DMS Newsletter Draft 2

In Trinidad & Tobago, SMEs
have flourished in the last decade
numbering 18,000 by the
end of 2015 and employing
around 200,000 persons, thus
contributing to nearly 28% of
the country’s GDP.
The survival rate for most SMEs
illustrates a considerably lower
rate when compared to larger
firms with the tendency for higher
mortality rates especially within
the first few years of operation.
Emerging research suggests that
for smaller firms to perform and
survive, a more structured approach
to HRM is necessary and
an understanding of which firms
are more likely to use this approach
is needed.
Using a sample of 132 SMEs
across Trinidad, Dr. Riann Singh’s
findings suggest that SMEs, which
took HRM as a systematic business
function, performed better.
Her findings also suggest that
female entrepreneurs, SMEs that
are larger, and SMEs that survive
the start-up phase are more likely
to view systematic HRM as important.
From a practical perspective, policy-makers
at the national level
could use these findings to target
SMEs for support and training
programmes focused on the
power of formal HRM practices.
SMEs are heavily dependent on
support from government agencies
primarily in the set-up stages
of development. Knowing which
SMEs to target for formal HRM
support and training can be made
easier by understanding which
SMEs are more or less likely to
prioritise HRM practices.
Not-for-profit and privatefor-profit
corporate boards
worldwide have been under
extreme scrutiny for
lapses in effective governance.
School governance
refers to the roles, responsibilities
and effectiveness
of monitoring and oversight
of a school by its
Board of Directors. The
literature on school governance
indicates that students’
learning is enhanced
by the provision of
responsive and effective
governance.
Early empirical findings
among school boards in T&T
highlight the following concerns:
micro-management of
schools, the absence of a
transparent director appointment
process, non-existence
of board performance appraisal,
lack of corporate governance
codes, and formal
strategic planning is either
non-existent or inadequate.
These concerns underscore
the need for an educational
governance system that will
strike a balance between effectiveness,
efficiency, economy,
accountability, and educational
outcomes.
Research on leadership and transformational
leadership has largely focused on supervisoremployee
dynamics, which are characterised by
traditional hierarchical structures.
However, project teams also appear
conducive to transformational leadership.
Dr. Paul Balwant conducted a
study of transformational leadership,
leader distance, work engagement, and performance
in project teams. The findings supported
the relationship between work engagement and
performance, but transformational leadership
does not appear to be useful in project teams.
Unexpectedly leader distance was directly related
to work engagement, even while controlling for
transformational leadership and social desirability.
This study not only contributes to leadership
research, but also has two main practical implications
for managing project teams. First, the
findings raise concerns regarding the training
of transformational leadership to project team
leaders. Second, project team leaders may need
to locate themselves physically and socially close
to team members, while maintaining frequent
interactions in order to engage team members.
To address these concerns,
Dr. Vindel Kerr is conducting
an investigation to (1) assess
and understand existing corporate
governance realities
among schools, (2) develop a
Corporate Governance
Framework for School Boards
in T&T, and (3) develop and
deliver a Model School Board
Training Manual and Board
Performance Evaluation Tool