Having conducted a series of international projects aimed at SME service development the initiator of this FAME proposal launched projects to follow the perception of the economic importance of SME Family Businesses (FBs). Pure research activities of the academic staff of BBS preceded research informed curriculum development projects for FBs and simultaneously for students in entrepreneurship studies. (INSIST, etc.) These projects have been implemented with varied partnerships forming by now a considerable European partner network for BBS. This made BBS one of the protagonists of SME related trainings in Hungary. For a certain period of time BBS operated its SME projects in the field of vocational trainings (VET) and offered the results in the frame of adult education for SME owners/managers and proposing some modules as specialisation for regular HE students. Thereafter, research and project experiences pointed out the need to employ stronger measures and mobilise the HE mastery of the school and the partners in order to meet the growing need of the FBs in long term theoretical and practical support. The inception of this demand came up simultaneously at several partner institutions and they immediately expressed their intention to develop a second year of a Master in entrepreneurship focusing on SME FB sustainability issues. They also recognised that this development must be preceded by a more in-depth research and they already started this research off-project, on their own expenses. The main vector of these research works has been identified as pointing from theories worked out for large companies to possible adaptations to SME FBs. The major objective of FAME project was a high level curriculum development underpinned by the results of the mentioned research collated with the available international results in the field. The research informed course development was foreseen to be implemented with refined b-learning technology partially developed in previous BBS projects. In addition, an in-depth analysis of possible embedding work-based-learning (WBL) periods in the courses was planned as a long-term objective. Moreover, domestic accreditations and the initiation of the possibilities of international recognition was among the objectives.Two university partners from Leeds and Cracow were selected by BBS on the basis of their track records in FB issues on one side and according to their proven experience in EU project management on the other. Their complementary strongest profiles are manifested in the work distribution of the content development. An international organisation specialised in FB issues (TRANSEO) delegated one of its regional (Croatian) centres to the project while a Hungarian SME federation (MGYOSZ - BUSINESSHUNGARY) ensured the presence of the non-academic sector in the partnership. A Belgian company specialised in quality and monitoring of projects was also asked to join the consortium. Finally, associated non-academic partners were invited to help find out the WBL possibilities of the curricula. The main activities were arranged around the six Intellectual Outcomes (IOs):- Grouping and collating research results of the partners and of international professional organisations in FB themes in order to provide the curriculum developers with rough material (IO1).- Developing master level training modules with refined b-learning technology (IO2, 3, 4 and 5).- Analysing, with the help of interested associated partners, the WBL possibilities of the teaching modules (IO6)The finalisation of these results was done by a testing exercise; piloting was carried out at the three university partners with both target groups, FB owners/managers and students.The development of these results was followed by rich dissemination activities helping proliferate knowledge about the project in the professional milieu. The major impact of the project was effected on the university partners by the enrichment of their curriculum systems, on their staff gaining new knowledge on FBs and on the trainees of the pilots deepening their knowledge on FB sustainability and growth. The embedment of the results in the course system of the partners and the transferability of the results to other universities and training providers is the guarantee of massive long-term benefits.The long-term impact is ensured also by a duly signed Memorandum of Understanding depicting the frames of future cooperation of the partners in FB connected themes.

<< Background >>In the last decades Budapest Business School (BBS) has contributed to a convincing series of international projects aimed at supporting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in various areas through comprehensive training curricula and training programmes. In Hungary, BBS holds a leading position in curriculum development and other services specifically targeted to the needs of SME owners and managers. Experience shows that further training of the owners/managers as well as the employees is key factor of the successful development of the companies. Here an important finding led the authors to this present initiative. A large majority of medium size firms has a history of formal and/or non-formal training whilst small businesses (employing 10-49 people) don’t. Even more striking is the difference as to the micro companies (up to 9 employees) which show a lack of propensity to subdue themselves to trainings let it be external or internal (work-based) training let alone the acceptance of external advising. The partners’ experience and intensive preparatory research pointed out that these two target groups (Micro and Small Enterprises, MSEs) suffer from a major supply/demand side failure in training offering and also in pedagogical approaches to motivate owners/managers to consider the advantages of a predefined retraining scheme or vision for the company. The partnership scrutinized in depth the literature and also the projects on the list of EPRP and the outcome was clear: a major need of MSEs was discovered and the idea to fill the gaps through a project like LEAD is a new initiative in the entrepreneurial milieu.<< Objectives >>The research pursued so far (and to be continued up to the start of the project implementation) allows already to set ourselves the task to get recognition to the separate treating of the double target group of the project (MSE) when it comes to training and development of the companies. This will be achieved, – on local, national and EU level – as a first step by collating of research and experience results. Here innovative combinations of characteristics of the companies will be taken to consideration: number of employees, annual income, sector, competitive pressure, knowledge intensive or less knowledge intensive industries and status of the companies’ life cycle. This gives birth to a multifaceted evaluation of the companies needs in terms of further trainings and acceptable advisory strategies. This theoretical achievement will be complemented by giving practical tools for the owners/managers as well as for the external advisors. These are the Handbook and the teaching material to be developed in the way during implementation. To justify the validity of this achievement pilot trainings are planned where success and efficiency will be measured by different qualitative and quantitative indicators. One major goal the project strives to achieve is to disseminate the achievements in the European entrepreneurial area through a robust sharing plan. On top of all these achievements the partnership wants to prove the real European added value of the project with a convincing sustainability plan to be elaborated already during the project’ lifetime.Since the harmful effects of the consecutive COVID waves are unpredictable the partnership will make every effort to digitalise the more activities possible. The already existing experience of the partners allows online transformation even of the originally face- to-face partner meetings. Needless to say, the curriculum to be developed will be a blended one with larger part of the online solutions in case of the major target group of MSE owners/managers and advisors. This will help achieve even larger international sharing of the results.<< Implementation >>As an organic continuation of previous projects, the partners have pursued their research in diverse fields of SME related topics. One conclusion was that further training of the owner/manager and that of the employees is decisive for the companies’ development. In addition, whilst pre-scheduled formal training strategy is of common use in the case of large and medium size companies, micro and small firms need badly training offerings and also external motivation strategies to facilitate their participation in trainings. This phenomenon gets an even sharper emphasize when in the case of micro enterprises which are often reluctant to consider a systematic human development plan in their firms. So, one of the preparatory activities of the partnership will be the continuation of this research till the official start of the project. Then the partners will have a considerable amount of rough material to collate and, deriving from that, to prepare an in-depth analysis of the training needs and motivation strategies depending on the above-mentioned characteristics of the firm. This first major activity will produce the first Project Result (PR1, Preparatory Study).Starting from PR1 an expert working group will compose a guide, (PR2) for the owners/managers of MSEs and their employees on one side and for external advisors on the other. Targeting owners/managers of MSEs, students (future MSE managers) and external advisors blended learning curricula will be developed to enrich diverse parts of the partners’ curriculum systems (PR3). In order to carry out an experience based fine tuning of the training material pilot courses will be delivered in all partner institutions with the help of the associated partners. The feed backs of these courses will be taken into account at the finalisation of the curricula.The frame activity of these development activities will be the continuous management with the 6 partner meetings as major checkpoints of the implementation, with at least two web meetings between consecutive partner meetings and with a pre-elaborated Quality Management assuring a continuous quality control of the evolution.Since the project has ambitious objectives on national and European level as well authors impose a robust result sharing activity package containing top-down and bottom-up approaches and using beyond classical tools (multiplier events, flyers, participation in national and international meetings, fora, etc) websites, social media, etc. These latter will help the partnership to comply with the open access principle of the EU. An important activity package determining the future of the results will be composed of the conceptualisation of follow-up activities, launching national certification procedures for the developed courses and, in general, the elaboration of a sustainability plan.<< Results >>Proving the relevance of investigating the training needs of the micro and small enterprises (MSE) together and independently of the medium size companies is a major outcome of the project per se. This outcome has been originated from a profound pre-project research and based upon that, partners will produce the first Project Result, the preparatory analysis of the training needs and advisory approaches appropriate with respect of MSEs having been clustered according to their different characteristics and development status. This analysis prepares the field for the two further Project Results:- A practical, easy-access Guide for owners/managers of MSEs on one side and for external advisors, called sometimes Business Coaches, on the other. The differentiation in terms of training needs and propensity to undergo trainings between the micro and the small firms will be explicited. A special chapter will take care of the pedagogical approaches of the motivation to engage with training provisions, internal solutions included, in MSEs with different characteristics. - The major aim of the proposal is to merge the outcomes of the first two Project Results and transform it into training curricula tailored respectively to the student target group and to the MSE owners/managers/advisors. Here the corroborated mastery of the university partners in online developments will help produce mostly online courses with only the inevitable face-to-face elements in case of the second, professional target group. Sharing the results with other universities, training institutions and non-partnership countries’ institutions will be facilitated by national level recognitions: the university courses are supposed to be certified in the HE certification systems of the partner countries, whilst the vocational courses will be submitted to the national or regional authorities in vocational qualification.The conceptualisation of follow-up activities will be on the agenda all the way along the project implementation. A follow-up project elaborated during the project’s lifetime will be an important outcome.Another outcome will be a number of recommendations to educational decision makers of the partner countries pointing out the possibility and necessity of their interventions to facilitate the development of the human resources in the MSE sector. This outcome will be a special chapter in Project Result 1.

The United Nations (2020) warned that the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis will negatively affect women entrepreneurs more than men when social protection plans and emergency schemes neglect constraints women face. 1.There is the persistent gender inequality of labor and businesses spread over the different economic sectors (EIGE 2019). 2.Women entrepreneurs represent only a third of the self-employed in the EU (European Commission 2014) and only 14.8% of start-up founders are females (2nd European Startup Monitor 2016). Only 33% of women feel they have the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to start a business.3.The 2018 European Commission study on Women in the Digital Age reveals that there is a decrease (with 2011 as base year) in women taking formal classes in internet and digital communication technologies.There are programs helping women entrepreneurs implementing digital tools. Still the problem remains and is getting worse according to the European Commission 2018 study on Women in the Digital Age and the 2019 Digital Economy and Society Index report. Programs need to be improved by: 1.Linking the digital tools to under-used skills e.g. women network differently than men. They prefer to integrate their family in the networking opportunity. Social media offers this possibility by linking into online entrepreneurs’ groups. 2.Understanding better the needs of women entrepreneurs.3.Considering the priorities of women entrepreneurs and offer solutions that keep them happy entrepreneurs.4.Offer customized solutions in a step by step approach, going from less complicated to highly sophisticated.5.Offer face to face (in person or via tools like whatsapp and skype) free advice and help to implement the solution while offering a learning experience.6.Tackling country and sector specific problems related to the digitalization of businesses started by women.Our goal is to help women entrepreneurs because they are skilled at using digital tools for social purposes but they need help digitalizing their businesses (Aerts 2019) and since they are less in formal ICT classes (European Commission 2018 and 2019) and more in micro firms that are less digitalized (United Nations 2020), there is lots of potential for improvement. Therefore, we wish to engage in a large scale understanding of female user needs and influence or adapt training in current and new digital tools. The overall objective is to develop a training program that will train experts by taking the above-mentioned requirements into account in order to offer trainings and mentorship sessions that are tailored to the needs of the female entrepreneurs digitalizing their business and help them overcome the obstacles they face in the digitalization. Our methodology consists of the following steps: 1.Understanding the scope of the situation via literature and best practice analyses as well as extra field research with participation of women entrepreneurs (IO1 and IO2).2.A prototype curriculum for training experts (IO3) 3.Testing this curriculum and writing a recommendation report for improvements (IO4)4.Implement the improved curriculum (IO5) to train experts 5.The experts will start helping the women entrepreneurs with digitizing their business. The final objective is to evaluate the project and to disseminate the program and recommendations (IO6) to other organizations so they can implement it to reach more women entrepreneurs and train additional experts. Information will be available to everybody free of charge.There are two target groups:1. 350 women entrepreneurs of SMEs and/or unemployed women starting a business (50 per partner country). 210 of these women face difficult circumstances because they have no income or an income under the poverty threshold of the country. 2. 70 trainers (10 per partner country) who are experts in digital tools but need additional skills in helping women entrepreneurs. The experts in business digitalization will be trainers from universities, institutes of HE programs for start-ups, unemployment offices focused on education, the Digital Innovation Hub Network (DIHnet.eu).The result is a by women entrepreneurs tested training program for experts in digital tools to help women entrepreneurs with digitizing their business with the following short and long term impacts: 1. Increase women entrepreneurs’ income and reduce business costs and time; 2. Reduce the risk of poverty for women entrepreneurs; 3. Foster independence; 4. Increase business gender equality; 5. Generate a better life-work balance for women entrepreneurs; 6. Make the women businesses more competitive; 7. Making self-employment an attractive career path for women; 8. Trainers, supporting organizations and policy makers get a better understanding what is needed to make training and policies more women friendly; 9. Extension of the program to help other business owners (male, youth) and employed women and men.