This empirical study investigates the characteristics of a cohort of 166 small businesses which were set up during a period of recession by founders, all of whom had experienced a period of unemployment prior to start‐up. These new ventures were appraised and supported by their local Training & Enterprise Council (TEC) prior to start‐up and in their formative months. This paper analyses the appropriateness and success of support services in the light of an empirical investigation of the factors which appear to impact on survival/failure and growth prospects of surveyed businesses. Comparisons are made between those businesses which are still trading and those which have ceased trading and between businesses with high and low growth expectations. Factors which are investigated include the founders’ personal background and experience; reasons put forward for start‐up; early problems encountered in running a business; business objectives and expectations.
Category management has been promoted as a mechanism to achieve closer working relations between suppliers and retailers. The premise has been that category management should result in a reduced reliance on the use of power as an element of the relationship and increased levels of cooperation. However, power is an element of any relationship and exists even when not activated. Further, the premise rests on the notion that cooperation is a polar opposite of power. This research confirms that food industry managers perceive the use of power in solely negative terms. Power can be defined operationally as the ability of one channel member to influence the marketing decisions of another channel member and hence must be related to cooperation. This paper reviews the nature of dependence, power and cooperation and explores the role of these constructs in the practice of category management. The results of continuing research in the area of category management relationships are reported.
Addresses the relevance of marketing principles and how marketing should be practised in very small or micro firms by studying new start businesses in the West Yorkshire area. Reports qualitative research findings from in‐depth interviews with a sample of 18 small business founders using simple content analysis and case study techniques. Addresses specific topics including customers and customer focus; competitive advantage and positioning; marketing communications; marketing planning and strategy; and key issues involved in business growth and development. Concludes with a summary of how marketing is practised in small businesses, based on the research findings; an examination of marketing in different types of businesses; and recommendations on how marketing can help small businesses improve performance and achieve growth.
This study documents how owners of small businesses arrive at growth objectives for their firms. The decision to pursue (or not) a growth objective involves trade‐offs among both financial and non‐financial factors. Owners' growth decisions appear to be shaped by attitudes towards owners' perceived outcomes of growth and the opinions (about growth) of important others in the owners' lives. Male and female owners exhibit strong similarities in how they arrive at growth decisions. However, female business owners appear to accord relatively more weight to their needs for a supportive managerial and spousal setting and to be discouraged to a relatively greater degree by the growth‐related stress associated with personal demands made on their time and family. Résumé Cette étude documente la façon dont les propriétaires de petites entreprises formulent des objectifs d'expansion pour leur firme. La décision de suivre (ou de ne pas suivre) un plan donné comprend des facteurs financiers et non‐financiers. Les décisions d'expansion que prennent les propriétaires semblent dictées par les attitudes et la perception qu'ils ont au sujet de la croissance de leur propre entreprise. Elles sont aussi dictées par les opinions des personnes que les propriétaires ont en estime. Il existe de grandes similarités entre la façon dont les hommes propriétaires d'entreprise et les femmes propriétaires d'entreprise arrivent aux décisions concernant la croissance de leur entreprise. Mais, les propriétaires femmes semblent avoir relativement plus besoin d'une situation directoriale et familiale stimulante et sont découragées à un niveau relativement plus élevé par le stress lié à la croissance et les exigences faites sur leur temps et leur famille.
Discusses the relationship literature, drawing on relationship marketing, marketing, organisational behaviour, and strategy literatures and provides an overview of the central constructs of power/dependency, commitment and trust. Subsequent discussion examines these constructs in the UK food industry context through a discussion of three types of retailer‐supplier relationship: partnership between retailer and strong branded supplier (usually market leader); own brand/private label relationship; and retailer relationships with secondary brand manufacturers. A small number of own brand suppliers have interdependent relationships with retailers. However, they lack the strong marketplace brand which reflects a large part of the bargaining power of branded market leaders. These three types of relationship reflect different levels of interdependence/dependence and provide useful insights into the constructs that managers might use to better manage and prioritise these relationships. Takes account of the power imbalances in the industry, provides realistic evaluation of somewhat overused and frequently imprecise concepts – power, trust etc. Major innovations in retailing – category management and efficient consumer response – require close co‐ordination of trading partners. Retailers and manufacturers embark on a range of relationships – discrete exchange relations to value laden relationships. Provides a framework for understanding the value of these different relationships. Finally, this paper looks forward to the next millennium.
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