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Contains fulltext : 290778.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) 09 maart 2023

This paper focuses on promoting migrant inclusion and diversity in decision-making processes. It examines the importance of creating inclusive spaces where migrants can actively participate and contribute to the decision-making process. The paper likely discusses the benefits of diverse perspectives and experiences that migrants bring to the table, emphasising the need for their representation in decision-making bodies Eu Project: Migrant Integration Through Locally Designed Experiences. The MILE project is supported by the EU’s AMIF Action Grant (AMIF-2020-AG-CALL-03), Co-funded under the European Union's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF-2020-AG-CALL-03)

This report provides research evidence on the inclusion of international migrants in local policy making in the municipality of Birmingham, United Kingdom (UK), with a specific focus on the existing equality, diversity, integration and civic participation policy and practice in the city as well as capturing progress over time. Eu Project Migrant Integration through Locally Designed Experiences (MILE). The MILE project is supported by the EU’s AMIF Action Grant (AMIF-2020-AG-CALL-03, Eu Project Migrant Integration through Locally Designed Experiences (MILE). The MILE project is supported by the EU's AMIF Action Grant (AMIF-2020-AG-CALL-03

This chapter addresses three issues. Firstly, it outlines the paradox of job quality in small firms, namely, low levels of objective aspects such as earnings but high subjective aspects, notably reported autonomy and satisfaction. It explains this paradox in terms of specific effects of size such as face-to-face relationships and correlates of size such as formalization. Secondly, the chapter outlines key variations in the pattern in relation to such factors as industrial sector, the ownership structure of firms and managerial strategy. It illustrates these variations using real-world examples of small firms. Thirdly, it addresses the neglected question of the policy implications, arguing that large-firm ‘best practice’ does not translate to the small-firm context. It suggests measures that recognize the aims of small business owners, including action by state agencies to work with firms and the promotion of local and sectoral associations of firms.

This article draws on biographical interviews with migrants to assess their aspirations and capabilities to become entrepreneurs. By augmenting mixed embeddedness emphasis on contextual factors with Sen’s capabilities framework, we contribute to extant sociological debates on the interaction of structure and agency, the conceptualisation of aspirations, the non-pecuniary aspects of entrepreneurship and the role of institutions in neoliberal Britain. We argue that structural barriers drive the formation of aspirations to become entrepreneurs while at the same time limit their capabilities to do so. Entrepreneurial agency must be seen as relative autonomy, effective in strategic decision making but limited to the weak financial position in which migrant entrepreneurs operate.

This article presents a historical reprise of 40 years of policy interest in ethnic minority businesses in the UK. It contrasts the pronouncements of policymakers with the reality of ethnic minority entrepreneurship. Such an exercise is surprisingly rare given the activism of policymakers in this arena and growing scholarly interest in this field. Our historical overview is informed by a novel research method that plots references to ethnic minority entrepreneurship in the British Houses of Parliament. Though the UK has been the site of some interesting policy experiments on ethnic minority entrepreneurship, their impact has been slight when set against the context of broader political-economic change.

Whilst it is acknowledged that refugees are more likely to select into self-employment due to discrimination and labour market exclusion, we know little about how their ventures perform over time. To address this gap, we draw upon qualitative longitudinal evidence gathered in 2010 and 2018 in the UK to explore the outcomes of their ventures and what strategies they have put in place. We argue that the trajectories of refugee-owned businesses are explained by their structural position and the strategies, resources, and business support networks, highlighting that refugee entrepreneurs re-work their condition in a manner that is much more proactive and resilient than suggested by extant portrayals of refugee entrepreneurship. Our analysis sheds new light on the dynamics of refugee business development and encourages a more nuanced theoretical approach to evaluate these enterprises as vehicles for integration against the backdrop of neoliberal Britain.

Supplier diversity initiatives can function as platforms for EMSs strategic learning (Theodorakopoulos et al., 2005; Theodorakopoulos & Ram, 2006) and the scant research in supplier diversity underscores the importance of relationship factors to the success of supplier diversity/development programmes (e.g. Pearson et al., 1993). However, purchaser-supplier relationship management as a vehicle for enhancing EMSs learning and supply capabilities has not been examined to any length within the context of supplier diversity. Hence, the aim of this chapter was to consider the characteristics of the relationship between LPO and EMS that enable or constrain such learning. Our emerging tentative

Much of the discourse on ethnic minority entrepreneurship in Europe to the early 2000s was captured by an implicit ‘ethnic resources’ approach, in which the ‘culture’ of ethnic groups loomed large. This chapter argues that for all the welcome insights of these approaches, they are to a considerable degree eclipsed by more recent models, such as mixed embeddedness and the notion of entrepreneurial transition. The first emphasises the external business environment shaped by the market and the state. The second approach argues that heavy dependence on self-employment by ethnic minorities is a transitional phenomenon which gradually fades away as the group’s members acquire the human capital to compete more effectively for desirable employment.

How do small ‘non-compliant’ firms (those evading existing regulations) react to further regulatory change? The impact of the National Living Wage in the UK in 2016 is analysed through 22 mostly longitudinal case studies of small non-compliant firms. The varied responses, endurance of non-compliance, and blurred and dynamic nature of transitions to compliance are discussed through the lens of institutional approaches to informality. The analysis sheds new light on the relative autonomy of micro processes and the conditions under which external forces affect these processes. Non-compliant informality, as a persisting feature of small business, is unlikely to be transformed by legal regulation alone. How do small ‘non-compliant’ firms (those evading existing regulations) react to further regulatory change? The impact of the National Living Wage in the UK in 2016 is analysed through 22 mostly longitudinal case studies of small non-compliant firms. The varied responses, endurance of non-compliance, and blurred and dynamic nature of transitions to compliance are discussed through the lens of institutional approaches to informality. The analysis sheds new light on the relative autonomy of micro processes and the conditions under which external forces affect these processes. Non-compliant informality, as a persisting feature of small business, is unlikely to be transformed by legal regulation alone.

How, if at all, does financialisation affect small firms that have no direct exposure to capital markets? This article argues the need to address this lacuna empirically, conceptually and politically drawing on research from a qualitative longitudinal analysis of UK small businesses in bio-business and film and media sectors. We identify three potential conduits through which financialising principles and practices may be perceived, translated and resisted for owners, managers and staff. More broadly, the article argues that financial relations should figure more prominently and move from their relatively marginal location into the heart of socio-economic analysis of small firms. As such, the research connects with and extends an important social science tradition of research on managerial control in small firms to include issues of financialisation and financial governance.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess ways in which informality can be understood and reviews an emerging area of management scholarship. The origins and nature of informality are discussed with the aid of two different theoretical tools: “workplace sociology” (WS) and “mixed embeddedness” (ME). Design/methodology/approach The analysis is grounded in empirical material reflecting different aspects of informality mainly within the ethnic economy, such as a study on the implementation of the National Minimum Wage regulations (Ram et al., 2007; Jones et al., 2004, 2006). Findings The authors argue that the combination of WS and ME provides a valuable means of content and character of informality. It can also help to explaining variations and patterns within the informal economy, as well as understanding new forms of informality in the ethnic economy and beyond in “superdiverse” contexts. Originality/value This paper bridges two different theoretical approaches to explain the interactions between the firm and state regulations, as well as the workplace relations between employer and employees.

This article assesses recent developments in the research and practice of migrant entrepreneurship by examining the powerful contribution that the perspective of ‘mixed embeddedness’ has provided to this field. We identify key themes emerging from mixed embeddedness, particularly in relation to the role of the institutional and market contexts, and highlight areas that could strengthen the perspective, such as (1) the role of regulation, (2) the incorporation of racist exclusion and (3) gendered structures of migration and labour market processes, (4) market ghettoisation and (5) greater sensitivity to historical context. We also consider the extent to which growing interest among practitioners in supporting migrant enterprise has been influenced by developments in the academic domain.

Studies of businesses established by migrants to the UK traditionally stressed co-ethnic relationships as economic resources. More recent work identifies a new ethnic economy characterized by migrants’ common experiences, with ethnicity playing less of a role. The present study complements this newer perspective through investigation of the experiences of forty-nine business owners and sixty of their workers in the West Midlands. Economic relationships were central to the operation of migrant firms, and a minority of firms escaped from sectors traditionally dominated by migrant firms. Yet substantial continuity was also evident, including exclusion from the mainstream on ethnic lines and relations with workers characterized by informality. Migrant business is evolving but it retains many of its features; this pattern can be explained by combining the mixed embeddedness theory of the enterprise with labour process analysis.

This article examines the patch-working strategies of migrant entrepreneurs as a form of social agency. ‘Patch-working’ – the reliance on supplementary forms of income to support business activity – is often seen as a means of cushioning the financial vulnerability of small firms. However, the mechanisms and forms that patch-working takes tend to be overlooked. Evidence from 42 West Midlands’ firms shows that, despite the highly constrained operating environment, the exercise of social agency can help to cushion against disadvantage and to rework their current conditions through patch-working. This allows for business growth, and even transformational growth in some cases, rather than sheer survival. Even so, our findings show that the agency of migrant entrepreneurs brings about only minor improvements in revenue and is certainly not capable of fundamentally changing either the nature of the sector or the structure of the labour market in which they are embedded.

How do migrant entrepreneurs contribute to economic development? The growing attention to the contribution that migrants make tends to be skewed towards their economic role. Drawing on interviews with 49 new migrant business owners and 60 workers in the West Midlands, UK, we argue that benefits of diversity should be explored beyond the economic dividend. We engage with key theoretical developments in the fields of migrant entrepreneurship and diversity economics, and show that migrant entrepreneurs are characterised by the polarisation of their performance between high fliers and survival entrepreneurs. Despite their overall resource poverty, migrant entrepreneurs on the lower level create employment for their locality, cater to community needs and cushion the social incorporation of new communities in British society. We argue that debates around the benefits of diversity should incorporate not only economic growth, but also its impact on social processes.

This article demonstrates how Swedish support organisations approach and target immigrant entrepreneurs in terms of categorisation and labelling. In their strategic positioning, and as a result of framing and communicating specific target groups for their activities, organisations simultaneously produce and reproduce categories of clients. We argue that despite its emancipatory intent, the process of categorisation runs the risk of reproducing an inferior Other. Adding prefixes in labelling entrepreneurs may replicate the societal hierarchies that business support initiatives were designed to counteract. This article questions the basis of business support for minority entrepreneurs and is a contribution to wider debates concerned with exposing the constructed nature of entrepreneurship.

How can the phenomenon of new migrant enterprise be explained? The arrival of new migrants to the UK in significant numbers is prompting a new wave of business activity. This expression of ‘super-diversity’ poses challenges for existing modes of theorizing, or so it seems. We venture outside the cosmopolitan metropolis of London to examine the experiences of 165 new migrant business owners in the East Midlands region of the UK. Mixed embeddedness theory is used to illuminate the business activities of these new arrivals. We find that new migrants are indeed ‘diverse’ in many respects; but importantly, the onerous nature of structural constraints limit the scope of new migrant enterprise. There is more than a faint of echo of predecessor ethnic minority communities; and racism continues to cast influence on the business activities of new migrants.

This symposium aims to contribute to the boundary-focused career scholarship (Inkson et al., 2012) by providing theoretically-grounded insights into career boundaries It assembles four papers that,...

We examine the challenges and developments relating to the support of ethnic minority businesses (EMBs). The challenges pertain to the distinctiveness of business support needs, the ‘mainstreaming’ of EMB support, and the dynamics of delivery. An ‘engaged scholarship’ approach is adopted, on the basis of an examination of business support providers in the West Midlands. We find considerable evidence of ‘policy learning’ in respect of these challenges. Hence, a nuanced approach to EMB support needs is in evidence, and ‘good practice’ principles are adhered to in respect of mainstreaming and EMB engagement. However, the new era of austerity imperils many of these gains. Keywords: ethnic minority business, business support, policy

The Indian community in the UK is exemplifying an ‘ethnic entrepreneurial transition’. Impressive educational credentials, an increasing presence in the professions and diversification into new and emerging sectors are gradually changing the profile of Indian entrepreneurship. This paper reports on the growing convergence of Indian self-employment with white-owned businesses, a trend first noted in 2003. We examine the factors behind this growing harmonisation and identify grounds for qualified optimism. A number of policy implications are also identified, particularly in respect to the quantitative preoccupation of government measures to promote self-employment.

Drawing on the concepts of ‘entrepreneurial’ and ‘dynamic’ capabilities, this study examines the capabilities that allow small firms to operate as suppliers to large organizations in the public and private sectors. Interest in this topic is fuelled by academic speculation about the extent to which such supply chain relationships can facilitate the growth of small firms and by current policy initiatives to promote small firm-friendly procurement practices. Based on the evidence from 18 small firms, the study shows how entrepreneurial and a variety of dynamic capabilities are intertwined in subtle and complex ways, and how the development of one shapes and is shaped by the development and use of the other. In doing so, the article contributes to identifying small firm capabilities that together underpin a higher-order dynamic capability required to supply large firms and to the debate on the nature and types of such capabilities.

The extant literature on the phenomenon of transnational entrepreneurship has documented that in an era characterized by ‘superdiversity’, ethnic minorities use their diasporic networks to access an array of valuable resources in order to facilitate entrepreneurial activity. The article examines the connection between the notions of ‘superdiversity’, transnationalism and entrepreneurship by illuminating the dynamics of ‘transnational’ Somali business activity in Leicester. Considering this as a critical case, we attempt to address a gap in the literature on ethnic minority enterprise, which has struggled to address the ‘diversification of diversity’ that attends the arrival of new communities in the UK. Moreover, the article contributes to the discussion on the importance of ‘conditioning factors’ in explaining the ‘integration’ of new arrivals. Although familial and co-ethnic ties influence the availability and interaction of social, financial and human capital, this falls considerably short of neoliberal depictions of globalization. The political-economic context imposes harsh constraints upon Somali business activity which cannot be circumvented by the utilization of diasporic links, and transnational entrepreneurship is likely to be the preserve of a minority of minorities.

Consistent with a growing recognition that all entrepreneurs irrespective of ethnicity are grounded in social capital, we argue that the deployment of labour in UK Asian firms is best understood by reference to the mainstream literature on small firm industrial relations. Conventionally, Asian firm owners are seen as enjoying exceptional advantages through uniquely privileged access to an unusually cost-effective co-ethnic labour force. Yet reference to the general discourse shows that one of the defining features of the small firm labour process is its great diversity, with workers subject to a varying mix of control strategies. Ethnicity of ownership is only one of a range of factors here, with influences such as sectoral location, market position and managerial role requiring greater attention. Drawing both from the mainstream small business and ethnic minority business literatures and from our own Asian firm case histories in the clothing and catering industries, we demonstrate that, while ethnic ties certainly do help to shape employer-worker relations, they do not operate independently of universal forces that are ethnic-non-specific. As Kloosterman et al. (1999)’s concept of mixed embeddedness suggests, ethnic minority firms must be seen as grounded in an external structural context as well as in their own community networks.

In most developed economies the health of the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector has long been seen as essential. The sector can account for between 50 and 70% of all firms and generat...

A small but growing strand of literature is beginning to make the case for ‘critical action learning' (CAL). Much of this interest operates on theoretical terrain, speculating on the extent to which it might differ from more conventional notions of action learning. This paper draws on insights from (CAL) to demonstrate the importance of being ‘critical by design' in the formulation and implementation of interventions. It is based on a five-year inquiry involving a network of small business owners. We demonstrate the importance of explicitly questioning the rationale for interventions; assessing how the composition of the action learning set relates to power relations within its organizational context; the process of governance; and an active role for facilitators.

This special issue aims to develop new perspectives on the much-debated issue of risk. As the articles discuss in detail, and as thus need no comment here, the works of Beck and Giddens in particular established the broad idea of the ‘risk society’. The idea is that modern economies expose workers to increased insecurity and uncertainty. Following on from this broad concept, some researchers have used nationally representative samples to assess the experience of work. In the UK, for example, the work of Gallie et al. (1998) has been updated and extended by McGovern et al. (2007), and further extended to take heed of the international comparative level (e.g. Gallie, 2007). Several key points emerge from these studies. On average, one key indicator of security, job tenure, has not changed very much, and the permanent employment contract remains the dominant form. Despite much debate about the decline of careers and of internal labour markets, career ladders remain in place. If employers were driven purely by cost minimization, or if the market were dominant, then they would not deploy the costly measures aimed at motivating employees associated with ‘high performance’ models which have been as much a feature of the recent past, as has marketization (McGovern et al., 2007). Such studies, however, of necessity operate at a broad level. They suggest that there may be conflicting and contradictory tendencies rather than just one monolithic trend. More specific studies are needed to establish how these tendencies operate in particular circumstances. This special issue moves from the broad level to discrete empirical arenas. Our call for papers underlined the need to discuss the ‘concrete meaning of risk in specific circumstances’. It went on

In recent years there have been important academic and policy-related developments in the field of ethnic-minority entrepreneurship in the UK. It is a subject that is marked by increasing theoretical sophistication and activity on the part of policy makers and practitioners. We investigate the principal theoretical and policy developments in UK research, and identify issues for future investigation. In relation to theoretical developments, the contribution of a ‘mixed-embeddedness’ perspective is highlighted; this stresses the importance of social, economic, and institutional processes (rather than ‘ethnic culture’). Although the number of initiatives directed at ethnic-minority businesses is growing, their effectiveness in promoting ‘upward mobility’ is still open to question. Further attention needs to be accorded to the rationale and ultimate beneficiaries of such measures. Future research needs to locate ethnic-minority entrepreneurship in its political and economic contexts. Potential new topics for policy and research include: the social contribution of ethnic-minority entrepreneurship, ethnic-minority women in self-employment, and ‘new communities’.

Why does a universal labor law, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in the United Kingdom, have little effect on firms operating in the informal economy? In explaining this particular empirical puzzle, the authors go beyond dominant accounts of the informal economy—the neo-liberal and the marginalization theses—to develop analysis based on the negotiation of consent within the labor process. Evidence from employers and employees in 17 firms is presented. The informal sector developed social relations of work that operated independently of the NMW, a key aspect being a tacit negotiation of order even under conditions apparently unhelpful to such practices. Informality was deeply embedded in relations of work that continued to reproduce themselves.

There are longstanding policy concerns that ethnic minorities and women have relatively lower enterprise participation rates and performance levels. This paper presents an overarching review of the evidence that currently exists with regard to enterprise diversity. It discusses the context of ethnic minorities and women in enterprise, and summarises research evidence relating to their relative access to finance, market selection and management skills respectively. Policy within the field of diversity and enterprise is characterised by a number of tensions and unresolved questions including the presence of perceived or actual discrimination, the quantity and quality of ethnic minority and women-led businesses, potential market failure in the support provided to diverse enterprises, and the substantive uniqueness of ethnic minority and women-led enterprises. Particular implications for policy and practice as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Encouraging ethnic minorities to engage in a ‘culture of enterprise’ is a feature of New Labour's small-firm policy agenda. One manifestation of this is the increased activity on the part of ‘ethnic brokers’ involved in enterprise support. These developments appear to be detached from discussions in sociological circles alluding to the relational and contingent nature of ethnicity, and the concomitant inadequacy of racial categories that flourish in policy circles. This article examines how the notion of ‘ethnic minority businesses’ is constituted in policy and practice, and assesses how the tensions of working with fluid notions of ethnicity are handled. Through the medium of a case study undertaken in an ethnically diverse English city, the activities of a variety of different actors involved in a project on ‘ethnic minority businesses’ are assessed. The tensions inherent in working ‘with’ and ‘against’ categories of ethnicity in a policy context are reflected upon.

Small firms operating in competitive conditions are often assumed to follow the dictates of the market. Existing institutionalist research shows that they are in fact embedded in networks and thus shaped by social institutions. It does not, however, show how different types of firm are embedded in different ways. A formal framework is thus developed, setting out the external context and internal resources that shape small firms’ behaviour. The framework is illustrated with empirical examples, and a research programme is outlined.

Based on detailed case histories of South Asian workers and their co-ethnic employers in the West Midlands clothing and catering industries, this paper examines the use of illegal immigrant labour in small ethnic minority firms and attempts to tease out its implications for the migrants themselves, their employers and the broader national interest. To establish a proper context, we begin with a review of the recent literature on the structural changes – principally the confluence of globalization and post-industrialism – which have generated a seemingly unstoppable flow of labour migration; and the official state policies that have forced much of it underground. Our own case histories are seen as one of countless local expressions of this clash between economic and political imperatives, a clash which effectively criminalizes employers and workers for providing a positive economic and social contribution to the wider good. In the present case, it is only by employing immigrant labour that struggling entre...

Notions of social inclusion and the need to combat social exclusion have become popular areas of attention in academic and policy circles. The importance of small firms and entrepreneurship as a means to raising inclusion has been emphasized in these new agendas. A priori, there are a number of reasons why small businesses may be regarded as providing opportunities for social inclusion. However, in this paper we argue that the recent expectations of the role of small firms and entrepreneurship in combating social exclusion are over optimistic. Some of the assumptions on which these expectations are based are questioned. Instead, we suggest that attention should start by a clearer understanding of the concept of social exclusion. Individual economic strategies, in the form of small business activity, can make some contribution but because of the complex multidimensional nature of social exclusion, over-inflated claims should be avoided. When these claims are not achieved there may be a danger of a policy b...

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the rationale for supplier diversity, constituent elements of each case study programme, actual performance of the initiatives and key challenges involved in implementing supplier diversity programmes.Design/methodology/approachThis paper goes beyond armchair accounts of the “American experience”, and presents evidence from three exemplars of supplier diversity in the USA – Ford Motor Company, JPMorgan Chase, and Unisys. Semi‐structured interviews with supplier diversity teams within these three case study firms were conducted to understand the rationale, drivers and challenges to implementing supplier diversity programmes.FindingsThe case studies highlight the importance of the “business case” in explaining corporate receptiveness to supplier diversity. This has particular force in light of the progressive “browning” of the USA. However, the role of the government as catalyst is not to be understated; a number of respondents identified governmental pressure as an important influence on the approach to supplier diversity. Sophisticated monitoring of supply chains and intense out‐reach activities with minority business enterprises were important features of the case study firm and provide a sharp contrast with the position in the UK.Originality/valueThe paper concludes by assessing the key elements of successful supplier diversity initiatives, and reflecting on the lessons that could be learned for the UK.

This paper reports on an innovative UK-based ‘Supply Chain Learning’ (SCL) initiative to encourage the corporate sector to consider supplier diversity in respect of ethnic minority businesses. This follows academic and policy interest in programmes to empower ethnic minority enterprises to achieve breakout to mainstream markets and business growth. The first phase of the initiative, entitled Supplier Development East Midlands (SDEM) is examined. By adopting an inter-organisational action learning approach, some of the key attributes of the programme are delineated, focusing on the recurrent action-reflection cycle taking place in a learning group comprising SDEM, LPOs (Large Purchasing Organisations) and small EMSs (Ethnic Minority Suppliers).

Business rhetoric and conventional theory expect that employment regulations will have negative effects on small firms. Prior research has shown that effects are quite rare, but has not explained why. Case studies of 18 firms from three sectors identified four explanations. (1) Perceptions of effects tend to be broad and general, rather than reflections of concrete experience. (2) ‘The law’ is not uniform, with older laws being largely taken for granted. (3) Effects depend on competitive conditions, which are more important influences on firms than are regulations; where conditions are benign, regulations can be absorbed, but in other circumstances employment regulations can exacerbate competitive pressures. (4) A degree of informality in small firms further eases responses. By the same token, however, hopes that regulation will stimulate modernization are rarely realized.

The case-study method has a long and respected history in the mainstream management literature. The philosophy and implications of the case-study method have received considerable attention and there are a number of standard texts on the approach. The method is also gaining acceptance, along with other qualitative methods, within the small business and entrepreneurial research community. Yet there has been little discussion of the distinctive philosophical consequences of applying the case-study approach in this area. This article will address this gap by mapping the paradigms adopted by small business and entrepreneurial case-study researchers. This will provide a platform upon which to explore the consequences of the paradigmatic position that researchers adopt.

This paper examines the role that supplier diversity initiatives can play in opening up market opportunities for ethnic minority businesses (EMBs). EMBs have long been encouraged to diversify from inauspicious ‘low value’ niches; for some, the prospect of contracts with public and private sector organisations could serve as a means of facilitating this process. The advent of the Race Relations Amendment Act provides a legislative stimulus for diversity in public sector procurement. The ‘corporate social responsibility’ agenda, ostensibly embraced by many leading firms, provides a further impetus to re-assess diversity issues in respect of procurement. Case studies of two types of supplier diversity initiatives are drawn upon to inform this assessment: purchaser initiatives, from both the public and private sector; and intermediary or business-to-business brokerage type initiatives that attempt to facilitate the access of EMBs to potential contract opportunities. It is clear that such initiatives are at an...