Editorial

Citation

Matlay, H. (2010), "Editorial", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 17 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/jsbed.2010.27117baa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Volume 17, Issue 2

The second issue of volume 17, 2010 incorporates nine articles that reflect the conceptual and contextual richness of the research field relating to small business and enterprise development. This issue includes both quantitative and qualitative articles, which detail a variety of perspectives and approaches. Unlike other journals in our field, we invite contributions that rely on statistical analysis and in-depth case study methods as well as conceptual papers that critique or conceptualise emergent topics of research. True to our vision of facilitating the publication of high quality research on important and emergent aspects of small business and enterprise development topics, we have included in this issue a number of articles that are pertinent to local and regional development as well as papers that contribute to a more generic body of knowledge. While small business and enterprise development represents the conceptual background, the quality of analyses, reflection and writing provides the overall standard that we aspire to achieve. The overwhelmingly positive feedback that we received from a wide variety of stakeholders suggests that we are on the right path and provides a welcomed reassurance and encouragement.

In the first article, Bérard and Delerue examine the effect that national culture can have on the capacity of biotechnology SMEs to protect their intellectual assets and property. The authors found that the capacity to protect intellectual capital varies considerably in accordance with uncertainty avoidance cultures, power distance and individualism. In the second article, Parrott, Roomi and Holliman explore the nature of contemporary marketing activities in SMEs. It emerges that there exists a significant disparity between the perceived marketing effectiveness of SMEs in the research sample and their actual practices. There is a direct correlation between firm size and the application of effective marketing planning in SMEs. In the next contribution, St-Jean, LeBel and Audet focus upon entrepreneurial orientation in SMEs and how this may influence their evolution within a constrained environment. Using the forestry industry as an example, the authors found that entrepreneurially oriented SMEs generate a large portion of their revenue from out-of-forest activities. In contrast, small business oriented firms derive their revenues mainly from in-forest activities. Carroll and Wagar investigate the adoption of information technology (IT) in Canadian SMEs and its impact upon human resource management (HRM) and business restructuring. Although IT adoption rates in SMEs is low, it was found to be strongly associated with employer size, organizational restructuring and investment in HRM. In the fifth paper, Berggren and Silver analyse the financial search behaviour of SMEs in Sweden and their perceptions relating to various external sources of finance. It appears that there are considerable differences in the financial search behaviour exhibited by these SMEs and that banks dominate as the most important finance source for businesses located in smaller municipalities.

In the sixth article, Sibylle Heilbrunn investigates the scope and variety of entrepreneurial opportunities in four clusters of Kibbutzim in Israel. She found that the scope and variety of entrepreneurial opportunities can differ considerably amongst clusters of kibbutz communities. In the seventh contribution, Ngugi, Johnsen and Erdélyi examine the relational capabilities of SMEs engaged in supply transactions with larger customers. The authors claim that a set of relational capabilities may be employed by SMEs in order to enhance their position as preferred suppliers to large organisations. In the eighth paper, Helen Reijonen explores the concept and context of marketing amongst SMEs. She concludes that marketing in SMEs sets out to inform customers about a business as well as its products and/or services. Marketing is also emerges as a useful tool for creating and maintaining profitable customer relationships. The final contribution in this issue is a Research Note authored by Juita-Elena Yusuf. She examines the effectiveness of US start-up assistance programs in meeting the support needs of nascent entrepreneurs. The author found that in 26 percent of cases, start-up assistance programs were effective in addressing nascent entrepreneurs’ support needs. Interestingly, however, the entrepreneurs in her sample continued to perceive these as valuable, regardless of their lack of effectiveness. This apparent mismatch could be explained as a gap between these entrepreneurs’ latent and expressed support needs.

Finally, I would like to thank all the contributors, referees and expert advisors for their time, commitment and help in delivering this issue. In particular, I am grateful to Ruth Heppenstall and Andrew G. Smith for their continuous support and commitment to improve our journal.

Harry MatlayBirmingham City Business School, Birmingham, UK