Productivity from Below: Addressing the Productivity Challenges of Microbusinesses

学术界和政策界对生产率的兴趣很少能捕捉到小企业群体中一个重要群体的经历：微型企业(1-9名员工)。这类公司的非正式和不透明的管理程序对生产力的评估和实际干预措施的制定提出了挑战。该项目使用与非学术利益相关者共同制作的严格的学术研究来设计和实施支持管理的政策，以提高此类公司的生产率。我们的背景--在西米德兰兹郡管理和工作在餐饮、零售和创意部门的弱势社区--是一个关键案例，可以改善关于微型企业管理和参与实践与绩效之间关系的知识和实践。研究是协作的，由三个领先的应用中心组成，研究人员来自不同学科背景：少数民族创业研究中心(CREME)、企业研究中心(ERC)和城市-REDI(区域经济发展研究所)。他们与非学术利益相关者合作，这些利益相关者很少出现在“主流”商业支持生态系统中(尽管他们的触角伸向无数微型企业网络)：阿什利整合(一家屡获殊荣的社会企业，热衷于促进移民的就业能力)、孟加拉网络(由四个团体组成，在该领域具有地方和国家影响力)、英国公民(一个全国性的公民社会联盟)和Punch Records(一家具有强烈社会使命的企业，促进贫困背景的艺术家)。采用了由五个WPS组成的多方法，旨在对微型企业发展洞察，可用于制定干预措施，以提高生产率。WP 1根据最近一项关于微型企业特征的国家研究确定了该项目。进一步的分析将突出那些渴望改善业绩和增长的微型企业面临的挑战。WP2将通过对24个公司的案例研究进行深入的定性调查，在较长的一段时间内对微型企业的管理和参与实践产生细粒度的理解。对管理者和工人对工作组织的看法进行了评估。这些知识在工作计划3中与一系列非学术利益相关者共享和利用，目的是绘制和动员业务支持生态系统。将确定政策选项，然后将在WP4中与有雄心参与定制变革计划以提高生产率的微型企业主进行测试和评估。一项积极的知识交流和传播方案(WP5)将贯穿该项目，并将包括一系列由微型企业主/管理人员及其雇员和外部支助机构共同举办的征程规划知识交流讲习班。这些目的是为了了解参与研究如何影响初始管理风格的任何变化，以引入新的管理和参与实践，以及这些做法如何提高生产率。WP5还将为传播以及形成性和总结性评估的质量部分提供信息。该项目将为企业产生重要的实际成果，我为循证干预提供支持，这将使约30家参与定制课程的微型企业受益，这些课程旨在提升领导力和管理技能，从而提高生产率。该项目还将积极支持在西米德兰兹郡发展一个更具响应性和包容性的业务支持生态系统，方法是动员“主流”和非传统中介机构(例如，我们的非学术合作伙伴)，并通过多种接触途径。

Academic and policy interest in productivity rarely captures the experiences of an important segment of the small firm population: micro-businesses (1-9 employees). The informal and opaque management processes in such firms pose challenges for the assessment of productivity and development of practical interventions. This project uses rigorous academic research co-produced with non-academic stakeholders to design and implement policies that support management to boost productivity in such firms. Our context - disadvantaged communities managing and working in the catering, retail and creative sectors in the West Midlands - serve as a critical case to improve knowledge and practice on the relationship between management and engagement practices and performance in micro-businesses.The research is collaborative and comprises three leading applied centres with researchers from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds: the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME), the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) and City-REDI (Regional Economic Development Institute). They work alongside non-academic stakeholders that rarely feature in 'mainstream' business support ecosystems (despite their reach in myriad micro-enterprise networks): Ashley Integrates (an award-winning social enterprise with a keen interest in promoting employability of migrants), the Bangladeshi Network (comprising four groups with local and national reach into the sector), Citizens UK (a national civil society alliance) and Punch Records (a business with a strong social mission to promote artists from deprived background).A multi-method is adopted comprising five WPs that aim to develop insights into micro-businesses that can be used to develop interventions to promote productivity. WP 1 locates the project in the context of a recent national study on the characteristics of microbusinesses. Further analysis will highlight challenges facing those micro-businesses that have a desire to improve performance and grow. A granular understanding of management and engagement practices in micro-businesses will be generated in WP2 by in-depth qualitative investigation of 24 case studies of firms over an extended period of time. Manager and worker perspectives on the organization of work are evaluated. This knowledge is shared and utilized in WP 3 with a range of non-academic stakeholders, with the aim of mapping and mobilizing the business support ecosystem. Policy options will be identified, which will then - in WP4 - be tested and evaluated with micro-business owners who have the ambition to participate in bespoke change programmes to boost productivity. An active programme of knowledge exchange and dissemination (WP5) will cross-cut the project and will comprise a series of journey mapping knowledge exchange co-produced workshops, involving micro-business owner/managers and their employees, and external support agencies. These are designed to understand how involvement in the study has influenced any change to initial management style towards introducing new management and engagement practices, and how these have improved productivity. WP5 will also inform dissemination, and the qualitative component of the formative and summative evaluation.The project will produce important practical outcomes for businesses my providing support for evidence-based interventions that will benefit around 30 micro-businesses that participate in customised programmes designed to upgrade leadership and management skills leading to a boost in productivity. Insights from their experiences and will promote greater understanding of 'what works' that can guide practitioners in other contexts.The project will also actively support the development of a more responsive and inclusive business support ecosystem in the West Midlands by mobilising 'mainstream' and non-traditional intermediaries (for example, our non-academic partners) and via multiple pathways of engagement.