Editorial
To further the understanding of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) it has become increasingly important to explore entrepreneurial behaviour in different contexts. In this issue, Down and Warren, adopt a sociological approach to investigate the role of cliché in creating entrepreneurial identity. Altinay and Altinay focus on Turkish SMEs in an attempt to evaluate the cultural variables affecting entrepreneurial growth and success. Han examines the impact of online and relationship banking on the financial problems faced by entrepreneurs.
Down and Warren recognise the importance of the creation and maintenance of entrepreneurial identity. They focus on the exploration of entrepreneurial clichés and ways in which the everyday and ordinary is incorporated into entrepreneurial narratives. Hence, they illustrate how entrepreneurs use narrative to constitute and maintain their entrepreneurial identity. Focusing on entrepreneurs in a small UK industrial firm who use elements of risk, ambition, growth and control to construct their entrepreneurial identities, this paper shows how clichés are used to secure a robust, useful, and achievable sense of entrepreneurial self-identity. As narrative becomes a new conceptual tool in understanding entrepreneurship, the use of cliché brings together the ordinary and the extraordinary in the formulation of entrepreneurial self. The authors suggest that clichés offer a powerful standpoint that can evoke strong visual images without the challenge of superhuman aspirations. Therefore clichés can facilitate and enable action in complex and uncertain situations such as entrepreneurship from a slightly “safer” standpoint. The results reveal a variety of potential narrative strategies available to people who claim entrepreneurial status and the need to explore existing gaps in the narrative and discursive components of entrepreneurial identity.
Altinay and Altinay examine the entrepreneurial behaviour of Turkish speaking micro and small businesses in different boroughs of London. They analyse cultural factors that contribute to the growth of Turkish-speaking entrepreneurs in the service, retailing, catering and import/export sectors. The authors seek to evaluate those cultural variables that influence the growth of Turkish speaking ethnic minority businesses. The attributes include religion, attitude to education, the entrepreneur’s cultural skills, co-ethnic capital,co-ethnic labour, co-ethnic information and co-ethnic markets. Altinay and Altinay review the literature to identify factors which influence the “prior to start-up phase of growth”. These factors are related to specific cultural attributes as well as the background and experience of small business owners. In that sense, these “pre-determinants” of growth support the widely-shared view that entrepreneurship is embedded in socio-cultural, economic and political environments. As this paper highlights the challenges faced by ethnic minority small business owners, it contributes to a better understanding of the Turkish entrepreneurial processes in the UK and also has implications for broader “theories of growth”.
In the third paper, Han investigates the online banking and relationship banking behaviour of SMEs and the impact on their financial constraints. He also examines how the characteristics of individual business and entrepreneurial demographics influence SMEs’ financial situation. Based on data from 2,500 UK SMEs, the results reveal that both online banking behaviour and relationship banking influence the severity of financial problems faced by SMEs. However, the severity of financial problem is significantly alleviated through longer-term relationships between entrepreneurs and banks. Furthermore, the relationship effect is more evident for entrepreneurs using traditional approaches such as face-to-face or mail to communicate with their banks. Although online banking significantly reduces transaction costs for entrepreneurial borrowers the favourable effects of the internet are less evident than conducting business with banks using traditional methods. Han’s results suggest the existence of a substitute relation between online and relationship banking. Furthermore,consistent with existing research, characteristics of the entrepreneur and the business appear to have a strong impact on the severity of financial problems faced by SMEs. Han also acknowledges the importance of personal experience and wealth in alleviating the severity of business financial problems and recognises that SME size in terms of employee numbers significantly influences their financial situation.
Oswald Jones
