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The academic literature frequently identifies personal networking as a practice that supports SME competitive positioning. This may relate to engagement with social contacts like family and previous work colleagues, or it may relate to engagement with regional or industry sector networks. Whatever the purpose (e.g. related to capability development, seeking market /innovation opportunities), there is some time and cost involved, and the benefits may not be immediately evident. The purpose of networking needs to be clear, and from this point of view, some academic researchers have sought to unpack the dynamics of SME personal networking.
Aodheen O’Donnell (2013) Interviewed 30 Northern Ireland SME mangers and suggested the contribution of networking to small firm marketing were seen as:
– Market Planning
– Managing limited resources
– Keeping existing customers
– Acquiring new customers
– Gathering information about customers
– Managing the product offering
– Managing pricing
– Managing delivery
In relation to networking for innovation, Classen et al (2012) has observed a difference between family SMEs and non-family SMEs (in the Belgium and Netherlands manufacturing sector):
– family SMEs tend to have narrower search patterns within their social networks, and may need to diversify their portfolio of innovation partners and/or employ broadly educated executive managers within the business
– broader search patterns tend to be associated with higher levels of education in all the SMEs considered in this study
SMEs and Open Innovation 