Do SMEs influence their markets? An exploratory study

Purpose – Due to their limited resources small‐ and medium‐sized firms are often assumed not to influence or “drive” their industries or markets. However, based on insights from social cognition and studies of firms' reputations it is argued that small firms might benefit from actively influencing their reputations as well as the standards against which they are evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to explore empirically whether small firms actually try to influence their markets in such a manner. Design/methodology/approach – A detailed longitudinal tracking of a top manager's (of a medium‐sized manufacturing firm) interactions with the firm's external constituencies is applied to investigate whether and how this manager tries to influence other market actors. Findings – The results show that considerable efforts are devoted to try to influence a wide range of external actors in relation to a range of topics, but with an emphasis on the characteristics of his own firm. This indicates that the firm aims to induce and benefit from a good reputation. Originality/value – The value of the paper is that it demonstrates how small firms can “drive” their small enterprises, markets in a more subtle and incremental manner as opposed to how market driving is presently understood.