Entrepreneurial Marketing: The Growth of Small Firms in the New Economic Era

Citation

McAdam, M. (2004), "Entrepreneurial Marketing: The Growth of Small Firms in the New Economic Era", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 10 No. 1/2, pp. 167-170. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552550410521452

The aim of this book is to provide greater insights into the marketing entrepreneurship interface by demonstrating the importance of both disciplines in the new economic era. Moreover, the book has been designed for students, scholars and practitioners of marketing and entrepreneurship. The emphasis is firmly placed on the small firm operating within the new economic era and consequently, the book argues that an understanding of entrepreneurial marketing is essential in order to achieve small firm growth in this era.

The book begins by addressing the issue of the small firm. However, the book fails to clearly distinguish between the small firm owner and the entrepreneur and this has repercussions throughout the rest of the text. The key theme of the book is that the dominant view of marketing fits the old economic era and as such may have little relevance for firms competing in today's economy. Building on this, entrepreneurship is introduced as the driving force behind this new economic era.

The key components of entrepreneurship are referred to as job creation and the increasingly importance of innovation and technological change. However, the book relies on trait theory in order to provide an understanding of the entrepreneur. This understanding would have been enhanced by acknowledgement of other approaches, as trait theory is nowadays somewhat disregarded. In fact the discussion fails to fully recognise the importance of the entrepreneur's environment. Recognition of the entrepreneur's environment would have enhanced the subsequent discussion on the relevance of networking theory to the entrepreneurial process.

By emphasising the role of language and corporate culture, the book claims to address these two important aspects of the firm which are often overlooked whilst researching marketing and entrepreneurship. The book makes a bold attempt to move away from traditional marketing theory towards the concept of entrepreneurial marketing that it considers to be more apt for the new economic era. The book argues that both transactional and relationship marketing have a role to play and should not be used exclusively. Possible foci for understanding the entrepreneurial marketing firm are identified as the entrepreneur, the growing firm or the virtual network, processes, the various comments of the offerings and transactional or relationship actions. Building on this, an entrepreneurial marketing framework is offered consisting of four pillars, entrepreneurship, resources, processes and actors.

The concluding chapter of the text provides a summary of each chapter as well as advice for practitioners of entrepreneurial marketing. Consequently, this chapter lends a degree of realism to the book and provides a good balance between theory and practice thus, increasing credibility and reinforcing learning. In conclusion, this is an ambitious text that aims to provide insights into entrepreneurship and marketing in the new economic era. Overall, the book reflects the current thinking of the synergy between marketing and entrepreneurship and emphasises the importance of the marketing and entrepreneurship interface. The key theme of the book is the appropriateness of entrepreneurial marketing for the new economic era and its lack of recognition in the literature to date. This book makes an ambitious stand for entrepreneurial marketing and calls for others to do the same in order to contribute to an area that is still to a large degree in its infancy.

At the moment the book is only available in hardback. The text consists of ten chapters, three hundred pages in total. A brief summary of each of the chapter is included.

Chapter one: small is beautiful

This chapter introduces the key concepts discussed in the book, as such this chapter plays particular attention to the terms entrepreneurship and the small firm. The key objectives as well as the structure of the book are presented. The key theme of the chapter is the importance of entrepreneurial marketing in the new economic era and its lack of recognition in the literature to date.

Chapter two: marketing in the old economic era

Provides insights in the main developments in the area of marketing and as such positions marketing research today. The key conclusion from this chapter is that marketing research does not accommodate the new economic era and has little relevance for the small technology based firm. Moreover, the concept of relationship marketing has not been applied in such a way that incorporates the true spirit of entrepreneurship in this economic era.

Chapter three: entrepreneurship: creating new business ventures

Within this chapter insights are provided into the area of entrepreneurship. Attention is paid to entrepreneurship's role in the new venture creation process. The distinctions between entrepreneurship management and leadership are made as well as an attempt to distinguish between what it means to explain entrepreneurship as opposed to understanding entrepreneurship. The key theme of this chapter is the dynamic nature of the entrepreneurial process and the effort required in sustaining this dynamic process within the new economic era.

Chapter four: marketing of big firms and small firms

In this chapter the similarities and discussions between marketing in small firms and big firms are discussed. The chapter concludes that the differences between the two are large enough to warrant the two areas being treated separately.

Chapter five: marketing entrepreneurship and culture

This chapter addresses the influence of cultural similarities and differences on the areas of entrepreneurship and marketing. Moreover, the importance of the cultural context is identified in terms of understanding of entrepreneurship and marketing in the new economic era.

Chapter six: growth, learning and co‐creation

This chapter addresses the issue of growth and in particular differentiates between managerial growth and entrepreneurial growth. This chapter also refers to the relationship between growth and learning. Building on this, two types of learning are identified, exploitative and explorative learning. The key theme of this chapter is the importance of acknowledging the different types of learning and growth. Failure to acknowledge these may be result in inaccurate conclusions regarding growth learning and co‐creation in the small firm.

Chapter seven: marketing as co‐creation of customer value

In this chapter marketing is referred to as co‐creation of marketing value. In the new economic era, such co‐creation is the result of networking, incorporating many different actors. In order to provide the reader with an understanding of the co‐creation process, a model of the co‐creation process is offered. This model focuses on the interaction on three levels, the entrepreneur, the focal growing firm and the network itself.

Chapter eight: a conceptual framework for entrepreneurial marketing

This chapter addresses the issue of marketing for the small entrepreneurial firm and as such offers a framework based on the concept of entrepreneurial marketing. This framework focuses on the creating capability of the firm as well as incorporating aspects of transactional and relationship marketing. The chapter argues that entrepreneurial marketing provides useful insights into how to achieve small firm growth in the new economic era.

Chapter nine: some areas of importance for excellent entrepreneurial marketing

Building on the discussion presented in the previous chapter, this chapter focuses on key elements of entrepreneurial marketing and provides insights into future developments in this area. One of the key aspects of this chapter is the acknowledgement that research in this area is still at the infancy stages.

Chapter ten: entrepreneurial marketing: leading and managing in the new economic era

A summary of the book is presented. Moreover, advice is offered as to how to grow successfully in the new economic era. Key statements from each chapter are selected and advice is offered regarding implementation for the new economic era.