Ardley, Barry and Taylor, Nick (2012) Marketing in SMEs: assessing the contribution of a business school to the development of competent managers. In: Academy of Marketing Annual Conference , 2nd July - 5th July, Southampton University.

	Microsoft Word AM2012_0037_RV1.doc Restricted to Repository staff only Download (78Kb)
Preview	PDF AM2012_0037_RV1.pdf - Whole Document Download (74Kb)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess the contribution that a business school can make to the development of marketing competencies in SME managers. Literature reveals that in comparison to undergraduate marketing learning, less attention is paid to the SME manager. The primary research here is based on workshops run by tutors from the University of Lincoln’s Business school marketing group. Workshops were organised around an entrepreneurial marketing theme and based on a philosophy of participative learning. Course member’s responses to the workshops were gathered via a questionnaire that allowed for the collection of qualitative and quantitative data. The results of both tutor and course participant evaluation suggests that models from entrepreneurial marketing, as opposed to traditional marketing, provide a sound basis for the development of SME managers skills. The positive course evaluation also suggests a good degree of satisfaction with the learning methods used in the workshops. Further research should be undertaken to assess the degree to which workshop thinking has become embedded in the actual practices of managers who attended the course. Finally, it is posited that there exists considerable scope for future workshops of this nature at both a national and local level.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	The purpose of this paper is to assess the contribution that a business school can make to the development of marketing competencies in SME managers. Literature reveals that in comparison to undergraduate marketing learning, less attention is paid to the SME manager. The primary research here is based on workshops run by tutors from the University of Lincoln’s Business school marketing group. Workshops were organised around an entrepreneurial marketing theme and based on a philosophy of participative learning. Course member’s responses to the workshops were gathered via a questionnaire that allowed for the collection of qualitative and quantitative data. The results of both tutor and course participant evaluation suggests that models from entrepreneurial marketing, as opposed to traditional marketing, provide a sound basis for the development of SME managers skills. The positive course evaluation also suggests a good degree of satisfaction with the learning methods used in the workshops. Further research should be undertaken to assess the degree to which workshop thinking has become embedded in the actual practices of managers who attended the course. Finally, it is posited that there exists considerable scope for future workshops of this nature at both a national and local level.
Keywords:	Entrepreneurial marketing, participatory learning, workshops
Subjects:	N Business and Administrative studies > N500 Marketing
Divisions:	College of Social Sciences > Faculty of Business & Law > Lincoln Business School
Depositing User:	Barry Ardley
Date Deposited:	20 Sep 2012 21:29
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2013 09:14
URI:	http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/6211

Actions (login required)

View Item