"Mobilising minnows" : creating innovative new value chains for small firms in a changing global environment

This paper considers the changing relationships between large and small businesses, and some possible actions that can be taken by small businesses to compete in a globalised environment by collaborating on a large scale. Two case studies are presented, where the participant SME organizations have sought to position themselves favourably in larger markets than they could access on their own by establishing a virtual enterprise. In the two cases, there was significant in-kind support in connection to government initiatives that helped get the virtual enterprises established relatively quickly. Two ideas are used to characterise and compare the case study enterprises. One is based on activity theory, which suggests that how activities are undertaken to achieve an objective is influenced by a number of environmental factors, such as the tools available. The second idea draws on a parallel with the workings of an orchestra, and both have been found useful in discussing the cases in this paper and with industry colleagues seeking to develop such collaborations.