Abstract
A critical analysis to clarify the how, why and what would facilitate engagement in capacity support and equitable market access for ethnic minority-led micro-small enterprises and the strategic importance of the alternative approaches including practice implications.Volume One of Two - Portfolio of Projects
Minority ethnic entrepreneurs, particularly Black entrepreneurs, continue to face disproportionate challenges to achieving their full potential, including discrimination throughout the entrepreneurial journey. Purportedly disproportionately disadvantaged by three major resources – market, management and money. By experiencing restricted access to the wider markets, business support and external finance. Unsurprising that this phenomenon has been the subject of growing interest among academics and practitioners, as well as multilateral institutions. With a keen interest in Minority Ethnic Business Support (MEBS) for many decades.
Conversely, encouraging minority ethnic communities into business has been an implicit feature of the small firm policy agenda in the UK since the 1980s. Resulting in the development of business support agencies from the early and mid-1990s. Despite the government initiatives, studies revealed that minority ethnic businesses continued to face significant barriers to economic participation and needed special support in their business ventures.
However, a landscape change began to emerge in early 2000 with recommendations from researchers. Who questioned the effectiveness of policy-related initiatives on MEBs. Calling for a revisit of the revelation of innovative practices. Including targeted support to enable break out from co-ethnic customs and markets into the mainstream economy. Engendering greater minority ethnic involvement in programme design and delivery to foster local ownership of business support projects. Accorded cultural sensitivity and practitioners’ credibility. By the end of the decade, this culminated in a call for the re-assessment of supplier diversity of ME in mainstream business initiatives.
Consequentially, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the demand for supplier diversity as the limited mobilisation of supplies by institutional agencies yet of huge necessitate to communities was thwarted by distrust. Precipitating a different approach. Intentionally or otherwise, propagating conversations and interactions as previously unseen between structural power holders and communities to achieve a goal. Thus, provoking a relationship building to enhance interactions and provide a vital lifeline as in-roads to the community supply of essentials. An approach that is not void of challenges and requires the capacity building of the ethnic minority organisations (EMOs) to maximise goal achievement. The catalyst to exploration by commissioning authorities on approaches to support EMOs’ market access.
This leads to the author’s research in this first volume of the study. As a practitioner, the author was commissioned to play a significant role in leading three projects that were funded by two case-studied local authorities to provide capacity-building and market access support to minoritised organisations. With the view to test and learn the best approaches. To this end and providing a much-needed contextual background, the second volume of this study proposes a theoretically grounded model that captures, synthesises and then explains, in essence, the strategic reason for the commissioners of services to seek alternative approaches to the engagement of EMBs in market opportunities (i.e., the why). The study then sets forth a layered conceptual framework to demonstrate the approaches to facilitate the engagement in business support and equitable market access of the study phenomenon in grants and commissioned services (i.e., the what) and the impact of these approaches on the growth and sustainability of the phenomenon (i.e., the how).
Volume Two of Two - Synthesis & Critical Analysis
In this second volume of this doctoral research study, the author, as a researcher, appraises, critically analyses and ultimately addresses the research questions arising from the reflective review of the portfolio of practitioner-based projects as detailed in volume one. The outcomes from the portfolio of practitioner-based projects uniquely contribute to theory in seven dimensions by answering the research questions:
1. What approaches would facilitate engagement in capacity support and equitable market access for Black, Asian and Minority-led Micro-Small Enterprises in grant awards or commissioned services?
2. Why is it strategically critical for the commissioner of services to consider alternative approaches?
3. How do the approaches impact the growth and sustainability of BAM-MSES?
4. What does it mean in practice?
The study was systematically grounded in theory. Starting with a preliminary grounding of an asset-based approach to community capacity development aided by the studies of Pretorius and Nel (2012), Bruursema (2015) and Harrison et al., (2019). Harrison et al. (2019) study is particularly the closest study to the doctoral research.
Additionally, the UK-based and US-based studies on preferential procurement initiatives by Woldesenbet et al., (2018), Shelton et al., (2018) and Pan et al., (2022) provide components of the theoretical underpinning of this doctoral study. On the other hand, the wider studies provide components of the theoretical underpinning to the relationship typology in collaborative engagements and enterprise policy and practice implications.
Data from practice is based on the three projects undertaken over a period. These practitioner-based projects, despite being uniquely different, are also uniquely connected. Specifically, the capacity-building approach to market access and sustainable growth through the model of asset-based, equitable systems- and culturally inclusive collaboration between the community businesses and the authority.
Project One, as a ‘test and learn’ project, strategically supports Bristol City Council’s aim of better social care outcomes for citizens from Black, Asian, and Minoritised (BAM) communities by diversifying its supply chain through capacity-building BAM organisations to enter the Adult Social Care (ASC) market. In addition, and more broadly, the aim is to aid the business development and sustainability of BAM businesses.
Project Two is a ‘tailored’ project to deliver the Islington Council’s strategic objectives of supporting business owners from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds in building their resilience and capacity to enable the ongoing running of their businesses and to equip them to navigate the enterprise market strategically.
Project Three is ‘blended’ support to deliver the Islington Council’s strategic objectives to early-stage entrepreneurs, particularly those from BAME backgrounds, including female entrepreneurs and those with a disability, to help address disproportionate and significant barriers to success. Stated as difficulty securing finance and accessing business support to kickstart their ideas and support them in growing and sustaining their businesses.
Date of Award | 2025 |
---|---|
Original language | English |
Supervisor | Simon Thomas (Supervisor) & Gabor Horvath (Supervisor) |