Small Firm Marketing Research Articles

The Marketing/ Small Enterprise Paradox: A Research Agenda

Charles H. Davis is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Citadel, USA. Dr. Davis is actively involved in various small business research efforts. Gerald E. Hills is Professor of Marketing and holder of the Denton Thorne Chair in Small Business Enterprise at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research efforts have focused on new venture creation issues. Raymond W. LaForge is Associate Professor of Marketing at Oklahoma State University. Dr. LaForge has concentrated his attention toward investigating marketing strategy differences between small and large firms. Research during the past decade has documented the important role of smaller firms in American society. Yet those in the marketing discipline have devoted little attention to the size of enterprise in various strategic marketing situations. The need to include small firms in marketing strategy research projects is discussed, and a number of specific propositions to guide initial small enterprise marketing strategy research efforts are presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of problems and approaches relevant to performing small firm marketing strategy research.

The Evolution of Marketing in Small Firms

Considers the characteristics of small firms from a marketing perspective. Examines the marketing undertaken by firms at different stages of development from start‐up to the medium‐sized firm. Proposes that this normally consists of four stages: initial marketing strategy; reactive selling; the DIY Marketing approach; and integrated proactive stages. Looks at these stages, suggesting that these provide a framework and starting point for further analyses of small businesses.

Professional Marketing in Small Civil Engineering Firms

A study was made to explore marketing efforts of local and regional civil engineering firms with less than 300 employees. The study comprised both library research and a mail survey of 103 principles of the firms. The firms were divided into two classes with respect to the level of their marketing efforts. Firms in one class are typically not concerned with growth and show minimal marketing effort. Firms in the other class are growth-oriented, and view marketing as a major concern. Even among the more aggressive firms, however, marketing efforts are not as effective as they could be. The study identified three key obstacles to more effective marketing by CE firms. They are: (1) Lack of a well-developed marketing management function integrated within the overall management of the firm; (2) lack of refinement in the marketing approach; and (3) inadequate knowledge of marketing concepts and how to integrate them into the firms overall management.