Stewart Barnes – författare

Many small-medium enterprises (SMEs) are very small organisations comprising mainly single-person and micro-businesses but, in the United Kingdom, there are around 250,000 small-medium businesses (SMBs) which are substantial businesses with turnovers of millions or tens of millions of pounds. A key requirement for thriving SMBs is effective leadership throughout the organisation. One crucial aspect, which is often overlooked, is that of financial leadership. Financial management in SMBs is often seen as a technique-based activity whereby finance staff have a limited role preparing annual financial accounts and disseminating financial information to key individuals in the organisation. They may act reactively by responding to requests for specific financial information. On the other hand, strong financial leadership is proactive, constructive and innovative and plays a critical role in ensuring that organisations stay financially adaptable and can build resilience and sustainability in today’s fierce market. The most effective financial leaders have a sophisticated and thorough understanding of their organisation’s financial health, and they make decisions grounded in financial realities to use that information in their communication to demonstrate the strategic connection between money, mission and purpose. This research volume asserts that understanding the importance of utilising robust financial management approaches and financial information in making business decisions and assessing business performance is the key. This is especially relevant for SMBs, as they can have a significant influence on countries’ economies. It will therefore be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners and advanced students in the fields of leadership, financial management, entrepreneurship and strategy.

Realising Good Growth is a practical and purposeful guidebook for leaders wishing to take a different path on a journey towards collective purpose and a better world, where profit is not the destination, just one of the sturdy pillars that supports the journey.Values to shape your journeyOur blueprint is drawn with values of sustainability, long-term vision, mutual enhancement and cooperation.Digital supportThe guidebook is supported by a range of integrated, tried-and-tested digital tools and accompanying website for practical use.What's in it for you and others?For businesses, the regenerative opportunity is about greater competitive advantage, retaining and attracting the best employees, enhanced innovation and productivity, and a greater return on all assets......But that fades into the shade in comparison to enhancing lives and enabling humanity to flourish.True success is measured not by profits alone, but by the lives we enrich and the future we create for all.Humanity has a big problem. Growth! More precisely the nature of growth and its consequences.We are passengers on a runaway train, hurtling toward a fractured and barren landscape. If we do not pull the emergency brake soon, we will leave our children stranded in a desolate wasteland, where the fertile fields of today are but a distant memory.But imagine a different outcome if this is resolved.Imagine a different path to follow, one less travelled, where businesses are a force for good.Imagine a regenerative economy led by businesses of all sizes pursuing an agenda of Good Growth – where employees have a deep sense of engagement and ownership in helping to grow businesses that deliver social value.Now, it is about experience, fulfilment and community – not one of self-centred endless consumption.

Realising Good Growth is a practical and purposeful guidebook for leaders wishing to take a different path on a journey towards collective purpose and a better world, where profit is not the destination, just one of the sturdy pillars that supports the journey.Values to shape your journeyOur blueprint is drawn with values of sustainability, long-term vision, mutual enhancement and cooperation.Digital supportThe guidebook is supported by a range of integrated, tried-and-tested digital tools and accompanying website for practical use.What's in it for you and others?For businesses, the regenerative opportunity is about greater competitive advantage, retaining and attracting the best employees, enhanced innovation and productivity, and a greater return on all assets......But that fades into the shade in comparison to enhancing lives and enabling humanity to flourish.True success is measured not by profits alone, but by the lives we enrich and the future we create for all.Humanity has a big problem. Growth! More precisely the nature of growth and its consequences.We are passengers on a runaway train, hurtling toward a fractured and barren landscape. If we do not pull the emergency brake soon, we will leave our children stranded in a desolate wasteland, where the fertile fields of today are but a distant memory.But imagine a different outcome if this is resolved.Imagine a different path to follow, one less travelled, where businesses are a force for good.Imagine a regenerative economy led by businesses of all sizes pursuing an agenda of Good Growth – where employees have a deep sense of engagement and ownership in helping to grow businesses that deliver social value.Now, it is about experience, fulfilment and community – not one of self-centred endless consumption.

This is one of the first books to fully value and realize the connection between leadership and learning in SMEs. It provides a real-life narrative, encapsulating the development of business people on a leadership program for SME managers, whilst explaining the key theories, models and techniques that underpin the leadership methods and approaches deployed at each stage of the delegate's journey. The book follows three owner/managers over a ten-month period. Each chapter splits into two - an aesthetic narrative on the learning journey and a 'theory sandwich', which draws the reader's attention to the theories, models and debates underpinning the learning at each stage of the delegate's journey.Academics as well as students will benefit from the research-based examination of leadership learning in the SME context, as it will allow them to stand in the shoes of owners or managers. Policy makers and practitioners will also find the narrative both revealing and informative.