FEATURE
PAPER
Perceptual
Barriers Preventing Small Business Owners from Using Public
Support Services: Evidence from Canada
The
following paper was presented at the 2007 Allied Academies
International Conference - Jacksonville. It was written
by Josée Audet and Etienne St-Jean of Université Laval
and
Sandrine Berger-Douce of IAE Valenciennes.
Abstract
Numerous
public assistance programs have been put into place to support
SMEs. However,
SME owner-managers don’t appear to make maximum use of
these services. Results from a survey
of 70 SME owner-managers indicate that many owner-managers
don’t seem to understand the
relevance of the services and don’t know enough about
the agencies working in their region.
However, most of those who had used the agencies felt the services
were appropriate to their needs.
The problem thus appears to lie more with the perceptions of
owner-managers than with the nature
or quality of the services themselves.
Introduction
Public
authorities throughout the world, recognizing both the importance
and fragility of
small businesses, have over the years created agencies and
set up numerous venture development
support and assistance measures. However, entrepreneurs and
small business owner-managers do
not seem to make maximum use of the services available. The
purpose of this research is to identify
the factors likely to influence the decision of small business
owner-managers to consult public
support agencies.
Read
the Entire Paper...
.
TIP
OF THE WEEK
Principles
of Innovation
Potential entrepreneurs need to realize innovation
principles exist. The principles can be learned and, when combined
with opportunity, can enable individuals to innovate. The major
motivation principles follow:
Be action oriented. Innovators always must be active and searching for
new ideas, opportunities, or sources of information.
Make the product,
process, or service simple and understandable. People
must readily understand how the innovation works.
Make the product,
process, or service customer-based. Innovators always
must keep the customer in mind. The more an innovator has the end-user
in mind, the greater the chance the concept will be accepted and used.
Start small. Innovators should not attempt a project or development on
a grandiose scale. They should begin small and then build and develop,
allowing for planned growth and proper expansion in the right manner and
the right time.
Aim high. Innovator should aim high for success by seeking a niche in
the marketplace.
Try/test/revise. Innovators always should follow the rule of try, test,
and revise. This helps work out any flaws in the product, process, or service.
Learn from failures. Innovation does not guarantee success. More important,
failures often give rise to innovations.
Follow a milestone
schedule. Every innovator should follow a schedule
that indicates milestone accomplishments. Although the project may run
ahead or behind schedule, it still is important to have the schedule in
order to plan and evaluate the project.
Reward heroic activity. This principle applies more to those involved
in seeking and motivating others to innovate. Innovative activity should
be rewarded and given the proper amount of respect. this also means tolerating
and, to a limited degree, accepting failures as a means of accomplishing
innovation. Innovative work must be seen as heroic activity that will reveal
new horizons for the enterprise.
Work, work, work. This is a simple but accurate exhortation with which
to conclude the innovation principles. It takes work - not genius or mystery
- to innovate successfully.
Donald
F. Kuratko and Richard M. Hodgetts. Entrepreneurship:
Theory, Process, Practice - 7th Edition. 2007. Thomson
Southwestern. pg.158-159.
|
.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Fayetteville Shale Play Symposium
Arkansas Business and the University of Central Arkansas present:
The Fayetteville Shale Play Symposium
August 29, 2007 9am-4pm
University of Central Arkansas
Reynolds Performance Hall
M2007
Learn the latest advances,
techniques and best practices at the world's largest data
mining conference. SAS presents M2007 - 10th Annual Data
Mining Conference - held from October 1-2, 2007.
The session track topics
include: business applications, perspectives from retail,
perspectives from financial services, perspectives from healthcare,
new and emerging technologies, and data mining in marketing.
For more information
please click here.
Request for
Papers & Reviewer Volunteers
The
Small Business Institue is now requesting papers and paper
review volunteers for the Small Business Institute Journal.
If you are interested in submitting a paper or becoming a
volunteer, please let us know. The first issue
is to be printed April 2008. For more information please click
here or email us at sbij@uca.edu.
SBANC is Updating
Their Entrepreneurship and Small Business Network
The Small Business Advancement
National Center is currently updating their Entrepreneurship
and Small Business Network. If you currently teach or know
a professor in your
school or state that teaches an Entrepreneurship or Small
Business course, please provide us with any available information
at sbancj@uca.edu.
We appreciate any help. Thank you.
.
|
CONFERENCES
ALLIED
|
| Who: |
Allied Academies
|
| What: |
Fall
International Conference
|
| Where: |
Reno, Nevada, USA |
| When: |
October 4-5, 2007 |
|
|
|
BOP
2007
|
| Who: |
The William Davidson Institute and
the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell
University
|
| What: |
Base of the Pyramid Conference
2007
|
| Where: |
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA |
| When: |
September 9-11, 2007 |
|
|
|
ASBE
|
| Who: |
Association
for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|
| What: |
2007
Conference
|
| Where: |
Austin,
Texas, USA |
| When: |
October
10-12, 2007 |
|
|
|
ISBE
|
| Who: |
Institute
for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|
| What: |
30th Annual ISBE Conference
|
| Where: |
Heriot-Watt University, Glasgow,
Scotland |
| When: |
November 7-9, 2007 |
|
|
|
TSCF
|
| Who: |
The
Social Capital Foundation
|
| What: |
TSCF
Conference
|
| Where: |
Hawaii, USA |
| When: |
November, 15-19, 2007 |
|
|
|
CALLS FOR PAPERS
AEBAI
|
| Who: |
Applied
Business and Entrepreneurship Association International
(ABEAI)
|
| What: |
4th
Annual Meeting
|
| Where: |
Marriott
Wailea Beach Resort - Maui, Hawaii, USA |
| When: |
November
16-20, 2007 |
Submission
Deadline:
August 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
IBEC
|
| Who: |
International
Business and Economy Conference
|
| What: |
Seventh
International Business and Economy Conference
|
| Where: |
San Francisco, California, USA |
| When: |
January 9 - 12, 2008 |
Submission
Deadline:
September 7, 2007
|
|
|
|
USASBE
|
| Who: |
United
States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|
| What: |
USASBE
2008 Annual Conference
|
| Where: |
The
Westin La Cantera Resort - San Antonio, Texas |
| When: |
January
10-13, 2008 |
Submission
Deadline:
August 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
SBI
|
| Who: |
Small
Business Institute
|
| What: |
2008 SBI Conference
|
| Where: |
Handlery
Hotel – San Diego, CA |
| When: |
Feb.
14-16, 2008 |
Submission
Deadline:
October 1, 2007
|
|
|
|
|
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),
Federation of Business Disciplines (FBD), International Council
for Small Business (ICSB), Institute for Supply Management
(ISM), The International Small Business Congress (ISBC), Marketing
Management Association (MMA), Small Business Administration
(SBA), Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), Small Business
Institute (SBI), Society for Marketing Advances (SMA), United
States Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship
(USASBE), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).. 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
Brandon
Tabor, Development Intern
Garion
McCoy, Development Intern
Latedra
Williams,
Development Intern
To subscribe or unsubscribe to
the SBANC Newsletter, please E-mail SBANC at sbanc@uca.edu
|
