Role of Strategic Marketing in Survival of Small Business and Creating Job Opportunities in the U.S. Economy

Part I: The IIP and the small business high tech client

The purpose of this study is to produce a model for improving the performance of batik small businesses based on the use of information technology. The preparation of this model starts from proving the influence of the strategic orientation mix and marketing mix on the performance of Batik small businesses. The strategic orientation mix consists of organizational change capability, innovation orientation, competitive advantage and market orientation strategy. Market orientation strategy consists of customer and competitor orientation strategies. The marketing mix consists of product, price, distribution, promotion. The effect of this variable is determined by the use of information technology. Information technology consists of social media, e-commerce and information systems 
 The research population is Batik small business in Central Java. A sample of 100 was selected by convenience sampling technique, Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis was used to examine the effect of independent variables on the performance of small batik businesses, the role of the use of information technology in moderating the strategic orientation mix and marketing mix on the performance of batik small businesses.
 This model proves that the strategic orientation variable and the marketing mix have a significant positive effect on the performance of small batik businesses by being moderated by the use of information technology.
 
 Keywords: Model, Performance; Batik; Use of information technology, Small business

Small-and-medium size enterprises (SMES) are considered to be a key to economic development, and market completion. Small businesses are also a crucial source of innovative potential and job creation. In the aftermath of the recent economic crisis many countries experience high unemployment rates. A strong small business sector can provide employment opportunities and contribute to economic growth and speedy recovery. Though the creation of small firms and self-employment is ostensibly encouraged in formal government policies, in practice small businesses are affected by multitude of barriers, both formal and informal. This study explores the relationship between the level of formal barriers such as taxation, accounting requirements as well as other relevant regulations, and the likelihood of small business creation and survival in Lithuania. It uses statistical data, legal documents, and experts’ evaluations to determine the regulatory burden experienced by small businesses. The results of the research indicate that regulatory requirements are significant factors in small business formation and performance. Findings of the paper contribute to a better understanding of how entrepreneurship happens and how policy makers could shape their policies to effectively encourage small business formation and sustain their operations medium and long-term.

Small businesses have an important and significant role in the economy of Sarjo District, as well as a provider of employment. Although they do not face capital problems, small companies face challenges in marketing, workforce, technology, people skills, and networks. This study aims to describe and analyze small businesses in Sarjo District by using a qualitative approach and inductive method, as well as case study and outreach strategies. The focus of this research is aimed at small businesses in Sarjo District and related parties as targets. Data was collected through observation, interviews, document collection, and outreach. Data analysis techniques include data collection, data condensation, and drawing conclusions. The results of the study show that digital marketing strategies for small businesses are not optimal due to limited resource capacity. This is caused by the orientation of business owners who are more focused on production without regard to market opportunities and lack of knowledge in running a business. The lack of follow-up stages such as technical guidance and business assistance in Sarjo District is also an obstacle, especially in personal development through an understanding of digital marketing. Based on the results of field research on small businesses in Sarjo District, it appears that entrepreneurial abilities such as enthusiasm, attitudes, actions, and knowledge in running a business are still weak. Networking is also identified as an important aspect for the survival and resilience of small businesses in the region. Thus, this service aims to provide solutions and education through comprehensive digital marketing training for small and medium business actors and prospective novice entrepreneurs.

The growth of micro and small businesses in Kendari City cannot be separated from the role of business actors who take advantage of the current development of internet technology. The Southeast Sulawesi MSME Forum conducted an initial survey in 2020 covering 45 MSEs, consisting of 42 micro businesses and 3 small businesses and showed that the number of respondents who use the internet to promote and sell their products such as facebook, instagram, whatsapp and youtube websites reached 72%. and 28% of them have not used the internet media. MSMEs can take advantage of digital marketing, but empirically there are still many who have not made maximum use of it due to limited knowledge of the media used. The level of utilization of digital marketing is quite high but sales turnover made through online media is 16 MSEs only able to sell their products below 10% of turnover, 20 MSEs with turnover below 50% and the remaining 9 MSEs with a turnover of 50% and above. Therefore, it is very important to examine the role of digital marketing in improving the performance of micro and small businesses. The purpose of this research is to improve the performance of micro and small businesses. The stages of the research method are (a) Develop instruments as well as test validity and reliability, (b) The data that has been obtained are then tabulated according to the observed variables. Furthermore, it is described, (c) conducting analysis and discussion related to the role of digital marketing in improving the performance of micro and small businesses. (d) examine the appropriate model for improving the performance of micro and small enterprises. (e) Draw conclusions and provide recommendations on improving the performance of micro and small enterprises through the resulting model. The output target is a Sinta accredited national journal. 5. The proposed level of Technology Readiness (TKT) is 2, namely Digital marketing, has been identified, theoretical/empirical studies) allow digital marketing technology to be applied; The theoretical and empirical designs have been identified; The basic elements of the digital marketing technology that will be developed are known; The characterization of the digital marketing technology components that will be used has been mastered and understood; The performance of each of the constituent elements of the technology to be developed has been predicted; Preliminary analysis shows that the main digital marketing functions needed are working well; Models and simulations to test the correctness of the basic principles of digital marketing technology have been created; Analytical research to test the correctness of the basic principles of digital marketing technology has been carried out; The components of digital marketing technology that will be developed separately can work well; The equipment used has been tested for validity and reliability and the stages of using digital marketing are known. The results of the study found that improving the performance of micro and small businesses can be done by implementing digital marketing, namely implementing an increase in business perspective, increasing distribution, increasing goods and services using customer feedback, awareness of business image, building interaction with customers and increasing the number of consumers. To make the application of digital marketing effective, Micro and Small Business actors need to increase their knowledge of digital marketing, increase the level of internet use and use various types of social media. Keywords: Digital Marketing, UKM Performance DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-20-09 Publication date: October 31 st 2021

Whether or not small businesses offer health insurance to their employees is a critical factor in the health care coverage of many Americans, yet many entrepreneurs and decision makers fear that the cost of offering health care coverage to their employees will diminish the growth and survival of small firms. While there is an emerging consensus among economists that small businesses both create and destroy a disproportionately large number of jobs, less is known about the relationship between health care costs and business growth. We examine this latter issue prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.We first review information on the relationship between small employers’ decisions to offer health insurance prior to 2010 and i) financial factors (including premium variability and tax advantages), ii) labor markets with a focus on employee characteristics and the demand for employer's health insurance, iii) insurance markets and products, discussing access and insurance options with lower premium costs, and iv) the health insurance regulatory environment with an examination of state-level reform and health insurance mandates. We then discuss employer reactions to rising health care costs, followed by a review of factors other than rising health care costs that often affect the growth and survival of a small business. In the remaining sections, we describe our longitudinal analysis of how health insurance offering (HIO) affected the expansion and survival of small businesses. Using 2001-05 linked data from the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) and the Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-IC), we look at how HIO affected four measures of business performance (growth in employment, growth in payroll, growth in average wage, and survival) – after controlling for business characteristics and relevant state-level variables. We employ instrumental variable two-stage least squares estimation to address the endogeneity that permeates the question at hand. We find that young businesses (both large and small) that offer health insurance grow at not significantly different rates as those that do not, possibly due to selection effects. Older businesses offering health insurance – both small and large – seem to have higher employment and payroll growth. Survival is strongly and positively correlated with HIO for older establishments at both large and small firms. However, these results should be interpreted with extreme caution due the concerns we raise about the available testing methodology for our context.

Little is known about the uptake of strategic marketing planning in golf clubs. Thus, based on a sample of 307 Australian, New Zealand and British golf clubs, this study examines the application of the normative model of strategic marketing planning and its associated marketing practices to golf club administration. Using information derived from golf club managers/secretaries, it investigates both the extent to which strategic marketing practices have been adopted as well as their contribution to golf organisation business performance. The results are highly supportive of the conventional wisdom as to the ingredients of strategic marketing success. Compared with their lower performing counterparts, the higher performing golf clubs are clearly more active in executing a wide range of strategic marketing practices. However, the results also indicate that there is much scope for golf clubs to do more and better strategic marketing. In the face of a challenging operating environment golf club management can take heart from these results: embracing strategic marketing planning is a beneficial business practice that can help improve long-term club viability.

Even though the vision 2030 framework recognizes the micro, small and medium enterprises’ sector as a key driver to achievement of middle income status in Kenya, their contribution to the achievement of this goal especially within Wajir County is dismal. In Wajir County, the 2016 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises report showed that many of the businesses in the county were stuck at the micro level where only 14 businesses had graduated to medium scaled businesses. It was also among the counties with the lowest change in number of employees when comparing the inception period and the survey period recording a change of 1.4%. The report showed that besides lack of adequate operating funds, limited knowledge and information and poor strategic management skills were the major constraints to the performance of these enterprises. Hence, the county government of Wajir had stepped in to address this challenge by setting up the Wajir County Revolving Fund whose main mandate was to promote the development in Wajir County by providing different kinds of support to these businesses. Nevertheless, studies assessing the impact of the strategic activities/practices under the fund on the performance of the businesses in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the fund were conspicuously missing. This study therefore sought to investigate the effect of the strategic revolving fund practices on the performance of the micro and small businesses in Wajir County. The specific focus was to establish the effect of stakeholder support, strategic training, knowledge transfer and strategic leadership development on the performance of micro and small retail enterprises in Wajir County. The study was guided by the resource based view theory, the theory of constraints, the social capital or social network theory and the balanced scorecard model. The study applied a descriptive survey research design. The study targeted the 855 beneficiaries (business groups and individual businesses) who had benefitted from the fund as at 2018. The study applied stratified random sampling in selecting the sample. The study used semi-structured questionnaires which were administered to the chairpersons for the group businesses and the owners for individual businesses. In analyzing the information from the open ended questions, themes emerging from the responses given were coded and simple summaries generated. The quantitative data analysis was aided by the use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out. A multiple linear regression model was used to show the relationship between strategic revolving fund practices and the performance of micro and small retail businesses in Wajir County. The study found that stakeholder support, strategic training, knowledge transfer and strategic leadership development had positive and significant effect on the performance of the micro and small businesses. The study noted that knowledge transfer had the largest effect on the performance of these businesses. The study concluded that the county revolving fund through various strategic practices/activities under taken under the fund had transformed the performance of micro and small businesses in Wajir County. Several recommendations were made among them the Wajir County government through the department of trade and cooperatives should identify, form networks and present proposals to various parties in diverse industries/sectors whose support can tremendously transform the county revolving fund initiative. The study also recommends that this department should develop a concrete strategy for planning how stakeholders attached to the fund and beneficiary businesses interact and communicate and hold regular consultative meeting with these parties to ensure that they are actively engaged in the activities of the beneficiaries. The study also recommended that training teams attached to the fund should ensure that the concepts of business strategy and other strategic business concepts are deeply enshrined in the training sessions offered to beneficiary businesses.

The study investigated the moderating role of talent management between strategic marketing practices and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the extent to which talent management moderated the effects of market orientation, innovation orientation and digital marketing on performance of SMEs in Ekiti State, Nigeria. From the 928 registered SMEs in Ekiti State, Nigeria, 395 was selected using multi-stage sampling technique. From the five previously stratified groups namely printing, fast food and food processing, metal work and fabrication, agribusiness and laundry services, 55, 75, 98, 87 and 80 SMEs were selected respectively. A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data used for the study and were analysed with the aid of multiple regression and logit models. The results from the study indicated a positive and significant effects of market orientation, innovation orientation and digital marketing on performance of SMEs in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Also the study revealed that talent management moderated positively and significantly between strategic marketing practices and performance of small and medium enterprises in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study recommended that small and medium business owners should endeavor to improve on their talent management and retention with a view to enhancing their performances. Also SMEs need to improve on their strategic marketing practices in order to be successful, remain competitive and profitable in a turbulent economic and highly competitive business environment like Nigeria.

Annual surveys were conducted among a small business panel of 300 businesses during the four-year period 2007 to 2010 aimed at examining small business survival and mortality. By contrasting the profiles of successful businesses with those that closed their doors, a second objective was also attained, namely the identification of principle reasons for small business survival and sustainability. The survey data were applied in a categorical regression model with business survival as dependent variable and several independent variables related to competitive environment, entrepreneurial endowment and comparative advantages as independent variables. The analysis identified the human factor in small businesses and specifically entrepreneurial actions and business management skills as the strongest predictors of small business survival. Businesses portraying these characteristics should be the focus of small business support strategies.

This paper aims to expand our understanding on the success factors of small businesses, which comprise of more than 90 percent of all businesses in U.S. in 2016. One of the most critical issues behind small business success is the competition, which becomes increasingly intense. Not only small businesses fiercely compete with larger competitors (e.g. Emergence of mega-retailers such as Wal-Mart has intensified the competition in the grocery industry, and, as a result, many mom and pop stores have gone out of business.), but also the competition against each other (i.e. competition between small businesses) becomes increasingly aggressive. Yet, the current literature in marketing have less investigated the issue of competition between small businesses, while issues on competition between small and large businesses have been somewhat explored. Another phenomenon in small business that has not received much attention is the competition between generalist and specialist firms. This phenomenon of specialist versus generalist competition is in fact frequently observed in many industries. Therefore, we study competition between small businesses, focusing on the competition between generalist and specialist small businesses. We examine how competitive intensity, as well as market environmental factors, affect the performance of small businesses. Specifically, we decompose the competitive intensity into two types, one between generalists and the other between specialists, in order to identify the differential effects of competition between generalist and specialist, and examine their impacts on the generalist and specialist performance.Given the research questions above, we develop the following hypotheses based on the past research in marketing. First, we expect competition has a positive effect on generalist performance, while we expect the opposite effect on specialist performance. We also expect that the effect of competition becomes weaker, as the competition becomes more intense. That is, the positive (negative) impact of competition on generalist (specialist) performance becomes less significant as there are more competitors in the market. We further expect that competition between the same type of businesses (e.g. between generalists) has a positive effect on their performance, while competition between the difference types (e.g. between generalist and specialist) has a negative effect on their performance. Moreover, we expect that market environmental factors have differential effects on the performance of generalist and specialist.To test the aforementioned hypotheses on the small business competition between generalist and specialist, we collected data from the health care industry on private physician practices (offices) in Korea. Out data contain, for each practice, monthly sales, number of doctors, number of nurses, type of practice, number of beds and zip code it is located in. We also have data on average consumer spending, average medical spending, percentage of patients over sixty years old for each zip code. Moreover, we have data on competition between the same type of offices (e.g. between generalists and between specialists) and competition between different types (e.g. between generalist and specialist). Note that our data collected from the Korean health care industry fit our research questions well. First, the majority of medical service providers in Korea are small private practices with an average number of two doctors, and the share of generalist and specialist practices are about half-and-half. Second, unlike the U.S. health care industry, generalist physicians in Korea usually practice a number of different fields, while specialist physicians focus on their own specialties. Third, patients in Korea do not usually distinguish between generalist and specialist offices, and they do not usually have a primary care physician. As a result, patients can easily switch between physicians, and in fact the switching is highly likely, as all medical information is centralized by government.Our main findings are as follows. First, we find that competition has a positive effect on generalist performance, while it has a negative effect on specialist performance. Specifically, we find that generalist benefits from competition with both generalist and specialist, while specialist suffers from the competition with both specialist and generalist. As competition becomes intense, meaning the number of physician offices increases, it would attract more patients to visit the area where physician offices are clustered (clustering effect), while it becomes easier for patients to switch from one to the other nearby offices. In particular, as generalist usually treats multiple fields (specialties), generalist tends to benefit from the patients who switch from specialist. In other words, generalists benefit from competition, as they free ride on clustering of physicians including specialists, while specialists would suffer from competition. Second, our findings show that as the competition becomes more intense, its effect on business performance becomes weaker. That is, a high level of competition weakens the benefits and damages imposed on the performance of generalist and specialist, respectively. When there are more physician offices to switch, the effect of free riding becomes weaker, as patients have more options to choose from. Thus, the benefit of generalist from free riding becomes weaker, as well as the negative effect on specialist performance. Moreover, our findings suggest that market environmental factors do influence the business performance. Specifically, the performance of both generalist and specialist improves as the number of doctors increases. However, an increase in the number of nurses has a different effect on generalist and specialist. Employing a larger group of nurses has a negative effect on generalist because it might cause the operation of the office to be less efficient. However, since specialist’s practice usually involves a more technical and sophisticated processes, a larger group of nurses could make the office more efficient having a positive impact on the sales performance. Similarly, we find the effects of other environmental factors have differential impacts on the performance of specialist versus generalist.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine small business’ participation in digital marketing and to integrate the do-it-yourself (DIY) behavior model and technology acceptance model (TAM) so as to explore the motivations and expected outcomes of such participation.Design/methodology/approachData from 250 small business owners/managers who do their own digital promotion are collected through an online survey. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the relationships between the models.FindingsThe results contribute to the understanding of small business’ digital marketing behavior by finding support for the idea that the technological benefits may not be the only motivators for small business owner/managers who undertake digital marketing. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, the authors find that the DIY behavior model applies to small business owner/managers who must perform tasks that require specialized knowledge.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this research are that the motivations to undertake digital marketing are limited to those contained in the DIY and TAM models, and the sample may not be representative of all owners and managers who perform digital marketing for their small businesses. Therefore, future research is needed to determine if further motivations to conduct digital marketing exist and whether other samples produce the same interpretations.Originality/valueThis study presents empirical evidence supporting the application of the DIY model to a context outside of home-repair and extends the understanding of digital footprint differences between large and small businesses.

Small businesses comprise 99.9% of all firms in the U. S. (U. S. Small Business Administration, 2018b). As entrepreneurs develop ideas and build a customer base, small businesses create jobs and drive innovation that is critical to the economy. Unfortunately, the majority of small businesses are plagued by high failure rates and poor performance levels, which ultimately lead to decline. A major concern in small business survival is the lack of customer retention strategies, as a means of sustainability. Customer retention can significantly impact a firm’s profit margin, with a 1% increase in customer retention providing as much as a 5% positive change in a firm’s financial standing (Moenardy, Arifin, and Kumadji, 2016). Nearly 80% of a firm’s future profits will derive from 20% of existing customers (Hwang, 2016). The purpose of this research study is to examine the application of retention strategies such as customer relationship management, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, by small businesses in preserving existing customers, thereby having a positive impact on longevity. The research established relationships management, and customer satisfaction, as fundamental elements that can yield increased revenue, enhanced brand equity, and profitable retention. Small businesses with a large pool of satisfied customers tend to have a long-term competitive advantage are more likely to sustain their profitability over a more extended period (Bhat & Darzi, 2016). The results of this study may offer insight into the importance of managing retention for small business survival. In addition, the findings provided tactical approaches and best practices to initiate positive customer experiences, meet and exceed customer expectations, and invoke repeat purchasing behavior as mechanisms to support the long-term profitability of small firms.

While literature is clear on the role of finance in small business survival and growth, the relative importance of formal and informal credit in small business growth remains contentious. While earlier studies report the importance of formal credit in driving growth of firms of all sizes, recent studies find informal credit to drive the growth of only small businesses. The aim of this paper is therefore to contribute to the debate by bringing the context of four developing economies in the Southern African Developing Community (SADC) using the FinScope surveys on 10,830 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (henceforth MSMEs). To address selection bias caused by various factors affecting small business participation in the formal/informal credit market, we used propensity score matching (PSM) where we paired small businesses from the two groups. We examined the effect of access to formal/informal credit on business performance using Average Treatment Effect (ATE) as well as Average Treatment effect on the Treated (ATT). Our results suggest that firms accessing formal credit tend to exhibit better performance in Zimbabwe but a similar performance gain was not observed in the rest of the countries. For informal credit, our results show that firms accessing informal credit tend to perform less than those without access, suggesting value depletion effect of informal credit.

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