SBANC Newsletter
December 6, 2005
Issue 401-2005
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QUOTE
"Encourage your people to be committed to a project rather than just be
involved in it."
--
Richard Pratt
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FEATURE PAPER
Small Business Job Quality From Employer and Employee Perspectives
This paper was presented by Rowena Barrett and Zaffer Khan of Monash University
at
the 2005 International Council for Small Business 50th World Conference.
Abstract
Job quality is
usually assessed in terms of objective criteria such as wage levels,
employment
status (full-time, part-time, contract, casual etc), the provision
of a skill-based career structure,
provision of training, work environment, payment of benefits, and
formal opportunities to
participate in decision making. However in this paper we use an approach
that takes into account
structure and agency or the contexts (structures) within which people
(agents) make decisions and
take actions and therefore look beyond just objective measure of
job quality. This paper addresses
the question of ‘what is a quality small business job?’ from
the perspective of small business
employers and employees. We report on the results of a mail survey
of 1000 (randomly selected)
small business owners (or managers) and semi-structured interviews
with 28 small business
employers and 30 employees. The research was conducted in the Latrobe
Valley, an old
industrial area in south east Victoria, Australia where there has
not been a vibrant small business
culture due to a reliance on large industry centered around electricity
generation. We conclude that subjective criteria are important in
any assessment of job quality which is informed by prior
experience as well as the history of the place in which the jobs
are created.
Introduction
Small business job creation is high on the Australian policy agenda
and has been over the past
decade. Yet the issue of job quality was only raised with the release
of the report Small Business
Employment (SEWRERC, 2003). This is surprising given that job quality
is high on the EU’s
agenda (Cowling and Storey, 1999; EFILWC, 2002; 2003; 2004; ILO,
1999; 2001). Part of the
reason for Australian neglect is because the conciliation and arbitration
system sets in place
minimum standards of employment through industrial awards. Although
at present there is
widespread debate in Australia about the setting of minimum standards
for employment, and with
the federal Coalition government’s control of both houses of
Parliament to take effect in July
2005, then we can expect radical change in this area.
Read the Entire Paper...
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CONFERENCES
The
Harvard Business School Publishing
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Who:
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The Harvard Business School Publishing |
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What:
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"Pre-conference Seminar on" "Teaching Entrepreneurship
with Cases" prior to USASBE/SBI 2006
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Where: |
JW Marriot Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona |
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When:
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January 12, 2006 |
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Organization
International Business and Economy
|
| Who: |
International Business and Economy |
| What: |
Fifth International Business and Economy Conference
|
| Where: |
Sheraton
Waikiki Beach Resort Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii |
| When: |
January 5-8, 2006 |
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Internet, Processing, Systems,
and Interdisciplinary (Research)
|
| Who: |
IPSI |
| What: |
IPSI 2006 - Califonia
|
| Where: |
Hotel Stanford Terrace in Palo Alto, California |
| When: |
January 8-11, 2006 |
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Common
Ground
|
| Who: |
CG |
| What: |
The Second International Conference on Environmental,
Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability
|
| Where: |
Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, Vietnam |
| When: |
January 9-12, 2006 |
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|
International Business
Forum (IBF)
|
| Who: |
IBF |
| What: |
5th Annual Nanotechnology Investing Forum
|
| Where: |
Lodge
at Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, California |
| When: |
January
31 & February 1, 2006 |
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CALLS FOR PAPERS
The CIBER Research Institute
|
| Who: |
The CIBER Research Institute (CIBER) |
| What: |
ABR Conference (business & economics) and TLC Conference (teaching
methods, styles, and administration
|
| Where: |
Disney Boardwalk Hotel in Disney World, Florida |
| When: |
January 2-6, 2006 |
Submission
Deadline:
December 1, 2005
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|
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Institute
for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management
|
| Who: |
Institute for Entrepreneurship and
Small Business Management |
| What: |
8th
International Conference, "STIQE"
|
| Where: |
Maribor,
Slovenia |
| When: |
June 28-30, 2006 |
Submission
Deadline:
January 10, 2006
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|
|
International
Council for Small Business
|
| Who: |
International
Council for Small Business (ICSB) |
| What: |
51st
World Conference
|
| Where: |
Melbourne,
Australia |
| When: |
June
18-21, 2006 |
Submission
Deadline:
January 15, 2006
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|
|
Institute
for Business and Finance Research (IBFR)
|
| Who: |
IBFR |
| What: |
The 2006 Global Conference on Business and Finance
(GCBF)
|
| Where: |
Hotel Herradura: Golf Resort and Conference Center
in San Jose, Costa Rica |
| When: |
May 31-June 3, 2006 |
Submission
Deadline:
March 17, 2006
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|
|
Allied
Academies
|
| Who: |
Allied
Academies |
| What: |
2006
Spring International Conference
|
| Where: |
Hilton
New Orleans Riverside, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| When: |
April 12-15, 2006 |
Submission
Deadline:
March 6, 2006
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TIP OF THE WEEK
Training
Employees: Executive Summary
- Small employers
(defined as 5-250 employees) expect new hires to bring different
skill levels to the job depending on the job to be performed.
The amount and types of employee training vary with the
skills accompanying them to the job and the job requirements, both
initially
(immediately
after hire) and later.
- Small employers typically require minimal levels of formal education
for both the most skilled and the most common jobs in the firm. Fifty-five
(55) percent expect no more than a high school diploma for the most
skilled job and 73 percent expect no more than a high school diploma
for the most common job.
- Small employers typically require previous experience for the most
skilled job, but require it much less often for the most common job.
Experience appears to be a substitute for formal education.
- The skills most frequently expected to accompany new employees involve
work habits and attitudes, the ability to follow directions, the capacity
to read and write directions and explanations, and English proficiency.
Small employers expect that employees for the most part will learn
on the job occupational skills (when necessary), the products and services
sold, and the firm's operational procedures.
- The most common form of employee training immediately after hire is
having someone in the firm work with the new employee. The second most
common form is letting employees learn on their own, essentially learning
by doing. Training after the first year on the job still centers on
the owner/employee assisting the employee, but is much more likely
to involve sending him/her outside the business.
- About four in five small employers provide employee training beyond
introductory activity. However, 40 percent-50 percent routinely train
employees after the first year in the most skilled or most common position
in the firm while another 35 percent-40 percent train them as needed.
No information was collected on training the least skilled employees
unless the least skilled are also the most common.
- No
over-riding problem or set of problems beset small employers in their
employee training efforts. The most severe, albeit severe only
for a limited number, is the lack of time owners and/or
other employees have available to help others; employees possessing
inadequate learning
skills and often interest, necessary to acquire new or
upgraded skills; and cost, including the inability to pull the employee
off the job.
- At least seven in 10 small employers use organizations
outside
the firm to train employees, particularly to train employees
with longer
tenures. Seventy-one (71) percent of small employers
used in the last three years at least one of the seven organizational
forms explored;
47 percent used at least two; and 28 percent used at
least three.
| "Executive
Summary." Ed. William J. Dennis. National Small
Business Poll 5.1 (2005): 1. |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Winter Break at SBANC
SBANC will be
closed from December 17, 2005 to January 8, 2006. The center will
open again on Monday, January 9, 2006.
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The
SBANC Newsletter is provided as a service to the members of our affiliates:
Academy of Collegiate Marketing Educators (ACME), Association for
Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ASBE), Decision Sciences Institute
(DSI), Federation of Business Disciplines (FBD), International Council
for Small Business Congress (ICSBC), Institute for Supply Management,
The International Small Business Congress (ISBC), Marketing Management
Association (MMA), Small Business Administration (SBA), Service Corps
of Retired Executives, Small Business Institute (SBI), Society for
Marketing Advances (SMA), United States Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship
(USASBE), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Western Decision
Sciences Institute (WDSI). If you are interested in membership or
would like further information on one of our affiliates, please see
our web
site at http://www.sbaer.uca.edu
SBANC STAFF
Main Office Phone: (501) 450-5300
Dr.
Don B. Bradley III, Executive Director of SBANC
&
Professor of Marketing;
Direct Phone: (501) 450-5345
Esther
Mead, Graduate Research
Ashley
Ford, Development Intern
Olivia
Johnson, Development Intern
Garion
McCoy, Development Intern
Brandon
Tabor, Development Intern
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