Survival of the fittest for small businesses

How small businesses in the Tropics survive and thrive will be the subject of a free public lecture at James Cook University this week.

Dr Anna Blackman will deliver the talk, titled Developing successful small businesses in the Tropics using Business Coaching, at JCU in Townsville.

The presentation is part of the JCU’s Faculty of Law, Business and the Creative Arts Science and Society in the Tropics Public Lecture Series.

Dr Blackman said there are more than two million actively trading businesses in Australia and 96 per cent are small businesses.

“Small businesses make a significant contribution to the Australian economy, accounting for almost half of industry employment,” Dr Blackman said.

“The ABS defines a small business as an actively trading business with zero to 19 employees. A micro business is a business with zero to four employees,” she said.

“Small regional businesses often face a number of challenges that are not often identified in research that is conducted mainly on large organisations.

“Business coaching has only been applied to larger businesses in urban areas. This research is unique in that it applies and adapts business coaching for small owner operators in remote rural regions.”

Dr Blackman said coaching was invaluable for small businesses.

“Coaching helps small business owners adapt to change, build better business networks, develop leadership skills and develop capacity within their businesses by helping them to achieve their goals,” she said.

“Business owners and employees are able to implement learned knowledge better on a day-to-day basis making them more efficient and effective adding value to their existing businesses.”

BIOGRAPHY

Dr Anna Blackman’s areas of expertise include business coaching effectiveness, Human Resource Management, Business Management and Wellbeing. She is specifically interested in building capacity with regional and rural businesses. She has published her work in journals, book chapters, case studies and presented at local, national and international conferences and forums. She has won a number of competitive grants (one being JCU’s Rising Star ECR Leadership Program) and a citation for outstanding contributions to student learning. Dr Blackman has worked in small business management for eight years both in Australia and has worked for a large multinational corporation in the UK. She is currently employed as a Senior Lecturer for James Cook University in its School of Business. She is the course coordinator for the Graduate Certificate in Australian Rural Leadership for the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and is a Queensland Councillor for the Australian Human Resources Institute.

For more information email: Kiara.cantamessa1@jcu.edu.au

Details:

Science & Society in the Tropics Public Lecture

Developing successful small businesses in the Tropics using Business Coaching

Presented by: Dr Anna Blackman

Date: Thursday, May 29, 2014

Time: 5.30pm refreshments, 6.00pm presentation starts

Location: Education Central, Building 134-010, JCU Townsville

JCU Media Liaison: Caroline Kaurila, tel; (07) 4781 4586 or 0437 028 175

First published May 26, 2014