Educational interests and needs of owner-managers of small building firms
Abstract
This thesis discusses a critical investigation into the
educational needs and interests of owner-managers of small
firms. The investigation attempted to determine, from the
viewpoint of the small business owner-managers, those critical
factors which affected and influenced their interest in and
appreciation of education and training, as well as identifying
areas of interest for future training.
A survey was taken of a small sectoral sample of 58
building firms within the Central Belt of Scotland, 20 of
whose owner-managers were assessed in detail using the
Repertory Grid and Personal Project techniques.
The results of the study indicated a general lack of
interests in education and training among the small business
owner-managers sampled. These lack of interests were
influenced by seven major factors; owner-managers evaluation
of education and training, their attitudes towards education
and educational establishments, personality characteristics,
limitation of resources, lack of formal education, lack of
awareness of educational provisions and the characteristics of
training proOvider. Other important factors influencing
training were the timing of courses, the identity and
reputation of training personnel and the course format.
In terms of areas for future training, the ten most
important areas were identified by the owner-managers. These
were, in ranked order of interest; Production Planning and
Control, Site Organisation, Employee Supervision, Cost
Control, Business Planning, Working Capital Management, Health
and Safety, Quality Control, Estimating and Costing and
Financial Planning.