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ernational vision, formulate consistent strategic goals, and develop a positive attitude towards risk and international knowledge (Buckley, 1989; Chetty and Hamilton, 1996; Tonge et al., 1998). LEARNING, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN SMES
The significance of management learning processes in internationalisation, particularly the provision of support, advice and interaction through personal and business networks was noted above (Coviello and McAuley, 1999). In the UK, as well as in other countries, however, the use made of the official agencies charged with fostering international activity is disappointing (Reid, 1984; Julien et al., 1998). Skill deficiencies in areas such as strategy and planning, marketing and sales, and leadership have been identified (Welch, 1996), but SMEs do not have a culture linked to the provision of formal training programmes (Scott et al., 1996; Storey and Westhead, 1997). Research focusing on formal ‘vocational’ training activity (see, for example, Curran, 1988; Westhead, 1996) suggests a low level of activity in SMEs. By contrast, studies that adopt a broader focus, incorporating informal as well as formal training, indicate that levels of activity are significantly higher (see, for example, Vickerstaff, 1992; Curran et al., 1997). For this reason, learning is defined in this paper as the acquisition of new knowledge and insights leading to changed behaviour. It is considered, therefore, to be a broader and less formal process than a ‘task-centred’ approach to training, embracing skills, knowledge and understanding as well as the attitudinal or ‘affective’ domain (Marquardt, 1996; Bloom, 1964).
The significance of informal learning is critical because SME managers have to deal with a wider task structure than their large business counterparts (Hendry et al., 1991; Gibb, 1998). The learning processes are as important as the ‘content’ of what is learned. In this sense, learning is seen as something that is ‘acquired’ rather than something that must be ‘delivered’ in a formal sense, and abstract knowledge (knowing what) is strongly linked to tacit knowledge (knowing how). The dominant mode of learning in small firms (learning by doing) thus involves: learning through feedback from customers and suppliers; learning by copying; learning by problem solving and opportunity taking; and learning by making mistakes (Gibb, 1998).
Working from this basis, and drawing on Kolb’s (1984) model of experiential learning, Gibb (1998) highlights the importance in small organisations of learning through experience to cope and survive in a dynamic environment. The work of Argyris and Schon (1978) can also be applied in Anderson, Boocock and Graham Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 217 this context. They distinguish between single loop learning, where behaviour is adapted to achieve existing goals and values, and double loop learning whereby individuals and organisations question those same values and attitudes, to reach a state of ‘break through’ learning. Senge (1990) builds on this approach and distinguishes between adaptive and generative learning; the latter involves creativity and enhancing the capability to rethink the ‘world view’ of the organisation and the continual development of the knowledge base. Prahalad and Bettis (1996) argue, from within this premise, that the ‘conventional wisdom’ and internalised cognitive processes of managers in an organisation comprise its ‘dominant logic’. This