Includes "Introduction"; "Impact of Research on Manufacturing SMEs"; "Technology Acquisition and the Changing Face of Manufacturing Industry"; "Enabling Continuous Improvement of New Product Development Processes"; "Innovation and SMEs"; "A Decision Support System for the Initiation of…

A nonprofit community action agency, BusinesStart, provides business training and small loans to entrepreneurs in 18 rural counties in southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee. The entrepreneurs, many with no previous business experience, cite the agency's basic business training as key to their success. (SV)

The dual system of vocational education and apprenticeship in Germany originated in the crafts sector, with predominantly male participation. As the services sector rapidly expands, the question arises whether small businesses in this sector will be able or willing to follow the dual system. (Contains 55 references.) (JOW)

The paper draws on analysis of industrial economic development to contrast two models of internationalisation in universities. The first is based upon copying and serving large corporations. The suggestion is that adopting this approach would imply significant failures in the educational process. In the extreme, it would result in a world with a…

The authors were the principals in the evaluation of the Prince's Trust's Young People's Business Start-up Programme, 1994?1999, as it operated nationally in the UK and in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. In this paper they report the methodologies used in the evaluation and the key findings. They then use their reflections on both…

The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-358) was put in place to invest in innovation through research and development, to improve the competitiveness of the United States, and for other purposes. The table of contents for this Act is as follows: (1) Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; (2) Sec. 2. Definitions; and (3)…

More than 10 years have passed since the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) came into effect for employers of 15 or more employees. Americans with disabilities continue to be more unemployed and underemployed than their nondisabled peers. Small businesses, with fewer than 500 employees, continue to be the…

With the current growth of the Internet, we expect significant changes in how and to what extent companies acquire business information. By comparing two studies on information seeking by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) carried out in 1982 and 2003 respectively, and comparing the results with other studies, this paper indicates that the…

A Senate hearing received testimony on amendments to the Buy Indian Act, which allows the federal government to give preference to Indian businesses when awarding contracts on reservations. The legislation focuses on reservation economic development, sets aside for small businesses all contracts below $1 million, addresses the prompt payment…

This article is designed as the starting point for writing a business plan. It first describes what a business plan is. These benefits are discussed: financing, increasing knowledge, preventing poor investment, and planning. A brief description follows of the 10 components of a business plan: executive summary; business description; marketing;…

Prepared to assist American Indians in initiating entrepreneurial activities, this booklet offers practical guidance on starting and operating a business. Section I defines the term "entrepreneurship," and provides a self-evaluation checklist focusing on the qualities needed by entrepreneurs. Section II briefly discusses four forms of ownership…

The retail florist industry is composed of many small businesses. A flower shop is unique as a retail outlet because it sells a highly perishable agricultural product that involves customized work requiring a high degree of product knowledge and skill. Qualifications of a successful florist include being a good businessperson, able to design,…

This report provides a conceptual model of how a business develops and grows in Wisconsin and results from a survey of entrepreneurs. Part I provides the background and develops the conceptual model. It defines small business, discusses entrepreneurial characteristics, describes stages of business development, and considers barriers encountered by…

An increasingly popular economic development tool to improve the success rate of new firms is the small business incubator. These are buildings in which a number of new or growing businesses can locate and operate at a much lower overhead cost than in conventional space where market rates prevail. Incubator facilities are characterized by access…

Designed to assist established businesspeople with the development of a loan proposal, this workbook offers information on sources of financing and step-by-step guidance on applying for a loan. After chapter I discusses borrowers' and lenders' attitudes towards money, chapter II offers suggestions for determining financial needs. Chapter III lists…