SMALL BUSINESS NETWORKS: ASSISTING THE IDEA IDENTIFICATION PROCESS

Abstract

In the late 1980s, the Danish Technological Institute received funding to determine whether structured networking might offer a concept for promoting survival and growth among small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). To overcome the frequent absence of a large firm‐type hub in the SME sector, the Institute evolved a five‐phase model in which an independent individual external to the potential network assumes the role of broker and is responsible for guiding an inter‐firm co‐operation process. Observation of a pilot initiative in the UK determined that the most critical event within the process model is the identification of a viable idea which can provide the basis for forming a new business network. A study to gain further understanding of the nature of any process gap within the methodology, which brokers have been advised to utilize, indicated that the technique of unstructured, open‐ended interviewing to gain an understanding of factors influencing the performance of firms is often not very effective. Details are provided here of a new, more structured audit tool. A preliminary qualitative evaluation of the new technique indicated this has significant potential for assisting the broker to rapidly identify a viable idea which can provide the basis for forming a new business network.