...Linda Ahlgren; Laura C. Engel Purpose The primary objective in this paper is to examine the role of small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in promoting and/or hindering educational opportunities to adult employees in the UK. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on 12 case studies...

... education Small to medium‐sized enterprises The notion of communities of practice (CoP) has received great attention in educational and organisational practice and research. Though CoP is a concept referring to existing, informal groups of people who in a natural way advance and create knowledge...

...Henrik Kock; Andreas Gill; Per Erik Ellström Purpose The purpose of this paper is to increase our understanding of why firms, specifically small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), participate in a programme for competence development and why firms use different strategies for competence...

... and mutually supportive. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2008 Management development Organizational development Fast track Small to medium‐sized enterprises Action learning All viable strategies have emergent and deliberate [i.e. planned] qualities, since all must combine some degree...

... research into performance differences in corporate universities and academies in Europe with reference to other international developments. Corporate universities Small to medium‐sized enterprises Human resource management Lifelong learning © Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2008...

... is the result of historical evolution. What happens now can only be fully understood against its own history. Workplace learning New Zealand Small to medium‐sized enterprises Horticulture Government policy Best practice Historically and globally, government policy and regulation...

... Limited 2005 Small to medium‐sized enterprises Managers Workplace learning Learning The rise of digital technologies and high‐speed communication links has not only revolutionized the 21st century workplace but has resulted in a shortage of the necessary skills which are needed...

... Organizational development Learning Small to medium‐sized enterprises Previous research in the area of SMEs has consistently recognised that management in the SME sector is significantly different from large organisations (Wynarczyk et al., 1993). The SME sector is not homogeneous...

... and Jap, 1995). © MCB UP Limited 2003 Social networks Competitive advantage Strategic management Small to medium‐sized enterprises Competitive strategy Network operating systems Even if SMEs are faced with high competition, current interest in small manufacturing firms is still...

...Christopher Prince; Séamus Allison This article surveys the status and potential of three small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to the concept of the corporate university. It examines the dynamic context for their current training and development activities and their individual...

... Learning organizations Self‐directed learning Small to medium-sized enterprises Teamwork TQM Over the past decade, customer expectations have changed dramatically. Customers are no longer willing to accept inferior quality products, or services, late delivery, or increases in purchase prices...