The factors influencing active learning in small enterprises were examined. Data from earlier Australian studies were examined in an attempt to provide a framework that might inform the relationship between educational systems and small enterprises. Special attention was paid to a 1988 study of systematic differences between small businesses that affect their emphasis on learning. The proposed framework includes eight factors that motivate enterprises and their staffs to seek new or further learning and six factors shaping the kind of learning that is valued or required. The learning motivators were as follows: (1) new employees; (2) critical incidents; (3) knowledge-intensive or skill-intensive products or services; (4) rapid changes in the knowledge/skill underpinning the industry sector; (5) operations involving danger or liability; (6) learning orientedness of partners and allies; (7) changes in the political, legal, or cultural context of the enterprise; and (6) scope to develop/acquire new knowledge. The factors identified as structuring learning in small enterprises were as follows: (1) scope to share knowledge within the organization; (2) the quantity and characteristics of the knowledge used by the enterprise; (3) employees' educational level; (4) the availability of learning programs; (4) the learning infrastructure available to the enterprise; and (6) owner/manager attitudes. (Contains 10 references.) (MN)