Conference
Human Capital
The importance of mismanagement or lack of management skills as the primary cause of firm failure is highly convincing. The skill sets needed to develop a business are rarely held by one individual, therefore, a management team is preferable to an individual as it offers a wider range of human capital to steer the development of the firm, and increase the likelihood of improved performance. The human capital available needs to be embedded in the systems and processes of the organisation within the firm to allow this capability to be integrated, thus ensuring that the success of the firm is not reliant on one individual.
Financial Management and Advice
A study by Frankish, Roberts and Storey argues that the way a business operates its bank accounts and achievement of consistent sales growth are the most important factors in predicting a business’s survival. Businesses with lower levels of organisational resources are disproportionately affected by tightening credit and are also more likely to find past growth unsustainable. SMEs that are affected in these ways are less likely than their peers to respond by using financial advice that can exacerbate their existing problems.
Therefore, business support mechanisms should be used where appropriate in order to improve access to, and stimulate the demand for, financial advice. Popular sources of advice, and accountants in particular, benefit substantially from crossovers between related areas of advice, whereas more generic business advisors, IFAs and online sources of advice are at a disadvantage in this regard. The adviser community needs to consider its offering, particularly opportunities to develop clients by building additional expertise and preparing for an additional role as generalist advisers.
Environmental Responsibility
Running a green enterprise is identified as a potential advantageous strategy for SMEs, and the movement toward environmentally responsible enterprises is growing worldwide. Driven by a desire to integrate corporate responsibility and sustainability principles into their businesses, many entrepreneurs are finding that running a green enterprise is a sound business proposition because they can tap into new as well as existing markets.
Regulation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda, economic instruments and enhanced efficiency have emerged as key drivers in today’s economy. Governments are becoming increasingly interested in green jobs to create new economic opportunities in response to the twin challenges of climate change and economic downturn. Support structures are also being put in place to assist entrepreneurs in benefiting from the green enterprise markets and heightened consumer environmental consciousness
ICT and e-commerce
A great deal of emphasis is now being placed on the role and importance of ICT as a tool to enable the growth and development of SMEs, aid survival in the recession and allow SMEs to promote their services as effectively as large companies. The growth of the internet as a primary medium means that the importance of e-marketing cannot be underestimated. It is also a means of producing strong short-term results for relatively little outlay and, as such, can level the playing field between SMEs and larger companies.
The lack of success for many SMEs and overall low adoption of ICT capability has been recognised across all sectors. Several papers presented at the conference evaluated the impact of ICT within the SME sector using a diversity of methodologies within various differing contexts and parameters. Generally, the results indicated a desire to adopt ICT but, due to a variety of factors (limited finance, lack of support infrastructure, limited Owner/Manager skills and knowledge etc), there was a lack of optimisation regarding potential benefits.
Facilitators are widely regarded as key to successful ICT adoption. Doiron and Fleet cited research by Davis and Vladica that demonstrated “The one major defining factor in driving e-business success, by far, was the presence of a person in the organization who played the role of an IT champion”. This is supported by Jones, whose study found that “the potential of ICT was not being maximised due to a lack of awareness and knowledge of ICT by the Owner/Manager. Furthermore, there was a lack of evaluation, monitoring and understanding of the impact of ICT on business practices and turnover. ICT investment was only undertaken if clear and immediately attainable benefits were readily achievable.” Thus, recognising the need to inform SME owner/managers about how to use ICT effectively, and ensuring that there is somebody who has the capability to help the SME wade through the complexities of ICT processes and the internet is critical. The need for the strategic deployment of ICT to be aligned with the business objectives of the SME was emphasised in many of the studies presented at the conference, with the role of the Owner/Manager remaining central to the process.
ICT Adoption, Entrepreneurship and e-Business Diffusion in SMEs by Colin Gray
ICT Adoption and Development of E-business among SMEs in South Africa by Knowledge Chinyanyu Mpofu
A Study of South Australian Small to Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) and their Adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by Ann Monday
The role of change agents in diffusion of innovation of Internet technology in SMEs: the case of broadband introduction in the UK West Midlands by Martin Beckinsale and Margi Levy
Adopting Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in the Female-Owned Enterprise- A Strategy for Growth? By Yvonne Costin
Results of a longitudinal research Study: Why SMEs should stop spending resources on enhancing their websites, by Daniel Doiron and Greg Fleet
New Firms in the UK: Survival and Growth by Julian Frankish, Richard Roberts and David Storey
Determinants of the demand for financial advice among UK SMEs: Evidence from the 2007 BERR Survey of SME Finances by Robin Jarvis and Emmanouil Schizas
Going Green: Women Entrepreneurs and the Environment by Patrice Braun
Business Failure: The Role of the Manager by Grace Walsh and James Cunningham
Modelling the Individual Determinants of High Aspiration Firms in the UK by Mark Hart, Michael Anyadike-Danes and Jonathan Levie