IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/entreg/v10y1998i3p243-260.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Business associations and their potential contribution to the competitiveness of SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Robert J. Bennett

Abstract

This paper examines the relations between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and business associations. It identifies sectoral, local and national dimensions and reports survey results in Britain that evidence the range of services supplied and demanded. The paper reviews the theoretical understanding of how associations operate and how they can be expected to relate to their SME members. Using this framework the paper then assesses, largely using new survey evidence, the types of associations most relevant to SMEs, their characteristics, and their services. The paper concludes by arguing that SMEs are one of the least well represented groups of business, their interests are often likely to be swamped in association governance either by large businesses or by employee--status individuals. In general there are also limits to development of services through business associations, although there is strong variation between businesses by sector, location and size. The author concludes that contributions by associations through specific services to individual companies appears to be relatively limited. The chief contribution of associations to competitiveness of their member businesses appears to be their improvement of collective industry standards, e.g. through codes of conduct, information, collective events, benchmarking and management seminars.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert J. Bennett, 1998. "Business associations and their potential contribution to the competitiveness of SMEs," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 243-260, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:10:y:1998:i:3:p:243-260
    DOI: 10.1080/08985629800000014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08985629800000014
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/08985629800000014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J R Bryson & P W Daniels, 1998. "Business Link, Strong Ties, and the Walls of Silence: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and External Business-Service Expertise," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 16(3), pages 265-280, June.
    2. Salisbury, Robert H., 1984. "Interest Representation: The Dominance of Institutions," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(1), pages 64-76, March.
    3. Edward H. Lorenz, 1993. "Flexible Production Systems and the Social Construction of Trust," Politics & Society, , vol. 21(3), pages 307-324, September.
    4. Bowman,John R., 1989. "Capitalist Collective Action," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521362658, October.
    5. Edward Lorenz, 1993. "Flexible Production Systems and the Social Construction of Trust," Post-Print halshs-00483723, HAL.
    6. Joshua Cohen & Joel Rogers, 1992. "Secondary Associations and Democratic Governance," Politics & Society, , vol. 20(4), pages 393-472, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Larrain Aylwin, M.J. & Prüfer, J.O., 2014. "Business Associations, Lobbying, and Endogenous Institutions," Other publications TiSEM 99d2d002-87d2-4d8e-b1d9-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. P. J. A. Robson & R. J. Bennett, 2000. "The use and impact of business advice by SMEs in Britain: an empirical assessment using logit and ordered logit models," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(13), pages 1675-1688.
    3. Mehmet Turker & Zafer Konakli, 2016. "Influence of Nongovernmental Organizations on Forming Country Image and Developing the Country Brand Using Public Diplomacy," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 6(1), pages 221-235, January.
    4. Bertrand, Olivier & Betschinger, Marie-Ann & Brea-Solís, Humberto, 2022. "Export barriers for SMEs in emerging countries: A configurational approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 412-423.
    5. Nugent, Jeffrey B., 2023. "A new institutional perspective on business associations: Filling a gap between firms and states in the dynamic analysis of Richard Day," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 49-59.
    6. David Irwin, 2015. "Kenya’s Business Networks," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(1), pages 21582440145, January.
    7. Larrain Aylwin, M.J. & Prüfer, J.O., 2014. "Business Associations, Lobbying, and Endogenous Institutions," Other publications TiSEM bb36b0e2-f17f-4d76-8637-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Perez-Suarez, M. & Belda Alvarez, J.I., 2019. "The Export Competitiveness Of Social Economy Enterprises. The Case Of Southern Spain," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 19(2), pages 57-74.
    9. Marta Fernández‐Olmos & Ana F. Gargallo‐Castel & Ruimin Wang, 2024. "The effects of business associations in the export–survival relationship: An application to the DOC Rioja wine industry," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 31-45, January.
    10. Helen Lawton Smith & Saverio Romeo & Malika Virahsawmy, 2012. "Business and Professional Networks: Scope and Outcomes in Oxfordshire," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(8), pages 1801-1818, August.
    11. Houghton, Susan M. & Smith, Anne D. & Hood, Jacqueline N., 2009. "The influence of social capital on strategic choice: An examination of the effects of external and internal network relationships on strategic complexity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 1255-1261, December.
    12. Martina Battisti & Martin Perry, 2015. "Small enterprise affiliations to business associations and the collective action problem revisited," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 559-576, March.
    13. Larrain Aylwin, M.J. & Prüfer, J.O., 2014. "Business Associations, Lobbying, and Endogenous Institutions," Discussion Paper 2014-071, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    14. Robert Newbery & Johannes Sauer & Matthew Gorton & Jeremy Phillipson & Jane Atterton, 2013. "Determinants of the Performance of Business Associations in Rural Settlements in the United Kingdom: An Analysis of Members' Satisfaction and Willingness-to-Pay for Association Survival," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(4), pages 967-985, April.
    15. Schmidt, Claudia & Chase, Lisa & Barbieri, Carla & Rilla, Ellie & Knights, Doolarie Singh & Thilmany, Dawn & Tomas, Stacy & Dickes, Lori & Cornelisse, Sarah & Lamie, R. David & Callahan, Rachael & Geo, 2022. "Linking Research and Practice: The Role of Extension on Agritourism Development in the United States," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 4(3), August.
    16. Rosemary Atieno, 2009. "Linkages, Access to Finance and the Performance of Small-Scale Enterprises in Kenya," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-06, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Kurt, Yusuf & Sinkovics, Noemi & Sinkovics, Rudolf R. & Yamin, Mo, 2020. "The role of spirituality in Islamic business networks: The case of internationalizing Turkish SMEs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    18. Carlos Alberto Restrepo Rivillas & Edna Carolina Sastoque Ramírez & Isidro Hernández Rodríguez, 2021. "Proceso de Industrialización en colombia. Desempeño y condiciones institucionales," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Administración de Empresas, number 56, August.
    19. Liang Wang & Justin Tan, 2019. "Social Structure of Regional Entrepreneurship: The Impacts of Collective Action of Incumbents on De Novo Entrants," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(5), pages 855-879, September.
    20. Robert Bennett & Paul Robson, 1999. "Intensity of Interaction in Suppy of Business Advice and Client Impact: A Comparison of Consultancy, Business Associations and Government Support Initiatives for SMEs," Working Papers wp142, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    21. Jeffrey B. Nugent & Jiaxuan Lu, 2020. "Does the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce Align Private Firms with the Goals of the People's Republic of China's Belt and Road Initiative?," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 37(2), pages 45-76, September.
    22. Petrit Gashi & Iraj Hashi & Geoff Pugh, 2014. "Export behaviour of SMEs in transition countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 407-435, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Inkpen, Andrew C. & Currall, Steven C., 1998. "The nature, antecedents, and consequences of joint venture trust," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Hancké, Bob, 2003. "Many roads to flexibility. How large firms built autarchic regional production systems in France," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 513, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Sako, Mari & Helper, Susan, 1998. "Determinants of trust in supplier relations: Evidence from the automotive industry in Japan and the United States," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 387-417, March.
    4. Mathieu Detchessahar, 1998. "L'homologie des trajectoires socioprofessionnelles des acteurs de la coopération interentreprises: un vecteur de confiance et de stabilité," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 1(1), pages 49-70, March.
    5. Joseph Lampel & Zur Shapira, 2001. "Judgmental Errors, Interactive Norms, and the Difficulty of Detecting Strategic Surprises," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(5), pages 599-611, October.
    6. Alessandro Innocenti & Sandrine Labory, 2004. "Outsourcing and Information Management," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 1(1), pages 107-125, June.
    7. R J Bennett, 1998. "Business Associations and Their Potential to Contribute to Economic Development: Reexploring an Interface between the State and Market," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 30(8), pages 1367-1387, August.
    8. Illoong Kwon & Kitae Sohn, 2021. "Trust or distrust: entrepreneurs vs. self-employed," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1553-1570, April.
    9. Valérie Revest & Samira Guennif, 2005. "Social structure and reputation: the NASDAQ case study," Post-Print halshs-00163731, HAL.
    10. Matthew Amengual & Janice Fine, 2017. "Co‐enforcing Labor standards: the unique contributions of state and worker organizations in Argentina and the United States," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 129-142, June.
    11. R J Bennett, 1999. "Explaining the Membership of Sectoral Business Associations," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 31(5), pages 877-898, May.
    12. Culpepper, Pepper D., 2001. "Employers, Public Policy, and the Politics of Decentralized Cooperation in Germany and France," Working Paper Series rwp01-002, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    13. Piotr Zientara & Anna Zamojska & Giuseppe T Cirella, 2020. "Participatory urban governance: Multilevel study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, February.
    14. Seán Ó Riain, 1998. "A Tale of Two Globalizations: The Irish Software Industry And The Global Economy," Papers WP101, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    15. Joost Berkhout & Jan Beyers & Marcel Hanegraaff, 2023. "The Representative Potential of Interest Groups: Internal Voice in Post-Communist and Western European Countries," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 50-64.
    16. Berins Collier, Ruth & Handlin, Samuel P., 2005. "Shifting Interest Regimes of the Working Classes in Latin America," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt9tz0z2gq, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    17. Piotr Zientara, 2009. "A Few Critical Remarks On Globalisation, Democracy And Spatiality," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 56-61, June.
    18. Heller, Patrick, 1996. "Social capital as a product of class mobilization and state intervention: Industrial workers in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1055-1071, June.
    19. Robert Bennett, 2000. "The Logic of Membership of Sectoral Business Associations," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(1), pages 17-42.
    20. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo & James Stoutenborough & Arnold Vedlitz, 2015. "Scientific advocacy, environmental interest groups, and climate change: are climate skeptic portrayals of climate scientists as biased accurate?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 607-619, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:10:y:1998:i:3:p:243-260. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TEPN20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.