Branded chains dominate sections of commercial hospitality provision; however, the vast majority of firms in the sector are micro businesses employing 10 or fewer staff. In fact, most are so small as to employ no permanent staff. In many cases, those running these businesses are not classic entrepreneurs driven by a need to maximise profits and…

Purpose: This paper aims to report on the second half of a two-part study that identified relevant content for safety audit training in small businesses. The specific aim of the paper is to determine the preferred learning styles and approaches of managers in these businesses in order to identify some principles which could be used to tailor…

This longitudinal study finds that spousal capital is an important resource for entrepreneurs starting a business because it has implications for business sustainability and couple relationship quality. Structural equation modeling supported a process whereby gender had an impact on spousal involvement in the business, which was positively…

Recent literature about broadband telecommunications reveals two major areas that are not only globally gaining prominence, but are also demanding urgent attention from a research perspective. One of the key areas is related to the need to spatially evaluate the availability and deployment of broadband services, especially among urban versus rural…

Although skill shortages are often portrayed as a significant problem for the Australian economy, there is surprisingly little evidence about their prevalence, causes and consequences. It is difficult to find robust evidence about where skill shortages occur, why they occur, what businesses try to do about them and whether their responses are…

This paper describes a career development program for staff involved in providing training for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand. Most of these staff were professional vocational teachers in schools. The program uses information communication technology (ICT), and its main objective is to teach Moodle software as a tool for…

This study examines ways in which Chinese immigrant families are involved in their children's mathematics education, particularly focusing on how different types of families utilize different forms of capital to support their children's mathematics education. The theoretical framework defines four types of Chinese immigrant families--working…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe the lived experiences of adult learners who are owners and managers of small winery businesses operating in the start-up phase of the organizational life cycle. The study explored and identified the meaning of adult learning in the entrepreneurial context and its affect on…

Purpose: By comparing two small high-tech firms specialising in medical technology this article seeks to answer the following questions: What are the key characteristics of innovation processes in the case firms? How do the mutual relationships between mental, social and physical spaces explain the different pathways in the innovation processes in…

Information technology (IT) has become a strategic vehicle for small businesses to achieve and sustain their competitive advantage. Prior research has suggested that information technology plays an important role in the decision-making process. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between organizational IT performance and…

In recent years, "math and science" has been the mantra for many educators and business leaders who warn of an urgent need to encourage the pursuit of these and other technological disciplines or risk losing ground in the global economy. Simply emphasizing the need for "math and science" expertise does not, however, encourage…

The objective of the study reported here was to ascertain the impact on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owner-managers of simulating having and being a non-executive director (NED) within the GOLD programme at Lancaster University, the purpose of which is to help owner-managers of SMEs to become better strategic leaders of their companies.…

This guide is primarily aimed at skills providers for unemployed adults, but will also be of interest to learning providers that wish to engage micro-businesses for the purpose of delivering other forms of provision such as apprenticeships and work-based learning through full cost recovery. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and define dimensions of organizational learning and the way it affects small- or medium-size enterprise (SME) performance. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical research is carried out in Polish SMEs (the sample size is 211 enterprises). In order to test the constructed hypotheses we use…

When the author first arrived at Charleston Collegiate School, she was handed a college-level Microsoft business applications textbook and told she'd be teaching a one-semester ninth grade technology course. Since the course had never been taught before, she was given little more direction than: "Teach them Office and anything else you think they…