Learning and relationships in small firms : introduction to the special issue/ created by Luke Pittaway and Mary Rose

At a workshop held at the Management School, Lancaster University, on 25 May 2004, 20 papers were presented to an audience of over 40 researchers. The 4 selected for publication examine different aspects of learning and relationships in small firms. They do so from a variety of perspectives – operations manage\x{FFFE}ment, entrepreneurial learning and family firms – and use a range of theoretical stances: positivism, social constructionism and cultural anthropology. The methods and data also vary and include quantitative and qualitative empirical studies, as well as innovations in methodology. Given their differences in theor\x{FFFE}etical orientation it is interesting that they converge on two important and related themes in the subject, the role of relationships and learning.