The Enterprise and Diversity Alliance: Promoting Knowledge Exchange in the New Era of Business Support

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project aims to establish the Enterprise and Diversity Alliance (EDA) as the United Kingdom's leading knowledge exchange network for entrepreneurship and minority businesses (that is, small enterprises owned by ethnic minorities, women and young people). It brings together researchers, corporations, the finance sector and professional bodies in order to pursue one central ambition: to 'make diversity and enterprise everyone's business'.The EDA is the culmination of extensive research and practitioner activity. It has had a successful first year, marked by growing interest from corporations and the development of innovative support initiatives for minority business owners. A further year's support from the ESRC would enable the EDA become: the 'go-to' body for guidance on research and practice on minority enterprise; larger in scale; and fully self-financing. It is also is well-placed to fill the policy vacuum that has arisen in the business support world. The profound changes to business support policy mean that the there is a real danger that the learning accumulated from previous initiatives to support minority enterprise will be lost. The EDA will guard against this possibility, and will ensure that insights from research and practice are applied to new initiatives.Three strands of work will be undertaken to ensure that knowledge on minority enterprise is shared widely with relevant stakeholders. First, two innovative peer mentoring initiatives with minority entrepreneurs will be launched. They build on the successful 12/8 network, and will be supported by A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd and National Grid. Minority business owners will receive direct and high level support for their growth ambitions. Minority entrepreneurs across the UK will also be the target for a regular electronic newsletter on key developments and sources of business support. Second, the project will integrate knowledge on diversity and enterprise in the practices of large organisations. This activity will focus on the EDA's new members, A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd., National Grid and Leicester City Council. The proposers will ensure that key initiatives (for example, the leadership development programmes of A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd., National Grid, and procurement practices at Leicester City Council) apply the knowledge gained from EDA research and practice on diversity and enterprise.Finally, knowledge and insights from the implementation of the EDA project will be shared with the wider peer, professional and policy networks of partner organisations. In effect, EDA members will be ambassadors for diversity and enterprise amongst their peers. This provides an opportunity for the EDA to influence major national initiatives. For example, our finance sector partners will work with the British Bankers' Association to ensure that diversity issues are integrated in key areas, notably data-gathering and the implementation of the national mentoring proposition. Business in the Community will introduce its corporate members to the benefits of supporting peer mentoring networks with minority business owners. Good practice in relation to diversity and procurement will be promoted by CIPS and Leicester City Council.The 16th Annual Ethnic Minority Business Conference, scheduled for October 2012, will be dedicated to highlighting the impact of the EDA.