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Traditionally, environmental education has been aimed at the community or in primary schools and governmental pressure to reduce environmental damage has focussed on large businesses. More recently, the role and importance of small business and how to engage them in the environmental debate has come under scrutiny. Researchers have identified education as one method of increasing the understanding of small business owner-managers' role and knowledge of practices that, when implemented, will reduce the negative impacts of their businesses. However, there is little attention given in the literature to the perspective of the small business owner-manager and environmental education. This research was conducted to fill this gap. Results confirm that there is limited environmental education for small businesses and that there is a disconnect in meeting the needs of such a disparate group. Six elements were identified by the small business owner-managers in the design of environmental education for them: use of plain language, provision of best practice examples, industry specific information, solutions for immediate improvement, practical content and use of trusted sources to deliver the program. As Tilley (1999, p.347) so aptly stated, although "the relationship between small business and the environment is complex … neglect the small firm at your peril".

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate age and gender differences in initial motivations for starting a business. What is not known, however, is whether the initial motivations for starting the business are different for older people and whether any gender differences exist. Historically, women were "pushed" rather than "pulled" into business ownership, but more recent studies have indicated that, overall, many women now actively choose self‐employment. However, age may be a new barrier for women and men.Design/methodology/approachThe study combined a self‐administered questionnaire which was used to collect data relating to general information about the respondent and their business, in addition to their start‐up motivations. In total 270 questionnaires were returned. About 15 in‐depth interviews were also conducted to verify the empirical findings.FindingsThe results showed that self‐employment is a reactive rather than proactive decision for both older women and men; however, women were less inclined to actively seek self‐employment as their employment option of choice. In addition, the findings also show that a significant motivation for many younger women is still because of the double domestic shift, indicating therefore that some things change but some things stay the same for women.Originality/valueWhereas the majority of previous research has looked at start‐up motivation, few have considered age and gender as independent variables. Given the increasing number of "baby boomers" starting their own businesses, this research can have practical policy implications.

PurposeTo conduct the first national study in Australia of women in small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises, and to develop a profile of the self‐employed woman and her business to serve as a benchmark for follow‐up research.Design/methodology/approachComprised a self‐administered questionnaire which dealt with a broad range of issues concerning the start‐up and operational aspects of a small to medium‐sized business. The women participants were self‐selected and were obtained through mail‐outs to business and professional networks, and a nation‐wide advertising campaign. Three focus groups were also held to provide more background on some of the findings from the survey.FindingsThe study found a consistency in the characteristics of the women and their businesses, similar to those found at the localised level. A benchmark profile of both the Australian small business woman operator and her business was established.Originality/valueIs the first national Australian study, and provides a benchmark for later studies in the same area.

Purpose
Becoming self-employed has appeal to both genders. For many women, balancing work and family is a key motivator. However, businesses owned and operated by women are often very small, with limited turnover. This potentially can have disastrous consequences when these women come to retire, unless a solid retirement savings strategy has been considered. The purpose of this paper is to outline many of the issues and implications of a lack of research in this area.


Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 201 small business owners via a convenience sample derived from various databases. The survey was completed on-line and analysed using SPSS.


Findings
Many self-employed women in Australia have neither enough savings for their retirement, or an actual retirement plan. This is exacerbated by the lack of regulation requiring mandatory contributions into a superannuation (personal pension) fund by small business owners, unlike pay as you go employees, whose employers must contribute a certain about on their behalf.


Social implications
Middle-to-older aged women are the biggest cohort of homeless people in Australia. This is likely to grow as self-employed Baby Boomers stop working and find they do not have sufficient personal financial resources to fund their retirement.


Originality/value
Whereas there is much written about gender and small business ownership, as well as retirement and savings planning, these two areas have not been researched before in Australia. Yet it is an issue for the majority of small business owners, particularly women.

AbstractThis article focusses on leadership in local government and the attributes valued in a CEO. It draws on a series of interviews with both Mayors/Shire Presidents and incumbent CEOs undertaken as the local government sector is faced with a number of complex challenges that is expanding the traditional role and responsibilities from the regulated organisational delivery of 'rates, roads, and rubbish', to one that is involved in long‐term more market‐driven delivery of a diverse range of services. The analysis raises the question as to whether both political and organisational leaders have fully understood the impact of the changing sector, and the consequential type of organisational leadership required. Further, the article argues that long established formal power structures and processes of local government and specifically the apparent unencumbered power of Mayors and elected members over all aspects of CEO employment, especially recruitment, may in fact compromise leadership appointments and organisational performance.

This article explores the under‐representation of women at the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) levels of Western Australian (WA) local government. It draws on data collected from 21 second tier senior women managers about their perceptions and experiences of leadership within the sector, as well as their aspirations for CEO appointment. By applying critical gender analysis to the data, gender and specifically masculinity emerges as a significant and valued leadership attribute. While this analysis is not unique to local government, what sets the sector apart is its apparent disinterest in examining the reasons for, or the impacts of this continued leadership stereotype when at the same time Australian public and private institutions are challenging these traditional leadership models. This article points to fundamental weaknesses in the formal power structures and processes of local government that support deeply embedded biases about leadership. Perhaps the most significant contributor to these outcomes that emerged from the study is the apparent unencumbered power of Mayors and elected members over all aspects of CEO employment, especially recruitment.

Home-based businesses (HBBs) are the most dominant form of enterprise and the fastest growing business segment in most Western economies. HBBs have raised significant government interest based on their potential to deliver economic development and growth for the communities that they operate in. While international knowledge of the home-based sector is growing in the areas of HBB occurrence, operator characteristics and business activities, there is limited focus on HBBs operating within a regional context even though HBBs are thought to be more common outside urban areas. This paper presents results from a West Australian study that explored the profile of regionally located HBBs and examined the economic contributions that these businesses made to their geographic areas.