suggest that this type of approach is perfectly rational from the point of view of the small business, but may not produce the optimum level or mix of skills for the economy as a whole. Moreover, there is little convincing evidence to suggest that increased investment in formal training leads automatically to improved business performance for SMEs. Research findings raise a number of issues for policy makers and others who are trying to promote the concept of lifelong learning, and associated policy initiatives, to those who own, manage and/or work in SMEs. This paper suggests a number of directions that should be taken by researchers’ policy makers, to promote lifelong learning among SMEs.

Which SMEs Use External Business Advice? A Multivariate Subregional Study

The authors examine factors that influence the propensity of a firm to take up external business support across four large English towns, using random effects nominal probit regression analysis to capture sector heterogeneity. The results suggest a strong positive association between the orientation of the firm towards growth and its propensity to use external business advice. ‘Push’ factors, including the existence of recruitment difficulties, are identified as key triggers to use business advice. These results provide valuable guidance to public policy organisations concerned with business development and competitiveness, and suggest a number of avenues for future research.

Employer characteristics and employee training outcomes in UK SMEs: a multivariate analysis

Workforce development is becoming a higher priority for government, both as a means of addressing social exclusion and raising competitiveness. However there is limited evidence of the contribution of training to the success of individual firms and even less evidence of the impact of such training activity on small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) employees. This paper draws on a survey of 1,000 employees to investigate the impact of a training intervention on employees in SME workplaces. It explores issues associated with the equity of provision of training in the workplace and the impact of training on the employability of SME employees in the labour market. The results suggest that training interventions lead to positive outcomes for the majority of SME employees, particularly those working in organisations with relatively formalised training practices. It concludes by suggesting that there should be a greater focus on the employee dimension in research and policy regarding training in SMEs.

Job Generation in Britain: A Review of Recent Studies

D.Storey and S. Johnosn are with the ceter for urban and regional Development studies at the univerisity of Newcasste upon Tyne, England. Theri paper reviews recent studies on job generation by smal firms in Britain and takes a critical view of research which lays claim to support the job creation characteristics often claimed for the small business, sector in particular they examine the work of and stewrt also of the Newcastle univeristy which is based on Dun and Bradastreet data, as were the earlier major studies in the United states of America the autor find that there are significant difference between the result obtained by United States researches, notbly birch, and laso to lesser extent by the Broking group and by United kingdom research, on the role of enterpreneurship and small business in depressed regions, in genral the US result suggest the small buisnes are stron in decling regions and a force leding to a rival of economic activity in such area.s in Contrast UK research ahve assertd that small buisness proper relatively well in the prosperous regions but perfomr porly in the less prosperous regions.

Engaging SME managers and employees in training: lessons from an evaluation of the ESF Objective 4 Programme in Great Britain

This paper draws on a telephone survey of 116 independent SMEs to explore the impact of a variety of training interventions on human resource (HR) practices and business performance in Great Britain. The paper investigates the extent to which targeting such interventions on the managers of SMEs affects the impact and the likelihood of changes in HR practices but finds no statistically significant relationship. The research findings suggest that whilst training interventions have positively contributed to the establishment of HR practices and are perceived by SME managers to have met the needs of the organisation, their impact on a range of business performance indicators is fairly modest. Furthermore the research identifies the propensity of SMEs who are currently engaged in training to become involved in these interventions whilst the majority of SMEs who are not engaged in external training activities remain untouched by the policy intervention.

Different skills and their different effects on personal development: An investigation of European Social Fund Objective 4 financed training in SMEs in Britain

This paper examines a data set that has its origins in European Social Fund Objective 4 financed training programmes in small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Britain to examine the extent to which three different personal development outcomes are attributable to different types of skills acquired during the training process. The three outcomes in question are: whether an individual gains more confidence at the workplace; whether an individual obtains a qualification; and whether an individual quits the company at which the training took place. To the extent that it is possible to isolate one skill dimension from an inherently multi‐dimensional bundle, it is observed that some of these skill dimensions have important, if sometimes different, impacts on the likelihood that the outcome in question occurs.

Labouring and Learning towards Competitiveness: The Future of Local Labour Markets after Harker, Leitch and Freud

In 1999 Geddes and Newman highlighted five key tensions in New Labours adoption of the ‘new centrist’ approach to Local Economic Development (LED). This article reflects on the continuing relevance of these tensions in relation local labour markets and in the light of the publication of three major independent reviews of policy in relation to child poverty, skills provision and welfare reform and the Governments response to these. It suggests that in the main the tensions identified by Geddes and Newman remain relevant, especially within the emerging national policy framework. However, it also ends optimistically, by suggesting that there is scope for LED actors to piece together an approach which can begin to move toward a resolution of the tensions through bringing together employment and skills policies at the local level, developing more effective models of partnership working (including with employers), and taking the sustainability agenda more seriously.

Employer Perceptions of Skills Deficiencies in the UK Labour Market: A Subregional Analysis:

Past research on labour-market skills shortages indicates that employers report skills shortages or hard-to-fill vacancies for a variety of different reasons. Nevertheless, there is some consensus that skills-shortages analysis needs to examine such shortages within the context of the local labour market in order to understand the labour-market dynamics and structural factors that affect the propensity for unemployed people to fill ‘skills shortage’ vacancies. The traditional approach has been to utilise qualitative analysis and case studies. In contrast, in this paper we undertake a multivariate probit analysis of employer perceptions of skills shortages utilising a subregional dataset from a survey of Dorset employers undertaken in 1998. On a general level, we demonstrate the complexity involved in attempting to measure skills problems using the responses of employers to standard surveys. The key findings of the probit analysis are that: firm size is a significant determinant in skills-deficiency perception, growing firms have a higher skills-shortage perception, and reported perceptions of skills deficiencies vary significantly according to the position of the respondent in the organisation. This reinforces the message that great care needs to be taken when analysing measures of skills deficiencies that are derived solely from employer surveys at national or subregional level.

TECs and the Training of People with Disabilities: Threats and Opportunities

Considers the implications for the training of people with disabilities of the shift towards a new system for the delivery of publicly funded training schemes, based upon Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). People with disabilities face a number of barriers to labour market participation, which may be partly overcome through the provision of appropriate training. The TEC initiative, in principle, creates a framework within which such schemes can be tailored to meet local needs. However, the way that the TECs have been set up and funded in practice has a number of features which might militate against such developments: TEC strategies are dominated by employer interests, with relatively little involvement by voluntary organizations or representatives of people with disabilities; the output‐related funding system implies an incentive to downgrade provision for those who have a lower probability of obtaining jobs or qualifications as a result of training – the evidence suggests that people with disabili...