entrepreneurs or small businesses adopt
marketing principles, the question should
be how they structure this element of
their business. Some authors37–39 are now
proposing that an entrepreneurial, rather
than classic, marketing style is more
appropriate for the smaller firm.
Murray40 contends that marketing is
the role which could most ably adapt to
become the ‘entrepreneurial homeland’.
Marketing is, he claims, more innovative,
more socially aware and more
entrepreneurial than other
decision-making areas of the company.
His assessment of the characteristics of
marketing managers in large businesses
echoes the characteristics identified here
as unique to small business owners and
entrepreneurs, leading to the assumption
that marketing and entrepreneurism sit
comfortably together, and that it is a
tension between classic marketing
structure and entrepreneurial marketing
style that provokes so much of the
discussion.
A formal strategic marketing plan,
with its principal focus being the
identification and creation of a
competitive advantage, is seen to be a
source of significant benefits to any
organisation.41 Bonoma42 says that
marketing has for a number of years
been long on advice about what to do in
a given competitive or marketing
situation, and short on useful
recommendations on how to do it within
company, competitor and customer
constraints.
The literature shows that a number of
attempts have been made to produce
complex theories and formal procedural
models for marketing planning in small
businesses,43–46 however the approaches
vary considerably and are amended and
adapted in subsequent studies. None of
the theories or models has been adopted
by practitioners and no coherent
direction or guidance has been given