IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/entreg/v24y2012i9-10p767-805.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A study of a university-led entrepreneurship education programme for small business owner/managers

Author

Listed:
  • Ian Gordon
  • Eleanor Hamilton
  • Sarah Jack

Abstract

The small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector is crucial to regional and national economies [Thorpe, R., J. Cope, M. Ram, and M. Pedler. 2009. Leadership development in small-and medium-sized enterprises: The case for action learning. Action Learning: Research and Practice 6, no. 3: 201–8; Jones, O., A. Macpherson, and R. Thorpe. 2010. Learning in owner-managed small firms: Mediating artefacts and strategic space. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development 22, no. 7/8: 649–73]. In recognition of this, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been supported through government policy to provide training programmes for SMEs aimed at developing a higher level of skills that will support growth [Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration. 2003. Final Report, KM Treasury, London. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk; HM Treasury. 2006. The Leitch Review of Skills: Prosperity for all in the global economy – World class skills. London: HM Treasury; DIUS (Department for Business Innovation Universities and Skills). 2007. Implementing ‘The race to the top’: Lord Sainsbury's review of government's science and innovation policies. TSO; DIUS (Department for Business Innovation Universities and Skills). 2008. Higher education at work: High skills, high value. http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/migratedD/ec_group/HLSS4_08 (accessed February 7, 2011); Zhang, J., and E. Hamilton. 2010. Entrepreneurship education for owner-managers: The process of trust building for an effective learning community. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship 23, no. 3: 249–70]. This study considers the relationship between entrepreneurship education and SME owner/managers by examining a programme delivered by a HEI for growth-oriented small business owner/managers. It addresses the questions: What factors do participants believe enhance the effectiveness of HEI and SME engagement? And what impact, if any, do participants perceive such engagement has upon them as an individual operating within an SME and their business operations? Qualitative techniques are used to explore the situations of five SME owner/managers at three points during a 5-year period. Findings show that entrepreneurship education delivered a range of benefits to SMEs and the region. Through engaging, owner/managers interacted with others. This extension of their network supported business growth and development. This study demonstrates that enterprise education can deliver positive benefits to SME owner/managers and the wider region in which they are located.

Suggested Citation

  • Ian Gordon & Eleanor Hamilton & Sarah Jack, 2012. "A study of a university-led entrepreneurship education programme for small business owner/managers," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(9-10), pages 767-805, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:24:y:2012:i:9-10:p:767-805
    DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2011.566377
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08985626.2011.566377
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/08985626.2011.566377?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rhiannon Pugh & Danny Soetanto & Sarah L. Jack & Eleanor Hamilton, 2021. "Developing local entrepreneurial ecosystems through integrated learning initiatives: the Lancaster case," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 833-847, February.
    2. Afred Suci & Sri Maryanti & Hardi Hardi & Nining Sudiar, 2022. "Embedding Design Thinking Paradigm in a University’s Business Assistance to Small Business," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 177-201, April.
    3. Ghulam Nabi & Francisco Linan & Alain Fayolle & Norris F. Krueger & Andreas Walmsley, 2017. "The impact of entrepreneurship education in higher education : A systematic review and research agenda," Post-Print hal-02313409, HAL.
    4. Hanna Nowak, 2016. "The Role of the Polish Higher Education System in the Development of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 4(1), pages 43-59.
    5. Smith, Claudia G. & Smith, J. Brock, 2021. "Founders' uses of digital networks for resource acquisition: Extending network theory online," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 466-482.
    6. Dorin FESTEU & Natalia TURLAKOVA & Rodica CRUDU, 2020. "Entrepreneurship education programme tailored to Eastern European neighbouring countries," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 11, pages 266-287, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:24:y:2012:i:9-10:p:767-805. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TEPN20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.