Kerry Anne Toyer

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how access to quality, practical and affordable business

management education can achieve positive social impact through short-term incremental funding that spans

election cycles and is aligned to industry demands and policy priorities.

Design/methodology/approach – A case study of the design, delivery and evaluation of a series of microcredential

business management short courses for organisations operating in Queensland, Australia, was

undertaken.

Findings – The development of a conceptual framework incorporating managerial capabilities, stakeholder

engagement and value creation to guide the development of co-designed, co-delivered and co-evaluated

quality education in management, that is accessible, affordable and achievable due to incremental funding and

support fromall levels of government.

Research limitations/implications – The aim of a case study investigation is to develop theory based on

multiple sources of evidence including observations, document analysis and interviews. The conceptual

framework derived from this study is limited to the individual level of social impact and serves as a guideline

for future research projects aiming to measure positive social impact by other methods such as surveys and

statistical analysis.

Practical implications – The strength of the conceptual framework developed during this study is in its

transferability to contexts other than management education and micro-credential courses.

Social implications – Findings are applicable for governing jurisdictions outside of Queensland

including local government areas, as well as other states and territories where short-term funding and

election cycles are experienced.

Strategic Management is fundamentally concerned with improving the long-term performance of organisations. The knowledge of strategy tools and their application are relevant and beneficial for micro and small businesses (MSBs) and their owner-managers. Substantially contributing to the economy, MSBs represent Australia's largest number of organisations, creating economic and social benefits. They seek resilience and how to effectively sustain competitive advantage, yet clear and defined articulation of strategy tools application, relevance, and benefit for MSBs and the owner-managers are not yet refined in the literature.

The relationship between strategic management and strategy tools and the benefit to an organisation is frequently discussed in the literature and well established in the context of large-size enterprises (LSEs) rather than MSBs. Highlighting how MSBs might benefit from the knowledge and application of strategy tools is the focus of this study, thereby contributing to the literature and delivering beneficial empirical evidence supporting the sustainable strength, growth and prosperity of MSBs. An initial theoretical framework derived from the literature guides the research study. Each MSB owner-manager is the key informant as an embedded unit of analysis (EUA) in the single case study. Therefore, what motivates MSB owner-managers to learn and apply strategy tools is an important objective of this study.

Critical realism (CR) is the viable paradigm for this study as the philosophical position is increasingly applied to social science and management studies and is adopted in organisational studies to explore competing theories and explain complex social events. The qualitative case study methodology can best answer the research question and objectives. The data analysis process adopted by the researcher for this study is a hybrid thematic analysis of reflexive and critical thematic analysis principles. The additional critical realist lens is used in the middle to later stages of the analysis process is in keeping with the application of CR, the philosophical underpinning of this study.

The Teecian perspective connects dynamic capabilities and strategy, explicitly stating that the competitive advantage organisations seek to achieve depends on strong dynamic capabilities that facilitate effective strategy. Explicating the relationships between the three core underpinnings and the three core functions of dynamic managerial capabilities is useful in explaining the effect on MSB owner-managers and their businesses. The managerial resource groupings of managerial cognition, social capital, and human capital are to be considered as microfoundations that underpin dynamic managerial capabilities. As such, a microfoundational approach realises the dynamic managerial capabilities responsible for an organisation's health, stability and strength. This study demonstrates that strategy tools benefit, and are relevant to, MSB owner-managers.