Crafting a competitive advantage: tempering entrepreneurial action with positioning‐based values Available to Purchase

The essence of entrepreneurship is “effectual action”. Researchers at the entrepreneurial/marketing interface suggest that small firms adapt marketing theory to their needs, undertaking a range of emergent actions in response to day‐to‐day events and problems, without recourse to formal planning or research. By way of contrast, brands require guided action, in order to build a sustainable position in the marketplace, while research also reveals that small specialist firms increase their chance of failure if they undertake a range of unguided actions that lead to niche drift. Based upon an in‐depth case study, identifies that SMEs do benefit from constant actions, but only if guided by a strong set of positioning values, which are diffused into an organisational culture, primarily via the actions of the leader.