Finch, D., Levallet, N., Mccaffery, T., Esponoza, A. and Raby, S. (2020). Dynamic Management Capabilities View of Small to Medium-sized Enterprise Export Readiness: A Canadian Perspective, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Abstract: Increased trade liberalization and advancements in technology have established the foundation for global expansion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME). However, data demonstrates that most SMEs continue to focus almost exclusively on their domestic market. In this study, we leverage resource orchestration (RO) and dynamic capabilities (DC) to explore the managerial and firm level resources critical to supporting SME export expansion. This includes conducting multi-staged qualitative research to define these resources (N=28). This research identifies company age, operational resources, financial capacity, and employee knowledge and skills. In addition, we isolate dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) related to cognition (e.g. managerial experiences and decision-making), social capital (e.g. developing strong internal and external networks) and human capital (e.g. ability to maximize the value of people) as critical to export expansion. Lastly, we use our findings to develop a conceptual model and associated instrumentation of SME export readiness to guide future empirical research.

Dorland, AM., Finch, D., Levallet, N., Raby S., Ross, S. and Swiston, A. (2020) An Entrepreneurial View of Work Universal Work Integrated Learning, Education + Training

Work-integrated learning (WIL) has emerged as a leading pedagogy that blends theory with application. In recent years, policymakers, educators and practitioners have called for a significant expansion of WIL, one which would enable every undergraduate student has at least one WIL experience during their program of study. Despite these appeals, there remains a significant divide between the aspiration of universality and the realities. Consequently, the study ask the following question: How can post secondary institutions expand their WIL initiatives to universal levels that deliver transformative learning?