Edwin G. Nelson and Yolanda K. Gibb
The context in which changing small business needs and the impact of government policies are making new demands on trainers are reviewed. The performance of the SME sector as a…
Abstract
The context in which changing small business needs and the impact of government policies are making new demands on trainers are reviewed. The performance of the SME sector as a whole, and the survival and competitiveness of individual firms, are factors of critical importance in both developed and developing economies. This is recognised by the UK Government, which is adopting measures designed to stimulate the take‐up of services designed for the support of small firms. Thus, the SME sector offers a potentially large and relatively unexploited market for business trainers in which demand depends on the relevance of the supply of training as perceived by owner‐managers. The key to this market is the competence of small business trainers to design and deliver relevant products. This is an important determinant of the choice and quality of the support on offer to owner‐managers. An indicative survey of small business trainers in the UK shows that they themselves recognise a need to enhance their competence in both the design and delivery of products through continued professional development. The way forward for the professional development of trainers is discussed.
Virginia Barba-Sánchez, Yolanda Salinero, Pedro Jiménez Estévez and Pablo Ruiz-Palomino
The high and persistent unemployment rates of people with intellectual disabilities (PwID) reveal the wide gap that still remains to be bridged. Entrepreneurship combinedly with a…
Abstract
Purpose
The high and persistent unemployment rates of people with intellectual disabilities (PwID) reveal the wide gap that still remains to be bridged. Entrepreneurship combinedly with a high enterprising tendency could improve PwID's life satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method approach was used, based on questionnaires and structured face-to-face interviews on 37 PwID who had recently become entrepreneurs. Data were firstly quantitatively analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), and qualitative data were used to enable robust findings.
Findings
The entrepreneurial tendency of PwID who had recently become entrepreneurs was found to be a positive to their life quality (LQ), job satisfaction and life satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
This study revealed that entrepreneurship among PwID who had high enterprising tendency enhances their LQ, job satisfaction and life satisfaction. However, further research could evaluate whether becoming an entrepreneur is in itself enough to change PwID's life to better, such that a comparison could be done between PwID who become entrepreneurs and PwID who have a salaried job.
Practical implications
New aspects in the design of public social policies to improve PwID's life satisfaction are suggested. These include the facilitation of both entrepreneurship and enterprising tendency for PwID to enhance their life satisfaction.
Originality/value
There are very few occasions in which PwID set up businesses. This is one of the first studies to analyze the benefit of entrepreneurship and enterprising tendency on the LQ, the satisfaction at work and the life satisfaction of PwID.
Details
Keywords
Eugénia Pedro, João Leitão and Helena Alves
For better mapping the path of intellectual capital (IC) research, the purpose of this paper is to selectively review empirical studies of IC published, and identify theories…
Abstract
Purpose
For better mapping the path of intellectual capital (IC) research, the purpose of this paper is to selectively review empirical studies of IC published, and identify theories, components and three dimensions of analysis: national IC (NIC), regional IC (RIC) and organizational IC (OIC).
Design/methodology/approach
The systematic literature review (SLR) subject to analysis is based on empirical studies made between 1960 and 2016, and focuses on three dimensions of analysis: NIC, RIC and OIC. Four research questions were designed, using the following databases, namely, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar, for data collection purposes.
Findings
The SLR unveils a multidimensional taxonomy for measuring and classifying the type of IC applicable to the different levels of analysis and provides some recommendations for future studies of NIC, RIC and OIC, by outlining the need for clear definitions of components and measures of IC and identifying strengths, limitations and future research avenues.
Originality/value
In order to fill the gap found in the literature and the non-existence of a study clarifying the multiple dimensions of analysis of IC, this SLR makes a twofold, original contribution to the literature on management: providing an SLR of the main empirical studies dealing with different units of analysis; and identifying a multidimensional taxonomy for measuring and classifying the type of IC applicable to the different levels of analysis.