An Audit of export services in England: developing business focused support

One of the key thresholds in the development of small and medium sized enterprises is exporting and trading internationally. A brief review of the academic and practitioner literature highlights a number of benefits associated with exporting that include exposure to differing ways of ‘how to do’ business and opportunities for the development of joint ventures and strategic alliances. However, several regions within the United Kingdom perceive that they have too few SMEs who trade internationally. Recent estimates suggest that approximately three per cent of the SMEs in the United Kingdom are actively exporting (Bank of England, 1999). Government policy makers have responded to such concerns by providing a range of support programmes to increase the number of SMEs who trade internationally and enhance the skills and capabilities of those SMEs who export, so that they can efficiently and effectively manage the exporting and market development process. Therefore, in the majority of the English regions, there are a range of publicly funded organisations providing advice, consultancy, information and training to SMEs wishing to trade internationally and those businesses already exporting. In addition, SMEs can access a number of export services from private sector organisations such as banks, accountants, freight forwarders and export agents. There has been no overall national ‘stocktake’ or audit of such provision. However, the need for such a stocktake is becoming increasingly important due to the introduction of a number of new support organisations into the institutional landscape and the re-organisation and re-branding of British Trade International as Trade Partners UK and the appointment of a series of Regional International Trade Directors. The introduction of the Small Business Service will have a major impact on the coverage and nature of provision for exporting SMEs within each of the English regions. The introduction of the Small Business Service, however, provides an opportunity to explore and examine alternative configurations of small business support and the types of organisation that are best placed to satisfy the needs of exporting SMEs. This paper presents the key findings to emerge from an audit of export services within each of the English regions. Based on a research and development project undertaken in conjunction with Trade Partners UK, the paper offers insights into: • The coverage of export services available to SMEs within England; • The effectiveness and appropriateness of current configuration of export services; • The ways in which the effectiveness of the current configuration of export services could be enhanced. The audit was based on a series of face-to-face and telephone interviews with local, regional and national providers of export provision. A key argument within the paper is that effective configurations of export and trade development support arise from insights into, and appropriate responses to, the exporting and trade development process as experienced by SMEs. The paper concludes with a number of implications in terms of how business-driven forms of support can be developed.</p

Optical and magneto-optical properties of Fe nanoparticles

The optical and magneto-optical properties of Fe nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 2 to 8 nm, embedded in amorphous Al2O3, are studied as a function of their size and shape. The optical properties were measured using spectroscopic ellipsometry, whereas the magneto-optical properties were determined in two different Kerr configurations: polar and transverse. A generalization of different effective medium approximations is used to describe and analyze experimental data in nanocomposite media. In this generalization, the shapes of the nanoparticles are considered as an input parameter. The optical and magneto-optical parameters show clearly different values as a function of the nanoparticle size. A reasonable agreement between the theoretical calculations and experimental data is found when the average size of the nanoparticles is larger than 4 nm. On the other hand, the experimental and theoretical curves differ for smaller sizes, implying that below 4 nm the optical and magneto-optical constants of the particles deviate from the bulk behavior.J. L. M. wants to acknowledge Comunidad de Madrid’s Consejería de Educación y Cultura for financial support. This work was partially supported by TIC99-0866, MAT98-0974, MAT99-1063, CICYT (Spain).Peer reviewe

The Iowa Homemaker vol.3, no.9

Table of Contents Books – Why Not? by Charles H. Brown, page 3 A Visit to the Bazaars of Stamboul by Eda Lord Murphy, page 4 Glimpses in a Christmas Shop by Helen Brennan, page 4 That Roast Fowl by Viola M. Bell, page 5 Echoes from State Home Economics Convention by Katherine Goeppinger, page 6 Toys That Interest by Bertha Mann, page 7 Christmas Festivities in Foreign Lands by Barbara Dewell, page 8 Christmas Dinner for Two – by Louise Doole, page 9 Italian Hemstitching by Lora Ann Stanke, page 10 Eda Lord Murphy Writes from Constantinople by Eda Lord Murphy, page 10 Who is Responsible for the Child? by Minne Elisabeth Allen, page 11 Holiday Sweets by Alma Riemenschneider, page 12 The Perfect Guest by Lucile Barta, page 12 The Evolution of Home Economics at Iowa State by Ruth Elaine Wilson, page 13 Baskets Which Will Lead Long Useful Lives by Viola Jammer, page 14 Who’s There and Where by Helen I. Putnam, page 1

The entrepreneurial marketing management and commercialization arrangements of born-global bio-enterprises: the case of UK companies

Born global bio-enterprises are a unique “breed” of relatively small biotechnology enterprises operating in multiple countries. The companies are nimble and seemingly well-prepared for challenges that ephemeral markets such as the internationalised biotechnology sector brings. The international marketing management challenges they encounter appear to stimulate their entrepreneurial marketing and commercialisation instincts. Surprisingly, there is a dearth of studies that examine their entrepreneurial predispositions. As such, this study is an attempt to explain their entrepreneurial tendencies by investigating the marketing and commercialisation strategies adopted by born global bio-enterprises in the UK’s biotechnology industry. The study assumes a multi-case approach examining five archetypical born global bio-enterprises currently active in the UK. It contributes to the international entrepreneurship and marketing management literature. Specifically, it provides international business managers with new knowledge about various marketing manoeuvres they can apply in international networks for their marketing mileage. In doing so, the study proposes a theoretical framework mapping out entrepreneurial marketing and commercialisation arrangements in internationalised biotechnology markets. Its findings are useful to various stakeholders including: policy makers, managers of technology-based companies and business management researchers

How Small and Medium Sized Enterprises learn to compete effectively on international markets

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN037443 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

An exploration of buyer-seller relationship development in a high risk market: a case study of a small British exporter in Indonesia

Relationship development has attracted significant attention from both an empirical and a conceptual perspective. Nevertheless, there has been little attention given to the complexities of managing buyer-seller relationships in high risk markets. Much of the research to date seems to have been carried out in benign environments where markets have been quite stable both politically and economically, for instance, Canada, USA and West European countries. This study therefore makes a significant contribution in that it aims to develop a greater insight into the development and management of business relationships in high risk markets where due to environmental instability, there is also a high degree of uncertainty. This paper examines the case of a British family firm building and managing buyer-seller relationships in Indonesia. The study follows in the inductive tradition and uses qualitative research methods to build insights into the development and management of the relationships. In order to take a multi faceted perspective, a number of face-to-face interviews with key management personnel both in England and with the buyer organisations in Indonesia were carried over a period of time. Based on the analysis, the authors identify three main conclusions. Firstly, in an increasingly unstable market where there is not only high risk but a high degree of uncertainty, trust and commitment within a relationship do not necessarily decline as one would expect but can remain stable or even increase. Secondly, in such a market, whilst there is an increased disposition for the more powerful firm in the relationship to use its position to persuade the partner to adapt and cooperate to meet its demands, a willingness to adapt and cooperate can moderate the negative effect of decreasing sales on mutual satisfaction. Finally, it is social satisfaction rather than economic satisfaction that seems to play the greater role in maintaining a healthy buyer-seller relationship in a market where there is a high degree of risk and uncertainty.</p

An exploration of the management practices and processes most closely associated with high levels of export capability in SMEs

Purpose – To take a more holistic and integrated view than in existing studies of export capability among small and medium-sized enterprises, by exploring the key components of marketing management, and the blend of processes, practices and activities most closely associated with high levels of overall export performance. Design/methodology/approach – The principal research instrument is the export marketing profiling system developed by the authors over a five-year period, which provided the framework for data collection and analysis. Findings are derived from 250 semi-structured interviews conducted in SMEs in the Yorkshire and Humber region of the UK. Findings – The study identified 17 key practices, processes and activities that, taken together, are closely associated with export performance. They relate primarily to export marketing strategy, and suggest that a blend of capabilities in the areas of knowledge management (including market research and marketing intelligence), relationship-building, product strategy and pricing are most closely associated with success. Practical implications – The study has particular implications for business-support providers. The findings could be used to assess and evaluate export capability in a wider sense. The conceptual framework could serve as a diagnostic tool for the identification of the areas of operation in which support, intervention and investment might have the greatest impact on overall export capability. Further research in these areas would be of particular importance in the drive to understand the relationship between export capability and performance.</p

Profiling the capabilities of SMEs to compete internationally

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to detail the rationale for, and development of, the Export Marketing Profiling System; a methodology for profiling and benchmarking the capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to compete internationally. Design/methodology/approach – It is the outcome of four years of research, incorporating quantitative, qualitative and longitudinal studies into the international activities of SMEs. Findings – The findings of this research are utilised in the development of a system that recognises key themes and distils them into the specific characteristics, competencies, capabilities and activities that contribute to successful performance in international markets.</p