E-learning in SMEs: Ethnographic Research Heather Short

E:learning in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) : Ethnographic Research in Southern England

Heather Short

PhD student

University of Portsmouth

Richmond Building

Portland Street

Portsmouth

Hampshire

PO1 3DE

England

Stream 10: Technology, eLearning and Virtual HRD

Working paper

E-learning in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) : Ethnographic Research in Southern England

Abstract

Purpose

This paper, based on research towards a PhD, investigates ethnographic research into e-learning in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)which took place in southern England during 2014 and 2015. The aim of the research was to examinehowlearning is undertaken in SMEs and how e-learning is understood and conceptualised in such organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology used is an ethnographic case-study, including participant-observation, semi-structured interviews and photographs, with the findings being analysed thematically with the assistance of NVivo 10.

Findings

The paper examines what happens in the real world of practice, noting similarities and differences between this and literature. It finds that SMEs conceptualise e-learning very broadly, drawing on their preference and need for informal, immediate, interactive learning.

Research limitations/implications

This research investigated three SMEs and further research intosuch organisations in specific industries or of a certain size could be beneficial. Furthermore, investigation in larger organisations could showwhether approaches to learning therein could be employed usefully in smaller businesses.Areas such as informal e-learning particularly warrant further investigation.

Practical and social implications

This research shows inhibitors and encouragers to e-learning in SMEs and businesses in general, which could lead to a better-trained, more motivated workforce which, in turn, could improve the UK economy.

Originality/value

Thisevidence-based research adds to the under-researched area of learning within SMEs, particularly how learning, especially e-learning, is understood and conceptualised therein, and aspires to increase the use of e-learning in SMEs, thus bridging the gap between academic research and workplace practice.

Keywords : e-learning; SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises); workplace learning; ethnography

Introduction and Objectives

Most literature is influenced by the experience and priorities of large organisations (Higgins, 2009; Roffe, 2007) and negligible empirical evidence of learning in SMEs exists, much less examples of e-learning therein (Admiraal and Lockhorst, 2009;Beaver and Hutchings, 2005; Jones, 2005). However, SMEs are critical to the UK economy, through their significant and continuous contribution to employment and GDP growth (UK Parliament, 2014a); in 2014 there were 5.2 million SMEs in the UK, comprising 99% of all UK businesses andproviding 60% of employment, generating 47% of turnover (UK Parliament, 2014b). An educated work-force is essential to global competitive advantage, with lifelong learning, continuous workplace learning and anticipating and building competencies for future needs being especially important (International Labour Office, 2010), with the risk of small business failure being reduced by education and training (Ibrahim and Soufani, 2002; Devins and Gold, 2000). It is, therefore, disappointing that learning in SMEs is so under-researched.

Many definitions of learning exist and this study uses the following definition:-

“responsive, rhetorical and argumentative process that has its origins in relationships with others” Holman, Pavlica and Thorpe (1997, p. 143).

Learning within SMEs tends to be informal (Ekanem and Smallbone, 2007; Sambrook, 2003a), job-oriented (Ahlgren and Engel, 2011) and readily-available (Webster, Walker and Brown, 2005). E-learning is informal, flexible and easily-accessible (Citrix Online, 2012; Mitchell, 2010; Bersin and Associates, 2009; Hamburg and Hall, 2008) and with its advantages over face-to-face training, in respect of saving time, money and travel (HRZone, ACAS & CIPD 2015), itappears to be a good match for SMEs’learningrequirements.Sambrook (2003b) considers that e-learning can overcome the difficulties of training in such organisations, whileHaslett (2012) espouses that itaddress many issues pertinent to them.

In the current economic environment the need for cost-effective training methods is stronger than ever (HRZone, ACAS & CIPD, 2015; UKCES, 2014; Business Matters Magazine, 2012) and e-learning could be seen as an attractive option (Shaw, 2012), especially as its availability is increasing (ONS, 2012; Serenko and Turel, 2010). However, its take-up is surprising low in businesses in general (Mote, 2012) and SMEs in particular (Admiraal and Lockhorst, 2009); the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) state that less than 50% of SMEs taking part in their 2011 survey use e-learning (CIPD, 2011) with this figure declining to 43% two years later (CIPD, 2013), after which it stabilised in 2014 (CIPD, 2014). However, e-learning as a proportion of total training time reduced further still with it accounting for over half of total training time in less than 1% of organisations surveyed in 2014, compared with 10% of organisations in 2011 and 2013 (CIPD,2014). Interestingly, in common with previous years, respondents predicted that e-learning would increase as a proportion of training time, although, unlike previous years, no organisations thought that it would account for more than 50% of training time,and SMEs themselves did not expect to use e-learningmore (CIPD, 2014).There may be a correlation between a company’s size and its likelihood of employing e-learning (Bishop, 2014; CIPD, 2014;Uwizeyemungu, Bergeron and Gauvin, 2012)

Therefore, research was carried out, seeking to answer the following:-

  • How does learning take place in SMEs?
  • How is e-learning understood and conceptualised in smaller organisations?
  • What are the inhibitors and encouragers of e-learning in such organisations?

The paper first addresses how the research was undertaken and what the findings were. Next, these findings and relevant literature are discussed in relation to each of the above questions. The paper then gives the conclusions arising from this research.

Methodology

The reasons for choosing the particular methodology and how the research was carried out are now investigated. A qualitative approach was adopted because in-depth and experience-based research was needed (Orr and Menzies, 2012); Tucker, Powell, and Meyer (1995) claim that such methods are particularly suitable for business research because they “can answer numerous questions about the who, what, when, where, why, and how of communication” (p. 395), whilst giving an opportunity “to get in touch with the feelings, concerns and needs of the business community” (p 396). Furthermore, Hynes (2012) stresses the methodology’s ability to draw out feelings and anxieties and thus, this methodology, mainly based on interpretivisttheoretical and methodological principles, should provide data about intentions, behaviours, actions and meaning.

Based on a social constructivism philosophy (Berger and Luckman, 1971), this research analyses how individuals interpret the world and their experiences through the systems they create.It is grounded in a conceptual framework which seeks to bring together learning theories with theories of workplace learning, particularly Lave and Wenger’s Situated Learning (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Itis interpretive in order to obtain as much richness as possible in the data, for example by asking open-ended questions in semi-structured interviews to encourage respondents to give their genuine opinions as fully as possible. This study is inductive in that it moves from observations, interviews and photographs through detection of patterns and themes to the development of general conclusions.

Ethnography

An ethnographic approach to research was chosen as this seemed most likely to bridge the gap between academic research and industry practice (Watson, 2011; Hertog and Verkerk, 2007; Higgins, 2007; Schoneboom, 2007; Van Maanen, 2006; Coffey, 1999). Ethnography is especially relevant to the contemporary workplace:Brannan, Pearson and Worthington (2007) believe that sectors, such as the service industry, are arduous and constantly changing and consequently the “subjective, sensuous and corporeal domains of the organization” (p396) are only fully understandable through ethnography. Watson (2011) stresses the importance of the researcher getting to know those who are being observed over time and in various situations to understand more fully the implications of human actions and social interactions, emphasising that an effective ethnographer must “learn the ropes” (p209), join in and talk in the same way as the researched to fully appreciate what happens. Both he and Kenny (2010) emphasise the importance of long-term involvement, quoting Bate’s (1997) warning against “jet plane ethnography” (p1150) whereby the researcher swoops in and out of the research setting.

The ethnographic approach chosen was participant-observation where the researcher is immersed in the situation which is being observed, which is a common data collection method in management and business research (Bryman and Bell, 2011). The specific methods chosen within this were observations, semi-structured interviews and photographs (Watson, 2011). Semi-structured interviews were chosen as “complex and ambiguous issues can be penetrated” (Gummesson, 2005, p309) thus unearthing people’s real feelings regarding specific issues (Bryman and Bell, 2011; Yin, 2011; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2010). An interview guide was used to ensure consistency while giving interviewees the freedom to introduce additional relevant points (Bryman and Bell, 2011; Cassell and Symon, 2006).

Each interview was audio-recorded and transcribed using a method devised to ensure accuracy which involved listening to, and reading the transcription of, each interview five times before sending it to the relevant interviewee for approval.

The research took place in three SMEs in southern England from May 2014 until January 2015. These comprised a medium-sized SME in the nuclear engineering industry with predominantly ex-public sector male employees (Organisation A); a micro private sector training and management consultancy with mostly female workers (Organisation B) and a large third-sector SME with a mixed workforce (Organisation C). Interviewees are referred to by a unique alphanumeric combination showing their organisational affiliation, for example B2 works for organisation B. In all the organisations I met with and / or worked alongside, peopledeveloping and selling training material as well as using it and Organisation B allowed me to contact its customers who were mostly SMEs. The ethnographic research entailed working (unpaid) in each organisation for several months, while also carrying out observations and semi-structured interviews and taking photographs. Because this was my first attempt at ethnography, a pilot-study was conducted initially (Yin, 2011) which focussed particularly on writing up the notes of the observations, because little guidance exists regarding issues such as representation of observations(Van Maanen, 1988).

Analysis

The research continued until saturation point (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2012) and resulted in numerous observations, twenty semi-structured interviews and 135 photographs. These were analysed thematically(Braun and Clarke, 2006), following the advice of ethnographers Atkinson (2013) and Kenny (2010) and the examples of Miller, Fairhurst and Chubb (2010) and Henttonen and Blomqvist (2005) who had researched in similar areas. Through this method the data was broken down into discrete units (Lincoln and Guba, 1985) and coded to categories which arose from the participants’ customs and language and / or which were identified as significant to the research (Taylor and Bogdan, 1984). Qualitative data analysis software NVivo supported this process, making it efficient and allowing concentration on analysis and drawing conclusions (Fielding and Lee, 1998). Six cycles of analysis led to the identification of themes (Bazeley, 2009; Braun and Clarke, 2006) from which conclusions could be drawn.

Having discussed how the research methods were chosen and where and how this was carried out, the next section examines the findings.

Findings

The themes emerging from the research will be discussed before analysing the findings in respect of the research questions.

The research shows that, to some extent, the learning within the researched SMEs fits the text-book SME learning profile in that it involves learning from people and is informal and hands-on with varying amounts of e-learning (CIPD, 2013; Ahlgren and Engel, 2011; Ekanem and Smallbone, 2007). Five main themes emerged from the analysis of this research, namely informal learning, experiential learning, interpersonal learning including mentoring, time and trust. These themes occurs regularly in all three organisations and each is present in the observations, interviews and photographs. The first three factors fit with academic findings regarding how SMEs learn, whilst the latter two are connected with attitudes towards learning.

How does learning take place in SMEs?

Informal

As evidenced by observations, interviews and photographs, the learning in the researched SMEs is predominantly informal which everyone claimed, and seemed, to be comfortable with. Relevant comments include “I didn’t get any formal training other than following him around for his final week, seeing what he did, then I was just into the job” (C6). Typically people walk round to each other’s desks seeking information or stop where people are gathered, such as the photocopier, and ask questions, with some instances of people just calling out queries across an office.

Even in a formal (classroom) setting, trainers were mostly keen to teach in an informal manner:“I employ humour when I’m training, not so that everyone’s laughing, but happy, relaxed people learn” (B6) and “If I can sit on the edge of a desk and talk, that’s how I would love to teach everything” (A3). Although the majority of people involved in the study had university degrees and/or professional qualifications, with some considering Masters degrees or PhDs, there was less respect for formal learning, with “I don’t think I learnt anything at university at all”(C7) being a typical comment.

Similarly the CIPD 2014 Learning and Development Survey reported a trend away from external formal education courses to internal on-the-job training. Informal learning occurs in every-day settings (London and Hall, 2011) and is more common in the workplace (Marsick and Watkins, 1999), especially in SMEs (Bishop, 2014) which is backed up by the research: “I spent 24 years in the Royal Navy and from day one week one through to the week I left, I was constantly learning” (A2). Garrick (2001) highlights that informal learning is often seen as unintentionalwhich also occurs in the research: “I'm learning from C1, I'm learning from C3 and the team; it's not official training” (C2).

Garrick (2001) acknowledges the difficulties in defining informal learning, suggesting that, among other things, it includes experiential and interpersonal learning which are examined below.

Experiential

Much of the observed learning is experiential, for example “Everything I’ve ever learned is on-the-job”(C7). Most of the learning occurring during my study was hands-on and practical, in line with the CIPD’s 2012 research into HR in SMEs (CIPD, 2012a). As one interviewee observed “You couldn’t do certain things”(C2) in any way other than hands-on, for example first-aid training. The interviewees claimed to find experiential learning enjoyable,which was echoed by observations and photographs, and the most effective form of learning:“that’s something I learned as an experience, rather than from any kind of training that I was given formally”(C6),“everything I’ve ever learned is on-the- job” (C7) and “the feedback from unsuccessful bids is crucial to my learning"(A2). However sometimes the on-the-job learning resulted from a lack of any alternative training, as in “there was no training, literally just learning as I went along”(C3).

Interpersonal

Through being informal, specifically on-the-job, the researched learning was inevitably largely interpersonal and people were mostly keen to share their knowledge with colleagues, finding others also happy to pass on their expertise: “C8 has got a speciality in this, and C4’s got another and they sort of cross together and C5’s learnt a lot from C8 and vice versa”(C2). Some people did not regard this as ‘real’ learning: “I'm learning from C1, I'm learning from C3 and the team. It's not official training” (C2). Many people talked about, and demonstrated, the importance of interaction in learning: “It just comes from you because you’re interacting with the person and I don’t know whether you can ever train someone on that”(C6). Nearly half the people interviewed had been mentors or mentees and were convinced that it was a vital part of their learning: “the mentor really helped and shaped, really did make me into the person I am today”(C1).

How is e-learning understood and conceptualised in smaller organisations?

An interesting finding from the research was the width of the definition of e-learning within the researched organisations. The research started with a definition of e-learning which was solely concerned with formal e-learning in that it considered online courses, webinars and training via media such as Skype. However, during the research it became apparent that this should be widened to any“learning that is delivered, enabled or mediated using electronic technology for the explicit purpose of training, learning or development in organisations” (CIPD, 2013), aligning with Jenkins et al (2011). Workers in each of the researched organisations claimed to undertake e-learning which ranged from the general:“the internet” (C4) and “all on the web” (C7)to more specific:“YouTube”(A1), “Google”(C2), “Care TV”(C6), “a CD of their feedback”(C7), “Business Balls”(C2), “sites for developers, like Stackoverflow”(C4), “blogging”(C10), “Wikipedia”(C5), “sites and some forums where you can pose a question and someone or several people come along with various answers” (C5) and “I watch TED all the time”(C1) as well as more formal e-learning:“our online learning system”(B2), “online webinars and online conferences”(C8) and “Mungo DB University, an online 8 or 12 week course with a weekly webinar”(C1 referring to C8’s usage).

By using the wider definition of e-learning, much of the learning within the researched organisations is e-learning, even where senior managers had told me that little e-learning occurred there. However, little formal e-learning took place therein,echoing the CIPD 2014 Learning and Development Survey’s conclusion that formal e-learning, which had been a key growth trend previously, may have reached its peak. Interestingly, although organisations A and C develop formal e-learning courses for customers and organisation B market these, only organisation C uses these for its own internal training and even that is a comparatively smallamount in relation to other learning. Indeed, organisation A employees expressed doubts as to whether customers really wanted e-learning courses.