bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Screening for Risk
Authors: Gottfredson Stephen D. , Gottfredson Don M.
Published: October 2007

This study compares, within the context of parole decision-making, the predictive utility of five statistical methods commonly employed to develop correctional risk-screening devices: (a) two general linear additive models, (b) two configural models, and (c) a model based on a multivariate contingency approach. Devices felt to be operationally useful (at least potentially) were developed and cross-validated using large samples of federal releases. Results suggest that no apparent empirical advantage accrues given use of different models. Even when large amounts of error are randomly added to the predictor item-pool, substantive conclusions do not change. Further, most devices developed are highly intercorrelated. Implications for the practical development of screening instruments are discussed, and further research is suggested.
Shock Probation in Ohio
Authors: Vito Gennaro F. , Allen Harry E.
Published: October 2007

In this study of Ohio's shock probation program, base expectancy rates were developed through the use of predictive attribute analysis. These rates were used to evaluate the stated guidelines of the program; namely, that shock probation should be targeted for use with youthful first offenders. Therefore, the base expectancy rates were utilized to test a prediction which was being made by relevant decision-makers within the program (judges, probation officers). Analysis of the research sample of 1,081 shock probationers released in 1975 revealed that prior record was the best predictor of failure (reincarceration over a two year period). The shock probationers who had a previous criminal record were more than twice as likely to fail. These rates were not cross-validated and were not recommended for application in a mechanical fashion by decision-makers.
Inmate Classification as a Transaction
Authors: Toch Hans
Published: October 2007

A problem with classification in prisons is that of disjunctures between recommendations based on classification data and the process whereby inmate assignments are made. This problem is aggravated by crowding, which limits differential assignment to extreme cases, such as inmates who have trouble surviving. Forging classification-assignment links presupposes communication among staff who successively deal with each inmate; classification recommendations must also be program-relevant and flexibly updated to take adjustment data into account. Nonclassification staff and inmates must have input into classification decisions. If possible, this input should be collaborative. Information exchange among staff runs into a concern with "confidentiality." Where classifiers protect confidentiality, they risk having recommendations ignored or circumvented. They also run this risk if they view classification as an autonomous process or function.
The Myer-Megargee Inmate Typology
Authors: Simmons James G. , Johnson Dennis L. , Gouvier William Drew , Muzyczka Marjorie J.
Published: October 2007

The Megargee and Dorhout (1977) classificatory rules were applied to 181 MMPI profiles from inmates at a Level 4 Federal Correctional Institution, in Memphis, Tennessee. Unambiguous classification was easily obtained for 92% of these inmates. The dispersion of these inmates among the 10 Megargee types was comparable to that previously reported at other levels of the Federal Prison System. Fifty of these inmates were retested (mean test-retest interval = 10.16 months) and reclassified. Only 14 of these 50 inmates retained their original type designation upon retesting. Thus, although the Megargee and Dorhout (1977) typology may be easily applied to inmate MMPI profiles in a Federal Level 4 facility, the rather marked instability of this system suggests that considerable caution should be exercised if it is to be used in the classification process.
Standardized Testing in The 21st Century
Authors: Shostak Arthur B.
Published: October 2007

_ Like the computer revo lution, competency testing also prom ises to imperil mass testing in fresh and intriguing ways, says this writer, who presents his view of the next _ century.
Guidelines for Developing, Administering the Essay Test
Authors: Albrecht James E. , Carnes DuWayne
Published: October 2007

_ The essay test has the potential to remedy the dis crepancy between announced course objectives and the objective test items that supposedly measure attainment of those objectives, according to these writers. They pro vide guidelines for developing and ad ministering essay _ tests.
Career Guidance Testing:_
Authors: Prediger Dale J. , Ferguson Richard L.
Published: October 2007

Career develop ment theory and common sense indi cate that more must be required of tests and counselors if tests are to provide the career planning help that students need, say these writers, who offer some criteria on these pages.
Improving Test Scores
Authors: McGee Jerry C. , Rose Janet S.
Published: October 2007

Schools can improve their test scores. say these writers, who pro pose three major strategy areas for use in customizing a school SAT im provement program.
Improving Productivity in the_ American High School
Authors: Cawelti Gordon
Published: October 2007

_School administrators need to demon strate that they are capable of being responsive to changing conditions and that produc tivity is improving if public concern with the schools is to be relieved, says this writer.
Secondary Education in the 1980s
Authors: Sleeter Christine E.
Published: October 2007

This is the second of two arti cles that review re search in the early 1980s on American secondary edu cation. The first ar ticle, published in the October 1982 Bulletin, examined the main purposes, assumptions, and methods of 16 stud ies that are cur rently underway or very recently _completed.
Improving Your School Through Quality Circles
Authors: O'Neill Dunne Thomas , Maurer Rick
Published: October 2007

The Quality Circle is an exciting and challenging way to improve staff sat isfaction and qual ity of service, ac cording to these writers, who outline the steps ad ministrators should take to establish QCs in their schools. They also issue some warnings.
Keeping in Touch: A Principal's PR Primer
Authors: Schmitt Lee C.
Published: October 2007

Public relations is an important part of the approach to successful school administration. Here's a "first course" for the high school principal on building a program based on people, places, and things.
Improving Sehool-Community Relationships—How Receptive Are Principals, Teachers?
Authors: Licata Joseph W.
Published: October 2007

Following up the study by McCleary and Hines, this writer speculates about the perceptions of principals and teachers con cerning citizen in volvement and pro fessional auton omy.
Free School Counselors From Gatekeeping and Custodial Tasks
Authors: Baker Stanley B.
Published: October 2007

Many secondary schools assign their counselors major responsibility for the gatekeeping and custodial re sponsibilities asso ciated with schedul ing, says this writer, who argues against that role and offers an alterna tive proposal.
Franchising in the Modern Economy-towards a Theoretical Understanding
Authors: Curran James , Stanworth John
Published: October 2007

James Curran is Reader in Industrial Sociology at Kingston Polytechnic, Kingston upon Thames, England, and John Stanworth is Professor and Director of the Srral Business Unit of the Polytechnic of Central London, England. They have been researching the franchised small enterprise since 1975 with the aid of funding from the Social Science Research Council in Britain. Despite the growing importarce of franchising in the modern economy, there is relatively little systematic theorising on the franchise business form. The paper explores the emergence and roie of franchised economic activities at three levels: the social, organisational and motivational. Previous theory and research relevant to eacll level is critically assessed and those elements surviving the examination are brought together with recent thinking and findings to provide the basis of a general theory of franchisirg The latter is expressed in twelve propositions each linked to one or other of the. above levels and suggestions are made for the further refinement of the theory.
Absolute and Relative Concentration in United States Retailing
Authors: Star Alvin , Robinson Anthony
Published: October 2007

Dr. Alvin D. Star is associate dean at the College of Business Administration, University of Illinois at Chicago, U.S.A., and Anthony Robinson is with the Office of Advocacy of the United States Small Business Administration. Highly visible growth of large scale retail companies and a contemporary decline in the number of small retail shops in the U.S. suggests a large increase in U.S. retail industry concentration. However, a relative measure of concentration, the Gini co-efficient, indicates on a small increase from 1958 to 1977. Structurally, the industry changed only as if each retail company almost doubled in employment size over the time period. Therefore retail competition is little affected by recent company size trends.
Effects of Changes in the Business Cycle on Small Firms in the United States
Authors: Tamari Meir
Published: October 2007

Dr. Meir Tamari is an economist with the Bank of Israel in Jerusalem. The original research for this paper was conducted on behalf of the United States Small Business Administration. In view of the special characteristics of small firms the paper examines the importance of monitoring their behaviour at various points in the business cycle. Three related aspects of corporate behaviour - sales, profitability, and current liabilities - are studied. The hypothesis tested in the study is that small firms are adversely affected to a greater degree than are large firms in all three aspects. An examination is first made of whether small firms actually do react differently to changes in the business cycle than large firms and then an attempt is made to measure this quantitatively for forecasting purposes.
Attribute Modelling as a Consulting Aid to Small Business
Authors: Gillingham David
Published: October 2007

Dr. David Gillingham has been an academic in both Canada and the United Kingdom. He has extensive experience in business and has worked as a small business consultant under the sponsorship of The Government of Ontario's Small Business Management Development Program. This paper presents a method of organisational attribute modelling which can be used by individual firms within an industry to improve their profitability. The results of applying this technique to two Canadian and one United Kingdom industry, composed mainly of small firms, are presented to illustrate the use of the process.
The Provision of Assistance to Small Firms
Authors: Ritchie Douglas , Asch David , Weir Alastair
Published: October 2007

Douglas Ritchie, David Asch and Alastair Weir lecture at the Humberside College of Higher Education, United Kingdon. This note reports on the initial findings of an extensive research study into the provision of help and support for small firms, its wide diversity, and its effectiveness.
The "Demarrage of Firms": International Comparisons
Authors: Fourcade Colette
Published: October 2007

Colette Fourcade lectures at the University of Montpellier, France, and has been carrying out research into the phase in the life of a small company which starts when the firm produces its first commercial output or when it receives its first orders and covers the first three to five years of existence before the firm starts to take off. This has been described as the "demarrage" or D-phase. This paper is based on a survey carried out by the Equipe de Recherche sur la Firme et l'Industrie (ERFI) at Montpellier University in the Languedoc-Rousillion region of France, Morocco, Tunisia and the State of Maine in the United States, and examines the experience and problems of companies in the D-phase in those countries.
British University Science Parks and High Technology Small Firms: A Comment on the Potential for Sustained Industrial Growth
Authors: Oakey Ray
Published: October 2007

Dr. Ray Oakey is senior research associate at the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. The current popularity of science parks in Britain is indicated by the existence, or proposed establishment, of various industrial developments on a larger number of university-related sites. The impetus for this enthusiasm appears heavily to rely on evidence from the United States of substantial high technology small firm manufacturing growth in the vicinity of technically oriented universities. Specifically, there is an assumption that the establishment of high technology small firms near to a British university with relevant technical expertise will result in local technical information agglomeration economies for such firms. These economies will accrue from the development of a rich pattern of research based technical interactions. This paper will examine such arguments with the support of empirical evidence, and critically relate these findings to the emerging strategy underpinning the development of British university science parks. In particular, since there is little scope within most university science parks for the development of extensive production, the paper will consider whether the 'critical mass' of research and production agglomeration economies achieved in the United States can be replicated in the emerging 'research only' British science parks.
Entrepreneurship Research in France-A Conference Review
Authors: Vickery Lister
Published: October 2007

Lister Vickery is an affiliate professor at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. Every two years the FNEGE (the French National Foundation for Management Education) organises a research conference. The conference, held in Grenoble in December, 1994, concentrated on the themes of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. One of the six commissions was dedicated to research in entrepreneurship and new business creation and a discussion document was prepared on the current status and future prospects of research in this area. This paper is derived extensively from that discussion document in order to illustrate the research orientations adopted by French academics and their views on desirable further research. The author's thanks are due to the following specialists who contributed to the original report and helped in compiling the selected bibliography: J-L. Bourgogne (Ecole Centrale), C. Bruyat (IAE, Grenoble), A. Cibert (CRIPEME), J-P Clement (CESA-CFC), G. Koenig (Dauphine), L. Kombou (IAE Bordeaux), H. le Marois (IPA, Lille), and P. Senicourt (ESCP).
Survival Rates of Asian and White Retai Lers
Authors: McEvoy David , Aldrich Howard
Published: October 2007

David McEvoy is senior lecturer in Geography at Liverpool Polytechnic and Howard Aldrich is Professor of Sociology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Substantial numbers of immigrants to Britain originating in the Indian sub-continent have entered small-scale retailing. Two possible explanations for this exist. The popular, optimistic view holds that Asian shopkeepers are prospering and that this economic success derives from a willingness to work long and hard for initially meagre rewards, assisted by a supportive network of kinsfolk. The pessimistic view, propounded by the authors and their colleagues, notes the declining national significance of small-scale retailing, sees Asian involvement as a reaction to structural disadvantage in the British labour market, and regards much Asian business as a waste of capital, talent and energy. This paper evaluates the two views in the light of survival figures for Asian-owned and white-owned stores. If Asians are distinctively prosperous, then their survival rate might be expected to exceed that of whites. If, however, Asians are reacting to economic disadvantage, their survival rate ought not to be markedly better than that of whites, and might possibly be worse. Information was derived from interviews with matched samples of Asian and white retailers in Bradford, Leicester and London in 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1984. Aggregate figures suggest higher rates of Asian success. More detailed analysis shows that contrasting figures apply to different cities and to different time intervals. Whatever the relative success rate, however, it is clear that typical survival rates (about 50% after six years) are low.
Employment Generation and Establishment Size in New Zealand Manufacturing
Authors: Bollard Alan , Harper David
Published: October 2007

Alan Bollard and David Harper are respectively senior research economist and assistant research economist at the New Zeland institute of Economics Research in Wellington. This paper reports on some aspects of an investigation into the process of employment generation in New zeland manufacturing industry in the period 1980-1984. The result show taht overall rates of employoment generation do differ by size of establishment. Analysis by growth rates of establishemts shows that birth and death are generally higher the smaller the nint. Expansion and contraction effects are much larger than these birth and death effects but they do not show the same clear trends by size class. The autor found that there is a higher rate of job gteneration in smaller establishments and also a higher rate of job loss there.
Microcomputers and Small Firms in New Zealand
Authors: Cragg Paul
Published: October 2007

Paul Cragg is a senior lecturer in management studies at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. His current teaching is in operational research and management information systems. His paper discusses the results of a field study of 100 small firms with computers. The managers interviewed considered their computerisation to have been a success, which is an encouraging result considering their initial lack of computing experience. The firms had developed more effective clerical systems, with time savings being a major benefit. Better information was very much appreciated by many of the managers. However, problems had been experienced, though they had lingered on for only a minority of companies. Overall, the managers recommended computerisation to small firms.
Differences between U.S. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Entrepreneurs
Authors: Welsch Harold P. , Young Earl C. , Triana Armando R.
Published: October 2007

Harold P. Welsch, Earl C. Young, and Armando R. Triana are all with DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, USA. This study compares Hispanic entrepreneurs with non-Hispanic entrepreneurs using t-tests. The dimensions studied included selected demographic characteristics, personality dimensions, perceptions of problems, information sources preferences and interest in attending small business seminars. The results showed that Hispanic entrepreneurs have significantly higher levels of 'Machiavellianism' and rigidity and that they perceived more operational problems. The study also showed that Hispanic entrepreneurs considered every form of information source category and 12 of the 13 seminars to be more important than did non-Hispanic entrepreneurs.
Growth Strategies for Small Firms: Principles and Case Studies
Authors: Perry Chad
Published: October 2007

Chad Perry lectures at the Queensland Institute of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. This paper considers growth strategies for small firms after they have become established after start-up. Terms describing growth strategies are presented and principles for choosing between the strategies are developed. It is established that growth strategies should be niche strategies and hypothesized that the most appropriate strategies are market development and product development strategies, in that order. Case studies of small Australian growth firms are examined to verify those principles. The cases demonstrate the soundness of the hypotheses developed and also that a consolidation phase is required after each growth surge. They also suggest that the first growth surge often results from a disturbance event and requires credible examples of mentors.
Tax, Incentives and Small Business Investment
Authors: Morgan Eleanor J.
Published: October 2007

Eleanor Morgan is a lecturer in Industrial Economics in the School of Management at the University of Bath. During the 1970s, many industrial countries relied on increasingly generous tax allowances to encourage investment in the business sector. There is, however, little recent evidence about the effectiveness of such policies at the micro level, either on investment decisions by small businesses or more generally.

This paper examines the impact of fiscal investment incentives in Britain in recent years and, in particular, the effect on investment decisions by small firms. The main findings are drawn from an in-depth analysis of sixty investments, one-quarter by small businesses. Against the background of debate in many countries about the future direction of their tax systems, the British experience provides a useful case study; Britain had more generous allowances on certain types of fixed investment than elsewhere and has recently radically altered the system of taxes and investment allowances. It is shown that small businesses are likely to be particularly sensitive to this change.
Small Firms' Pricing - the Neglected Art
Authors: Hankinson Alan
Published: October 2007

Dr. Alan Hankinson is Reader in Business Management at Portsmouth Polytechnic, England. This paper reports the findings of a study which examined the pricing behaviour of 60 small engineering firms in the Dorset-Hampshire region of Southern England during the period 1983-1985. Overall, the findings suggested strongly that the firms' pricing behaviour was generally inconsistent with goals of optimisation. The small firms in question appeared to ignore, and even avoid, opportunities for improved performances, financial or otherwise, through more effective pricing. The Dorset-Hampshire survey revealed endemic problems of pricing within the small engineering firm with up to 100 employees, but especially those in mechanical as opposed to electrical engineering. Almost inevitably as a consequence of these non-rigorous approaches, financial returns will tend to remain below optimum for the small engineering firm. Despite any limitations of the sample, data collection, data analysis, and interpretation, the total picture cannot be disregarded.
Export Behaviour of Small Firms in Singapore
Authors: Cheong Wong Kwei , Chong Kwan Wai
Published: October 2007

Dr. Wong Kwei Chong is an associate professor in the School of Management, National Universityof Singapore. Kwan Wai Chong, a recent graduate of the School of Management, is now an administrative officer with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The authors have examined the export behaviour of small firms in Singapore by making a survey of 400 furniture and 200 electronics firms. The differences between exporters and non-exporters in the two industry groups were investigated. They were compared on demographic characteristics, export supporting activities and problems encountered in exporting. They examined the characteristics which accounted for the export propensity of firms and finally a profile of exporters was developed using the results.
Small Business Loan Decisions: A Survey of Criteria in Japan and Nigeria
Authors: Owualah S. I.
Published: October 2007

SUNDAY I. OWUALAH has recently been a doctoral student in the Faculty of Business Administration, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan, but has now returned to Nigeria as a lecturer in the Department of Finance at the University of Lagos. This paper reports the results of a survey of small business loan decision criteria in two countries as very different stages of development. Japan and Nigeria present striking contrasts, not only terms of their levels of economic development but also in terms of socio-economic infrastructures enjoyed by their small businesses. On both counts Japan towers over Nigeria. Hence the perceptions of the banking institutions to small business lending in the former can be used to assess the perceptions of those in the latter. A major finding of this study is that although there is some degree of congruence on what banking institutions in both countries consider to be critical in their small business loan decisions, the observed divergences in their perceptions may be the consequence of institutional or promotional support inequalities between them.
Providing Effective Help for Infant Business in Areas of High Unemployment
Authors: Gill John
Published: October 2007

DR. JOHN GILL is Reader in Management Studies at the Sheffield Bsuiness School, England. How most effectively to assist small business people in the early stages of business development is a matter which has concerned policy makers, agencies concerned with business support, and academics researching small business. Effective help was a main focus of a research study of infant business (Gill, 1985) and later became part of another research project into a community endeavour to create employment through small business initiatives in a deprived inner city area. This paper explores the background to both projects, makes some assessment of the needs of the business people concerned, how these needs were met in each case, and finally in the light of these considerations and using these contrasting attempts to create employment, to draw conclusions about how small business people in the earliest stages of business creation may be most effectively helped to survive and grow. The conclusion reached in both cases was that the most effective help structure was one where there was a combination of skilful process consultancycombined with access to a diverse network of 'experts' who were 'on tap but not on top'.
The Enterprise Workshop Programme in Australia
Authors: Wan Victor
Published: October 2007

D R. VICTOR WAN is with the Department of Accountancy and Legal Studies at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The Enterprise Workshop Programme was established in Australia in 1981 as an initiative of the Australian government. Its objective is to provide entrepreneurship training with the main emphasis being placed on the development of business planning skills. To date, the workshop programme has been established in every state in Australia. The workshop programme is currently being funded jointly by the government and private sector organisations. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature and effectiveness of the enterprise workshop programme. Data from a recent survey were analysed under the headings of (1) evaluation by past participants, (2) economic benefits of the programme, and (3) comments from sources other than past participants. Within the limitations discussed in the paper, the results of the survey and other sources of evidence are indicative of community support and favourable perceptions of the programme results by the various groups involved. It is concluded that the enterprise workshop programme has been effective in fulfilling its training objective, particularly in the training of business planning skills. However, its effectiveness could be enhanced if more emphasis in the training is placed on the development of personal qualities, rather than concentrating largely on the development of business planning skills. Overall, the workshop programme is seen as having an important demonstrative role to play in entrepreneurship training in Australia, especially in the light of the dearth of entrepreneurship training facilities in the country.
Programming CNC-Equipment—The Effects of Automation in Small Industrial Enterprises
Authors: Poutsma Erik , Zwaard Aad
Published: October 2007

ERIK POUTSMA and Aad Zwaard are research associates at the Economic Research Institute for Small-and Medium-sized businesses in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. This paper focusses on the effects of new technologies in small-and medium-sized industrial businesses. The study is based on a survey of 780 enterprises in different industries and three case studies in the metals industry. One of the crucial indicators to judge the changes in work organisation and job content is where and by whom computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines are programmed. In general it can be stated that the smaller the scale of the enterprise and size of batches, the greater the number of tasks and responsibilities on the part of the operator. Furthermore, in small firms with variable runs of production, the machine operators carry out programming functions as well as tasks of optimalisation, adjustment and quality control. The number of different tasks also depends on the level of education and skills of the operator, which is slightly higher in small firms.

One of the main findings is that new technologies leave room for organisational choices concerning the quality of work. If small firms are to be able to compete in the future much depends on the way they make use of modern technologies. The first concern when automation is introduced is to keep the multi-skill and autonomous character of jobs intact.
Small Firms' Output Determination: An Attitude Problem
Authors: Hankinson Alan
Published: October 2007

DR ALAN HANKINSON is with the Portsmouth Polytechnic Business School, England. This longitudinal investigation is an examination of output determination in a sample of 60 small engineering firms in the East Dorset and West Hampshire regions of England during the period of 1979-88. The work is a critical survey of the motivations behind output determination. The findings indicate disconcerting problems of output determination within the small firm of up to 100 employees but especially those in mechanical engineering compared with electrical engineering. As a result of these non-optimum attitudes to output determination, financial returns tended to remain disappointing for the small engineering firm. The author suggests that firms must appraise and monitor their performances more purposefully. Output must be regarded as an important aspect of marketing which the firm itself must control and not be regarded as an external factor beyond the firm's influence.
Entrepreneurship Development Programmes in Nigeria
Authors: Fatunla Grace T.
Published: October 2007

GRACE T. FATUNLA is a senior lecturer in economics and head of the General Studies Unit at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. This paper discusses the several entrepreneurship development programmes which Nigeria has recently adopted as its main strategy for combatting her unemployment problem. In particular, it focusses on the activities and various programmes of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), analyses in detail its operations, achievements and constraints, and finally makes suggestions for the future improvement of the programmes. The oil boom of the 1 970s led to expansion of educational programmes but without corresponding increases in job opportunities. Consequently there was an explosion of unemployed youths and graduates, worsened by the mass retrenchment of workers brought about by the contraction of the civil service necessitated by the recession in the oil market. Unemployment among school leavers and graduates reached alarming proportions in 1985-86. The federal govemment as well as several state govemments launched entrepeneurship development programmes. In particular, the main organ of the federal government, the NDE, made a notable impact in 1987.
Deregulation of Trading Hours: Evidence from Western Australia
Authors: Armstrong R. W. , Ong C.
Published: October 2007

DR.R.W.ARMSTRONG AND C.ONG ARE with the Department of Management at the University of Western Australia. Within the last twentvy years, there has been a general debate concerning trading hours of small businesses. This debate has occurred repeatedly in several countries. This studied reviews the potential social effects of deregulation of trading hours on Westerrn Australian small business; additionally, the study compares these results with those of other researchers internationally. Service station retailers in two states, Western Australia andTasmania, are still under restricted trading hours,, Victoria and New South Wales have had unrestricted trading hours since 1964 and 1970 respectively, while South Australia deregulated its trading hours in 1986 and Queensland followed suit in 1987. In view of these changes towards deregulation in other states and the 1986 Kelly Report that recommended a progressive deregulation scheme for Western Australia, the objective of this study is to determine the impact of longer trading hours on profitability of service stations and the operators' family and social lives. The perceptions of the service station operators on their business viability, site securitty as well as competitiveness in a deregulated environment are also examined. The results show that 87 percent of the respondents favoured the restricted trading hours and there is no significant difference in attitudes between those from high volume self-service sites and low volume conventional sites. The regression analysis yielded two statistically significant variables, business viability and family/social life, as determining factors for the attitudes of the operators towards the roster system. The relationships indicate that deregulation would not receive support from Westren Australian service station operators.
Networking and Small Firms
Authors: Szarka Joseph
Published: October 2007

JOSEPH SZARKA IS A LECTURERE IN FRENCH and managment at the university of Bath, England. His paper reviews the mangment literature on networking and puts forward and thery small firm development in terms of network formation. this model holds that it is insfficient to consider the small firm in isolation: the small firm is particulary dependent on the nature and quality of its relations with otehr firms and with the external world. these relations can be conceived in terms of exchange networks, commmunication networks and social networks. goods and services, inforamtion, ideas and values are mediated by those networks and sociocial network. Good and services information ideas and values are mediated by those networks. depending on the likages between firms, network constitutions can be based on relations of control, co-ordination or co-operation. Network constitution is shown to influenc the viability and development paths of member firms. Factors encourging network formation and development are analyssed The key issue of economic effectivness and efficiency are related to questions of concetnraion and market condition. the paper concluded by emphasising the role of network formation for the expansion of the small firm sector.
Owner-Managers' Perceived Management Education Needs: An Integrative Framework
Authors: Tait Elizabeth
Published: October 2007

ELIZABETH TAT LECTURES IN THE Department of Industrial and Social Studies, Napier Polytechnic of Edinburgh, Scotland. The decision- making process used by small business owner-managers, which shape and determine their perceptions of the importance of and need for formal management education, have been a neglected area of research. This paper discussed the use of a decision-making process model for researching and analysing those perceptions and processes. A framework representing the decision-making process as a series of stages is outlined and the stage of identification of needs which may give rise to the perception of management education needs is shown as an integral part. Some theoretical considerations concerning the use of this framework in investigating perceived management education needs are addressed. Linkages with various other stages of the decision- making process are examined for possible influences on the needs identification stage. The extent to which the use of such a framework can help pinpoint important relationships between perceptions of management education needs and situational, business and personal factors is also explored. The paper is based on empirical work forming part of a continuing research project on the management education needs of small business owners and draws upon data derived from a postal questionnaire survey of 370 firms and from follow-up interviews with a sub-sample of 41 owner- managers. The use of the framework to guide analysis of perceived management education needs is illustrated with examples from a sub-sample of the substantial number of survey respondents who perceived no need for formal management education.
Barriers to Change in Small Businesses: Some Cases from an Inner City Area
Authors: Joyce Paul , Woods Adrian , McNulty Tony , Corrigan Paul
Published: October 2007

DR. PAULJOYCE, DR. ADRIAN WOODS, and Tony McNulty are lecturers in the business school of the Polytechnic of North London, England. Dr. Paul Corrigan was also formerly based at the polytechnic. This paper examines the perceptions of business people on the barriers to making desired changes in various aspects of their businesses. The evidence is based on interviews conducted in a number of relatively small manufacturing and retail enterprises in the London borough of Hackney. It was found that the market was seen by these business people as an important barrier to making changes. This was so in a number of areas but was especially critical in respect of the firms' flexibility in changing their products or services and, for the manufacturing firms, in making changes to their orders. The analysis develops the argument that the market is a particular type of economic co- ordinating mechanism, one which is a source of opportunities for small firms and simultaneously a constraint on their actions. The opportunities create the potential for change; the constraint makes the actual change potentially difficult. It is the cause, on occasion, of the need to make changes. The market is, therefore, as a co-ordinating mechanism, full of difficult actual and potential changes for small businesses.
Comparative Performance of Small Manufacturing Firms Located in South Wales and Two English Regions
Authors: Hitchens David , O'Farrell Patrick
Published: October 2007

DR DAVID HITCHENS IS WITH THE Department of Economics, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Dr Patrick O'Farrell is a professor in the Departmetn of Town and Country Planning, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland. This paper is the seventh in a serios comparing the perfomance, characteristics, and problesm of small firms affected by government regional policy in Britain and Ireland. The object is to isolate and assess the imporatance of locational desadvantages arising form manufacturing in those regional against the efectivenss of finacial incentives available, with the aim of identifying constraints on the growth of firms.
Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Development in Singapore
Authors: Ray Dennis M.
Published: October 2007

Dennis M. Ray ws visiting professor at the burgoyne center for enterpreneruship. Brock university ontario, Canada, when this paper was written. he has extensive experience of researching enterprenuership in Asia. The venture capital market in Singapore is still in its infancy but this paper attempts to investigate the venturecaptial firm and its portfolio in taht country and examine the belife that the evaluation of venture capital proposal does not occdur in an informational or decision-making vacuum. it was found that iven the potentially significant role of venture capital in signagpore's transition to a knowledge based dveloped economyu, the venture capitalist studed offered new venture start-up in singapore a wide range of philospophies economy, the venture capitalistst studeied offered new venture stat-upspromise, however does not make reality and if these venture capital firms become caught up in the high stakes, deal making pattern of theri united states model they may do well finacially with US start up and perhaps bring a few yong companies to singapore as foreign investments would not be catalyst to local enterprenuership.
The Dynamics of Workplace Relations in Small Firms
Authors: Ram Monder
Published: October 2007

Monders Ram s a senior lecture in the mangment departmetn of birmingham polytechnc england, He has extensive experence f the west midlands clothing sector, having worked in the industry and undertaken research iinthe field. thsi paper explroes thedynamics of workplace relations in small firms. case study materialfrom clothing firms in the West midlands is used to demonstrate that work place relations in small firms are neither harmonius not autocratcs. Even in this msot competitive of ndusttriies it s not simply a question of mangerial autocracy. there is alwasy negotiation of order which, in tthe case of the west mdlands clothiing industry includes thedimesnion of ethnicity. conventional views of the clothing industry which stress the prevalence of tight managerial cnttrol, intensive pace oof woork nad strick discipline are questioned n the light of the case study evidence.
Enterprise Education: Action-Based Research with Training Policy Implications
Authors: Stanworth John , Gray Colin
Published: October 2007

PRO ROFSSORJOHN STANWORTI-I AND Colin Gray are director-general and deputy director-general respectively of thle [Jnited Kingdom's independent rcs strch body, the Small Business Researc h T rust. This paper reports oni a i-tuinber of related action-research based projcC ts undertaken by the authors inxvolvixtg the SBRT and major UK (Gover-iment bodies, such as the I)epartimient of Edtication and Science an-d thie then Training Agency. A key goal uLnderi lirig all of the work reported her c hias heett that of channelling educational and traiiiing aid to the small businesses imiost likely to benefit, and centres par-tictilarlv around the issue of matiagemnenit training in 'growth c orridor' businesses employing 5-50 personnel. The principal objective has been to gain an in-depth understan-ding of the management of firms in in the 5-20 personnel size-band with the relatively poor performance of those in the 20-50 band. The former appears to be asubstantial net job creator and the latter a net job loser. The hypothesis being investigated is that the relatively disappointing performance of firms in the 20-50 size segment is essentially pre-bureaucratic structure tjo one based and delegation.
Exporting and the Smaller Firm
Authors: Samuels John , Greenfield Sheila , Mpuku Herrick
Published: October 2007

PROFESSORJOHN SAMUELS IS HEAD OF Birmingham Business School, Dr. Sheila Greenfield is a Research Fellow in the Department of Accounting and Finance, and Herrick Mpuku is with the Department of Economics, all at Birmingham University, England. The objective of this paper is to report on research into the pricing behaviour in the export market and the attitude towards risk of a sample of smaller companies located in the West Midlands of England. The study was undertaken in 1990 at a time of high interest rates and volatile exchange rates. The particular questions considered included the terms of trade, the currency of invoicing, the extent to which hedging takes place, the adjustment of export prices to changing exchange rates, and the use of the government's Export Credits Guarantee Department, which insures exporters against non-payment and other risks. The responses were analysed by the size of firms, the years of experience in exporting, and the percentage of turnover that is exported. The firms in the sample varied from those employing less than 10 people to those employing more than 200. Not surprisingly because the survey was conducted among Birmingham and West Midlands companies, the vast majority are in the metal goods, engineering and manufacturing industries. More than 40 per cent of the firms had been exporting for more than 50 years.
Policy on Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Countries of the European Community
Authors: de Koning Aad , Snijders Jacqueline
Published: October 2007

AAD DE KONING AND JACQUELINE Snijders are both employed at the International Research Department of the Research Institute for Small and Medium Business (ELM) in the Netherlands. This paper gives figures concerning the position of small and medium enterprises in the European Community; in addition to an overview of the target groups, the organisation and objectives of SME policy in the different EC member states, a comparison is made between the supportive measures in ten areas -- fiscal policies, regional policies, education and training, business licensing, financing, information and counselling, technology and research and developing, supply and contracting, export policies and employment. At thje same time the differences in SME policy are analysed on the basis of characteristics of countries, such as prosperity level and export volume.
IT Adoption and the Independent Retail Business: The Retail Newsagency
Authors: Brooksbank Roger , Kirby David , Kane Stephen
Published: October 2007

ROGER BROOKSBANK IS AN independent marketing consultant, David Kirby is Booker Professor of Entrepreneurship at Durham University Business School, and Stephen Kane is managing director of Task Retail Management Systems Ltd., all in the United Kingdom. Thispaper focuses on the adoption of information technologh systems (IT) by independent retail newsagents -- small retail businesses operating in a traditional, established and economically important sector of UK retailing facing increasing pressure on its long-term survival. On the basis of two large-scale questionnaire surveyus conducted during 1988 and 1990 respectively, the paper examines the extent of usage and the rate of adoption, together with a range of issues surrounding the perceptions of newsagents as to its usefulness and the potential for future adoption. In contrast with other studies (Treadgold, 1988 and 1990), the results indicate a considerable proportion of newsagents using IT and demonstrates how IT helps the small independent retail business improve its competitive position.
Organisation, Structure and SME Training Provision
Authors: Goss David , Jones Robert
Published: October 2007

DR. DAVID Goss AND DR. ROBERT Jones are both senior lecturers in organisational behaviour at Portsmouth University Business School, England. This paper looks at the issue of training provision within small-and medium-sized firms and suggests that while the United Kingdom evidence appears to indicate relatively poor performance in this respect, it is necessary to recognise the diversity of training provided by SMEs. Such diversity can often be concealed by simple statistical aggregation which may encourage the adoption of training policy initiatives framed in universal terms. Such initiatives are likely to be less than optimally successful as they fail to recognise the variable constraints faced by different types of small firm. To overcome this the authors propose an analysis which links the type of training provision to organisational structure and use survey and interview data to show how organisation structure can affect the potential capacity to provide training. It is concluded that if training provision is to be improved across the spectrum of SMEs, training policy must address these differential capacities.
Financial Processes in Newly-Founded Firms
Authors: Laitinen Erkki K.
Published: October 2007

ERKKI K. LAITENEN IS ASSOCIATE professor in accounting at the School of Business, University of Vaasa, Finlanid. The purpose of the study is to identify financial processes followed by Finnish newly-founded firms in their first years of life. Special attention is paid to analysing the relationship between the type of process and the status of the firm (failing/non-failing). The identification of the processes is made by factor analysis applied to selected financial variables in the first four years after foundation. This methodology is similar to that used to identify financial patterns but it is applied here to financial variables from several years simultaneously. The results of the study are tentative because of the small sample size. The results may, however, help new entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and financiers to identify and avoid risky financial processes in the early years.