From Lifelong Learning to Organisational Change for Small Firm Entrepreneurs

Much has been written about the importance of organisational adaptation and change in the continued economic and competitive success of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Central to this process is the concept of continual learning and its relationship to organisational change. This paper reports on a project which attempted to investigate the awareness of small firm owners to the need for management and employee development within their own firms. The project utilised a feasibility study which was carried out by the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Brunel University. The aim of this study was to investigate factors which were affecting employability and economic activity among SMEs in one locality of West London - the Wembley Park area. A major objective was to look at opportunities for introducing the ideas of lifelong learning into the local small firms with the aim of strengthening their capability to adapt and survive under changing market conditions.

The outcomes of the project identified a number of barriers and resistances to the idea and practice of continual learning which pervaded firms from the level of the owner/managers and to individual employees. Such barriers affected the possibilities for organisational learning which is necessary to implement firm-wide changes. In conclusion, a number of recommendations are made relating to the process of introducing more widely the ideas of individual development and lifelong learning into small firms. It is suggested that the development of a ‘learning organisation’ depends on linking together the three areas of individual, management and organisational learning, and that appropriate in-house actions can be taken to promote the development of small firms in this way.