SUSAN MARLOW IS A SENIOR LECTURER in the Leicester Polytechnic Business School, England. A feature of the growth of the small business sector in Britain has been the emergence of the ethnic minority-owned enterprise but ethnic-owned firms do not appear to be benefiting from or even using professional advice. This research takes the example of a business development scheme sponsored by a government advice agency, using it as a test case to assess what level of interest exists in such programmes from minority group business owners. The evidence indicates that minority group entrepreneurs and white small firm owners with a substantial proportion of their employees from ethnic minorities have a genuine and considerable interest in developing their businesses through the use of formal business growth training and professional advice.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allen, S., Work, Race and Immigration, University of Bradford, School of Studies in Social Sciences, 1977.
2.
Bose, M., 'The Ugandan Asian Success Magic', New Society, September, 1982.
3.
Bragard, L., Donckels, R., and Michel, P., 'New Entrepreneurship', Intercollegiate Centre for Management Science, 1985.
4.
Brown, C., 'Black and White Britain: The Third PSI Survey', London: Policy Studies Institute, 1984.
5.
Brown, C., and Gay, A., Racial Discrimination: 17 Years After the Act, PSI Report 646, 1982.
6.
Cross, M., 'The United Kingdom', in Storey, D. J. (ed.), The Small Firm: An International Survey, Croom Helm, 1983.
7.
Curran, J., Bolton, Fifteen Years On: A Review and Analysis of Small Business Research in Britain 1971-1986, 1986.
8.
Curran, J., and Burrows, R., 'Ethnicity and Enterprise: A National Profile', Proceedings of the 11th Small Firms Policy and Research Conference, Cardiff, November 1988.
Gibb, A., and Davies, L., 'Methodological Problems in the Development and Testing of a Growth Model of Business Enterprise Development', Proceedings of the EIASM Third Workshop on Recent Research in Entrepreneurship, Durham Business School, December, 1989.
13.
Hull, C., Helping Small Firms Grow, Croom Helm, 1987.
14.
Jenkins, R., and Solomos, J. (eds.), Racism and Equal Opportunities Policies in 1980s, Cambridge University Press, 1987.
15.
Khan, G., 'Size and Growth of Asian-owned Incorporated Businesses in Britain', International Small Business Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1988, pp 10-28.
16.
Kirby, D., 'Training for Growth or Growing to Train: A Study of Small Firms in Gwent', Proceedings of the 11th Small Firms Policy and Research Conference, Cardiff, November 1988.
17.
Jones, T., and McEvoy, D., 'Ethnic Enterprise: The Popular Image', in Curran, J. et al (eds.), The Survival of the Small Firm, Aldershot: Gower, Vol. 1, 1986.
18.
Leyshon, A., and Turner, W., 'Consultancy Services and the Small Company: Motives, Benefits and Lessons for the Future', Proceedings of the 11th Small Firms Policy and Research Conference, Cardiff, November 1988.
19.
Lustgarten, L., 'Racial Inequality and the Limits of the Law', Modern Law Review, January, 1986.
20.
McEvoy, D., and Aldrich, H., 'Survival Rates of Asian and White Retailers', International Small Business Journal, Vol. 4, Spring, 1986.
21.
Piore, M., and Sabel, C., The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities of Prosperity, Basic Books, 1984.
22.
Saker, J., 'Competitive Advantage in Small Ethnic Minority Businesses: A Reappraisal of the Role of Social Networks', Proceedings of the 11th Small Firms Policy and Research Conference, Cardiff, November 1988.
23.
Scase, R., and Goffee, R., The Real World of the Small Business Owner, Croom Helm, 1980.
24.
Scase, R., and Goffee, R., The Entrepreneurial Middle Class, Croom Helm, 1982.
25.
Sowell, R., Ethnic America, Basic Books, 1981.
26.
Storey, D. J. (ed.), The Small Firm: An International Survey, Croom Helm, 1983.
27.
Storey, D. J., and Johnson, S., Job Generation and Labour Market Change, Macmillan, 1987.
28.
Storey, D. J., Watson, R., and Wynarczyk, P., 'Fast Growth Small Businesses', Research Paper No. 67, Department of Employment, 1988.
29.
Storey, D. J., Keasey, K., Watson, R., and Wynarczyk, P., The Performance of Small Firms, Croom Helm, 1987.
30.
Ward, R., 'Resistance, Accommodation and Advantage: Strategic Development in Ethnic Business', in Lee, G., and Loveridge, R. (eds.), The Manufacture of Disadvantage, Open University Press, 1987.
31.
Ward, R., 'Ethnic Entrepreneurs in Britain and Europe', in Goffee, R., and Scase, R. (eds.), Entrepreneurship in Europe: The Social Processes, Croom Helm, 1987.
32.
Ward, R., Randall, R., and Krcmar, K., 'Small Firms in the Clothing Industry: The Growth of Minority Enterprise', International Small Business Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3, Spring1986.
33.
Watkins, D., 'Development Training and Education for the Small Firm: A European Perspective', European Small Business Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1983.
34.
Wilson, P., and Stanworth, J., 'Growth and Change in Black Minority Enterprise in Britain', International Small Business Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3, Spring1986.
