Business Commons^™

Growing Niche Business Through Innovation: A Family Run Open Farm In Ireland, Trudie Murray, Fred Creedon, Aisling Conwaylenihan

Conference Papers

This case study presents an analysis of Leahy’s Open Farm, a family business that has continuously reinvented itself, since its launch in 1996. The open-farm industry in Ireland is a niche that faces many regulatory, organisational and economic challenges. This case study presents an overview of the challenges and potential for this growing market. Challenges include; rising insurance costs (33% increase) and dealing with (50% reduction in revenue in 2020) and recovering from the economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions. Leahy’s have been able to develop the business by adding new revenue streams, nurturing employee skills, harnessing their competency base and …

Firms’ Awareness And Opportunities Of An Ageing Population, Helen Mcguirk, Aisling Conwaylenihan, Niamh Lenihan

Conference Papers

Europe’s population is getting older; dependency ratios are set to double by 2060 and almost a fifth of the total population living in Europe are aged over 65. Such transformations and demographic change pose major challenges and potential benefits for the economy. Addressing the call in the literature for further research into the supply side of the silver economy, this research contributes to our understanding of firms’ awareness of this growing market and its economic potential. This research employs primary qualitative and quantitative data from eight regions in Europe to study how aware businesses are of the silver economy. In …

An Exploration Of Higher Education Engagement With Small And Medium Enterprise In Ireland, Irene Sheridan, Margaret Linehan

Conference Papers

Higher education institutions are increasingly expected to support regional economic development through knowledge generation and exchange in collaboration with enterprise and industry. In many geographies small and medium industries form the backbone of regional economies and present best opportunities for employment and export growth. While it is understood that working with higher education learning and research expertise can contribute to competitiveness and success for small enterprises, the reality is that many enterprises experience barriers to these partnerships (Collier, Grey, & Ahn, 2011). Barriers relating to cultural differences, inaccessibility, resources and funding availabilities have been reported. Dadameah & Costello (2011) report …

Connected: An Enhanced Online Interface For Engagement Between Industry And Academia, David Kirk, John J. Keogh, Terry Maguire

Conference Papers

The drive for third level education institutes to engage with industry, enterprise and the community recognises their interdependence and need for continuous knowledge exchange. The extent to which students are capable of embracing their post-qualification roles, may be determined by the currency of the curriculum and work-readiness, which is informed by the context of the ‘real-worlds’ however they are shaped. Similarly, the activities that challenge industry, enterprise and the community could find support in the broad the spectrum of knowledge, skills and expertise that resides in the domain of formal education.

A key obstacle to collaboration between higher education institutes …

Strategic Discourse Across Organizational Meetings:Towards A Systems Perspective., Brendan K. O'Rourke, Martin Duffy

Conference Papers

Strategic Discourse across Organizational meetings: Towards a Systems Perspective Abstract This paper presents a tentative theoretical conception of how organizational meetings may be viewed as a system rather than as individual events. Perspectives from process metaphysics(Langley and Tsoukas, 2010), meso-discourse analysis (Alvesson and Karreman, 2000, 2011) and systems thinking (von Bertalanffy, 1969) are adopted, to explore and expand the theoretical resources available to conceptualise a ‘system of meetings’. The primary data draws from 130+ hours of recorded meeting proceedings, spanning 58 meeting events, from multiple sub-groups within a medium sized company.

Enhancing The Entrepreneurial Spirit In Apprenticeship Education To Develop Craft And Micro-Enterprises, Ray English, Katherine Collins

Conference Papers

Micro, small and medium–sized enterprises are considered to be the mainstay of the economy of the European Union, since they represent 99% of all EU enterprises. They are socially and economically important in that they provide 65 million jobs and contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. However, a 2002 Eurobarometer survey found that EU citizens are less inclined to become entrepreneurs, and tend to be more risk adverse. In recognising this, the EU made entrepreneurship one of the main objectives of the Lisbon Agenda in 2000. The European Commission in 2003 drafted the Green Paper on Entrepreneurship in Europe to stimulate …

Rationales For Collaboration; Implications For The Irish Road Freight Industry, Eoin Plant, Jim Mcgovern

Conference Papers

The European Union has made a commitment to promoting sustainable mobility through advanced transport logistics. One of the principal areas yet to be addressed is that of the potential barriers to advanced transport logistics and the attitudes of industry to this advancement. This paper addresses some of these concerns and argues that competition for high-value contracts can be very tough, especially where the contracts are from large organisations that often prefer to develop a relationship with only one transport service provider. The paper attempts to put the research into a theoretical framework of Resource-Advantage Theory. Empirical evidence is presented from …