The need to raise the skills and knowledge of both managers and staff in small business through improvement to education and training is the underpinning thematic concern of this research. Another concern is the appropriateness of action research as a process for research and development in education and training for small business. The independent supermarket industry in Australia provided the case study for this action research. The study sought to identify the barriers to participation in education and training programs and to develop strategies to overcome these barriers. Participation in education and training programs in the independent supermarket industry in Australia was found to be constrained by working conditions at store level, geographic location, negative attitudes of owners or principal managers towards education and formalised training and economic pressures on the industry. In this study the action research methodology provided the means to incrementally achieve a rich contextual understanding, to build researcher-client relationships, client receptivity to the research findings and credibility for both the researcher and the study. However, a key constraint to action research was the difficulty of gaining active participation from the client system. Another contribution of this is the documentation of the key issues and characteristics of independent supermarkets which have been poorly reported. The issues and characteristics identified for independent supermarkets, such as those arising from future uncertainity, family ownership, management style and attitude are compatible with those reported for small business generally. This research was guided by, and the results support, the proposition put forward by Gummesson that action research in a business environment is enhanced by the combining of the consultant and researcher roles. This role duality and the cyclic processes of action research provided the opportunity for incremental benefits to the clients which gave incentive for the clients to provide access and support for research in their enviro / Master of Science (Hons)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/181974 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Eiseman, John, University of Western Sydney, Faculty of Science, Technology and Agriculture |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Source | THESIS_FSTA_xxx_Eiseman_J.xml |
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