Rural small businesses struggling against the current of competition from "big box" retailers, weak consumer demand, and on-line shopping options must find strategies that work. Many are finding that adoption of e-commerce strategies is a key to survival, even prosperity. This article highlights the lessons learned from a recent case study…

The small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector has been widely recognized as an engine of economic growth in South Africa. The implementation of the National Small Business Strategy (NSBS) in 1995 established important objectives for the sector to address such problems as lack of access to markets and procurement, lack of access to finance…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which the small firm's external relationships influence its approach to formal training and training providers. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with senior managers, in 25 small firms in South Wales. These interviews…

This research aims to articulate the most salient factors that set apart successful small and micro community enterprises in the province of Phetchaburi, Thailand. The authors utilize both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Approximately one hundred questionnaires were sent to leaders of the community enterprises. Simple statistical…

Entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed as a plural rather than singular endeavour. This paper develops a conceptual framework of team-based entrepreneurial learning, challenging the myth of the entrepreneurial "Lone Ranger" and revealing the significance of power structures in the SME management team in mediating what is and is not learnt.…

Technical vocational education and training (TVET) programmes have recently received increased attention as an area of priority for stimulating growth in developed and developing countries. This paper considers the situation in Ethiopia where the promotion of micro and small-sized enterprises (MSEs) has been central to the development and…

An important assumption of entrepreneurial competence is that (at least part of) it can be learned and developed. However, human resources development (HRD) practices aimed at further strengthening and developing small-business owner-managers' entrepreneurial competence are complex and underdeveloped. A multisource assessment of owner-managers'…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show how a typology of participating patterns is developed to deepen understanding of participation in formal adult education and the relationship between current workplace and educational programmes. Design/methodology/approach: The approach takes the form of conceptual work based on a qualitative analysis…

Purpose: The main aim of this paper is to develop guidelines on the critical issues to consider in research design in an action research (AR) environment for SME network capability development. Design/methodology/approach: The issues in research design for AR studies are developed from the authors' experience in running learning sets but, in…

Tribal colleges are often performing little miracles in their communities. Most tribal colleges operate without benefit of local and state taxes. Yet, they bring in new money from other sources that stimulate the local economy. Students gain knowledge and skills that can transform their communities and local economies. Tribal colleges not only…

California's community colleges continue to play a crucial role in the state's economy by providing students with the skills and knowledge to succeed and by advancing the economic growth and global competitiveness of California and its regional economies through the Economic and Workforce Development Program (EWD). The EWD program invests in the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore small firm owners' perceptions of the impact of employee training on small firm competitiveness in the context of Greece. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts a qualitative orientation. Empirical data were collected from 43 owners of small and micro-firms operating in various sectors of…

In this paper, we review a variety of e-commerce startups created by senior information systems students, under the author's guidance, over a number of years at multiple universities. We compare the characteristics of the start-ups and comment on various factors which appear to have contributed to their success or failure. Our recommendations are…

Unsolicited bulk email received by business users has increased exponentially in volume and complexity since the introduction of email. However, the factors that influence managers to purchase spam filters have never been fully documented or identified, only assumed. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify, understand and document…

This paper contains an account of a small scale investigation into the usefulness of the concepts of the learning organisation and organisational learning when seeking to describe the processes of knowledge creation and deployment within the small, but growing, enterprise (SME). A review of the literature reveals a concern that the relationship…