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Over the last two decades there has been a substantial increase in the number and range of service sector SMEs. The management competence of the owner‐manager and/or senior staff is crucial to their success. Developing appropriate competencies presents a particular challenge for professional service SMEs, since the key players are more likely to be motivated by the perceived attractions of professional practice than the commercial and managerial aspects of the enterprise. Drawing upon the experiences of community pharmacists in the UK as an empirical frame of reference, consideration is given to the key management competencies, both operational and strategic, which are required to operate a professional service enterprise successfully. Issues concerning the provision of management training for community pharmacists are also highlighted.

Using evidence from a programme of interviews with owners of small businesses, the possible problems which can arise for providers of support services when seeking to help potential entrepreneurs in deprived communities are considered. The focus is a co‐operative development initiative whose history is traced from its origins in the early 1980s, when the process aims of co‐operation were arguably as important as commercial success, to its current form with a more avowedly business ethos. The interviews had, as their principal purpose, to discover whether support could be provided and in what way, and what differences existed between assistance for the entrepreneur and the owner‐manager. A discussion of the distinction between entrepreneurs and owner‐managers provides a basis for analysing the firms in the study. Owner‐management rather than entrepreneurship is argued to be the more appropriate frame and support initiatives are discussed mainly in that context. Training, information (particularly from networking) and consultancy advice are considered as the principal ways of helping businesses of this type.

Dr Chan joined JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management (formerly known as Banc One Investment Advisors Corporation) in mid‐1994. His responsibilities include economic analysis and research in support of the Columbus‐based fixed income team and investment management distribution businesses globally, as well as those of Private Client Services. Anthony also spent time at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in Washington DC as a Doctoral fellow from 1985 to 1986. Upon graduating, he became an Economics Professor at the University of Dayton from 1986 to 1989. He has also worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Barclays de Zoete Wedd Securities. Dr Chan has frequently appeared on ABC's evening news with Peter Jennings and appears monthly on CNN and CNBC. Here he talks about the effect the recent Presidential Election result will have on the US economy.

To show that the inability to adapt to a series of crises caused by business development is one of the principal causes of failure for all organisations and that one of the primary components in small business success must be the managerial competence of the principal actors, inevitably the owner‐manager.

This paper examines the divergence between the prescribed and assumed models of entrepreneurial behaviour provided by contemporary management theorists and the real, observed and reported behaviour of small business practitioners and owner‐managers. It reports on case study examples and highlights the dichotomy between expected and actual behaviour in typical management situations.

The paper suggests that the almost egotistical attitude displayed by many entrepreneurs, constitutes an abuse of the trust and the power placed in the hands of small business owner‐managers and that in extreme instances, the abuse of entrepreneurial power may lead directly to the failure of the small firm.

Many surveys of small business failure and sub‐optimal performance often suggest situational and operational causes and explanations. This paper offers a different perspective for future research because the cause may be seen to lie with the apparently non‐rational behaviour of the entrepreneur or owner‐manager who does not adhere to the “rules” and expectations of classical management theory.

It is often said that the British have produced many of the world's greatest inventions but that it is all too frequently the case that other countries have benefited more from them than Great Britain. Nowadays, the flow of technical information is extremely rapid and good ideas will be put into practice in industrial nations in an increasingly short space of time. If the good idea is yours how can you make sure that you benefit most and not your competitors?

This paper aims to investigate the extent of shareholder engagement and satisfaction with corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports of a Chinese-owned company compared to an Australian-owned company in the Australian mining industry. The study is motivated by the speed, extent and nature of Chinese foreign direct investment in Australia, the resulting negative social attitudes and the impact on the perceptions of a report’s credibility.

The authors conducted a survey of 202 minority shareholders of two Australian mining companies, one has a Chinese majority shareholder and the other an Australian majority shareholder. The responses highlight users’ comparative perceptions of corporate motivations for reporting, the level of perceived shareholder power over reporting decisions and the resulting propensity to read CSR reports.

The authors found that, contrary to decision-usefulness theory, which posits that users will read CSR reports only if they are deemed to be reliable, that perceptions of poor credibility and poor CSR performance actually result in a higher propensity to read the reports. This suggests that the minority shareholders of the Chinese acquired firm are using reports to monitor the level of corporate accountability.

The findings have implications for firms operating in politically or socially sensitive industries that are likely to use CSR reporting as a legitimising strategy. The paper also provides guidance to regulators in the provision of information, which is meaningful to minority shareholders.

A well-coordinated public sector is often considered to be of major importance, but at the same time it appears to be a huge challenge. Public sector reforms struggling with the coordination conundrum are numerous and countries display a certain dynamic in their adoption of coordination instruments throughout time. On the one hand, it is sensible to presume that – to a certain extent – countries are stimulated to adopt similar coordination instruments, because of isomorphic processes induced by factors such as the spread of the new public management line of thought or the multiplication of exchanges of good practices at an international level. On the other hand, culture-linked elements might have an important role to play in explaining idiosyncrasies. By examining the conceptual link between coordination and culture through an empirical analysis for four counties (UK, New Zealand, France, and Sweden), it is the aim of this chapter to explore the relevance of culture for understanding coordination trajectories of individual countries.

The Loan Guarantee Scheme (LGS) was set up in 1981 to fill a perceived gap in the financing of smaller firms. It was designed specifically for firms who were constrained in their ability to borrow from banks by a lack of collateral. In 1996, loans issued under the scheme were at their highest level ever and rising at an increased rate. This paper uses previously unavailable data to give a broad feel for how borrowing patterns have changed over the period 1987–1995, the type and nature of borrowers using the scheme and the type of loans which they take out. The results give a number of important insights which merit further attention from academics and policy‐makers. Unfortunately, there is no information on the attitudes of banks towards the scheme, although anecdotal evidence suggests that they have adopted a more favourable, proactive stance towards the scheme in the last three years.

The Beringer Wine Estates Company has been expanding its market share in the premium segment of the wine industry in the 1990's. After operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of the giant Nestlé food company for almost a quarter of a century, the firm was sold in 1996 to new owners, in a leveraged buyout. For the next year and a half, management and the new owners restructured the firm and expanded through internal growth and strategic acquisitions. With a heavy debt load from the LBO, it seemed prudent for management to consider a significant rebalancing of its capital structure. By paying off a portion of its debt and enhancing the equity account, the firm would achieve greater financial flexibility which could enhance its growth rate and business options. Finally, a publicly held common stock would provide management with another “currency” to be used for enhancing its growth rate and overall corporate valuation. With the equity markets in turmoil, significant strategic decisions had to be made quickly. Should the IPO be completed, with the district possibility of a less than successful after market price performance and these implications for pursuing external growth initiatives? A variety of alternative courses of action and their implications for the financial health of the Beringer Company and the financial wealth of Beringer stockholders are integral components of this case.

Attempts to consider how a founder has reduced equivocality in relation to support networks and reducing risks, especially in an international environment. Presents the case studies of five Danish and Australian born global companies. Considers different global models and their limitations. Presents the findings of recent surveys in this area. Concludes that internationalization has not been the primary objective in the founding process and gives direction for further research.