Providing business support to SMEs – how to encourage firms’ engagement

• Authors: Braidford Paul , Stone Ian

Title variants

PL

Jak zachęcić firmy do uczestnictwa w programach wsparcia adresowanych do małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw (MŚP)?

• Languages of publication: EN PL

Abstracts

EN

While most governments operate a support system for SMEs aiming to encourage improved business performance, there is a widespread problem of having such firms engage with schemes of this kind. This policy issue is tackled here through work to develop a better understanding of SMEs’ attitudes towards the accessing and use of support programmes with a view to their business objectives being achieved. A typology of SMEs based on past interactions with the support system is identified, and consideration given to the way in which this inf luences their attitude to public (and private) support; as well as the way in which the recession has affected use and attitudes.

PL

Większość państw oferuje programy wspierania MŚP, mające na celu poprawę uzyskiwanych przez nie wyników, istnieją jednak liczne trudności z zachęceniem wspomnianej grupy przedsiębiorstw do uczestnictwa w tego rodzaju przedsięwzięciach. W niniejszym artykule poruszono to zagadnienie z perspektywy wysiłków mających na celu lepsze zrozumienie postaw MŚP w odniesieniu do ich uczestnictwa w programach pomagających im osiągać zakładane cele ekonomiczne. Stworzono typologię MŚP w oparciu o ich wcześniejsze doświadczenia z tego rodzaju systemami z uwzględnieniem wpływu, jaki te ostatnie wywarły na stosunek firm do wsparcia publicznego (i prywatnego), jak również oddziaływania recesji na skłonność do korzystania z programów wsparcia oraz na postawy przedsiębiorców.

Keywords

EN

business support; attitudes; business growth; innovation

PL

wsparcie dla firm; postawy; rozwój firm; innowacyjność

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie, Małopolska Szkoła Administracji Publicznej
• Journal: Zarządzanie Publiczne / Public Governance
• Year: 2016
• Issue: 4(38)
• Pages: 45-61

Contributors

author

Braidford Paul

• St Chad’s College, Durham University

author

Stone Ian

• Durham Business School, Durham University

References

• Anand, B.N., Khanna, T (2000). Do firms learn to create value? The case of alliances. Strategic Management Journal, 21 (3), 295–315.
• Argyris, C.S., Schön, D. (1996). Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method and Practice. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
• Atherton, A., Kim, J.Y., Kim, H. (2010). Who’s driving take-up?: an examination of patterns of small business engagement with Business Link. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 28 (2), 257–275.
• Bennett, R (2008). SME policy support in Britain since the 1990s: what have we learnt?. Environment and Planning C: Government & Policy, 26 (2), 375–397.
• Bennett, R.J., Robson, P.J.A. (2003). Changing use of external business advice and government supports by SMEs in the 1990s. Regional Studies 37 (8), 795–811.
• Bennett, R.J., Smith, C. (2004). The selection and control of management consultants by small business clients. International Small Business Journal, 22 (5), 435–462.
• Berry, A.J., Sweeting, R., Goto, J. (2006). The effect of business advisers on the performance of SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 13 (1), 33–47.
• Braidford, P., Stone, I. (2012). Customer journeys in business support services. BIS Research Paper No. 155, report on behalf of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.
• Braidford, P., Allinson, G., Houston, M. (2016). Business Support Helpline, report for BEIS.
• Bryson, J.R., Churchward, S., Daniels, P.W. (1997). From complexity to simplicity? Business link and the evolution of a network of one-stop-advice shops: a response to Hutchinson, Foley and Oztel. Regional Studies, 31, 720–723.
• Carey, P, Simnett, R., Tanewski, G. (2000). Voluntary demand for internal and external auditing by family businesses. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory: Supplement 2000, 19 (1), 37–51.
• Chrisman, J.J., McMullan, W. (2004). Outsider assistance as a knowledge resource for new venture survival. Journal of Small Business Management, 42 (3), 229–244.
• Chrisman, J.J., McMullan, E., Hall, J. (2005). The inf luence of guided preparation on the long-term performance of new ventures. Journal of Business Venturing, 20 (6), 769–791.
• Cumming, D.J., Fischer, E. (2012). Publicly funded business advisory services and entrepreneurial outcomes. Research Policy, 41 (2), 467–481.
• Curran, J. (2000). What is small business policy in the UK for? Evaluation and assessing small business policies. International Small Business Journal, 18 (3), 36–50.
• Day, E., Barksdale, H.C. (2003). Selecting a professional service provider from the short list. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 18 (6/7), 564–579.
• Day, J., Reynolds, P., Lancaster, G. (2006). Entrepreneurship and the small to medium sized enterprise; A divergent/convergent paradox in thinking patterns between advisers and SME owner-managers. Management Decision, 44 (5), 581–592.
• Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (2009) Solutions for Business – funded by government.
• Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (2011). New ‘Solutions for Business’ portfolio refocused on growth, press release, 18 March.
• Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (2016a). Small Business Survey 2015: businesses with employees, BIS research paper 289.
• Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (2016b). Small Business Survey 2015: businesses with no employees, BIS research paper 290.
• Dyer, L., Ross, C.A. (2007). Advising the small business client. International Small Business Journal, 25 (2), 130–151.
• Edwards, P.K., Sen Gupta, S., Tsai, C.J. (2010). The context-dependent nature of small firms’ relations with support agencies: a three-sector study in the UK. International Small Business Journal, 28 (6), 543–565.
• Eisenhardt, K.M., Martin, J.A. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: what are they?. Strategic Management Journal, 21 (10–11), 1105–1121.
• Ethiraj, S.K., Kale, P., Krishnan, M.S., Singh, J.V. (2005). Where do capabilities come from and how do they matter? A study in the software services industry. Strategic Management Journal, 26 (1), 25–45.
• Gallouj, C. (1997). Asymmetry of information and the service relationship: selection and evaluation of the service provider. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 8 (1), 42–64.
• Garnsey, E., Stam, E., Heffernan, P. (2006). New firm growth: Exploring processes and paths. Industry and Innovation, 13 (1), 1–20.
• Hart, M., McGuinness, S. (2003). Small firm growth in the UK regions 1994–1997: towards an explanatory framework. Regional Studies, 37 (2), 109–122.
• Hjalmarsson, D., Johansson, A.W. (2003). Public advisory services – theory and practice. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 15 (1), 83–98.
• HM Government (2010). Local growth: realising every place’s potential, White Paper, CM 7961, Norwich: The Stationery Office.
• Johnson, S., Webber, D.J., Thomas, W. (2007). Which SMEs use external business advice? A multivariate subregional study. Environment and Planning C: Government & Policy, 39(8), 1981–1997.
• Kautonen, T., Zolin, R., Kuckertz, A., Viljamaa, A. (2010). Ties that blind? How strong ties affect small business owner-managers’ perceived trustworthiness of their advisors. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 22 (2), 189–209.
• Lambrecht, J., Pirnay, F. (2005). An evaluation of public support measures for private external consultancies to SMEs in the Walloon region of Belgium. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development 17 (2), 89–108.
• Mason, C., Brown, R. (2013). Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms. Small Business Economics, 40 (2), 211–225.
• Mole, K. (2002). Street-level technocracy in UK small business support: Business Links, personal business advisers, and the small business service. Environment and Planning C, 20 (2), 179–194.
• Mole, K., Hart, M., Roper, S., Saal, D. (2008). Differential gains from Business Link support and advice: a treatment effects approach. Environment and Planning C: Government & Policy, 26 (2), 315–334.
• Mole, K.F., Hart, M., Roper, S., Saal, D.S. (2009). Assessing the effectiveness of business support services in England: Evidence from a theory-based evaluation. International Small Business Journal, 27 (5), 557–582.
• Mole, K.F., Hart, M., Roper, S. (2014). When moving information online diminishes change: advisory services to SMEs. Policy Studies, 35 (2), 172–191.
• North, D., Baldock, R., Mole, K., Wiseman, J., Binnie, C. (2011). Research to understand the barriers to take up and use of business support, report for BIS.
• O’Farrell, P.N., Moffat, L.A. (1991). An interaction model of business service production and consumption. British Journal of Management, 2 (4), 205–221.
• Scott, J.M., Irwin, D. (2009). Discouraged advisees? The influence of gender, ethnicity, and education in the use of advice and finance by UK SMEs. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 27 (2), 230–245.
• Shane, S. (2009). Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public policy. Small Business Economics, 33 (2), 141–149.
• Sztompka, P. (1999). Trust: A Sociological Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Viljamaa, A. (2011). Exploring small manufacturing firms’ process of accessing external expertise. International Small Business Journal, 29 (5), 472–488.
• Zollo, M., Winter, S.G. (2002). Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Organization Science, 13 (3), 339–351.

Identifiers

DOI

10.15678/ZP.2016.38.4.04