This paper presents the recruiting trends for 2009-2010. This year's report is based on over 2,500 respondents, of which approximately 2,259 provided useable information with 1,846 including complete hiring figures used for the projections. The researchers continued their focus on fast-growth companies and expanded their efforts to ensure a…

While the Milwaukee region's economic base is rooted in its manufacturing history, many believe that the region's future prosperity will be tied to its ability to successfully transition its economy into one that is based on knowledge and innovation. Indeed, fostering innovation has become the call to action for business and political leaders…

Purpose: While information and communications technology provides new opportunities for supporting mentoring, there is a need to explore how effectively these potential benefits are being realized. This paper seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of a program in the small business context as a basis for proposing determinants of e-mentoring…

The development of entrepreneurial management skills by owner-managers of existing small firms has been neglected in comparison with the attention paid to new venture entrepreneurs. However, the survival and growth of small firms is vital in regional economic development. Many small businesses are vulnerable in the period after start-up, or when…

Active learning has attracted considerable attention in higher education in response to concerns about how and what students are learning. Many pedagogies may be categorized as active learning, although most are classroom-based. The authors propose an alternative to "active learning in the classroom", which they characterize as "active learning…

Active learning has attracted considerable attention in higher education in response to concerns about how and what students are learning. There are many different forms of active learning, yet most of them are classroom based. We propose an alternative to active learning in the classroom through active learning outside of the classroom in the…

This quantitative study explored the relationships among workplace learning, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment (OC) in the context of small to midsize information technology companies in Taiwan. Twenty-six companies participated in the study, and a total of 206 valid surveys were collected and analyzed out of 450 that were…

The role of work-based learning is a pivotal part of developing the learning region. With rates of employment at their highest for many years across Europe, the need for up-skilling the workforce in many areas will be essential to retain competitiveness and employability. This paper will focus on quality management up-skilling in small to…

As the country emerges from the recession, the Government of Canada must make difficult but critical decisions about where to invest public resources. Federal investments in research are overwhelmingly directed to pure or discovery research, with little support to applied research tied to commercialization. Innovation for the marketplace and the…

This paper explores the role that action learning might play in micro and small enterprise development. It is divided into two parts. The first part focuses upon the distinctive characteristics of smallness and ownership and their implication for management development processes in the owner managed firm. In particular the impact of personal…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a prospective entrepreneurship training model based on experiential learning which will enable the "production" of small business owners or entrepreneurs which is not being achieved by the current methods. Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper. It analyses the current…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore graduate training through SME-based project work. The views and behaviours of graduates are examined along with the perceptions of the SMEs and academic partner institutions charged with training graduates. Design/methodology/approach: The data are largely qualitative and derived from the experiences of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present empirical evidence outlining the ways in which small businesses orientate themselves towards the training market. The primary aim is to illuminate the factors influencing small firms' (non-) participation in formal, externally-provided training. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected via…

So far, e-learning has primarily been used when there are many learners involved. The up-front investments related to e-learning are relatively high, and may be perceived as prohibitive for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Some e-learning is, however, getting less expensive, and some e-learning models are more suited for small-scale…

Criminal activity involving computers can range from minor vandalism to million-dollar theft. Most alarming is the vulnerability of small business. (RM)