STR4TEGY

EDITOR'S NOTE

This issue of the journal marks the completion of our fifth year of publication! We appreci-
ate the support we continue to receive from Small Business Institute Directors'ssociation
members, individual subscribers, libraries, and the large number of authors who submit their
manuscripts for publication. The articles published in this issue present diverse topics that impact
the small business owner and consultant.

Many small business owners unfortunately operate in a reactive rather than proactive
mode. The authors published in this issue encourage small business owners to take a different
approach —plan ahead. In the past year, small businesses across the United States have faced
numerous crises ranging from devastation of their businesses by hurricanes and earthquakes to
legal actions against the company by key employees. The lead article stresses the importance of
developing a crisis management plan while the second article helps small business owners develop
a plan to avoid or eliminate sexual harassment within the workplace. The third article presents
issues faced by minority business owners when seeking financing for their ventures. The
objective is to help minority business owners overcome these problems and operate prosperous
businesses. The fourth article examines an alternative to help displaced workers re-enter the
workforce upon release from prison. The special section contains the Distinguished Paper from
the 1994 national SBIDA Consulting Conference and an invited paper. The Distinguished Paper
examines subcontractor relationships across a variety of industries. The invited paper focuses on
the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement and its impact on small business. The
authors present a means of assisting small businesses in becoming competitive in this new market
through university-sponsored centers.

In addition to strategically-oriented articles, a forthcoming issue of the journal will contain
a number of articles directly related to entrepreneurship education and Small Business Institute
program management. As our subscription base expands to include small business owners, we
also hope to receive submissions from those readers.

I want to express special thanks to the reviewers. You did an outstanding job once again.
The following reviewers complete their tenure at the end of the year, .toe Latona, Lawrence Klatt,
Donald Clause, Binshan Lin, Harriet Stephenson, Howard Rudd, Richard Daily, Inge Nickerson,
Don Bradley, and Benton "Bud" Miles. We hope you will review for us again in the future.

Gwen Fontenot, Ph.D.
Editor