STRATEGY

EDITOR'S NOTE

As some of you are already aware, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) has taken over
sponsorship of the Journal of Small Business Strategy (JSBS). I have assumed the position of
Editor for JSBS, assisted by two associate editors, Dr. Prashanth Nagendra & Dr. Joette
Wisnieski. We are very excited to be editing and publishing the journal and are very interested
in receiving manuscripts in a wide range of topics related to small business, entre preneurship and
economic development.

The Journal ofSmall Business Srraregv, Small Business Directors Association (SBIDA) and the
readership of the journal owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Joe Singer and the Henry W. Bloch
School of Business and Public Administration of the University of Missouri-Kansas City for their
editorial tenure the past three years. We at I UP appreciate their assistance during this transition
period.

Based on the JSBS mission (back cover), we believe that articles published in JSBS should be
of value to small business & entrepreneurship educators, small business consultants or
individuals involved in economic development in terms of ar least one of the following:

~ Assist in the formulation or implementation of small business strategy
~ Be directly applicable to consulting projects
~ Generate ideas and approaches to problem solving in small business
~ Could be presented to a small business owner/manager for application
~ Relate to small business & entrepreneurship education

Some Thoughts for the Future

As we get our feet on the ground, we will be attempting to achieve a number of objectives related
to the journal:
~ Increase publication to three issues per year
~ Expand the content of the journal to include appropriate book reviews, noteworthy news,

insightful letters to the editor and increase the level of invited papers from notable
practitioners, scholars, elected and appointed governmental oAicials



Journal ofSmall Business Strategy Volume 9, No. l Spring /998

~ Solicit and/or develop shorter articles through the normal editorial process for inclusion in
the journal (tentatively titled "Briefs")

~ Expand the subscription base of the journal
~ Expand the non-academic editorial review board
~ Maintain and increase the quality of the journal in terms of both its scholarship and its

application to the areas of entrepreneurship, small business, family business, and education
& economic development related to these areas.

In This Issue

This issue is characterized by a number of diverse and topical articles. In "Transforming
Consultants'ecommendations into Business Improvement: A Model and Action Agenda" by
Michael D. Ames, we leam of a methodology which could be considered by the vast majority
of our readership since it pertains to an activity that most of us are involved in. The appendix
provides an application of his framework to the Small Business Institute.

In an era of downsizing, rightsizing, and outsourcing, "The Classification of Service Providers
as "Contract Workers" Rather Than "Employees": Implications and Guidelines for Small
Businesses" by Matthew C. Sonfield addresses a very important alternative that merits
consideration by small business owners. Notwithstanding the "kinder, more gentle, IRS," there
are a number of potential pitfalls that employers need to be aware of.

Can entrepreneurship be taught? That question has been asked more than once. At what age
can entrepreneurship be introduced to students? "Entrepreneurship Awareness Education: An
Example in an Elementary School" by Rebecca W. Ball & Fred Beasley gives some
interesting insights on rhis topic.

"An Analysis of Small Business Hiring of Seniors" by Robin T. Peterson & Andreas W.
Stratemeyer is a topic that will become increasingly important as our longevity continues to
increase and Social Security benefits become more problematic in the future.

In "Partners in Profits: Small Businesses Move Slowly Into Cause-Related Marketing," Nora
Ganim Bames looks into how marketing programs can be developed which can be mutually
beneficial to the small business firm as well as social service agencies or other types of not-for-
profit organizations.

In a society where marriages fail at an alarming rate, Sandra Perry's article titled "Using a
Prenuptial Agreement to Protect the Small Business" would seem to be of use to a great many
small business owners.

We also initiated a new column titled "Noteworthy News." Readers are encouraged to submit
brief pieces (1-2 pages) that would be of interest to the readership. for example, a recent Forbes
article titled "McKinsey 101"points out that student consulting is not only on the rise, but they
present evidence that such work is of very high quality and generally very inexpensive, oRen "for
expenses only." While this may not be particularly headline news for SBIDA, we found it
interesting to learn that what SBIDA has been doing for 26 years is now a "new trend."

Steve Osborne, Ph.D., Editor