Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development: Volume 20 Issue 1

Small business performance: business, strategy and owner‐manager characteristics

Robert A. Blackburn, Mark Hart, Thomas Wainwright

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the factors that influence small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) performance and particularly, growth.

The development of SME managerial practice for effective performance management

Aylin Ates, Patrizia Garengo, Paola Cocca, Umit Bititci

This paper aims to investigate the gap between theory and practice in performance management in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and analyse it in the light of specific…

SME top management team and non‐executive director cohesion: Precarious equilibrium through information asymmetry

Rosie Boxer, Lew Perren, Aidan Berry

Research into top management team (TMT) performance and consensus has been equivocal; furthermore, research into the role of non‐executive directors (NEDs) in UK SMEs concluded…

Financing practices and preferences for micro and small firms

Nikolaos Daskalakis, Robin Jarvis, Emmanouil Schizas

The aims of the paper are three‐fold: first, to analyse how small and micro firms finance themselves; second, to investigate what their financing preferences are; and third, to…

Levels of innovation within SMEs in peripheral regions: the role of business improvement initiatives

Richard Harris, Rodney McAdam, Irene McCausland, Renee Reid

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of business improvement methods (BIM/TQM) in contributing to innovation implementation in SMEs within peripheral regions.

Entrepreneurial competencies of women entrepreneurs pursuing business growth

Siwan Mitchelmore, Jennifer Rowley

Entrepreneurial competencies have an impact on firm performance and growth. The purpose of this paper is to report empirical research into the entrepreneurial competencies…

Gender, disadvantage and enterprise support – lessons from women's business centres in North America and Europe

Paul Braidford, Ian Stone, Besrat Tesfaye

The aim of this paper is to analyse support measures in the USA, Canada and Sweden aimed at encouraging women to start their own business and/or promote growth in women‐owned…

Supporting entrepreneurship in deprived communities: a vision too far?

Nick Williams, Robert Huggins

Government intervention has increasingly identified deprived communities as a key focus for enterprise support. The purpose of this paper is to examine attitudes and perceptions…

Age driven influence of role‐models on entrepreneurship in a transition economy

Esteban M. Lafuente, Yancy Vaillant

The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential impact of entrepreneurial role models over entrepreneurial activities at different stages of an individual's life cycle in…

Innovation characteristics of young and old family‐owned businesses

Sylvie Laforet

The purpose of this study is to examine characteristics and factors affecting innovation in young and old family‐owned businesses. The research focuses on three important factors…

Assessing students' entrepreneurial skills development in live projects

Jane Chang, Alison Rieple

The aim of this paper is to present an exploratory study that examined the development of students' entrepreneurial skills over time within live projects.

2012 Awards for Excellence

Editorial

Dr Harry Matlay