Much has been written about SME owner-manager decision making and SME marketing efficiency. SME marketing theories have been drawn from the marketing, management and entrepreneurship literatures. These have provided the foundation for investigative empirical work focusing on how SME owner-managers actually do business. This paper reviews the relevant literature and offers some insights based on experience of working with SMEs at different stages of their development. Then two SME case examples are used to illustrate how SME owner-managers develop specific business activities within very competitive markets by focusing on SME business efficiency in practice. The case findings are considered in the context of current business practice and leadership thinking.

This paper identifies different ways in which growth-minded SME owner-managers can recognize realistic opportunities for their companies. The entrepreneurship and marketing fields of study are investigated to create an understanding of the opportunity recognition process of owner-managers. Research using a qualitative methodology consisting of in-depth interviews with owner-managers of 20 SME's that had clearly demonstrated a desire to grow was carried out. This study found that management of opportunity recognition in owner-managed SME's is as much a management function as an entrepreneurial one. Opportunity recognition in SME's requires innovative individuals, but this does not mean that they are necessarily entrepreneurs; it requires marketing skills in the strategic sense but does not need professional marketers or functional marketing expertise. Opportunities can best be recognized by owner-managers with relevant market knowledge, and can be gained through experience or analysis and needs a trigger or motivating propensity.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to propose the application of social practice theory for the investigation of entrepreneurial marketing (EM) practices.Design/methodology/approach– A theoretical gap has been found between scholarly efforts to explain the nature of EM practice and the actual marketing practice or marketing doings of small firms.Findings– The paper covers some of the EM literature and perspectives and examining the notion of “practice” in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and entrepreneurship research. Based on an increasing focus on practice in the social theory literature and the contributions of key social theorists, a discussion is framed in terms of how EM practice can be studied through the investigation material and bodily observations and common interpretations.Research limitations/implications– The paper offers a proposal that the observations of practitioners’ actions and activities and the investigation of common interpretations can be conceptualized to explain the nature of EM practice. It also gives avenues for future research.Practical implications– The paper suggests that marketing comprises a wide scope of activities or practices and, in the case of a small firm, is all-pervasive. It also suggests that scholars engage in understanding the collective, distributed, situated, ongoing and tacit nature of EM.Originality/value– The paper provides a fresh conceptual approach about how EM practice can be studied through the investigation material and bodily observations as well as common interpretations.

Within the realms of academic research, it is appropriate to reflect on the genesis of a research stream; assess its achievements, and postulate future research directions. Such is the intent of this chapter that provides an overview of research at the marketing and entrepreneurship interface (MEI). A number of perspectives have been discussed in the literature and these are reflected here. Notwithstanding this debate, and on a more practical level, the skills and competencies that an understanding of the MEI can embed in our graduates through teaching are highlighted. On an equally practical note, the range of research methodologies utilized by MEI researchers are discussed before considering international research trends at the MEI. The chapter concludes with an overview of the work published in the Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship as a means of illustrating the scope of research conducted at the MEI before considering future directions.

In many peripheral regional economies, the decline in indigenous industries has shifted the focus of attention onto SMEs. With a small firm base and a small local market, an economic priority in a regional economy is to instigate growth. In this context exporting is an essential growth strategy for SMEs. Therefore, the focus of this study was to understand what stimulates SME entrepreneurs to initiate export marketing, examine the difficulties and problems they encounter and ascertain what marketing activities can be used to overcome these and ensure their success in export marketing. In pursuing these issues, the findings illustrate the value of networking as an aid for entrepreneurial exporting activities. The overall conclusion of this study was that SME entrepreneurs were moving rapidly from initial stimulation to their current export positions, encountering a variety of difficulties and problems. In order to overcome these problems SME entrepreneurs used networking extensively and responded to opportunities by benefiting from their inherent flexibility and developing marketing activities to suit specific export markets.

The concept of co‐operation amongst competitors has been considered for some time in the marketing literature generally, and in the small firm marketing literature specifically. However, despite the recognition that small firms do co‐operate, there has been comparatively little attention paid to the ways in which such co‐operation takes place. Co‐operation amongst small firms tends to be only conceptualised as a group of competitors banding together to create a market presence and compete against larger, more established firms. Based on a series of in‐depth interviews with owner‐managers of small firms in a wide array of industry sectors, this paper examines the relationships that small firm owner‐managers maintain with their competitors. Specifically it reports that cooperation between competitors takes place at various levels with so‐called joint venture arrangements such as that described above, representing just one type of co‐operative behaviour. It further highlights the circumstances where co‐operation is likely to occur and how this co‐operation is manifest by examining the motivations for co‐operation and expected and actual outcomes. It also discusses the factors which may preclude cooperation between small firms and their competitors. Such factors include the nature of the industry sector, the level of competition in the market, the size of the competing firms, the age of the small firm, the existence of an association that represents the industry, the perceived level of professionalism within the industry and trust amongst firms.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sources and nature of opportunities used by owner-managers of small and medium size (SMEs) firms in order to grow their businesses. In addition to the owner-manager's desire for growth, clearly there needs to be both opportunities to pursue and sufficient management activities that will discover such opportunities, so that a business can grow. These opportunities may originate through some form of environmental change such as advances in technology or by exploiting changes in the marketplace, for example, the exit of a competitor.Research was carried out within twenty SMEs whose owner-manager's aimed to grow their businesses. The focus of the research was on the sources of opportunities they encountered and how and why opportunities were recognized by these firms.The key findings of this research illustrate that the majority of sources for business opportunities for SMEs in this study lie in the market place and are not a direct consequence of environmental change. Traditional marketing analysis tools can, therefore, identify significant sources and scope for growth opportunities for SMEs.

The focus point of this article is to explore the nature of strategic alliances as an innovative marketing tool. Previous research has identified a list of key constituent elements that encompass the nature of innovative marketing in SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises). One of these elements is the creation of strategic alliances particularly when SMEs find themselves operating in a competitive environment. In order to understand the complex and dynamic issue of innovative marketing in SMEs a case study approach was adopted in order to facilitate the emergence of new theoretical relationships. Eight case SMEs were recruited representing a mix of service and manufacturing industries. The study revealed that SMEs engage in different types of strategic alliances for innovative marketing purposes to achieve two different outcomes: first, to achieve different organisational goals, and second, to overcome inherent challenges such as a lack of resources. By linking with other companies SMEs can access a broader variety of resources (such as expertise, finance and networks) over a wider geographic area. These linkages increase their competitive advantage and innovative marketing impact.

Purpose This paper aims to be a reflection on the marketing/entrepreneurship interface paradigm after ten years. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews original comments made in the inaugural issue Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship and uses relevant parts of this to serve as a foundation for contemporary reflections. Findings The paper finds that perhaps there is a need to refocus research initiatives towards small business (SB) marketing/entrepreneurship. Practical implications Given the dearth of knowledge within the small business sector of WEB and WEB 2.0 as potential business tools, there are potentially huge practical implications stemming from meaningful research outcomes. Originality/value Comments are original thought based on many years' research and practice in the SB marketing/entrepreneurship interface.

This paper considers the nature of innovative marketing in the context of SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises). Research was carried out to identify SME decision-makers' perspectives on innovative marketing and to compare these with the nature of innovative marketing practices actually carried out by the SMEs. An interpretivist methodology was adopted for this research using convergent interviewing and observation techniques to help build up a picture of SME owner/managers' perceptions in relation to innovative marketing and to develop an understanding of the nature and scope of their marketing in practice. Eight case SMEs were selected in accordance with a pre-determined set of criteria enabling a purposive selection of case companies which were ‘rich’ in information in the selected research area. The empirical findings demonstrated that innovative marketing pervades much of SME owner/managers' thinking and marketing activity with particular reference to the competitive market circumstances within which they operate.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to investigate the concept of innovative marketing and how it manifests itself in the context of small‐to medium‐sized enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThe literature relating to the characteristics of SMEs, and innovative marketing are reviewed to identify the key elements of innovative marketing and SMEs. This review and the key elements identified contribute to an overall conceptualisation of innovative marketing for SMEs.FindingsThe discussion considers and provides a description of innovative marketing in SMEs. Innovative marketing does not just relate to products, new product development, and technological development but is also evident in other aspects of marketing related activities and decisions and is very specific to the context and needs of the SME.Originality/valueThe focus of this paper is on taking the relevant themes from the literature and considering them in the light of SME marketing and in the context of SME business activities.

PurposePrevious research has identified and clarified the nature of innovative marketing in small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), providing a list of key constituent elements. While this list of innovative marketing variables goes some way towards explaining the nature of innovative marketing it does not aid the understanding of the relevance and inter‐relationship of these variables. The aim of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework to facilitate further exploration of the core elements of innovative marketing in SMEs.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach is adopted in order to facilitate the emergence of new theoretical relationships based on the understanding of the complex and dynamic nature of innovative marketing in SMEs. Eight case SMEs are recruited, two of the case SMEs from the service industry, three from manufacturing and three of the SMEs combined elements of both service and manufacturing.FindingsThe findings of the study illustrate the component parts of innovative marketing and the inter‐relationships between those parts in accordance with their role in innovative marketing and practices in SMEs. In order to categorise SME innovative marketing constructs, the conceptual framework transformation, assimilation, prediction and exceptionality (TAPE) is developed from relevant literature. This helps to encapsulate and explore elements of SME innovative marketing. Based on this study, the TAPE framework can more appropriately be changed to transformation, assimilation and prediction (TAP), to reflect the finding that exceptionality is inconclusive in terms of its relevance to innovative marketing in SMEs. The exclusion of exceptionality from the framework is a surprising insight emanating from the research as it contradicts previous studies. Traditionally, these elements will have been considered to be the core of innovative marketing. The conclusion here is that exceptionality be treated with caution in relation to SMEs.Originality/valueThis paper presents a theoretical framework TAPE to re‐conceptualise elements of innovative marketing. In light of the role each element plays in SME marketing activities and practices, this paper confirms the value of TAP but not exceptionality.

Purpose - The purpose of this commentary is to discuss environmental Uncertainty and to illustrate the value of scenario planning for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMES) operating in a volatile environment.Design/methodology/approach - The literature regarding strategy formulation, environmental uncertainty and scenario planning is reviewed and considered in the context of managerial decision making.Findings - Given the way managers learn to "know" what is happening in their business environment, scenario planning can be adapted for use by SME owner/managers.Originality/value - Although scenario planning was developed for use by large companies. this paper illustrates that it can be used by smaller firms.

PurposeThe purpose of this commentary is to discuss environmental uncertainty and to illustrate the value of scenario planning for small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in a volatile environment.Design/methodology/approachThe literature regarding strategy formulation, environmental uncertainty and scenario planning is reviewed and considered in the context of managerial decision making.FindingsGiven the way managers learn to “know” what is happening in their business environment, scenario planning can be adapted for use by SME owner/managers.Originality/valueAlthough scenario planning was developed for use by large companies, this paper illustrates that it can be used by smaller firms.

The contributors to this book explore the role and importance of qualitative, interpretist research in the dynamic field of enterprise. They establish the link between the innovative nature of small enterprise and the need to utilise research methodologies, which are themselves innovative.