Editorial

Citation

Matlay, H. (2007), "Editorial", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 14 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jsbed.2007.27114daa.001

Editorial

While writing the Editorial for the final issue in this volume, I would like to take a few moments to reflect on another successful year in the publishing life of this journal. At a recent (June 2007) ICSB Conference held in Turku, Finland I was approached by a number of contributors and members of the Editorial Board as well as academics and researchers from numerous countries who use JSBED to support their research, teaching and advisory activities. I am pleased to report that without exception, all their feedback and comments were both positive and encouraging. Furthermore, during the year, a number of journal editors involved in this area of research have also provided me with constructive and positive comments in relation to the content, quality and number of articles published as well as the format of the journal. This feedback confirms that we are improving all the time and continue to make a significant contribution to the small business and entrepreneurship field of research. As the Editor, I am pleased to see that the hard work, contribution and commitment of all the individuals involved in publishing our journal is rewarded by growing success. On behalf of the Editorial Board, I wish to thank all of our contributors, referees, advisors and members of the Emerald publishing team for their support and commitment – past, present and future.

There are 12 articles in this issue, some of which are grouped thematically and the others free standing, representative of a growing trend of high quality, quantitative and qualitative research in this field of academic endeavour. The first four articles scrutinise relationships involving smaller firms and various external agencies. Lewis, Massey, Ashby, Coetzer and Harris explore the business assistance realities of New Zealand small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to better understand these owner-managers’ experiences as well as their ability to identify and use the services that are on offer. It emerges that only some owner-managers regularly interact with the support infrastructure in this country. Interestingly, the most frequently accessed sources of business assistance where not necessarily those that were subsequently perceived as being the most useful or significant. Smith and Collins focus on the work of business advisors in the UK, in relation to the promotion and implementation of Investors in People (IiP) in smaller firms. The authors found that IiP advisors often need to balance the delivery of a useful consultancy service while also aiming to achieve specified commitment and recognition targets. In the next article, Kevin Mole reviews the methods used by publicly supported business advisers in the UK, in the context of their efforts to accurately assess their clients’ businesses needs. He suggests that one of the keys to understanding the way in which advisers assess small business needs is through congruence, as smaller firms typically reflect the aims and objectives of their owner/managers. Furthermore, failure to be congruent could result in “error messages” to advisers who have to suggest problem diagnoses. Stephen Kelly critiques the foundations of the “relationship benefits” concept and develops, tests and validates a pertinent theoretical model. The author demonstrates that relationship benefits sought by small firms collaborating with larger partners can be classified as “cost”, “service”, “image” and “flexibility” benefits. In addition, their transfer could facilitate improved small firm competitiveness by helping them to build relevant capabilities and resources.

The next four articles focus on the impact of the internet and related information and communication technologies (ICTs) on various aspects of small business competitiveness. Simmons, Durkin, McGowan and Armstrong focus on the key issues that determine internet adoption and utilisation in SMEs operating in the Northern Ireland agri-food industry. The authors found that these SMEs need to develop an awareness of Internet efficacy and a subsequent dynamic and strategic approach to its adoption and utilisation. In the following article, Laura Galloway investigates internet roll-out and provides a conceptual and contextual framework on the demand for, and use of, broadband access for SMEs operating in rural areas. She points out that rural businesses tend to lack propensity for growth and diversification, and suggests that efforts to roll out ICTs to rural areas may not provide many of the desired or expected results. Peterson, Meinert, Criswell and Crossland explore the effectiveness of third-party seals with self-reported privacy policy statements in relation to the willingness of potential e-commerce customers to provide a variety of personal information. Emergent results show that third-party seals were not as effective as self-reported privacy statements that offered a strong guarantee of security. In the next article, Caskey and Subirana use a blended learning environment to introduce principals in small businesses to the benefits of electronic commerce. Based on their research, the authors suggest that a training approach which combines online preparation and physical participation could be more effective than either approach alone.

In their article, Reijonen and Komppula provide an insight into micro-business owner/managers’ perceptions of success and how these affect the performance of their firms. It emerges that non-financial measures of success that are affected by the entrepreneur’s motivations and goals influence the financial performance of micro- firms. Consequently, these owner/managers are likely to measure their performance by various criteria and find success in job satisfaction and contented customers. In the next article, Okunta and Pandya investigate issues related to entrepreneurship amongst African-Caribbean business people. The authors prove conclusively that African-Caribbean business people in the UK are not devoid of attributes necessary to achieve entrepreneurial success. Geoff Ruggeri Stevens sets out to adapt existing recruitment theory to add to tools available to small business recruiters for job matching. He provides job-specific scoring methods to assist employers in recruitment processes and enhances the consideration of reasonable adjustment issues in the employment of disabled individuals. He found that a simplified derivative of repertory grid method that resulted in a combined abilities/tasks matrix was useful in a small business recruitment context. In the final article, Cantzler and Leijon investigate how women owner/managers build good internal and external relations and explore the extent to which they are able to develop their small businesses as well as contribute to community development. The authors found two types of female owner/managers amongst their sample: “visionary entrepreneurs” and “managing leaders”. It emerges that visionary entrepreneurs work in teams and network around their businesses, while also developing their firms and social milieu. In contrast, managing leaders represent a more traditional way of doing business, are unable to create an internal team or a network that could further develop their businesses.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who made this issue possible, for both their hard work and their continuous commitment. I look forward with anticipation to the challenges and successes of our next volume of JSBED, my seventh as the Editor of this dynamic journal.

Harry Matlay