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The implications of public sector small business advisers becoming strategic sounding boards: England and Scotland compared
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Mole, Kevin and Keogh, William (2009) The implications of public sector small business advisers becoming strategic sounding boards: England and Scotland compared. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Vol.21 (No.1). pp. 77-97. doi:10.1080/10438590802194168 ISSN 0898-5626.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10438590802194168
Abstract
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.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HF Commerce H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Centre for Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Management Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School |
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Journal or Publication Title: | Entrepreneurship and Regional Development | ||||
Publisher: | Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd. | ||||
ISSN: | 0898-5626 | ||||
Official Date: | 2009 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Vol.21 | ||||
Number: | No.1 | ||||
Number of Pages: | 21 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 77-97 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1080/10438590802194168 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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