Small Business Service Research Articles

Management by association

A key characteristic of small business service firms is their capacity to draw on similar businesses or self‐employed professionals in order to compete with large organisations. This paper presents a qualitative account of the ways in which three small firms from the business services sector managed the critical relationship with associates. The rationale, recruitment and management of associates is explored. It is argued that “matching” approaches that suggest an easy alignment between the firms’ competitive strategy and use of associates fail to appreciate tensions inherent in the relationship. Rather, relations between such enterprises and associates have to be managed in a manner that recognises the particular expectations of the parties, the dynamics of “in‐house” work relations, and the often conflicting pressures occasioned by having to operate in a dynamic and unpredictable market environment.

Managing professional service firms in a multi-ethnic context: an ethnographic study

Whether ethnic minority enterprise is a distinctive phenomenon markedly different from the general small firm population continues to be a major point of interest. However, there are two curious omissions within existing debates. First, the management of social relations within the workplace is rarely an explicit focus for research. Second, the increasingly significant small professional or business service sector remains neglected despite its growing importance. This article addresses these issues through an ethnographic study of two firms from different ethnic groups (African-Caribbean and Pakistani) engaged in the provision of specialist business and computer services. Despite the prevalence of a discourse predicated on notions of 'professionalism', ethnic ties were found to be a significant consideration upon issues relating to recruitment, workforce composition and community linkages. To some extent, ethnic identity predicated on religion was an important influence on business outlook for the Pakistani firm. And the African-Caribbean firm also appeared cognizant of the position of the wider co-ethnic community. However, ethnic considerations were not decisive influences within the workplace. Rather, they interacted with market and employment-related issues, thus creating a 'relatively autonomous' labour process.

Businesses without glamour? an analysis of resources on performance by size and age in small service and retail firms

Businesses without glamour? an analysis of resources on performance by size and age in small service and retail firms

Entrepreneurial dynamics in small business service firms

This paper examines the nature of entrepreneurial dynamics in small business service firms. The past decade has seen a rapid growth in the number of small business service firms, with a corresponding increase in their importance in terms of employment and income generation. Despite the growing body of research on the impact that the entrepreneur has on the performance of small firms, very little of this research has focused on small business service firms. This paper reports findings from a study of the entrepreneurship process in a sample of 20 small business service firms based in the west of Scotland. Using a qualitative research design, evidence is found that entrepreneurs revise their motivations, objectives and strategies over time as a result of changes in market conditions or their own expectations. The most prevalent new objective is found to be business growth which was pursued as a means of increasing profitability, which in turn satisfies both pecuniary and non‐pecuniary intrinsic motivations.

A practical yet meaningful approach to customer segmentation

This paper introduces the concept of the Customer Value Matrix, a customer segmentation approach that is especially well‐suited for small retail and service businesses. The discussion offers insights into the reasons for the development of this practical approach, a concrete methodology for its implementation, and strategic and tactical applications of the concept. The material is supported with strong evidence from “real‐world” examples featuring a variety of small retail and service businesses. The paper concludes with a discussion of the managerial implications for companies that manage chains of small retail or service businesses as to how they can take advantage of local relationship marketing.

Comparative Study of Francophone Male and Female Entrepreneurs Outside Quebec

This research project deals with the differences that may exist between male and female owners of small retail and service businesses in New Brunswick and northwestern Ontario. The factors considered are personal profile, management practices, and certain characteristics of the enterprise. The principal conclusions drawn are as follows: the results obtained concerning the factors of personal characteristics, characteristics of the enterprise corroborate those obtained from previous studies of the same subject. The only differences discovered concern the higher level of post-secondary education of male entrepreneurs in the group surveyed and their more extensive utilisation of certain management practices. However, when controlling for the size factor, differences in management practices between men and women entrepreneurs became less significant. Finally, the results of the study lead us to believe that, on one hand, the goals pursued by women in business may be different from those pursued by men and, on the second hand, it is possible for female entrepreneurs who pursued non-economic goals to stay in business.

The Creation and Growth of Small Business Service Firms in Post-Industrial Britain

Since 1980, the United Kingdom has experienced a dramatic growth in firms and employment in information-intensive business services, such as management consultancy and market research. This article reports the results of the first substantial nation-wide investigation into the nature and causes of small professional business service firm growth in Britain, undertaken in 1991. It reveals marked differences in the characteristics, markets and competitive requirements of such firms, compared with small manufacturing firms. The demand for their services comes predominantly from large companies, and is more focussed on financial and other services and government. But small firms are also making increasing use of business services. Specialised expertise, reputation and educational and professional qualifications are essential prerequisites for the establishment of new business service firms. Their success is also being enhanced by increasing use of informal networking, collaborative partnerships, and subcontracting.

Business service firms, service space and the management of change

The growth of business service firms represents the latest stage in a continuing twentieth century process of technological and organizational restructuring of production and labour skills. It is associated with the rising information intensiveness of production and the development of an economy of signs. Business service activities located in service spaces drive innóva.tions both in production technology and in management systems. The co-presence of business service firms with their clients as well as other business service firms shapes the possibilities of trust between them. A detailed case study of the way in which large client firms utilize the services of independent business service companies is provided. This is followed by an examination of the relationship between small firms and business service expertise. A dual information economy may be developing in which large firms are able to search for specialist business service expertise irrespective of its location, while SMEs are tied into local providers of more generalist expertise.

Small Firms and Local Economic Development in South London

A growing body of literature has identified a number of potential constraints on small firm growth. Arguably, the severity of these constraints is closely related to the differing fortunes of industries and firms and the extent of localised external economies or diseconomies. This paper looks at the constraints facing manufacturing and business service firms in a large urban area. The paper draws on findings from a survey of small firms in Croydon. Data from the survey reveal some differences between small manufacturing and service firms in their experience of the urban environment. Physical constraints on expansion and labour shortages appear to be hindering small manufacturing firms in Croydon. Deficiencies in specific niches of the local business service sector may be preventing small business service firms from complementing and enhancing their internal capabilities. The problems facing small firms in Croydon and the sorts of local policy initiatives being developed are likely to be applicable to other large urban areas.

Small-Firm Creation and Growth, Regional Development and the North—South Divide in Britain

In this paper we analyse regional variations in the characteristics, performance, and growth of small and medium-sized manufacturing and business service enterprises in Britain, with particular reference to their impact on the ‘North—South divide’ in British regional economic development. Using a unique national survey of nearly 2000 smaller businesses, we identify regional differences in enterprise growth rates, market specialisation, innovation rates and research and development intensity, occupational structures, and labour-market problems. We also reveal differences in the frequency of use of government advisory agencies, and in the rating by firms in different regions of key competitive advantages and constraints on growth. These differences do not however conform to simple traditional stereotypes suggested by images of a declining North and a growing South. The implications of these findings both for understanding recent regional economic development in Britain and for policies such as those of local Training and Enterprise Councils are considered.

Braying the organizational environment to remain a PT purist

Performance + InstructionVolume 35, Issue 4 p. 26-28 Article Braying the organizational environment to remain a PT purist Stephen Rice, Stephen Rice skrice@aol.com Stephen Rice is a consultant in the areas of instructional design and performance technology. He may be reached at 2165-G Lake Park Drive, Smyrna, Georgia 30080Search for more papers by this authorKaren Rice, Karen Rice Karen Rice is with BellSouth's Small Business Services. She may be reached at (404) 529-7922.Search for more papers by this author Stephen Rice, Stephen Rice skrice@aol.com Stephen Rice is a consultant in the areas of instructional design and performance technology. He may be reached at 2165-G Lake Park Drive, Smyrna, Georgia 30080Search for more papers by this authorKaren Rice, Karen Rice Karen Rice is with BellSouth's Small Business Services. She may be reached at (404) 529-7922.Search for more papers by this author First published: April 1996 https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.4170350406 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume35, Issue4April 1996Pages 26-28 RelatedInformation

The Re-focusing of Small Business Services in Enterprise Agencies: the Influence of TECs and LECs

PROFESSOR ROBERTJ. BENNETT IS WITH THE Department of Geography, London School of Economics and Political Science, England. This paper assesses the change in focus of a form of British support services for small firms, enterprise agencies, as a result of their increased contracting arrangements with the government-backed Training and Enterprise Councils and Local Enterprise Companies. It is based chiefly on a representative matched postal survey of a sample of agencies which are compared in 1988 and 1992. The paper assesses the changing form of activities, services, client focus, finance and staff. It finds a substantial shift in services, finance and client focus to reflect TEC/LEC priorities both with the unemployed through business start-ups for self-employment, and with larger established businesses. The paper also demonstrates that changes stimulated by TECs towards a stronger output focus follow similar stimuli from private sector sponsors as evidenced particularly by the targetting of resources through secondments. The result has been a more concentrated, more highly focused structure of enterprise agencies and their resources which, under financial pressures, is likely to lead to concentration into a smaller number of agencies in the future, a process being accelerated by the development of another government initiative, Business Links.

The business of managing a small engineering business

The world of small engineering service businesses is a risky one in which to try to operate. Why is it that some businesses survive and others don't? What can a small organisation offer that the competition can't! This article tries to answer these questions.

BUSINESS SERVICE SUPPLY AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION‐COTTBUS, BRANDENBURG

AbstractAs sources of expertise for firms, business services play a major role in the transformation process of East Germany from a centrally planned economy to a capitalist market economy, in which entrepreneurial knowledge has to be developed. For Cottbus, the easternmost of the German cities with over 100,000 inhabitants and a centre of brown coal mining and energy production, a study of business services, their origin and linkages was undertaken in 1992. It shows that West German control is strong but not all‐encompassing. The small business service offices in the city, however, work predominantly for small and medium‐sized companies in the region and are not engaged by the surviving large economic units controlled by Treuhand or West German and West European enterprises. The massive degree of external control, which characterizes most sectors in East Germany now, limits the market for regional business service establishments.

A review of the technical options for evolving FITL to support small business and residential services

Fiber in the loop (FITL) is being implemented in many countries for telecoms services, with fiber directly entering larger business premises. Fiber already serves DLC's, remote concentrators and street multiplexers at the 600-home level for customers and buildings requiring lower numbers of lines. Transport of video over fiber is becoming commonplace, now serving less than 2400 homes. This paper considers scenarios for fiber to penetrate further into the local loop by reviewing access service requirements and some FITL issues. It highlights enabling technologies for telecoms and video services and options for operators to roll out future services using FITL systems. >

The Creation, Location and Growth of Small Business Service Firms in the United Kingdom

Since 1980 the United Kingdom has experienced very rapid growth in firms and employment in information-intensive business services. This paper documents the scale, nature and geography of this growth, with particular reference to small and new firms in management consultancy and market research. Business service growth has contributed powerfully to the UKS North-South divide, being focused on London and the outer South East. The findings of a detailed survey of small business service firms suggest that such firms are important for national and regional economic growth. The growth of small firms reflects a variety of forces rather than any single factor, but is centred on increased demand for specialised expertise and information. Entrepreneurs setting up new small firms are predominantly motivated by the perceived benefits of independence and financial gain.

Business networks, small firm flexibility and regional development in UK business services

Since 1980, the UK has experienced a dramatic growth in firms and employment in information–intensive business services, such as management consultancy and market research. Recent expansion of new and small firms operating in these sectors is the focus of a major ESRC–sponsored research project currently under way at Cambridge University Small Business Research Centre. Small business service firms are able to compete successfully with large firms due to the imperfect nature of the market which characterizes business services demand and supply, together with specialization of expertise. The success of small business service firms depends on informal person–to–person networks, word–of–mouth recommendation and repeal business based on successful earlier assignments or personal contacts acquired, for example, while working in a large consultancy or market research company. This paper examines the types of networks utilized by small business service firms and argues that two distinct types exist: demand– and s...

Productivity in Small Business: An Analysis Using African Data

Labor and floorspace cost functions are derived for small business trade. Relationships are proposed between average volume of labor or average floorspace per establishment on the one hand, and average size per establishment, average rental paid, percentage selling space, and indicators of business type and location on the other. Promising estimation results are reported using South African data of 1979/1980. The method however Is not restricted to the South African case. A productivity business support system can be developed providing productivity standards for any area in the small (service) business. An analysis similar to the one presented here, but relating to the area in question, should precede the development of such a system.