Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development: Volume 7 Issue 4

Barriers encountered during micro and small business start‐up in North‐West England

Sandra L. Fielden, Marilyn J. Davidson, Peter J. Makin

The success or failure of a new business is often dependent on overcoming a series of potential barriers, eg securing sufficient financial backing, adequate and appropriate…

Gambling for growth or settling for survival: the dilemma of the small business adviser

Kevin Mole

The paper questions aspects of the UK government’s policy to target small firm support on fast‐growing firms – to maximise its employment impact. The paper explores the tension…

Managers’ accounts of innovation processes in small and medium‐sized enterprises

Elizabeth Barnett, John Storey

Fifty managers from five highly innovative medium‐sized enterprises were interviewed in depth about their experience of innovation. In order to deepen and enrich our understanding…

Small and medium‐sized enterprises and the environment: evaluation of a specific initiative aimed at all small and medium‐sized enterprises

Andrew L. Friedman, Samantha Miles, Cameron Adams

Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are under increasing pressure to address environmental issues from a range of sources, including legislation, supply chain, trade…

Explanations of the decision to franchise in a non‐traditional franchise sector: the case of the UK construction industry

Anna Watson, David A. Kirby

This paper is part of on‐going research examining the growth of small and medium‐sized enterprises through franchising. It reports the findings of an exploratory investigation…

Employment regulation and owner‐managers in small firms: seeking support and guidance

Lynette Harris

As the volume and complexity of employment legislation increases, small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) without access to internal human resource expertise are increasingly…

What multinational corporations with manufacturing plants in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are demanding from their suppliers

Eddie McAleer, Ronan McIvor, Paul Humphreys, Larry McCurry

Since the 1970s, international manufacturing companies, in pursuit of world‐class goals, have been adopting and adapting management practices developed originally in Japan…