Entrepreneurial and Small Business Marketing: An Introduction

Abstract

This special issue emerged from the papers and discussant reports presented at the 2nd Office Depot Small Business Research Forum, the theme of which was and Small Business Marketing. The forum covered topics such as brand management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the evolution of franchise contracts, effects of entrepreneurial orientation on market orientation, franchisee failure, the role of entrepreneurship in market-driving behavior, and relational governance in franchise systems. The College of Business at Florida Atlantic University organizes the Annual Office Depot Forum to showcase cutting-edge research in the field of small business and entrepreneurship. The forum is cosponsored by Office Depot and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The format involves a full day of presentations of a limited number of high-quality papers that focus on a specific small enterprise area or topic. The papers presented at the annual forums, after a review process, are published in special issues of the Journal of Small Business Management (JSBM). The field of small business and entrepreneurship research is unique in its multidisciplinary approach. The Office Depot Forum, by presenting and publishing the best scholarly research in a business functional area each year, strengthens the connections among researchers in finance, marketing, management, operations, and other areas. More information about the Office Depot Forum and the Call for Papers for the next forum is available at http://www.officedepotforum.com. The Office Depot Forum chooses to make its research available through JSBM because of its reputation for publishing excellent, high-impact scholarly research articles in the field of entrepreneurship and small business. The oldest, most widely distributed, and arguably the leading scholarly small business and entrepreneurship journal worldwide, JSBM earned the distinction, in March 2006, of having the highest percentage increase in total citations from January 1995 to December 2005 in the field of economics and business, according the ISI Essential Science Indicators. The Kauffman Foundation, dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship in the United States, has taken a leadership role in supporting entrepreneurship research. The foundation is committed to achieving a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship's contribution to the economy, the nuances of the entrepreneurial process, and policies that promote the formation and growth of the high-impact firms that hold great promise for improving living standards. In addition to providing research grants to leading scholars for the study of a wide range of topics within entrepreneurship, the Foundation is funding the development of several data sets for the study of entrepreneurship and supports doctoral dissertations in the field. We were fortunate to have three excellent session leaders: Dr. Rajiv P. Dant of the University of South Florida; Dr. Morgan P. Miles of Georgia Southern University; and Dr. Frank Hoy of the Centers for Entrepreneurial Development, Advancement, Research and Support at the University of Texas in EI Paso. The keynote speaker was Dr. Gerald E. Hills, Coleman Foundation Chair of Entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois in Chicago. These leaders represent the heart and soul of the forum, and we owe them a great debt for making this special issue possible. Several other individuals provided significant comments, suggestions, and support that helped direct this forum to its successful completion. For their generous contributions, we thank Mrs. Karen Duray-Smith, Dr. Dennis Coates, Ms. Barbara Winczewska, Dr. Gary Giamartino, Dr. Joseph Michlitsch, Dr. Robert Strom, Ms. Mary Wong, Dr. Rob van der Horst, Dr. Carl Riegel, and Mr. Robert McCormet-Ballou. The inaugural Office Depot Forum represented in this issue was organized around three sessions, each of which contained two papers related to the session topic and was guided by a highly qualified session leader who provided discussant comments on each paper and an overall review of the topic area. …