Browsing by Author "Barrett, Rowena"

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    Are regulatory interventions seen as an obstacle or an enabler to SME performance and growth in transition economies: a study of gendered perceptions?
    (ISBE, 2014-12-05) Vershinina, Natalia; Rodionova, Yulia; Kitching, John; Barrett, Rowena
    Objectives The aim of this paper is to empirically test the influence of the perceived regulatory burden in the context of postcommunist economies on SME performance and growth from a gender perspective. Prior Work The research literature largely argues that regulation is a burden, cost or constraint for SMEs, although recent work suggests regulation has a dual influence, enabling as well as constraining firms. These conflicting influences play out variably for particular firms. Most studies focus on mature market economies where regulatory frameworks are well-established. In this paper we attempt to study the impact of regulation on small enterprises within the context of transition economies from a gender perspective. Approach Using a panel firm-level dataset from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance survey (BEEPS) of 27 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia for 2005-2009, we study whether perceptions of regulatory interventions (tax, licencing and permits, court system, customs, inspections and labour regulations) are seen as obstacles or enablers by firms and whether perceptions differ by gender. We perform difference-in-means tests on various perception and “de facto” indicators of the regulatory environment and estimate a quartile regression model on the pooled-crossed section and the panel data to investigate the influence of dealing with governmental regulations on business performance. To control for reverse-causality, we merge firm-level perceptions with country-level indicators and financial parameters for similar interventions. Results Our preliminary findings from empirical testing suggest that there is variability in regulatory impacts by gender of business owner, firm size and firm age and ownership type. A more nuanced analysis suggests that business regulation enables growth for male-owned firms; while for female owned firms regulatory interventions are more of an obstacle. Implications Failure to understand how regulation affects business performance of female and male owned firms means that policy interventions are likely to produce unwanted consequences because neither the full range of mechanisms shaping small-business performance nor the conditions which support or hinder the exercise of these mechanisms are fully identified. Value Overall, this study seeks to contribute to existing research in the field of gender and entrepreneurship by examining the influence of regulatory burden in the context of post-communist economies rarely studied in the literature, using quantitative techniques that allow generalisation to population of entrepreneurs in transition countries.
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    Breaking down the Family System: an analysis of the family stakeholders’ non-financial performance objectives
    (11th annual IFERA World Family Business Conference, 2011-07) Savoni., P.; Barrett, Rowena; Vershinina, Natalia
    It is widely accepted by family firm researchers that family firms make considerable efforts to achieve both financial and non-financial objectives. Through the lens of stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984; Laplume et al. 2008) we examine which non-economic performance objectives are most important to individuals within the family system of a private family firm. Case studies of two later-generation family firms are reported to highlight the differing financial and non-financial objectives of stakeholders. Qualitative data, collected through semi-structured interviews with the various family stakeholders of the two family firms was analysed using NVivo software, which helped explore which non-financial performance objectives were most important to which group. The contribution of this paper to the field of family business is the examination in detail, of the family system, and the importance to which this system pursues non-financial objectives.
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    Building the base for cross national comparisons of ethnic entrepreneurship: Understanding Polish entrepreneurs in Western Australia
    (34th ISBE Conference Sheffield, 2011-11-09) Vershinina, Natalia; Barrett, Rowena; Moguilnaia, Natalia A.
    The paper accounts for the nature of Polish entrepreneurial activity in Western Australia. First, it examines it through the deployment of Bourdieu’s ‘forms of capital’ model (1983) used in explaining the entrepreneurial activity of Polish immigrants. By adopting a case study approach informed by the principal of ‘maximum variation’, the paper highlights considerable diversity within a small but significant ethnic community in Western Australia. This paper is informed by literature dealing with forms of capital to explain ethnic entrepreneurship which points to the role of social, human, financial and cultural resources employed by migrants in their entrepreneurial activities. Case studies were undertaken with 12 firms during March 2011. In each of the businesses, detailed ethnographic interviews were conducted with business owners to establish their migration history, the motivations for self-employment, and journey to becoming a business owner. The interviews were transcribed and the data was analyzed using thematic content analysis. This paper extends the investigators UK-based work into Australia, as it examines Polish ethnic entrepreneurship in WA not only as a function of capitals, but how these forms are used and converted within certain institutional frameworks, opportunity structures and historical contexts. Around 10% of Polish born people in Australia reside in Western Australia while some 10% of those in Australia reporting Polish ancestry live in WA. All of the entrepreneurs interviewed spent over 20 years in WA; they partly assimilated, and this gave them time to develop their businesses. Their connection to the local Polish community had fuelled the development of these firms; however, with time passing the influence of their ethnic social and cultural capital was reduced. The paper has implications for researchers and policy-makers. For researchers, the limitations of extant theoretical approaches are exposed. Conversely, the value of the forms of capital approach applied to the field of ethnic minority entrepreneurship is highlighted. Further, a neglected ethnic community is brought within the gaze of the research community. For policy-makers, an insight is gained into areas where intervention could facilitate new immigrant entrepreneurship. The paper's main contributions are: an innovative deployment of models from complementary disciplines; an empirical focus on a new ethnic community.
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    Call centres, the networked economy and the value chain
    (Blackwell, 2008) Rainnie, A.; Barrett, Rowena; Burgess, John; Connell, J.
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    Correlates of perceiving human resource management as a 'problem' in smaller firms.
    (Australian Human Resources Institute, 2010) Meyers, M.; Barrett, Rowena
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    Editorial: small firms and new technology
    (Blackwell, 2005) Barrett, Rowena; Rainnie, A.
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    Evaluating hands-on small business assistance in the Latrobe Valley
    (Australia and New Zealand Regional Science Association International Inc.(ANZRSAI), 2004) Barrett, Rowena; Billington, L.; Neeson, R.
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    Finding the 'right' staff in small firms
    (Emerald, 2007) Barrett, Rowena; Neeson, R.; Billington, L.
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    The formality and informality of HRM practices in small firms
    (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2008) Barrett, Rowena
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    Forms of capital, intra-ethnic variation and Polish entrepreneurs in Leicester.
    (Sage, 2011-03) Vershinina, Natalia; Barrett, Rowena; Meyer, Michael; Moguilnaia, Natalia A.
    A study of 10 Polish entrepreneurs operating in Leicester, UK is reported in this article. The concepts of social, cultural and economic capital are used as the lens through which to explore the way the capital they access is employed and converted into entrepreneurial activity. Ethnic entrepreneurship takes place within wider social, political and economic institutional frameworks and opportunity structures and so this is taken into account by differentiating two groups – post-war and contemporary Polish entrepreneurs. The differing origins and amounts of forms of capital they can access are shown as is how these are converted into valued outcomes. Combining the mixed embeddedness approach with a forms-of-capital analysis enables looking beyond social capital to elaborate on intra-ethnic variation in the UK’s Polish entrepreneurial community.
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    HRM in small firms: evidence from growing small firms in Australia
    (Information Age Publishing, 2001) Barrett, Rowena; Mayson, S.
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    Industrial relations in the Latrobe Valley: myths and realities
    (Taylor and Francis, 2004) Rainnie, A.; D Urbano, T.; Barrett, Rowena; Paulet, R.; Grobbelaar, M.
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    International Handbook of Entrepreneurship and HRM
    (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2008) Barrett, Rowena; Mayson, S.
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    Introduction: At the intersection of entrepreneurship and human resource management
    (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2008) Barrett, Rowena; Mayson, S.
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    Learning to solve a business problem: 'hands-on' gets results
    (IP Publishing, 2007) Neeson, R.; Billington, L.; Barrett, Rowena
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    Logics and rationalisations underpinning entrepreneurial decision-making
    (Emerald, 2017-02-20) Vershinina, Natalia; Barrett, Rowena; McHardy, Peter
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    Management, labour process and software development: Reality bytes
    (London: Routledge, 2005) Barrett, Rowena