Turkish and Chinese
70 NETWORKING CULTURES
Turkish and Chinese
£
100kfor
Entrepeneurial Research
Turkish and Chinese Entrepreneurs in the UK will be able to tap into more effective networks and resources thanks to a £ 100,000 grant won by Dr. Levent Altinay, Oxford Brookes University and Dr. Catherine Wang from Brunel University.
The project is designed to look specifically at Turkish and Chinese Minority groups in London.
Dr. Levent Altinay Senior Lecturer
Department of HLTM, Business School, Oxford Brookes
University, email: laltinay @ brookes. ac. uk
Tel: + 44( 0) 1865 483832 Fax:( 0) 1865 483878
Dr Catherine Wang Lecturer
Brunel Business School Brunel University Email: catherine. wang @ brunel. ac. uk Tel: + 44( 0) 1895 266712
The grant, awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council( ESRC), will help community-based organisations and government policy makers effectively channel business support resources to ethnic minority firms with growth potential. Dr Altinay and Dr Wang who are jointly leading the research project said:“ It is widely accepted that ethnic minority businesses already play a pivotal role in the UK economy. However, many have a huge untapped potential, and need guidance on how to become more entrepreneurial. They also need help to integrate further into the wider community, and to improve their skills through training and education.”
The project is designed to look specifically at Turkish and Chinese Minority groups in London. Importantly, it will analyse how socio-cultural attributes, such as religion, attitudes to education, family traditions in business and their use of informal networks help or hinder their growth in different industries. Dr Altinay and Dr Wang will investigate the unique needs of ethnic minority businesses, and will build partnerships between academics, practitioners and community representatives to connect people with ideas, resources and practices. They will therefore welcome the support and the cooperation of community based organisations and Turkish and Chinese entrepreneurs. They added:“ Our research is innovative and timely, and will help ethnic minority entrepreneurs solve key business problems. Importantly, we will also be advising the Government on policies to further support ethnic minority firms in the UK, enabling them to increasingly contribute to the economy.” Recommendations will also be made to businesses on how to gain a competitive edge and sustain it both during the start-up and break-out stages of the business development.
Register your business FREE www. engagemagazine. co. uk
ISSUE TWO 2006 engage