Home › Practical support & advice › Management community › Discussions › Management CPD › Do we look to small companies enough?

Do we look to small companies enough?

Submitted by Mike Davies on Thu, 02/09/2010 - 09:04

Whenever I read management or business case studies they invariably seem to focus on the great performance of big, often multi-national companies.  You know the likes of IBM or GE, but there must be lots of really well managed companies that operate in smaller niches that are just as important to learn from.

Do we look to small companies enough?

You are not watching this post, click to start watching
Submitted by Ben Acheson on Fri, 03/09/2010 - 14:49 Profile image

We should take a close look at today's small businesses and the people leading them. These are the corporations and leaders of the future. Here are some case studies:

 

http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/successstories/index.html

http://www.smallbusiness.co.uk/channels/start-a-business/success-stories/

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/successstories/

"The UK’s 3.7 million SMEs account for approximately 40% of our GDP and have an annual turnover of one trillion pounds. Employing over 12 million people in the UK, they also account for 85% of the 2.3 million extra jobs created by new businesses in the private sector between 1995-99 and more than 50% of the 3.5 million jobs gained"

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/strategy/assets/briefing.pdf

http://www.fsb.org.uk/stats

Submitted by Adrian Gaskell MCMI on Fri, 03/09/2010 - 15:00 Profile image

There's a whole term for just this subject - Hidden Champions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Champions

I have been reading a bit about these sort of companies over the past week and there are some super lessons out there.

Submitted by Robert Fern CMgr FCMI on Wed, 08/09/2010 - 09:55

As MD of a small business I find the challenges of day to day management to be far more intense than my experience in large multi-national companies.

Every hiring decision impacts on the ability of the company to meet its goals, every day lost through sickness puts a strain on the rest of the team, every sale won means expansion and every sale lost is time we cannot reclaim.

Managers in small businesses have to be on top of their game every day; there is no hiding place.

A greater focus on succesful small businesses may encourage others to set up their own companies and take on a whole new management challenge.