Productivity from Below: Addressing the Productivity Challenges of Microbusinesses

学术界和政策界对生产率的关注很少能抓住小型企业人口中一个重要部分的经验：微型企业（1-9名雇员）。这些公司的非正式和不透明的管理程序对评估生产力和制定实际干预措施构成了挑战。该项目利用与非学术利益相关者共同进行的严格的学术研究，设计和实施支持管理的政策，以提高这些公司的生产力。我们的背景-弱势社区管理和工作在餐饮，零售和创意部门在西米德兰兹郡-作为一个重要的案例，以提高知识和实践之间的关系管理和参与的做法和绩效在微型企业。研究是合作，包括三个领先的应用中心与研究人员从各种学科背景：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一起工作，这些利益相关者很少出现在“主流”业务支持生态系统中（尽管他们在无数的微型企业网络中的影响力）：阿什利整合（一家屡获殊荣的社会企业，热衷于提高移民的就业能力），孟加拉国网络（由四个小组组成，在当地和全国范围内都有部门的影响），英国公民（一个全国性的民间社会联盟）和Punch Records（一个具有强烈社会使命的企业，以促进来自贫困背景的艺术家）。采用多种方法，包括五个工作计划，旨在发展对微观的见解，可用于制定干预措施以提高生产力的企业。WP 1将该项目定位于最近一项关于微型企业特征的全国性研究的背景下。进一步的分析将突出那些希望改善业绩和增长的微型企业所面临的挑战。WP 2将通过对24个企业案例研究的深入定性调查，在较长一段时间内对微型企业的管理和参与实践进行细致的了解。管理者和工人的观点对工作的组织进行了评估。这些知识在WP 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。将确定政策选择，然后在第四工作方案中与有雄心参加定制变革方案以提高生产力的微型企业主一起进行测试和评估。一个积极的知识交流和传播方案（WP 5）将贯穿该项目，将包括一系列旅程规划知识交流共同制作的讲习班，涉及微型企业主/管理人员及其雇员和外部支助机构。这些旨在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，以及这些如何提高生产力。WP 5还将为传播以及形成性和总结性评估的定性部分提供信息。该项目将为企业产生重要的实际成果，为基于证据的干预措施提供支持，这将使大约30家微型企业受益，这些企业参与了旨在提升领导力和管理技能的定制方案，从而提高生产力。该项目还将通过动员“主流”和非传统中介机构（例如，我们的非学术合作伙伴），并通过多种参与途径，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商业支持生态系统。

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.