David A. Kirby

• BA., Ph.D
• CEO at British University in Egypt

Throughout the world, universities are being required to introduce entrepreneurship programmes in an attempt to create more entrepreneurial graduate students. Though somewhat later than many other countries, the Arab world is no exception. This present paper uses existing research on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial institutions, to d...

This is the fourth article in a series dealing with the role of universities in the innovation process in Egypt. The first three examined the topic from the perspective of academia. They revealed that there was relatively little university–industry collaboration. Hence, this article focuses on university–industry collaboration from the perspective...

Start-ups, often seen as sources of innovation and change, are prone to failure and accordingly they are attracting considerable attention not least from policy makers and Government officials. However, the various new venture creation studies that have emerged since the early 1980s lack cohesiveness, and the domain remains controversial. This arti...

In the contemporary knowledge-based global economy, universities are required to operate more entrepreneurially, commercializing the results of their research and spinning out new knowledge-based enterprises. In this article, the third in a series by the authors, case studies are presented of activities in three Egyptian universities to demonstrate...

In the modern knowledge economy universities are being required to operate more entrepreneurially, commercializing the results of their research and spinning out new ventures. The literature on the Triple Helix model (of academic–industry–government relations) is outlined, emphasizing – as does the model – the enhanced role that the modern entrepre...

The paper explores the role of universities in innovation in the modern knowledge economy, discusses the Triple Helix model and the entrepreneurial university, and then examines the application of these concepts in Egypt. The study, which specifically addresses the roles of universities in the innovation process in Egypt, is based on a series of in...

Purpose – In spite of the important contributions of franchising to many economies, it remains unclear whether it truly provides a scope for entrepreneurial tendencies to flourish amongst franchisees. The purpose of this paper is to examine the debate surrounding the franchisee as an entrepreneur from the perspectives of the main contributors withi...

The purpose of this research is to investigate awareness, intentions/support, and the contextual elements among higher education students in the University of Tehran (UT) in order to find the gap(s) in social entrepreneurship education in Iran. The authors used Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour as the theoretical framework. The research questions...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the changes that are needed in order to create entrepreneurial graduate students and institutions in Egypt that are more relevant to the needs of the country post revolution, by applying the theories of entrepreneurship education and intrapreneurship to Egyptian universities. Design/methodology/app...

Much of the literature on small firm marketing has adopted the Western marketing paradigm. Though researchers such as Kindle (1982) and Waldie (1980) have pointed to the importance of using traditional cultural values in understanding Chinese marketing decisions, there is no major study of Chinese small firm marketing which adopts this approach. Si...

Entrepreneurial universities where multifaceted efforts are made to ensure their contribution to regional economic development have been the focus of many case studies. Using institutional economics as the theoretical framework, we conducted two empirical investigations to advance the literature concerning entrepreneurial universities. First, exper...

This study provides a deeper understanding of the relevance of the entrepreneurship phenomenon to the franchisee context. A number of studies have echoed that the franchisee plays an important role in the generation of new ideas and innovations for the franchise system but we still do not know how franchisees maximize their entrepreneurial behavior...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore awareness of social entrepreneurship amongst Egyptian students and to determine what is needed to create more graduate social entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical framework is Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. Data collection is a questionnaire survey of 183 of the 2,000 un...

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report (2008) for Egypt identified education and training as one of the main constraining factors to entrepreneurship development and the creation of an entrepreneurial culture in the country. Of the 31 countries participating in the National Experts’ Survey, Egypt was ranked in last place in terms of the contrib...

It is becoming increasing clear that a new industry - the entrepreneurship industry - is in the ascendant and that universities are a part of this development. Furthermore, the idea of the entrepreneurial university has only recently entered the debate. Promoting the entrepreneurship agenda within constituencies where it is not traditionally acknow...

There is growing awareness of a need for greater focus on the development of leadership skills in the modern business world. However, many MBA programmes have been slow to address this need and appear to be unsure of how best to proceed. This article looks at the current situation and suggests the need for a new approach, based in part on a compari...

It is now generally accepted that globalization process and internationalization have modified the roles of main agents of social and economic changes. In this case, Universities have been affected by new responsibilities such as regional economic and social development, the reduction of public funds, and the educational market competence. On this,...

In the modern knowledge economy higher educational institutions are being required to operate more entrepreneurially, commercialising the results of their research and spinning out new, knowledge-based enterprises. Like most large organisations, particularly those operating in the public sector, they are not traditionally suited to this role and of...

Joint Ventures (JVs) have become popular vehicles for foreign market servicing, but few studies have focused on the joint venturing activities of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). This article examines the activities of 9 U.K. and 12 German SME joint ventures in China. Based on a questionnaire survey and in-depth case interviews, it reveal...

Examines the characteristics and role of the entrepreneur and the challenges for business schools posed by the need to develop more enterprising individuals. Argues that the traditional education system stultifies rather than develops the requisite attributes and skills to produce entrepreneurs, and proposes that if entrepreneurs are to be develope...

For many years scholars of marketing have advocated the importance of marketing as a key determinant of business performance, and particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. In the UK, efforts have been made to translate theory into practice in an attempt to improve the competitiveness of the country's small and medium-sized enterprises. I...

Much emphasis is placed on family firms’ need to plan well in advance for succession and to adopt such formal procedures as advisory councils and written succession plans. A study of 35 family firms in the North East of England suggests that few firms neither believe in the efficacy of such plans nor plan the succession process beyond five years. S...

In the two decades prior to 2000, the UK franchise industry showed substantial growth. Subsequently, however, this growth appears to have reached a plateau, with growth of less than 1 per cent. Franchisors suggest that the biggest barrier to growth is a lack of suitable franchisees. One possible reason for the dearth of potential franchisees is a l...

For some time there has been considerable and growing interest in Entrepreneurship Education. From at least the early 1980s, though earlier in the United States, Governments around the world have seen Entrepreneurship Education as an aid to creating a) An Enterprise Culture; b) A more Enterprising workforce; c) New Ventures. There is no common agre...

For some time believed to be inferior to Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprises, Joint Ventures have become a popular vehicle for foreign market servicing. Although there are various proponents of the joint venture strategy as a means of enabling SMEs with limited productive resources and/or market knowledge to enter international markets, relatively few...

Previous research by Siu and Kirby has argued that the broad Western marketing principles are not necessarily fully applicable to, and suitable for, the Chinese socio-cultural context. To examine this assertion, provides a comprehensive examination of the marketing practices of 18 Chinese small firms in the UK. In so doing, compares the findings wi...

Over the last decade or so, many studies have highlighted the important role that marketing plays in contributing to a firm's competitive success. Thus, this article aims to examine the contribution of marketing to the competitive success of forty two British medium-sized manufacturing firms at two time points, 1987/88 and 1997/98, in order to dete...

Many studies have shown that for small businesses one of the greatest barriers to growth can be financial. It has been suggested, however, that franchising may provide small businesses with a source of capital with which to expand. The costs of developing the franchise, though, can be substantial; hence this study considers whether franchising can...

Franchising has shown considerable growth in recent years and in advanced economies, such as the USA and the UK, and currently accounts for approximately one-third of all retail sales. It would seem, therefore, that franchising and retailing represent a fruitful partnership, though there has been little research as to why this should be. In this ar...

This paper is part of on-going research examining the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises through franchising. It reports the findings of an exploratory investigation that examines why franchising is selected less frequently as a growth strategy in some industrial sectors than it is in others. The applicability of the main theories used to...

The study of franchising as a small business growth strategy is only weakly researched and understood. This preliminary, qualitative investigation examines the experiences of 17 operational and five “failed” franchises in the UK, in translating their business concepts into a franchise format. It reveals that small firms select franchising as a grow...

Comments on Piercy’s polemic “In search of excellence among business school professors”, published in European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33, No. 7/8. Argues that by comparison with their counterparts in other educational systems and industry, British business school professors are poorly rewarded. Revisits Piercy’s insights into the different cate...

This article reports on the analysis of 110 published, undisguised stories about Chinese owner-managers in Hong Kong and determines whether Chinese small firms exhibit the same marketing activities and behavior as their Western counterparts. Content analysis suggests that Chinese small firms are production oriented, whereas small American firms are...

Though the authors propose the use of an integrative approach - blending the process model and the contingency approach - to build and advance small firm marketing theory, they do not describe the research methodology issues in detail. Thus, this paper reviews the relevant literature on research methodology for small firm marketing and suggests the...

Many studies have highlighted the important role that marketing plays in contributing to a firm’s competitive success. In most cases, however, research has focused on either large businesses, or, to a lesser extent, very small businesses, essentially ignoring the many “medium-sized” firms in between. Thus, this paper aims to assess, in quantitative...

this paper that there are businesses which could be categorised in this manner, it is also apparent that such categories may not be as unequivocal as they appear. Take, for example, cluster 5. Businesses in this apparently `declining' cluster, would be similarly labelled by Storey (1994b) largely due to the sharp reduction in the workforce of these...

Though academic research into the marketing/ entrepreneurship interface is of only relatively recent origin, it would seem that the basic principles of marketing appear to be equally valuable to both large and small firms. This article provides a critical review of the research into the role and process of marketing in small firms and attempts to c...

As a supplier of rzecessaty expertise, the professional accountantis in a potentially strong position to influence the small business.Previous research indicates, howevec that the injluence of theaccountant on the performance of the smallfirm is limited. Thispaper examines the relationship between small firms and theaccountancy profession in the No...

Despite the growing evidence of the use by larger manufacturing organisations for specialist professional service companies that can provide a specific technological input, there has been little research that has examined this phenomenon. This article focuses, therefore, on the processes by which such technical consultancies and their initial clien...

One of the greatest achievements in China's economic reform is the development of rural township and village enterprises (TVEs). Their importance in the national economy can be seen from the fact that by the end of 1993, TVEs accounted for nearly one third of the agricultural labour force, and one fifth of the total labour force nationwide. Despite...

Since 1978, when China announced its ‘open-door’ policy to pursue the country's long-term national goal, the Four Modernisations, more than 220,000 foreign funded ventures have been approved. By the end of 1994 some US$300 billion of contracted investment had been agreed and US$95 billion of utilized investment, making the country the most importan...

With the growing diversity and complexity of technology, many larger companies, in order to maintain the rapid pace of development and thus retain a competitive advantage in technologically dependent markets, have begun to access technical expertise from small independent consultants to raise an awareness of particular technologies and to assist wi...

The neglect of the British service sector in statistics is partly re-ymedied here in unpublished extensions, available in computeryform, of published statistics. The Census of Employment nowyallows for disaggregation of workplace establishments by 15 size-ybands. Extracting the one million service sector units which ityidentifies in Britain reveals...

Although government intervention has long been accepted as a feature in the provision of such social welfare services as education, health, income security, housing, etc., it is not recognised as a characteristic in marketing or in the field of retail services where, traditionally, market forces have been thought to predominate and it has been beli...

Examines the likely implications for retail employees of a change in the law governing retail trading hours in Britian. Based on a survey conducted in August 1991 of 483 female employees in six retail organizations, the findings reveal that while only 15 per cent of the sample were not prepared to work on a Saturday and 25 per cent non-standard hou...

In recent years several studies have pointed to the importance of marketing to company performance and considerable emphasis has been placed, in Britain, on improving the marketing performance of small and medium-sized enterprises. Based on a mail survey of 231 medium sized manufacturing firms in the U.K., and in-depth interviews with the Chief Mar...

It is obvious that there is a great need for small business and self-employment in both developed and developing countries. This article looks at the situation in South Africa, in particular, where there is an urgency to create a good environment for potential entrepreneurship among the black communities, and suggests change, using the experiences...

ROGER BROOKSBANK IS AN independent marketing consultant, David Kirby is Booker Professor of Entrepreneurship at Durham University Business School, and Stephen Kane is managing director of Task Retail Management Systems Ltd., all in the United Kingdom. Thispaper focuses on the adoption of information technologh systems (IT) by independent retail new...

ROGER BROOKSBANK IS AN independent marketing consultant, David Kirby is Booker Professor of Entrepreneurship at Durham University Business School, and Stephen Kane is managing director of Task Retail Management Systems Ltd., all in the United Kingdom. Thispaper focuses on the adoption of information technologh systems (IT) by independent retail new...

In an era of change and uncertainty, there is a need for employees who are both resourceful and flexible. The creation of such competencies in graduates is the objective of the UK Training Agency's recent Enterprise Initiative in Higher Education. This Initiative is reviewed and the outcomes of one project, the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme...

There is much confusion in Higher Education over the UK Training Agency's Initiative to introduce enterprise education to the curriculum. The article explores the objectives of the Initiative and examines how they are being interpreted and implemented in Durham University. The Initiative is not intended, the article argues, to create student entrep...

In the past few years the convenience store has become something of a phenomenon in this country. As a symptom of the polarisation of the UK retail scene, further development of the convenience store seems inevitable. But David Kirby points out that successful operators will be those who get right both the formula and the location. He sees location...

Dr. David Kirby is director of Graduate Enterprise in Wales and senior lecturer in geography at St. David's University College, University of Wales, Lampeter, Wales, United Kingdom. His paper examines the development of interest in small business in the republic of South Africa, starting in the late 1970s. An interest in small business development...

Dr. David Kirby is director of Graduate Enterprise in Wales and senior lecturer in geography at St. David's University College, University of Wales, Lampeter, Wales, United Kingdom. His paper examines the development of interest in small business in the republic of South Africa, starting in the late 1970s. An interest in small business development...

Although the growth of non-retail centres in shopping centres is largely uncharted, it is clear that uses such as building societies and leisure centres have been growing. Planners have been largely unable to effect these trends because the change of use is usually given exemption by the 'Use Classes Order' of 1972, and because planners cannot pred...

This article reports the results of a training programme intended to help women re-enter the labour market and to create a pool of female labour skilled in the methods of modern business management using new technology. The course, which was sponsored by the Manpower Services Commission, promoted by Antur Teifi (a community-based development associ...

There is certainly an awareness in this country of the need for training in the retail sector. However, this is directed principally at the needs of the larger retailer (cf the articles on training in our May/June issue). David Kirby suggests that little attention is being given to the training needs of the small independent. In this article he out...

Dr. David Kirby is senior lecturer at St. David's University College, University of Wales, Lampeter, United Kingdom. When compared with Britain's larger retail outlets most of the country's smaller stores are inefficient and poorly managed and over the years this situation has worsened as the management gap between the small and large store has wid...

Despite, or perhaps even because of, the economic uncertainties of the period, the 1970s witnessed a radical transformation of the British distributive system. Most of the changes which occurred were similar to those experienced elsewhere in the Western world, and in a review of developments in EEC countries, Dawson has suggested that the impact of...