Editorial

Citation

Marlow, S. (2001), "Editorial", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 7 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijebr.2001.16007eaa.001

Editorial

From discussions with various female colleagues at conferences, workshops and consultancy meetings it has become apparent that we have common ground not only in our interest in smaller firms but also in all things equine. So as well as developing critical analyses upon theory, policy and practice we catch up on a good horsey chat – this has even extended to colleagues in New Zealand and Australia, so we have engaged with international equining! However, just recently the foot and mouth crisis in the UK has turned these "chats" into more serious discussions about the effect the situation has had on rural businesses. It is often forgotten that agriculture consists largely of smaller businesses in family ownership, where crisis of competitiveness have been threatening for some years. Given the precarious state of the industry, an event such as foot and mouth has had a disastrous effect and it has been suggested, by the NFU, that, given that the average age of farmers is in the late 50s, many will now retire upon the receipt of their compensation. This will create specific problems regarding the management of land and what type of businesses, if any, will emerge to fill the gap. The effect of this disease on the farming community and the tourist industry has been well publicised and we would expect to see this situation carefully monitored. However, there are a great many other businesses, which are not tourist related but dependent on rural leisure pursuits, which have been very badly affected and to which little attention has been given. My colleagues and I have observed first-hand the effect upon livery stables, riding-schools and riding clubs, whose businesses have been virtually closed down – the very types of businesses into which farmers have been encouraged to diversify to protect them against the decline of small-scale agriculture. The strain upon these small enterprises has been little recognised and this is disturbing, as the rural economy obviously needs to expand and diversify, and indeed, as more traditional farmers look to retire, it is the leisure industry which has the potential to expand. This situation needs to be carefully monitored by the Government but also offers some fertile ground for research inquiry. There has been a noticeable neglect of this area with the exception of some work by Carter (2001), for example. Whilst most rural businesses may not have the potential for exceptional growth, and many may remain at the level of life style firms, their contribution to a section of the economy, which is volatile in the extreme at the moment, will be critical. It would be interesting to receive word of work which has considered rural business and the problems faced at the moment either in the UK or elsewhere.

In this issue of the Journal, however, we have departed from the usual formal style by offering a longer monograph. This work by James Hill from the University of Ulster represents an overview of his PhD thesis and offers an opportunity for a more in-depth discussion of a specific issue. Doctoral theses are a rich source of original argument and data but so often remain unexplored once completed. Hence, we are pleased to be able to offer the opportunity for researchers to present their work in a shortened but coherent format. We hope to be able to repeat this innovative approach, should other suitable monographs be made available. This particular work reports on a five-year study of 57 small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK and Ireland. The focus of the study was to identify the key determinants of SME marketing activity. A syncretised qualitative methodology was developed for the study with a research approach that was both deductive and instructive. The key outcomes of this study were the development of a core spectrum of marketing competencies for SMEs and the identification of strong sales orientations amongst smaller firms. Significantly, the paper concludes with the development of a holistic model of SME marketing and, whilst this model is entrepreneurial in character, it depicts the SME as a much more sophisticated marketing entity than has been suggested in any previous research.

Sue Marlow

Reference

Carter, S. (2001), "Multiple business ownership in the forum sector – differentiating monoactive, diversified and portfolio enterprises", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 43-59.