Success and Failure in Helping SMEs

Abstract

This paper describes the outcomes of work conducted to help local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) since 1999 by a unit attached to a university in the North East of England. It describes the pattern of help offered, the uptake rates, levels of assistance and the types of outcome measures achieved. Certain regions of Europe have been given special status as areas that are in need of varying degrees of funded assistance. The North East of England is one such area and has attracted several hundreds of millions of pounds in European-sponsored State Aid as a result. The paper describes briefly how some of this money has been used to help SMEs design products more quickly, reduce waste and re-work, and introduce continuous improvement to key business processes. It then details the numbers and types of companies concerned, how many companies dropped out of the project early, the patterns of work and the measured outcomes. The authors examine the uptake rates, and discuss possible reasons why some SMEs do not make full use of the facilities on offer. Anecdotal evidence of SME owner motivations and decision criteria is also presented. Reasons for the overall success of the unit's efforts are suggested, as are ways to improve the potential for SME engagement throughout the HE sector.

Keywords

consultancy industrial statistics process improvement European regional funding

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Breyfogle

F.W.

III (1999), Implementing Six Sigma: Smarter Solutions Using Statistical Methods, Wiley and Sons, New York.

Coleman

S.Y.

Francis

Hodgson

Stewardson

D.J.

(2001a), ‘Demonstration of a regional group mentoring programme developed to help smaller manufacturers implement performance measurement’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol 15, No 6, pp 409–414.

Coleman

S.Y.

Francis

Hodgson

Stewardson

D.J.

(2001b), ‘Demonstration of a regional group mentoring programme developed to help smaller manufacturers implement performance measurement’, paper presented at the 4th SMESME International Conference, Aalborg, May.

Coleman

S.Y.

Linsley

M.J.

Pearce

Stewardson

D.J.

(2002), ‘Issues in measurement reliability in SMEs’, paper presented at the 5th SMESME International Conference, Dan bury, May.

Deming

W.E.

(1982), Out of the Crisis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Herzberg

(1966), Work and the Nature of Man, Thomas Crowell, New York.

Kantor

R.M.

(1984), The Change Masters, Simon and Schuster, New York.

Kolarik

W.J.

(1995), Creating Quality, McGraw Hill, New York.

Linsley

M.J.

Stewardson

D.J.

Hunter

(2000), ‘Reduction of process variation to maintain consistent product output at a local SME via designed experiments’, paper presented at the Industrial Statistics in Action 2000 Conference, Newcastle upon Tyne, 8–10 September.

10.

Linsley

M.J.

Pearce

K.F.

Stewardson

D.J.

Coleman

S.Y.

(2002), ‘The introduction of quality tools to reduce product reject-rates in an SME’, paper presented at the 5th SMESME International Conference, Danbury May.

11.

Maslow

A.H.

(1954), Motivation and Personality, 2nd edition, Harper & Row, New York.

12.

Perry

Coleman

S.Y.

Stewardson

D.J.

(2000), ‘Slicing off excess days in the financial flow of a company using modern quality tools’, paper presented at the Industrial Statistics in Action Conference 2000, 8–10 September.

13.

Senker

Hall

(1993), Teaching Company Performance and Features of Successful Programmes, SPRU Report for the Teaching Company Directorate, University of Sussex, Brighton.