Evolution of Business Knowledge

Dr Michael Zhang, ESRC Senior Research Fellow, worked on the Evolution of Business Knowledge from September 2003 to August 2006. Funded by ESRC, this was one of 14 projects UK wide looking into evolution of business knowledge in SMEs.

Sharing and dissemination

The project looked at how creation, sharing and dissemination of business knowledge can help improve competitiveness of small firms, and lead to economic growth.

To this aim, 90 small businesses were recruited and 200 face-to-face interviews were conducted. This lead to –

• Publishing a number of papers
• Organising workshops and seminars
• Receiving feedback from participants and policy makers
• Selecting examples for case studies.


Improving performance

Michael says the project helps business managers improve their performance: “By focusing on less tangible aspects of running a business, things such as co-ordination, perceptions, communication, networking, etc, and NOT just money - managers can improve their skills and knowledge, as well as their understanding of how to run a successful and competitive business.”