Graduates into enterprise
The performance of industry in the UK has been criticized in a number of reports from the DTI; the underlying cause is a widespread weakness in management, particularly the lack of good quality graduates. Companies within the USA, Japan and FRGermany show that graduate-managed small firms are more innovative, grow faster and employ more people. Evidence suggests that work experience based on sandwich placement in small firms greatly increases graduate employment in small firms in both the manufacturing and service sector. In the particularly difficult area of technologically-based small manufacturing firms, there is need for a recruitment strategy equivalent to the large firms' ‘milkround’. These two components make up the proposed new Group Training Scheme to be based on HEI, particularly the polytechnics. Such an initiative requires major resources, which calls for joint funding from the MSC, DES and DTI and other local and professional bodies.