London’s local Olympic legacy

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. Duignan

PurposeLondon’s Candidature bid projected an irresistible legacy of lasting benefits for host communities and small businesses. Yet, local post-Games perspectives paint a contrasted picture – one of becoming displaced. This paper aims to draw on event legacy, specifically in relation to rising rents, threats to small business sustainability and impact on place development by empirically examining London’s localembryonic legaciesforming across one ex-hosting Olympic community: Central Greenwich.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 43 interviews with local businesses (specifically, small retailers and hospitality businesses), local authorities, London-centric and national project actors and policymakers underpin analysis, supported by official London 2012 archival, documentary and media reports, were conducted to add texture and triangulate primary and secondary data sources.FindingsJuxtaposing ex ante projections vs emerging ex post realities, this paper reveals a local legacy of small business failure fuelled by rising commercial rents and a wider indifference for protecting diverse urban high streets. Embroiled in a struggle to survive, and barely recognised as a key stakeholder and contributor to legacy, small businesses have and continue to become succeeded by a new business demographic in town: monochromatic global and national chains. Typifying the pervasive shift toward clone town spaces, this article argues that corporate colonisation displaces independent businesses, serves to homogenise town centres, dilute place-based cultural offer and simultaneously stunts access to a positive local development legacy. This paper argues that such processes lead to the production of urban blandscapes that may hamper destination competitiveness.Originality/valueExamining event legacy, specifically local legacies forming across ex-host Olympic communities, is a latent, under-researched but vital and critical aspect of scholarship. Most event legacy analysis focuses on longer-term issues for residents, yet little research focuses on both local placed-based development challenges and small business sustainability and survival post-Games. More specifically, little research examines the potential relationship between event-led gentrification, associated rising rents and aforementioned clone town problematic. Revealing and amplifying the idiosyncratic local challenges generated through an in-depth empirically driven triangulation of key local business, policy, governmental and non-governmental perspectives, is a central contribution of this article missing from extant literatures. This paper considers different ways those responsible for event legacy, place managers and developers can combat such aforementioned post-Games challenges.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samir D. Baidoun ◽  
Robert N. Lussier ◽  
Maisa Burbar ◽  
Sawsan Awashra

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the factors that lead to success or failure of a small business in the West Bank of Palestine. Design/methodology/approach This study methodology is a survey research, testing the Lussier model of business success and failure with a sample of 246 small businesses (90 failed and 156 successful) to better understand the reasons of their success or failure using logistic regression statistical analysis. Findings The model is significant (p = 0.000); it will predict a group of businesses as successful or failed more accurately than random guessing 99 per cent of the time. The model will also predict a specific small firm as successful or failed 94 per cent of the time vs. 50 per cent for random guessing. The r-square is very high (r = 0.70), indicating that the model variables are, in fact, significant predictors of success or failure. Results indicate that having adequate capital, keeping good records with financial controls, making plans and getting professional advice on how to manage the firm are the most important factors for the viability and success of small businesses. Practical implications With the high rate of small business failure globally, results of this study provide a list of variables that contribute to the success of small firms. Firms that focus on these important factors will increase their odds of success. Thus, avoiding failure, firms better utilize resources that contribute to economic growth. Originality/value This is the first study that looks at success and failure of small businesses in Palestine. There is no one single accepted theory that may be applied to small businesses. This paper aims to further contribute to the global validity of Lussier success and failure model moving toward a theory to better understand why some businesses succeed and others fail.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Yonk ◽  
Kayla Harris ◽  
R. Chistopher Martin ◽  
Barrett Anderson

Purpose Small and emerging business failure rates are high for numerous reasons. Government regulation has been cited as a contributing factor, yet literature documenting the actual effects of government regulation on small business is limited. The purpose of this paper is to clearly outline the regulatory compliance costs and effects on small businesses in the California dairy industry. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies a public choice framework to the history of dairy regulation and performs a case study on a small business, The White Moustache (TWM). The case study traces the burdens and costs of state dairy regulations placed on TWM as they sought the necessary permits to sell their artisan yogurt. Findings Strict and unresponsive regulation restricted TWM from selling their product. To comply with state dairy regulations, the direct costs to TWM would have increased by 70 percent. In addition, regulation caused two and a half years of delay before the company decided to leave the state. California’s dairy regulations place burdens on small dairy businesses that work as a strategic barrier to entry in the marketplace. Originality/value This case study highlights the direct effects that strict and unresponsive regulation can have on entrepreneurs and emerging businesses through a case study. Improving the understanding of how regulation affects small business can highlight new paths forward and help improve the small business failure rate in the USA.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard Stone

Purpose – This study aims to explore the existence and strength of power through focussing on the manner in which accountants exercise power in their advisory relationship with small business. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews provided insights into accountants’ power-related perceptions, experiences and use of power in the advisory relationship. A questionnaire accessed evidence from small business owner-managers (SBOMs). Power theoretical perspectives informed the analysis of the findings. Findings – Accountants’ expert and information power is a consequence of SBOMs’ dependence on their accountants’ expertise and knowledge. Accountants construct advisor roles and exercise power in a manner indicating that they attempt to manage rather than exploit power imbalances to the detriment of dependent SBOMs. However, outbreaks of frustration and conflict in the relationship illustrate the difficulties in managing the dysfunctional consequences of power imbalances. Research limitations/implications – While the findings are restricted to the Australian accountant–small business advisory relationship, they offer a basis for research into the effect of power on the relationship in other national contexts. Research which includes the views of managers of failed small businesses would also extend this work. Practical implications – The study’s focus on accountants’ experiences can assist practitioners endeavouring to develop advisory relationships with small business and designers of professional development programmes seeking to optimise the value of the advisory relationship. Originality/value – The paper extends the study of power to the under-researched yet important accountant–small business advisory area. Its findings are of interest to accountants and accounting policymakers who envisage a broadening of accountants’ small business advisory role.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 259-264
Author(s):  
P. K. Shukla ◽  
Monica P. Shukla

Given the volatile economic climate faced in the United States and globally since 2015, there is a desire by politicians in 2016 to increase state economic and business growth.  As small businesses are the main driver of business growth in state economies, focus is placed upon the policy environment of a state to encourage state level growth in entrepreneurial activities aimed at small business creation and survival.The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council an advocacy and research organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship has annually prepared a “Small Business Policy Index” that ranks states according to some of the major government-imposed or government-related costs affecting investment, entrepreneurship and business.  This study presents updated results to 2016 from an original 2013 analysis of the rankings of states on the Small Business Policy Index (SBPI) from 2000 to 2016 that focuses upon three categories of states: overall ranking gainer states, those states that are stable in ranking, and overall ranking decliner states, the percentage in each category, and conclusions.  The paper also includes a rank correlation analysis of periods of time to measure the extent of traction and mobility in the SBPI state rankings. As states vary by governor length of years in their governor term and also by term limits or not on governor terms allowed there is an analysis of impact of governor years of term on changes in SBPI ranking and an analysis of impact of governor term limits on changes in SBPI ranking.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-164
Author(s):  
Dipendra Karki ◽  
Sushmita Upreti ◽  
Udbodh Bhandari ◽  
Sharad Rajbhandari ◽  
Niranjan Devkota ◽  
...  

Small business enterprises are widely recognized as a driving force of economic growth and development in any nation. Empirical evidence has shown that they contribute to job creation, help to alleviate poverty, and increase a nation’s level of productivity. In the exponential increase of small businesses, the role of the financial sector is crucial. This paper aims to identify the role of formal financial support in small business employment generation in Bouddhanath, Kathmandu. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Purposive sampling was used to select 285 business owners. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect their responses. Primary and secondary data was employed to analyze user status. Data analysis was performed with the help of descriptive analysis and a financial support index. The results showed that financial support plays a critical role in the enhancement of the small business sector, allowing businesses to create employment opportunities which further helps to maintain the Nepalese economy. The major challenges to the growth of small businesses in Nepal lie in securing initial funding and overreliance on credit. In addition, the ability to afford quality staff has an equally strong effect on the success of small businesses. Business growth clearly depends on the role of the formal financial sector to achieve the desired outcomes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Bruce ◽  
John Deskins ◽  
Tami Gurley-Calvez

Purpose – When a small business purchases a capital asset, its cost for tax purposes is spread over the useful life of the asset through the process of depreciation. It has become common in the USA for policy makers to enhance depreciation rules in an effort to increase business investment in a less-costly manner than across-the-board marginal tax rate cuts. Indeed, short-term depreciation policies are often billed by policy makers as a way to save America's small businesses. However, little is known about the actual effects of depreciation policies on small business activity. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – In this initial attempt to test the political claims regarding the importance of depreciation rules, the paper uses a 12-year panel of tax returns for Schedule C sole proprietors to empirically examine whether more generous depreciation policies influence small business activity at the extensive margin. Specifically, the paper estimates a series of multivariate models to explain sole proprietors’ decisions to remain in business as functions of their financial, demographic, and tax situations, including measures of the present discounted value (PDV) of a stream of tax deductions for depreciated capital under various rule structures. Findings – Throughout the analysis, the authors are unable to find evidence that favorable depreciation rules lead to greater rates of entrepreneurial longevity among Schedule C sole proprietors. Originality/value – Discrete choice results suggest that increases in the PDV of tax reductions from depreciation (e.g. depreciating the value earlier in the recovery period) might actually lead to higher probabilities of small business exit, while survival analysis finds no clear influence of depreciation on spells of small business activity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabete Sá ◽  
Beatriz Casais ◽  
Joaquim Silva

PurposeBy using the Triple Helix model, the purpose of this paper is to uncover the perceptions of nascent entrepreneurs about a university–industry–government collaboration program, in particular about the role of each agent to foster rural entrepreneurship; the value and effect of this collaboration; and their own contributions to local development.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study method is adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs and secondary data. The text is analyzed using qualitative content analysis.FindingsThe interaction of the Triple Helix partners is perceived as valuable both at the personal and the business levels. One of the most salient results is the value ascribed to the knowledge-rich environment created. Entrepreneurs are aware of their contribution to local development, identifying economic, social and cultural effects.Practical implicationsThe research strengthens the importance of the joint efforts of the Triple Helix partners by uncovering a number of outputs from their collaboration, which affect both the entrepreneurs and local development through entrepreneurship.Originality/valuePrevious studies assume that the Triple Helix fosters technological innovation that favors regional development, mainly by adopting a macro-level perspective. This study makes a contribution by furthering the knowledge on the micro-level dynamics of the Triple Helix, through the view of low tech, rural entrepreneurs, considering their context.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kostas Selviaridis

Purpose The study aims to investigate how pre-commercial procurement (PCP) influences the activities, capabilities and behaviours of actors participating in the innovation process. Unlike much of PCP research underpinned by a market failure theoretical framework that evaluates the additionality of innovation inputs and outputs, this paper focusses on the role and capacity of PCP in addressing systemic failures impeding the process of innovation. Design/methodology/approach PCP effects on the innovation process were studied through a qualitative study of the UK small business research initiative (SBRI) programme. Data collection comprised 33 semi-structured interviews with key informants within 30 organisations and analysis of 80-plus secondary data sources. Interviewees included executives of technology-based small businesses, managers within public buying organisations and innovation policymakers and experts. Findings The UK SBRI improves connectivity and instigates research and development (R&D) related interactions and cooperation. Through securing government R&D contracts, small firms access relevant innovation ecosystems, build up their knowledge and capabilities and explore possible routes to market. Public organisations use the SBRI to connect to innovative small firms and access their sets of expertise and novel ideas. They also learn to appreciate the strategic role of procurement. Nonetheless, SBRI-funded small business face commercialisation and innovation adoption challenges because of institutional constraints pertaining to rules, regulations and public-sector norms of conduct. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to existing PCP research by demonstrating innovation process-related effects of PCP policies. It also complements literature on small business-friendly public procurement measures by highlighting the ways through which PCP, rather than commercial procurement procedures, can support the development of small businesses other than just facilitating their access to government (R&D) contracts. Social implications The study identifies several challenge areas that policymakers should address to improve the implementation of the UK SBRI programme. Originality/value The study demonstrates the effects of PCP on the activities, capabilities and behaviours of small businesses and public buying organisations involved in the innovation process.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiel L Eijdenberg ◽  
Leonard J Paas ◽  
Enno Masurel

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial motivation and small business growth in one of the poorest emerging countries: the African least developed country (LDC), Rwanda. Design/methodology/approach – On the basis of theoretical resources and a pre-study of interviews with local experts in Rwanda, the authors developed a survey for this study. Based on primary data from 133 Rwandan small business owners, the authors conducted an exploratory factorial analysis to uncover the underlying factors. Subsequently, the authors conducted regression analyses to test the hypotheses. Findings – The analyses show that the predictors for the growth of small businesses can be divided into three factors: one factor with a mix of motivations related to family background, necessity and opportunity motivations; one factor with items predominantly related to opportunity motivation; and one factor with items related to necessity motivation. The first factor has the strongest positive effect on small business growth followed by the second factor. The factor concerning necessity motivation was irrelevant for further inclusion in the regression model, due to insufficient reliability. Research limitations/implications – The study contributes to the debate in the literature about which entrepreneurial motivations affect the growth of small businesses in LDCs. Practical implications – The results reported in this study also have implications for how small business growth in LDCs can be supported and stimulated by policy-making practice. Originality/value – This study shows that entrepreneurial motivation is not a clear distinction between necessity and opportunity, but that a mix of motivations is important to assess the growth of small businesses in an LDC, which is an understudied context.


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