Abstract:This article claims that traditional supply of public support programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in remote locations fails to achieve its objective: it is not met by 'hidden' demand. An experiment was conducted in SMEs that did not use available consultancy programmes in three remote regions in the state of Ceara in Brazil: a consultant was sent to each of them on a diagnosis mission. The results indicate that there is a 'hidden demand', in the sense that most of the enterprises need cons… Show more
“…On the other hand, diagnosis can change the owner-manager's perspectives. Schwartz and Bar-El (2004) show how 37 owner-managers in Brazil changed their views about their business problems after receiving free diagnostic consultancy. Those issues that increased in salience were those that were under the control of the owner-manager: the management, planning, and production in the firm.…”
Section: Business Advice Literaturementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Mole and W. Keogh points to the role of diagnosis in stimulating the potential for change. The approach to diagnosis was unclear in Schwartz and Bar-El (2004). All approaches have their difficulties: the informal 'fireside chat' may overlook aspects of the business; the formal approach may fail to develop rapport with the client.…”
Changes have been made to systems of publicly funded business advice to implement a 'strategic sounding board' role for business advisers. Previous literature has shown how this role could be modelled in a 'coupole'. The 'coupole' administers a programme but does not deliver it. The shifting of policy towards this strategic sounding role takes place within the context of existing organisations, however. We review three streams of the literature on business advice: small firm policy, critical management consulting, and organisational development consulting. We introduce a triad of producer, process, and client to understand the implications of changes to the business adviser's role. The paper examines two case studies where public policy has changed to shift business advisers into this sounding board role: England and Scotland. The research suggests: (1) that the new role increases the skills demanded of public sector business advisers; (2) that changes to one part of the triad impacts on all the others; (3) the existing organisation contributes to the way in which the producers react to change in the other parts of the triad. The responses in the networked English support organisations have been innovative but fragmented with little evaluation. In the more hierarchical Scottish organisations, the response has been more measured, both in the sense of being cautious and in the sense of being evaluated.
“…On the other hand, diagnosis can change the owner-manager's perspectives. Schwartz and Bar-El (2004) show how 37 owner-managers in Brazil changed their views about their business problems after receiving free diagnostic consultancy. Those issues that increased in salience were those that were under the control of the owner-manager: the management, planning, and production in the firm.…”
Section: Business Advice Literaturementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Mole and W. Keogh points to the role of diagnosis in stimulating the potential for change. The approach to diagnosis was unclear in Schwartz and Bar-El (2004). All approaches have their difficulties: the informal 'fireside chat' may overlook aspects of the business; the formal approach may fail to develop rapport with the client.…”
Changes have been made to systems of publicly funded business advice to implement a 'strategic sounding board' role for business advisers. Previous literature has shown how this role could be modelled in a 'coupole'. The 'coupole' administers a programme but does not deliver it. The shifting of policy towards this strategic sounding role takes place within the context of existing organisations, however. We review three streams of the literature on business advice: small firm policy, critical management consulting, and organisational development consulting. We introduce a triad of producer, process, and client to understand the implications of changes to the business adviser's role. The paper examines two case studies where public policy has changed to shift business advisers into this sounding board role: England and Scotland. The research suggests: (1) that the new role increases the skills demanded of public sector business advisers; (2) that changes to one part of the triad impacts on all the others; (3) the existing organisation contributes to the way in which the producers react to change in the other parts of the triad. The responses in the networked English support organisations have been innovative but fragmented with little evaluation. In the more hierarchical Scottish organisations, the response has been more measured, both in the sense of being cautious and in the sense of being evaluated.
“…Public consulting services (at subsidized price) are intended to solve market failures: increased demand and economic growth through multiplier effect, decreasing inequalities and social problems, technology diffusion effects, social stability, induce social benefits far beyond the benefits of the single entrepreneur (Schwartz & Bar-El, 2004). The way for social support to be delivered effectively to entrepreneurs is to make that support tailored to their individual needs (Schwartz & Bar-El, 2004). The results of their study indicate that there is a 'hidden demand' in the sense that most enterprises need consultancy, but do not apply for the available services.…”
Section: Different Academic Papers Analysed and Investigated Differenmentioning
“…Although some developed‐country research (e.g., Sexton et al. , p. 6) suggests that small businesses often have a clear idea about what they want to learn, empirical research conducted in developing countries has revealed that many owner–managers lack a real understanding of their training needs (e.g., Schwartz and Bar‐el ; Trulsson ). The comments of owner–managers tended to suggest either that their own success implied that help was unnecessary, or that advice alone was insufficient to address current challenges:If my management aspect is not good, I wouldn't have been able to build the most popular restaurant in this area.Although they do provide the needed advice, they do very little to support or lift us up from our problems.…”
Section: Findings and Comparative Analysismentioning
Enterprise policies play a central role in economic development across Africa, but more effective, evidence-based policy evaluation is required to inform future interventions. The paper makes a contribution to: (i) filling this gap in our understanding; (ii) developing more rigorous and appropriate evaluation methodologies. The issues are examined through an empirical study into non-use of small business support services in Ghana. Survey evidence from 253 owner-managers is complemented by interviews with owner-managers and service providers. It concludes that policy evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa would benefit from multi-method approaches to address limitations in official datasets and to facilitate more indepth understanding.2
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