Academic engagement with small business and entrepreneurship: Towards a landscape of practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 095042222110344
Author(s):  
Oswald Jones
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Academic Engagement ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Academic engagement with small business and entrepreneurship was facilitated by the availability of European Union (EU) funding, which also stimulated the emergence of a small business and entrepreneurship (SBE) ‘community of practice’. Gradually, the SBE community developed into a ‘landscape of practice’ as small business research moved towards maturity. Furthermore, the SBE landscape of practice has coalesced around three core concepts: entrepreneurial learning, social networks and social capital. EU funding was the catalyst for many SBE academics in the UK to engage with practitioners involved with starting and managing their own businesses. The UK’s exit from the EU will inevitably mean that universities will no longer have access to EU Structural Funds. This has major implications for the UK SBE community’s engagement with practice as well as for entrepreneurs and business owners who have benefitted from a range of programmes designed to improve the performance of smaller firms.

scholarly journals AFTERMATH OF BREXIT FOR WALES

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Oleg Okhoshin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Regional Policy ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Systemic Crisis ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

After withdrawal of the UK from the EU its Celtic regions (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales) faced a deterioration in the conditions for their socio-economic development and began to demand from B. Johnson to revise the principles of interaction between central government and local authorities in favor of expanding devolution. In Wales, separatist tendencies have not reached the same magnitude as in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, an acute confrontation arose at the intergovernmental level – the M. Drakeford’s Labour government protests against B. Johnson’s regional policy. The most acute contradictions arose against the background of the application of the UK Internal Market Act 2020 and the inability of the British government to compensate the region for the loss of subsidies from the EU structural funds after Brexit. To put pressure on the central government, Labour Party in Wales organized a special commission in October 2021 to consider separating the region from the United Kingdom and transferring additional powers to the local authority. This fact indicates the growth of a deep systemic crisis in the country, which makes the regions doubt the ability of the central government to effectively use its instruments to cope with the consequences of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.

scholarly journals DANE Mechanizm i obszary wsparcia rozwoju współpracy transgranicznej oraz ochrony dziedzictwa i krajobrazu kulturowego w ramach programu „Interreg Polska – Słowacja”

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020(41) (3) ◽  
pp. 75-89
Author(s):  
Jan Pochwała ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Border Effect ◽  
Natural Heritage ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Border Regions ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
The Common ◽  
Cross Border Cooperation ◽  
The Eu

In order to support the development of Polish and Slovak border regions, after the accession of both countries to the EU, the “Interreg Poland – Slovakia” Program was implemented. One of the priorities of the Program is the protection and use of the common Polish-Slovak cultural and natural heritage for the development of cross-border cooperation. As part of Interreg since 2004, EU-Structural Funds have co-financed joint Polish-Slovak projects implemented in selected counties/poviat located in the following voivodeships/provinces: Śląskie, Małopolskie, Podkarpackie (on the Polish side) and Žilinskom kraji, Prešovskom kraji and Košickým kraji (on the Slovak side). The next editions of Interreg are becoming increasingly popular in Poland and Slovakia including its recognition by experts as well as the implementation of a cross-border effect.

scholarly journals Effects of public procurement of R&D on the innovation process: evidence from the UK small business research initiative

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kostas Selviaridis
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Market Failure ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Initiative ◽  
The Uk

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.

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS IN EU STRUCTURAL FUNDS PROJECTS IN LATVIA

2019 ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Ilga Vasiļjeva
Keyword(s):  
Legal Framework ◽  
Document Management ◽  
Gradual Transition ◽  
Project Proposal ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Management Problems ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Eu

The role of the EU Structural Funds in the national economy of Latvia is significant, yet document management problems in the projects funded by the EU Structural Funds have been little researched. In the period 2007-2019, a gradual transition to electronic project document management occurred in Latvia. The present research performed a comparative analysis of tender documents submitted for ERDF calls for project proposals for the programming periods of 2007–2013 and 2014–2020. The research found that the range of tender documents for ERDF calls for project proposals to be submitted by organisations is strictly regulated in a particular period, yet there are general instructions on how to prepare documents in accordance with the relevant legal framework of the Republic of Latvia. Organisations have to create document management systems to enhance the preparation and management of ERDF project proposal documents.

scholarly journals EVALUATING THE EFFECT OF STATE AID TO BUSINESS BY MULTICRITERIA METHODS

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romualdas Ginevičius ◽  
Valentinas Podvezko ◽  
Šarūnas Bruzgė
Keyword(s):  
Influencing Factor ◽  
Great Part ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Multiple Criteria Evaluation ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
Objective View ◽  
State Subsidies ◽  
The Eu

One of the forms of state intervention in market development is state aid (subsidies) to private sector enterprises. Over the period of 2004–2006, a great part of the EU aid was granted to business in Lithuania through the EU structural funds. State aid is a complicated phenomenon. It may have several aims, with none of them being dominant. The effects of this aid may also be varied and hardly described by a single criterion or indicator. Therefore, multiple criteria evaluation methods can be used to compare the aid to various businesses and to determine its effect on their development objectively. The analysis of state subsidies to enterprises based on these methods allowed us to state that the aid had the greatest effect on the development of projects in the areas of production, research, experiments and education. The most influencing factor is aid intensity (the more intensive the aid, the greater the effect), while the best ratios of investments to the effect obtained was found in the area of educational projects, followed by research, experimental and production projects. The aid to enterprises providing services was the least effective. The results obtained in multicriteria evaluation of state aid to business show that these methods are well suited to the analysis of this phenomenon, providing an objective view of the picture.

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