Development, Training and Education for the Small Firm: A European Perspective"

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Abstract
David S. Watkins is director of the New Enterprise Centre at Manchester Business School, England. The first part of the paper demonstrates-on the basis of empirical research work carried out by the author and colleagues in France and West Germany-that the problems faced by small businessmen are remarkably similar across national boundaries. Moreover, it shows too that the bankers who finance small businesses in each of these countries share a common perception of small firms' problems, albeit a different one from the owner-managers. In the bankers' view, the major problems concern the competence of the owner-manager and the ultimate solution is through the development of the owner-manager himself, as a manager. Since the owner-managers perceive many of their problems as essentially financial, there is here a strong basis for dialogue, rooted in mutual interest and leading to productive development for both parties. What then prevents the owner-manager from engaging in appropriate management development activities and pursuing this dialogue more extensively? The second part of the paper seeks answers to this question by examining in detail the background, education and training of a carefully structured sample of more than 200 British owner-managers. This analysis goes some way to explaining the alienation and antipathy which small businessmen feel towards the traditional training system and suggests new designs for problem-centred, action-oriented management development activities. It also highlights the periods during the growth of the firm at which the owner-manager is most receptive to engaging in the business development process through personal development.

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