Abstract
The success or failure of small businesses can be impacted by how they adopt ad implement leadership knowledge or information by the owners. It is critical to examine the leadership from small-scale business owners’ perspectives to minimize the rate of failure while encouraging sustainability and success in the business sector. Appropriately adopted knowledge and information attained from the business practitioner can help mitigate most of the business’s problems. Much of the variable information about small business leadership is predominately in theoretical forms. Thus, there is a disconnection on how small business leaders can acquire knowledge from the academic files to improve their skills. Therefore, this study aims to provide an understanding of how small business operators to scale can tap into the existing body of knowledge and information provided by those in the academic field to improve their leadership towards managing their businesses successfully. The research study will adopt a quantitative research design. Since the study aims to explore the leaders’ experience in small businesses, there is a need to collect primary data.
Keywords; small business, practitioners, leadership
Table of content
Contents
Concepts and theories for each of the elements of the research problem.. 10
Summary of approaches to Research Methodology. 11
List of Research methods
| Research | Method |
| Quantitative | Qualitative approach |
| Sampling technique | Non-probability approach |
| Population | Small business practitioner/ owners |
| Data | Primary data |
| Instrument | Questionnaire |
| Analysis tool | SPSS |
Introduction
It is critical to examine the leadership from small-scale business owners’ perspectives to minimize the rate of failure while encouraging sustainability and success in the business sector. Appropriately adopted knowledge and information attained from the business practitioner can help mitigate most of the business’s problems. Isomura (2010) points out that the gap between practitioners and educators in the transfer of appropriate business knowledge has attracted criticism in developing leadership with business circles. Numerous researchers have suggested that small businesses as a critical economic resource have been neglected in research. A majority of studies tend to focus on elements of large or established organizations. Furthermore, Lewis and Cassells (2010) noted little commitment to sustainability in the small business sector because of limited resources and a lack of usable information to reconcile corporate socially responsible actions to their daily operational routines. Some of these routines are environmental impact, more considerable stakeholder contribution on the financial position, and human resource decisions.
Ideally, small businesses in the United States play a critical role in impacting both the economy and the environment in the long run. It is important to develop business practices through knowledge and capacity building that small business operators can adopt. Small business owners are typically multifunctional; this is because they are limited by the operational demands of their businesses but still are required to contribute towards sustainability. Hence how leaders provide solutions to such issues can be critical in determining the difference between the failure or success of the firm. Small business leadership requires suitable information to ensure proper business operations and practices. Community colleges, universities, and business forums should form part of the “practitioners” who ought to effectively influence practices, facilitating sustainability among small firms’ leaders.
The leadership of small businesses is an issue that requires proper understanding among practitioners. Teng et al. (2011) posit that small firms could succeed through additional leadership information and the government’s adoption of suitable small business policies. Therefore, the proper understanding of the functionality of leadership in reference to practitioners’ experiences can be relevant for small business owners while at the same time bridging the gap between the industry and the intelligentsia.
Background of the study
The success or failure of small businesses can be impacted by how they adopt ad implement leadership knowledge or information by the owners. Much of the variable information pertaining to small business leadership is predominately in theoretical forms. Nevertheless, it is critical to encourage practical practitioner knowledge to facilitate leadership training among small business operators. The gap between theoretical knowledge provided by the intelligentsia and those practicing forms of leadership in small businesses has contributed to the failure of most firms (Isomura, 2010).
This means that there is a gap between those researching to understand small business practices and knowledge and those in the field practicing. Pryor & Taneja (2010) points out that practitioners have cited a gap between practitioners and academics regarding business leadership. The latter assumption is based on the researcher they conducted between those practicing leadership in small businesses (practitioners) and those researching in the academic field. Hence, examining the practical experiences of small practitioners in business leadership can be instrumental in eliminating the inadequacy of leadership, which can minimize business failures emanating from practitioners with poor or low leadership knowledge.
Ideally, small business practitioners must have a certain level of skills that can aid in the overall supervision of the business while facilitating growth and development (Gerig, (2018). Nonetheless, the business environment is constantly changing. Hence, firms have to adopt new business practices that can foster change in leadership, structure, and methods to cater to the market’s emerging needs. Academic researchers and business leaders need to provide sufficient knowledge and information that assist current and future small business practitioners in overcoming business challenges (Abdul, 2018). For instance, in today’s society, small business operators/ practitioners must have sufficient knowledge and practices that focus on societal and environmental values such as sustainability, inclusivity, diversity, and tolerance, among others. However, many of the leaders in small businesses lack knowledge critical to the twenty-first century’s leadership needs. Such an information gap can be filled when those in the research and intelligentsia can provide knowledge that practitioners can practically adopt in small businesses.
Most academic researchers tend to focus on knowledge or information that aims to maximize profits while neglecting the societal and environmental values and initiatives businesses. As small businesses develop and grow, they require to have tools and knowledge to enable them to adapt to changes in the business environment. The leaders of small firms and their firms play an important role in transforming the economy in the long run. Therefore, such small firms need to be aided in accessing up-to-date leadership knowledge that can enable such enterprises to deal with emerging issues or problems associated with the twenty-first-century business environment.
Problem statement
Recent data suggest that most small businesses fail to succeed after the first few years of operations. Martinez, Zouaghi, Marco & Robinson (2019) notes that first to ninety percent of small businesses fail due to micro and macro factors. Overall, leadership has been cited by most researchers as among the primary cause of failure for most businesses during their “infancy” stages. Thus, for businesses to be successful, practitioners or leaders have to constantly improve their leadership skills to counter emerging challenges present in the market. However, because of focusing their attention on running their enterprises, most practitioners fail to consult researchers to improve their skills. More so, much of the practical knowledge, which can be used or adapted by the small business leaders, is “held” by academic researchers. Therefore, this study aims to understand how small business operators to scale can tap into the existing body of knowledge and information provided by those in the academic field to improve their leadership towards managing their businesses successfully. The study will focus on small businesses in the United States. The study will narrow the scope of thus to provide an overview of the problem, with the American context.
Research objectives
- To examine the leadership of small business practitioners
- To examine factors that have impacted the leadership of small business practitioners
- To explore the proper method of transferring leadership knowledge to small businesses
- To investigate the type of leadership skill required for the current and future of small businesses
- To discuss how the intelligentsia and business practitioners can collaborate to improve the leadership quality of small businesses.
Research questions
- What is the leadership experience of small business practitioners?
- What are the factors that have impacted the leadership of small business practitioners?
- What is the proper method of transferring leadership knowledge to small businesses?
- What is the type of leadership skills required for the current and future of small businesses?
- How can the intelligentsia and business practitioners collaborate to improve leadership quality of small businesses?
Significance of the study
Small business practitioners can adopt the findings of this study. Essentially, they can understand the importance or significance of acquiring up-to-date information or knowledge on how to improve their leadership to ensure the longevity of their enterprises. Furthermore, academic researchers can utilize the findings of this study to understand how to solve leadership problems facing most businesses. In so doing, they can be able to formulate programs or training seminars that can facilitate the transfer of leadership knowledge from a theory-based perspective to a practical environment.
Definition of term
Practitioners- the owners or people are operating small businesses
Leadership- is the ability to guide or influence an organization or individual to work in the desired manner.
Intelligentsia is an umbrella term used to define researchers in the various academic fields focused on conducting studies to develop theories, concepts, and frameworks that can be adopted practically in business.
Small business- Turner & Endres (2017) defines a small business as a business with less than five hundred employees.
Literature review
Area or field or research
Most small businesses face multiple challenges relating to finances, human resources, marketing, advertising, and product or service development. Unlike large organizations, the leader of a small firm is required to tackle all of the problems mentioned above while still maintaining the business’s day-to-day operations. Okyere (2017) suggest small-scale business leaders have to develop leadership style and skills from the existing body of knowledge to mitigate or solve such problems. However. The disconnection between available knowledge and its accessibility, especially to practitioners of small business, is immense. Massaro, Handley, Bagnoli & Dumay (2016) state that the success of small firms in the current and future business environment depends on the accessibility of intellectual capital. However, much of the knowledge is stilled held by the intelligentsia who offered their expertise and information to established institutions and organizations. Meoli, Paleari & Vismara (2019) state that business research centers and institutions such as universities have overlooked the leadership challenges facing many of the small businesses. This has resulted in the deficiency in accessibility of latest business practices knowledge and information by small scale business leaders.
Concepts and theories for each of the elements of the research problem
Numerous leadership theories are used to examine the quality of leadership adopted in a given business or organization. Nevertheless, most of the businesses have evolved from past and current practices. More so, leadership theories are increased based on anticipated business projection. The nature and functionality of small businesses typically do not follow a specific formatting style, unlike in most established organizations. For the above reason, the contingency theory underpins the discussion of this paper. Contingency theory is a type of organizational theory that suggests no defined manner in which small firms make decisions, organize or lead (leadership) Araral (2020). Thus, the contingency theory purports that the optimal course of action is predominantly contingent upon external and internal circumstances. Based on the contingency theory, a business owner/ practitioner is required to adjust their leadership styles to suit the immediate needs of the business (Vidal, Campdesuñer, Rodríguez & Vivar, 2017). This means that for a small business to maintain market longevity, the leader has to balance the evolving needs and requirements of the firm and his or her leadership style. In essence, the contingency theory explores how a small business leader can change or adapt their leadership skill based on knowledge transfer from the academic field to improvements.
Summary of approaches to Research Methodology
The research study will adopt a quantitative research design. Since the study aims to explore the leaders’ experience in small businesses, there is a need to collect primary data Mackey & Gass (2015). Thus a quantitative method will be suitable. Moreover, the sample population in the study will consist of individual small business owners/ practitioners. The non-probability sampling methods will be explicitly used, the random approach, which will provide each member of the population with an equal opportunity to participate in the study. The final sample size will be computed based using the Slovin’s Formula (n = N / (1+Ne2) (Tejada & Punzalan, (2012). The population to be sampled will consist of small business owners in the United States. The potential participant will be sourced from different parts of the country using online survey portals.
The data will be collected using questionnaires are the main research instruments. The statement will consist of open-ended questions. The gathered data will be analysed using statistical tools, specifically, the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). The results of the analysis will be instrumental in providing detailed analysis that will provide conclusive result to fill the identified research gap.
Gaps in the research
Policymakers and researchers have been observed to focus on improving large organizations at the expense of small firms. No sufficient studies or researches are being conducted that can be used to alleviate the leadership problems that commonly affect most of small businesses, especially in leadership. This has created a literature gap between small business practitioners/ owners and researchers (academics) in the context of knowledge transfer and leadership development. Thus, a clear understanding of how leadership, from the experience of successful owners, can assist leaders in the future overcome business-related challenges.
Reference
Abdul, O. E. (2018). Entrepreneurial skills and growth of Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs): A comparative analysis of Nigerian entrepreneurs and Minority entrepreneurs in the UK. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(5), 27-46.
Gerig, S. (2018). Skills That Small Business Owners Use to Succeed Beyond 5 Years (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
Isomura, K. (2010). Barnard on leadership development: Bridging action and thinking. Journal of Management History.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2015). Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge.
Martinez, M. G., Zouaghi, F., Marco, T. G., & Robinson, C. (2019). What drives business failure? Exploring the role of internal and external knowledge capabilities during the global financial crisis. Journal of Business Research, 98, 441-449.
Massaro, M., Handley, K., Bagnoli, C., & Dumay, J. (2016). Knowledge management in small and medium enterprises: a structured literature review. Journal of knowledge management.
Meoli, M., Paleari, S., & Vismara, S. (2019). The governance of universities and the establishment of academic spin-offs. Small Business Economics, 52(2), 485-504.
Pryor, M. G., & Taneja, S. (2010). Henri Fayol, practitioner and theoretician–revered and reviled. Journal of Management History.
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Turner, S., & Endres, A. (2017). Strategies for enhancing small business owners’ success rates. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 16(1), 3.
Vidal, G. G., Campdesuñer, R. P., Rodríguez, A. S., & Vivar, R. M. (2017). Contingency theory to study leadership styles of small businesses owner-managers at Santo Domingo, Ecuador. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 9, 1847979017743172.
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