Please use this form to submit your study for inclusion into our database. It will be checked by a member of the Innovation Growth Lab team, who may be in contact to ask for more information. Your email address * Your name * Title * The name of the study Short summary A business skills training intervention for SME owners and managers in metro Manila, the Philippines. Results forthcoming. A brief description of the project's goals and its current state Abstract <p>Small businesses are often believed to serve as engines for innovation, employment and social mobility, due to their flexibility in responding to new opportunities and their potential for rapid growth. In developing countries, SMEs make up a particularly large part of the economy, yet data suggests that very few small enterprises in developing countries grow into larger businesses. Human capital constraints on growth might be even more severe than financial constraints if having adequate managerial skills in place is a prerequisite for accessing other resources. However, the market for business skills training is prone to under-investment. Young people and new market entrants are often credit constrained from investing in their own training--even though it would be privately and socially efficient. Second, a perception exists that managerial skills must be learned through experience, rather than taught. These forces lead to an under-investment in business skills training. This pilot study will look at the various constraints hindering SME growth and evaluate whether graduate business students providing consulting services to small business can be an effective conduit for skill transfer.</p> The full abstract of the study, if available Links http://www.poverty-action.org/project/0448 Links to any published papers and related discussions Authors * Affiliations Academic and other institutes that the authors of the study are members of Delivery partner Organisations involved in delivering the trial, if appropriate Year Year Year199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026 Month MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec Day Day12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 Journal Journal publishing the study, if available Publication stage * Working Paper Published Ongoing Research Forthcoming Discussion Paper Research theme * Entrepreneurship Innovation Business Growth Country Country or countries where this study took place. Topics What sort of topics does the study cover? Sample attributes Hypotheses / research question What is the impact of business skills training for SMEs? Sample Trial population and sample selection Prior to the baseline survey, qualitative interviews were carried out with a sample of eligible businesses (at least 2 years operation, revenue between 1-15 million Philippine Pesos and operating in retail/services/manufacturing/trading/wholesale sectors). During these interviews, SME owners/managers were also asked if they would be interested in receiving free consulting provided by graduate students at Asian Institute of Management. Those who indicated interest served as the sample population. Number of treatment groups Size of treatment groups 25 Size of control group Unit of analysis Clustered? Yes No Cluster details Trial attributes Treatment description Over a 2 month period, SME owners/managers met with two student consultants from AIM. Two hour meetings took place approximately every two weeks. Topics covered in the meetings included the business, its operations and constraints, strategies for addressing issues and implementation support. The firms also had the opportunity to attend a workshop/networking event put on by the students. Rounds of data collection Baseline data collection and method Survey on business operations, HR, marketing, revenue and costs, access/use of financial services. Data collection method and data collected Evaluation Outcome variables <p>Operations, profit, credit access.</p> Results <p>Not yet available.</p> Intervention costs Not available. Cost benefit ratio Reference Fischer, G., & Karlan, D., 2015. 'Returns to Consulting for SMEs'. Innovations for Poverty Action - Project Registry. Citation for use in academic references
