Paul Lewis Reynolds

The Need for a New Paradigm for Small Business Marketing? What is Wrong with the Old One?

The entrepreneurial marketing paradigm is open to several interpretations. One such is that we should consider, in particular, the behaviour of small firms, and in particular, small entrepreneurial firms; another interpretation is to argue for the building of a completely new, and substantive, paradigm that builds upon, for example personal contact network development and focuses upon marketing activity being compressed, non‐linear in outlook and application, and informal. In this article the author asks a fundamental question highly pertinent to the developing subject of marketing within small firms. Is conventional marketing theory and practice from the “classical school” applicable to all types of organisations no matter what their size, or do smaller firms need a different sort of marketing, more suited to their particular needs? The paper concludes that in many cases the central core hub of marketing that has become known as the classicist philosophy of strategic marketing management (see Brennan, Baines, and Garneau, 2003) is appropriate and can often be employed to the smaller enterprise with beneficial commercial effects. However there may be some reluctance on the part of small firms to accept the notion that conventional marketing is of particular use. The author hopes that this short paper will provoke a subsequent debate about the current “state of play” concerning the entrepreneurial marketing paradigm.

Predictive strategic marketing management decisions in small firms: A possible Bayesian solution

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a framework for sales forecasting more suitable for smaller firms. The authors examine the sales forecasting practices of small firms and then proceed to discuss the application of Bayesian decision theory in the production of sales forecasts, a method arguably more suited to the smaller firm. The authors suggest that many small firm entrepreneurs are inherently “Bayesian” in their thinking approach to predicting events in that they often rely on subjective estimates at least for initial starting values.Design/methodology/approach – A triangulated approach which uses qualitative group discussions and thematic content analysis, a reasonably large‐scale questionnaire sample survey administered by post and analysed using descriptive statistics and non‐parametric tests of association and a case study approach based on the authors own consultancy activities to illustrate the practical application of the forecasting model suggested.Findings – That many small fir...

A marketing strategy for public sector organisations compelled to operate in a compulsory competitive tendering environment

This article is concerned with entrepreneurial behaviour and the use of marketing by architectural professionals and their business colleagues in building services as a response to the extension of Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CTT) in the UK. CTT is where the functions of the operational divisions under local jurisdiction are offered for tender. Such tenders may be awarded to either private sector operators or the existing in‐house team. The underlying assumption by Central Government is that the outcome will be beneficial to the final consumer through, as a minimum, reduced operating costs. An appropriate academic environment in which to analyse the situation is that suggested by the marketing/ entrepreneurship interface.

Entrepreneurship and the small to medium sized enterprise: a divergent / convergent paradox in thinking patterns between advisers and SME owner managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest a framework for competing theories of entrepreneurship but to argue for transparency in ones attempts to understand this phenomenon. Then to argue that, when matching small business advisers to small business, one should consider their entrepreneurial abilities and match as appropriate. A parsimonious method is suggested to measure entrepreneurial ability – divergent thinking.Design/methodology/approach – A discussion of entrepreneurship and a proposed matrix that considers the relative entrepreneurial abilities of both partners and is then expanded to account for different decision scenarios.Findings – A simple test for divergent thinking is suggested to measure entrepreneurship, applied to some hypothetical scenarios, and is supported by some broad evidence on the relationship between small businesses and commercial banks.Research limitations/implications – At this stage a conceptual article but with real implications for managing SME and adviser relati...

A scheme to increase profitability in entrepreneurial SMEs

Purpose – This article aims to demonstrate how small entrepreneurial firms can employ low cost market research techniques in the area of service evaluation to prioritise the sales effort, increase sales and improve margins.Design/methodology/approach – “Triangulation” has been used. Secondary data included academic sources and internal company records. Primary data included exploratory depth interviews and group discussions, a questionnaire‐based survey and the construction of case studies.Findings – It can be seen from the case study results presented that a customer service appreciation survey can yield useful and actionable information, which can be used creatively by entrepreneurs to bring about significant improvements in business performance in a short space of time.Research limitations/implications – It would have been better if more extensive data were available on customers to allow for more sophisticated quota sampling controls.Practical implications – A model of small firm growth is discussed a...

Moving towards a control technique to help small firms monitor and control key marketing parameters: a survival aid

This article considers that one way to help the small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) to survive is to offer it a robust but simple monitoring and control technique that would help it manage the business effectively and this, in turn, should help to increase its chances of survival. This technique should also be of interest to all people involved with monitoring or advising a large number of small enterprises or business units within a larger organization. For example, a bank manager or a small business consultant responsible for a portfolio of firms. The authors utilize process control techniques more often used in production and inventory control systems to demonstrate how one might monitor the marketing “health” of small firms.