On 5th & 6th November, the ISBE 2014 policy and practitioner  conference in Manchester hosted over 400 attendees from more than 40 countries. This year’s conference focussed on the theme of,

“The Future of Enterprise: The Innovation Revolution

With over 250 presentations on a diverse range of topics, high-profile keynote speakers, stimulating panel debates and a number of specialist workshops, the conference has become known as “the best place to go for the highest quality new entrepreneurial and small business research.” The event “connects policy makers with business support practitioners and academics, nurturing productive dialogue and engagement between these groups, allowing the research to inform policy and practice to create genuine change.”

ERC contributed to the conference through the presentation of a number of research papers, contribution to the leadership of a conference track on ‘SME growth and performance’ and leading a Masterclass on ‘Impact by Design’.

The theme of engagement – linking research with policy and practice – ran through much of the conference particularly as we approach a general election.


Professor Stephen Roper. ERC, Warwick Business School, presented a lunchtime workshop

 “Impact by Design “Stephen Roper.

Impact is … ‘according to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’…the concept of impact in the social sciences applies to all sectors … It embraces economic and societal impact in the sense of direct and often quantifiable economic benefits; wider social impacts that will benefit society more generally such as effects on the environment, public health or quality of life; and impacts on government policy, the third sector and professional practice’. and occurs through a range of different routes – The 5 ‘I’s… – Impact through world class social science research – Impact through skilled people – Impact through world class infrastructure – Impact through international leadership – Impact through partnerships  and it matters because research can change the world and improve lives

View the full presentation here


Michael Anyadike Danes. ERC, Aston Business School presented in the track SME Growth and Performance: Quantitative Perspectives.

 “All Grown Up / The fate after 15 years of the Quarter of a Million UK Firms Born in 1998. Michael Anyadike Danes & Mark Hart.

Michael said: “I very much enjoyed ISBE this year. I had a stimulating session with a lot of discussion and some useful suggestions about directions for future research.”

View Michaels Full presentation here


 Karen Bonner , ERC , Aston Business School made a presentation in the International Entrepreneurship track  on behalf of Professor Jonathan Levie, ERC , Strathclyde University .

“Exporting by Male and Female Entrepreneurs over the Business Cycle”

Jonathan Levie, Mark Hart & Karen Bonner.

View the full presentation here

Karen said “The internationalisation track had a range of interesting papers, and makes a useful addition to ISBE, considering the track is only a relatively recent addition. There were some interesting observations about barriers to female entrepreneurship in developing countries, particularly cultural barriers which I hadn’t previously considered. I also felt the paper on crowdfunding ( Dr Sharon Loane –University of Ulster) very topical and was surprised to discover that around 50% of projects fail.

The authors are looking into the failures in more detail to examine, amongst other things, the impact on the entrepreneur and how, if at all, it affects reputation. I think this is relevant to the ERC as we often focus on businesses that are successful, and how they grow. Looking at funding failure and how that impacts on a business and the owner could also help tell the story.


There were also several ERC Associates nominated in the Best Paper Awards and we would like to congratulate  Kiran Trehan & Samuel Adomako  for winning in their categories:

Kiran Trehan , CRÈME , University of Birmingham, ERC won the Best Paper in the Entrepreneurial Practitioner Learning Track.

“Gazing at my Reflection: Owner-Managerial Self-Concept and Dynamic Capabilities” Alex Kevill, Kiran Trehan, Mark Easterby-Smith

Samuel Adomako , Warwick Business School  won Best Paper in the SME Growth and Development Track.

“Constraints as Mediator of the Internal Capabilities to Performance Relationship in Microbusinesses” Samuel Adomako