Entrepreneurial learning requires action on the meaning generated

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to reveal how managers of small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can utilise their participation in research-based training to enable innovation and growth. Design/methodology/approach -Action research and action learning from a longitudinal study of ten SME managers in the wind turbine industry are applied to reveal SME managers' learning and the impact of the application of learning in the wind turbine industry. Findings -The findings of this study show that SME managers employ a practice-shaped, holistic, cross-disciplinary approach to learning. This learning approach is supported by theory dissemination and collaboration on perceived business challenges. Open-mindedness to new learning by SME managers and to cross-disciplinary collaboration with SME managers by university facilitators/ researchers is required.Research limitations/implications -The research is conducted within the wind turbine industry, in which intense demands for innovation are pursued. The findings require verification in other industry contexts. Practical implications -This research contributes strategies for SME managers to utilise research-based training and for universities regarding how to work with SME training. In addition, public bodies can enhance their understanding of SMEs for innovation and growth. The learning approach that is suitable for specialisation in larger organisations is not suitable in the SME context. Social implications -SME learning is enhanced by a social approach to integrating essential large-scale industry players and other SME managers to create extended action and value from learning. Originality/value -The findings reveal the need for extended theory development for and a markedly different approach to SME training from that used for training managers in larger companies. This topic has received only limited attention in previous research.

Knowledge identification in medium-sized enterprises under the context of quality improvement – an exploration in manufacturing companies in China

“…Hitherto, the research on KM has been conducted extensively, however mainly focuses on LEs, there is an obvious insufficiency of research on key KM elements in MEs (Shrafat, 2018;Massaro, et al, 2016;Serenko, 2013;Durst and Edvardsson, 2012). Due to the existence of resource constraints faced by MEs as well as the differences of MEs to LEs (Shrafat, 2018;Brink and Madsen, 2015;Cohen and Kaimenakis, 2007;Durst and Edvardsson, 2012), the KM approaches in MEs may have their own characteristics and be different from that in LEs in the content, implementation form and suitable industrial settings, which deserve an extensive exploration (Shrafat, 2018;de Guimarães, et al, 2018;Massaro, et al, 2016;Durst and Edvardsson, 2012). Nevertheless, in this research for a concentrated investigation and also due to the salient importance of manufacturing MEs (Pitelis and Antonakis, 2003), the authors do not focus the research on KM as a whole entity and in a full industrial spectrum of MEs; instead they explored a main element of KM -knowledge identification and only in manufacturing MEs and focusing on QI as a general background context.…”

“…The vast number of SMEs operating successfully in various business sectors also evidence in their own right of their critical role to a country. The figures from European Union (Brink and Madsen, 2015;Šatanová, et al, 2015;Leopoulos, 2006) further manifest SMEs' importance: more than 99% of all the existing enterprises are SMEs, and they provide more than 60% of the total employment, as well as more than 50% of value contribution to the economic systems. Similar phenomena as such can also be observed in other regions, such as in China, SMEs are a main industrial organisation type attracting domestic and international investments, and function as one of the driving forces underpinning the country's development (MOC, 2012).…”

“…These hard facts, alongside that the SMEs and especially many medium sized enterprises (MEs) have already developed or are developing an international business outreach (OCED, 2009;Loane and Bell, 2011;Cardoza and Fornes, 2013), further demonstrate their value to a country and the whole world. Consequently, to sustain SMEs' healthy survival and continuous development is of strategic importance to both SMEs themselves and a wide range of their internal and external stakeholders (Mat, et al, 2018;Brink and Madsen, 2015;Massaro, et al, 2016;Kumar, et al, 2016;Coltorti, et al, 2013).…”

“…Many MEs have been committed towards implementing appropriate QI strategy to pursue operations excellence (Kumar, et al, 2016). While due to the diversity of MEs themselves and their difference to the large enterprises (LEs), and also owing to organisation size's heavy impact on the processes of KM (Shrafat, 2018), as well as a common situation faced by MEs -resources constraint, not all the currently existing knowledge of QI strategies and techniques (majority of which are with a focus on LEs) is suitable for or can be applied by MEs (de Guimarães, et al, 2018;Brink and Madsen, 2015;Durst and Edvardsson, 2012); therefore, MEs strongly need to know exactly what QIK is relevant to them and why, and more importantly how to obtain it or create new QIK in case of not currently existing, all these can be realised through QIK identification. However currently there is a dearth of theoretical comprehension on QIK identification issues to guide the MEs' practice for realising the aforesaid need; a circumstance as such highlights that it is highly necessary to explore the QIK identification, which is an important part of MEs' business operations (Centobelli, et al, 2019;Massaro, et al, 2016).…”

Organizing an entrepreneurial learning programme: The role of people, process and place

“…Honig (2004) argues that entrepreneurship education programmes must emphasize actions in entrepreneurial ways in order to be effective, and Goss (1989) stresses that entrepreneurial training must be connected to the specific needs of the entrepreneur in relation to their business. A study by Brink and Madsen (2015) shows that managers of small and medium-sized enterprises employ a practice-shaped, holistic, cross-disciplinary approach to learning. Besides the importance of the process of entrepreneurial learning, another key aspect to consider is the role of teachers and organizers.…”