Learning and Relationships in Small Firms

At a workshop held at the Management School, Lancaster University, on 25 May 2004, 20 papers were presented to an audience of over 40 researchers. The 4 selected for publication examine different aspects of learning and relationships in small firms. They do so from a variety of perspectives – operations management, entrepreneurial learning and family firms – and use a range of theoretical stances: positivism, social constructionism and cultural anthropology. The methods and data also vary and include quantitative and qualitative empirical studies, as well as innovations in methodology. Given their differences in theoretical orientation it is interesting that they converge on two important and related themes in the subject, the role of relationships and learning. A review of evidence on networking and innovation has shown the importance of social relationships for encouraging the development of innovation through networks (Pittaway et al., 2004). Such social relationships are crucial to the innovation process and have been identified in a wide range of network arrangements (Kaufmann and Tödtling, 2001). These include supply chain networks (Ragatz et al., 1997), networks with third parties and particularly within small firms (Birley, 1985; Hoang and Antoncic, 2003). Social relationships are seen as increasingly significant to entrepreneurial learning, with a call for more work on situated learning in this context (Cope, 2003). Past emphasis on individualism and the heroic entrepreneur has already been questioned (Ogbor, 2000). This special issue reflects this work, embedding entrepreneurial behaviour in networks and social relationships. It explores the way these links guide learning and the development of small business activity. The first article is by Richard Thorpe, Jeff Gold, Robin Holt and Jean Clarke and is entitled ‘Immaturity: The Constraining of Entrepreneurship’. It introduces concepts from philosophy and social constructionism and explores how the ideas