Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development: Volume 11 Issue 1

Internationalization strategies selected by established rural and urban SMEs

Paul Westhead, Deniz Ucbasaran, Martin Binks

This study explores whether there are differences between established “rural” and “urban” SMEs with regard to the decision to sell goods or services abroad. Several hypotheses…

Customer dependency in manufacturing SMEs: implications for R&D and performance

Louis Raymond, Josée St‐Pierre

In the now global business environment, SMEs are being subjected to increased pressures. In the manufacturing sector in particular, increased requirements for information and…

Management, strategy and policy in the UK small business sector: a critical review

Graham Beaver, Christopher Prince

This paper first considers the role and characteristics of the small firm and its collective, the small business sector. A brief examination of the small firm discourse and…

Outsourcing salesforces via self‐employment: the case of direct selling in the UK

John Stanworth, Stewart Brodie, Thomas Wotruba, David Purdy

The past two decades have witnessed little, if any, growth in the numbers of small firms with employees in the UK. At the same time, a substantial growth in the numbers of…

Factors associated with formal networking in regional small business: some findings from a study of Swedish SMEs

R.C. MacGregor

A number of recent studies have suggested that, for small businesses to compete with their larger counterparts in the electronic commerce environment, many are collaborating in a…

Public perceptions of franchising in Britain: releasing the potential

Anna Watson, David A. Kirby

In the two decades prior to 2000, the UK franchise industry showed substantial growth. Subsequently, however, this growth appears to have reached a plateau, with growth of less…

Internationalising high‐technology‐based UK firms’ information‐gathering activities

Marian V. Jones, Dave Crick

Previous studies have shown that lack of information can provide an obstacle to firms’ endeavour to be competitive in oversea markets. This study provides empirical data that…

The role of boards of directors in small and medium‐sized firms

R.J. Bennett, P.J.A. Robson

The size, characteristics and structure of boards of directors have been claimed to be an important influence on the performance of large firms, but have been less examined in…

Systems theory and the common‐sense view of advisers

Kevin Mole

UK Business Link provides bespoke advice to small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) through business advisers. The Small Business Service’s consultation paper, “Integrating the…

The effects of regional capital subsidies on firm performance: an empirical study

Dimitris Tzelepis, Dimitris Skuras

Capital subsidization is a widespread instrument of regional and industrial policy in Europe. A number of recent works have examined the influence of capital subsidization on the…

Problems in transfer of business experienced by Finnish entrepreneurs

Pasi Malinen

Transfer of business will become more and more important in the immediate future as large numbers of entrepreneurs in Europe are growing older. The attention paid to the…

Entrepreneurship, small business and economic growth

Roy Thurik, Sander Wennekers

Looks at the relationship between small business and entrepreneurship and also the differences between the two. Stresses that both are important separately and, in addition, notes…