Learning In Small Businesses Research Articles

Upskilling trades for a low carbon future: a case study of gasfitting and hydrogen

ABSTRACT A global transition to low-carbon, resource-efficient economies is occurring in response to risks posed by climate change and environmental degradation. Hydrogen is proposed as a zero-carbon substitute for natural gas with the potential to reduce carbon emissions in homes and businesses. Trades, including gasfitting, will be affected by the transition to a low-carbon economy and require upskilling to develop competencies to work with hydrogen to ensure safety and support domestic uptake. Understanding the training needs of trades practitioners is essential to the successful transition to a zero-carbon economy. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of Australian gasfitters, exploring what motivates gasfitters to participate in training, what informs their ongoing learning and what their preferences are for hydrogen training. Most gasfitters are either self-employed or work in small businesses, and, as such, this context presents both challenges and opportunities to consider in upskilling strategies. Drawing on interview findings and literature on small business learning, the paper presents considerations to inform training approaches and policies in the transition to hydrogen and also, more broadly, for upskilling other small trade businesses similarly affected by a shift to low-carbon and green technologies.

Enhancing learning in small businesses

AbstractThis study addresses knowledge gaps relating to how small business owner/managers facilitate employee learning and how distinctive characteristics of small businesses affect employee learning. Data were collected through interviews with owner/managers and employees and observation of conditions in the physical, social, and organisational environments that might help or hinder informal learning. The findings provide a situated, context‐sensitive, and triangulated account relating to two research questions. We find that owner/manager physical and social proximity to employees is a key facilitating factor. Proximity creates the potential for owner/managers to facilitate learning through modelling, provision of immediate feedback and guidance. The owner/manager's positive influence on learning stemming from their physical and social proximity to employees is accentuated by owner/managers employing management styles facilitative of learning. Our findings suggest that a “family‐like” culture and the social cohesion in the businesses had enabling effects on employee participants' informal learning, while their lack of opportunities for formal learning would have inhibiting effects.

How do innovation, internationalization, and organizational learning interact and co-evolve in small firms? a complex systems approach

ABSTRACT This study examines using a complex systems approach, the reciprocal relationships between innovation, internationalization, and organizational learning in small businesses. After analyzing 54 companies and purposefully selecting 12 particularly information-rich cases, we find that these three key activities are reciprocally linked to each other, forming a complex circular system. The firms’ evolution also shows that, faced with various change elements, the system evolved toward adopting one of up to four patterns of interaction, characterized by low and high incremental and radical innovation, local and global internationalization, and adaptive and generative learning. The findings are relevant to scholars, managers, and policy makers.

What makes small beautiful? Learning and development in small firms

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the workplace learning processes among small Hungarian firms by building on the human capital approach. The exploratory study focuses on two small firm-specific factors that crucially impact small firms’ workplace learning: the roles of the owner/manager and networks. Building upon 11 semi-structured qualitative interviews with the owners/managers of small businesses, the study addresses three primary research questions: (1) What specificities of small firms’ workplace learning can be identified? (2) What is the owner/manager’s role in shaping the learning environment in small businesses? (3) How can the owner/manager’s networking activities contribute to effective learning in small businesses? The results suggest that although often not addressed as learning, small business owners consciously develop and manage their firms’ learning processes and environments.

The owner-manager’s role as a facilitator of informal learning in small businesses

ABSTRACTFew studies have examined the owner-manager as a facilitator of learning in small businesses. Furthermore, these studies are typically not framed by distinctive characteristics of small businesses. These limitations of the literature stimulated us to ask: How do the situational opportunities and constraints that emanate from the distinctive characteristics of small businesses affect the small business owner-manager’s role as a facilitator of learning? To address this question, we first conducted a narrative review of existing research on the owner-manager as facilitator of learning in small businesses (10–49 employees). Four themes emerged from our analysis of research findings, including a theme that owner-managers are seldom directly involved in facilitating employees’ learning. Next, we conducted an integrative review of literatures that discuss (a) indirect approaches managers can adopt to facilitate learning; and (b) small business characteristics. We focussed on four high-impact indirect approaches owner-managers can use and examined how employment of each approach might be enabled or constrained by distinctive characteristics of small businesses. The integrative review generated ten research propositions. We also synthesized a conceptual framework that illustrates the main variables to be studied and presumed relationships among them. Based on our analysis of literature, implications for policy and practice are proposed.

Exploring the Relationship among Innovation, Internationalization, and Learning for Small Firms

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between innovation, internationalization, and organizational learning in small businesses. Emergent approaches go beyond the linear causalit...

Distinctive Characteristics of Small Businesses as Sites for Informal Learning

Few studies have examined workplace factors that influence informal learning in small businesses and in general the studies are not framed by the characteristics of small businesses. To address this weakness in existing literature, we conducted a review of literatures which examine (a) workplace factors that influence informal learning, (b) small-business characteristics, and (c) factors influencing informal learning in small businesses. The several workplace factors that influence learning were categorized as job and relational and organizational characteristics. Each category was examined in relation to characteristics of small businesses. We outline what is known about each category and what we need to learn about them as they relate to informal learning in small businesses. For each category, propositions are generated that should be examined in future research. We also produce a heuristic conceptual framework that can be used to focus and bound future research that tests a different set of propositions.

Production of entrepreneurship in small business activities of students

Purpose– The importance of entrepreneurship education and the lack of studies at the vocational level, have created a need to develop a model of entrepreneurship learning. The purpose of this paper is to determine what vocational college students learn about entrepreneurship from working in a small enterprise, how they learn it and what role the teacher has in the learning process.Design/methodology/approach– The data used are drawn from discussions between eight students (aged 16-18), where they assessed and developed their business activities conducted over the course of a year. Using qualitative data collection and analysis methods, content connected with entrepreneurship was examined to provide information about activities they undertook and how the learning process occurred.Findings– The findings indicate that learning in a small enterprise is a continuous process, where content, activities and process are intertwined. The core of learning is reflection-in-action, to develop entrepreneurial skills and behaviour.Practical implications– This paper may offer a means of applying a small business learning model to entrepreneurship learning. The results can benefit teachers planning entrepreneurship learning.Originality/value– This paper contributes to the understanding of student learning in small enterprises by empirically examining what learning takes place and how.

Learning by starch potato growers: learning in small businesses with no employees

In small businesses with no employees, learning environments have a low learning readiness. Consequently, learners need to rely on their own agency to shape their learning experiences. Results from a study of agricultural entrepreneurs indicated that the components of motivation and self-regulated learning strategies shape learner's agency and explain learning environment configuration in small businesses with no employees. Configuration of the learning environment was found to be a weak determinant of the learning performance of these learners. However, results showed that prior performance of learners in small businesses with no employees dictates how their agency operates and what learning effect is achieved; higher prior performance results in higher learning effects. We conclude that mechanisms that underlie learning in traditional learning environments work similarly in learning environments in small businesses with no employees.

Tool box for managers: Lessons from New Zealand small businesses

Purpose: To ascertain small business (SB) managers’ perspectives on their educational and support needs for their managerial tool box. Design/Methodology/Approach: Semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews were conducted in New Zealand, with 19 SB managers to ascertain their perspectives about business learning opportunities. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis. Findings: Four skills for small business learning were identified: basic (day‐to‐day management skills), coping (time management and priority setting skills), psychological (emotional/social skills) and networking skills. Value of the paper: A model with three phases and three parallel streams of learning was developed that has potential to enhance survival rates of SBs. Further, the psychological aspects of being a SB manager are highlighted. Research limitations/implications: Feelings and emotions may be more significant than capabilities. Practical implications: The pedagogic practices should be accepting, affirming and confirming, to provide social/emotional and psychological support to SB managers.

Factors influencing employee learning in small businesses

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to identify key factors influencing employee learning from the perspective of owners/managers.Design/methodology/researchData were gathered from owners/managers in a total of 27 small manufacturing and services firms through interviews and analysed using content analytic procedures.FindingsThe research found that the key factors influencing employee learning could be categorised into four main themes: factors in the external business environment; factors in the work environment; learning potential of the job itself; and learning orientations of employees.Research limitations/implicationsCategorisation of the factors produces a preliminary framework that might guide future research. The factors identified in this study need to be supplemented by factors identified through further research to develop a comprehensive framework.Practical implicationsThe findings could assist in raising owners'/managers' awareness of the key factors influencing employee learning. Categorisation of the factors could help owners/managers cope with the many factors.Originality/valueThe paper attempts to bring some coherence to the study of employee knowledge and skill acquisition in small firms through identifying and categorising key factors influencing employee learning.

Rethinking UK small employers' skills policies and the role of workplace learning

Small business employers in the UK are widely perceived as adopting a reactive, ad hoc approach to employee skill formation. Employer reliance on workplace learning is often treated, explicitly or implicitly, as evidence of such an approach. Small employers' approaches to skill creation are investigated using data from two employer samples. Three main conclusions challenging these arguments are presented. First, small employers' skills policies are highly diverse: strategic, tactical and restrictive policies are distinguished. Second, employers perceive particular benefits in enabling workplace learning; simplistic views that a reliance on workplace learning necessarily constitutes an inferior last resort for those employers unable to provide access to external training are rejected. Third, enabling workplace learning is important to strategic employers, as well as to those attaching a lower value to skills. For some employers, the workplace is the primary source of new knowledge and skills because they are unavailable elsewhere. The prevalence, diversity and significance of workplace learning in small businesses require a reappraisal of UK small employers' skills policies. The implications for research, practice and policy are discussed.

Small business learning through mentoring: evaluating a project

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a small business‐mentoring project, which was delivered in regional Australia. Design/methodology/approach – This paper contains a case study of the mentoring project and focuses on the process and the outcomes of that project from different perspectives. Data collected in semi structured telephone interviews with the Project Manager and the volunteer mentors and a mail and telephone survey of the small business owner/managers who participated in the project, is used to develop a narrative about how the project unfolded and what it achieved. The case study is then examined in light of the literature on small business mentoring. Findings – The case study highlights learning through mentoring can increase self‐confidence while objective outcomes such as increased sales and new jobs are less likely to be outcomes. Research limitations/implications – This paper focuses on one regional area and a single mentoring project while the research was conducted 18 months after the project finished. Evaluation is best conducted during or close to the completion of a project as the lapse in time can lead distort the participants' memory. Practical implications – The case study in this paper highlights some key features of small business mentoring programs: a structured process, mentor training, and the value of other opportunities for interaction between participants during the life of the project. These are all elements future small business mentoring programs can build upon. Originality/value – This paper will be of interest to practitioners involved in the delivery of small business training programs as well as policy makers as it provides an example of a program in operation and the outcomes of such a program.

Information technology and learning: Their relationship and impact on organisational performance in small businesses

Information technology is seen as a key tool in knowledge management processes. Nevertheless, the presence of information technology neither guarantees knowledge creation, knowledge distribution nor knowledge use. In addition to information technology, a job environment and a culture that encourage sharing and continuous learning should also be created and maintained by management. This paper provides empirical evidence of the relationship between information technology and learning in small businesses as well as their impact on organisational performance. Furthermore, the level of sector knowledge-intensity is taken into consideration. Results show that individual learning along with individual and collaborative information technologies have a positive and significant impact on organisational learning. On the other hand, unlike individual and collaborative information technologies, individual and organisational learning have shown significant and positive effects on organisational performance. Therefore, information technology has a significant impact on outcomes only when in a proper context of learning is in place. Small businesses in sectors with high knowledge-intensity levels are more likely to use more frequently information technology tools and organisational learning practices.

The impact of workplace learning on job satisfaction in small US commercial banks

PurposeThis study aims to examine workplace learning and job satisfaction in small, commercial US banks.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data collection with correlational procedure.FindingsThe study found a statistically significant relationship between the workplace learning variables and the job satisfaction variables.Research limitations/implicationsFurthers the linkages between the opportunities for learning in the workplace with how satisfied employees are with their jobs. Also establishes the importance of informal and incidental learning, rather than formal learning.Practical implicationsEmphasizes the need for managers to make learning opportunities available to enhance overall job satisfaction. In addition, helps place the need for expenditures on non‐formal learning, not just formal learning where all the money is usually spent.Originality/valueFew studies have looked at the role of workplace learning in small businesses. Very few have linked workplace learning to the things that make people feel good enough about their work to stay on with a company. This study also solidifies the need to focus on something besides “training.”

Small business pedagogic practices

Understanding how learning for small businesses should best proceed constitutes a worthwhile, yet challenging, pedagogic project. In order to maintain their viability, small businesses need to be able to respond to new practices and tasks. Yet small businesses seem neither attracted to nor to value the kinds of taught courses that are the standard pedagogic practice of vocational education systems. Small business operators commonly view these courses as being irrelevant, inappropriate or inaccessible. Therefore, identifying the kinds of pedagogic practices that meet their needs and offer effective learning outcomes is a useful project. This paper reports and discusses the findings of a study of how 30 Australian small businesses learnt to implement a new practice: a recently introduced goods and service tax (GST). Interviews were used to understand the pedagogic practices that supported the learning associated with implementing the GST. In most cases, the process of learning comprised a movement from an initial reliance upon external contributions to a greater independence in practice premised on capacities residing within the small businesses. The key and most commonly reported contributions were those provided by localised support and expertise (e.g. experts such as affiliates, accountants, consultants, family, other small businesses). Localised support was potent when it assisted in identifying the goals for learning (e.g. the scope and requirements of the task) and the development of capacities to operate independently, as well as supporting and monitoring the progress with this innovation. A model of learning in small business was generated and validated through further interviews with small businesses. The model illuminates the need to go beyond the orthodox pedagogic practice of vocational education and training to consider options, such as localised learning spaces as the key source of small business learning.

Key Learning Themes In the Small-Business Literature

This article presents a review of the literature on learning in small businesses. The sources for the review are two major databases on management research: Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and ABI/INFORM (ABI). In all, about 500 abstracts published between 1973 and 2002 have been classified. The review shows that research still is built on primary empirical research and that there are no obvious core groups of researchers publishing in the field. Our review does, however, identify a general trend pointing towards an increasing interest in research on learning in small businesses. Further, it is shown that key learning themes discussed during the last 30 years related to small businesses are: education and training (of both management and employees), strategic planning and IT/Software support. During the last decade, the interest in inter-organizational learning (networks and clusters) has increased dramatically.The review indicates that research on small businesses and learning is multidisciplinary and in an early stage of its growth. An in exten so analysis, of all articles in the five most prominent journals found in the review, shows few signs of coherent bodies of knowledge on which the literature draws. Many of the articles (37%) give no accounts of explicit theory. This is the case particularly in the early publications. The review does not reveal any “original” theory generated by the small-business research community. Instead theories are extracted from other academic disciplines, mainly from the field of economics but also from other social sciences such as sociology and psychology and from engineering. The review shows that empirical studies of learning in small businesses are rare. This means that our understanding of learning processes in this kind of organisations is limited. Research is necessary to increase our knowledge of learning in different levels but also from different perspectives in small firms.The “small-firm effect” on learning needs to be further explored.

An exploration of learning, the knowledge‐based economy, and owner‐managers of small bookselling businesses

Learning and knowledge in all its various forms have always played an important role in economic development. A major focus however, has been on the impact of the knowledge‐based economy on big, rather than small businesses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine whether a group of small business owner/managers participated in a range of learning activities, and if so, what those learning activities were. At the same time, the extent to which owner/managers of small businesses were aware of the knowledge‐based economy was also explored, as was the degree to which they participated in it. It was found that, participation in learning did occur, but that greater reliance was placed on informal rather than formal learning. It was also found that the understanding of the knowledge‐based economy varied considerably from those who had some knowledge of the concept, to those who had no understanding at all. While this study is regional in nature, it makes a valid contribution to the study of small business learning from a global perspective.

Organisational learning in small learning organisations: an empirical overview

Much has been written, in recent years, on the subject of learning organisations and knowledge‐based businesses. Most research in this area, however, focuses upon large businesses. In this type of firm, it appears the concepts of “organisational learning” and “learning organisation” can be, and often are, used interchangeably to describe learning‐based individual and collective development. Until recently, issues relating to organisational learning in small businesses were mostly ignored or marginalised. This paper sets out to redress the balance. It reports a study of organisational learning in the small business sector of the UK economy. Research data, collected over the 1996‐1998 period, through telephone surveys, in‐depth interviews and case studies, were analysed through quantitative and qualitative methods. The results indicate that although learning can occur in the majority of small businesses in the sample, only a minority of these manage new knowledge strategically to sustain and advance their competitive advantage.

Making connections: innovation and collective learning in small businesses

Investigates the learning process in innovation and, in particular, the collective learning which underlines different types of innovation within the context of small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Argues that innovation is often the result of interaction of various subjects, technologies, people and organisations, and that it is the learning that is derived from such interaction which underpins innovative activity. SMEs are better able to innovate when they are part of clusters because it is through the networking process and the management of externalities (key elements in clustering) that they develop new products, processes and services.