Together we are strong? A systematic literature review on how SMEs use relation-based collaboration to operate in rural areas

Q1 Business, Management and Accounting

Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Pub Date : 2021-02-22 DOI:10.1080/08276331.2021.1874605

Markus Beckmann, Michael Garkisch, Anica Zeyen

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引用次数: 11

Abstract

Abstract Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role for growth and sustainable development, particularly for rural areas in which MNCs are absent. Despite this link, there is little systematic research that investigates how SMEs address the particularities, opportunities, and challenges of rural areas based on their strengths and weaknesses. To fill this gap, this article uses a systematic literature review (SLR) that analyses 228 articles published between 2003 and October 2020. Our descriptive analysis shows that research on this topic has increased over time. Based on our thematic results, we juxtapose typical strengths and weaknesses of SMEs (enterprise perspective) and the opportunities and challenges of rural areas (spatial perspective). A key finding is that SMEs use relation-based collaboration as a meta-strategy to respond to these specific conditions. Wedding the theoretical perspectives of the RBV and transaction cost economics, we develop a conceptual model that explains why rural SMEs are in a particular need and position to use collaboration as a tool to innovate and access critical resources in otherwise resource-scarce rural areas. We then discuss how digitalization impacts our results regarding SMEs in rural space.

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团结起来我们就会强大?对中小企业如何在农村地区利用基于关系的协作进行系统的文献综述

中小企业(SMEs)在增长和可持续发展中发挥着重要作用，特别是在跨国公司缺席的农村地区。尽管存在这种联系，但很少有系统的研究调查中小企业如何根据自身的优势和劣势来应对农村地区的特殊性、机遇和挑战。为了填补这一空白，本文使用了系统文献综述(SLR)，分析了2003年至2020年10月期间发表的228篇文章。我们的描述性分析表明，随着时间的推移，对这一主题的研究有所增加。根据我们的专题研究结果，我们将中小企业的典型优势和劣势(企业视角)与农村地区的机遇和挑战(空间视角)并置。一个关键的发现是，中小企业使用基于关系的协作作为元策略来响应这些特定的条件。结合RBV和交易成本经济学的理论视角，我们开发了一个概念模型，解释了为什么农村中小企业特别需要和地位，将合作作为一种工具，在资源稀缺的农村地区进行创新和获取关键资源。然后，我们讨论了数字化如何影响我们关于农村空间中小企业的结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Business, Management and Accounting-Business and International Management

CiteScore

11.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Studies published in the JSBE can be from and based on Canada or other countries of the world. They can cover topics related to matters such as: A. Start-up and resource gathering for an SME -Starting, buying and selling an SME -Financing, funding, banking, venture capital, audit and accounting in SMEs -Entrepreneur characteristics, leadership and work-life balance -Identification of business opportunities, business incubators and mentorship -Support services to entrepreneurship and SMEs B. Functional management and growth of an SME -Sales and marketing in SMEs -Human resource management in SMEs -Operation management in SMEs -Innovation, knowledge management, learning and fast growth in SMEs -New technologies, Internet, and communication in SMEs -Regulation and taxes for SMEs -Growth of SMEs C. Strategic management and change in an SME -Strategic Management in SMEs -International entrepreneurship and SME internationalization -Networks, alliances and relationships with government and large enterprises -Managing change in an uncertain and changing environment -Factors of success and failure in SME and entrepreneurial firms D. New trends in entrepreneurship and SME management -Social entrepreneurship -Gender and female entrepreneurship -Indigenous entrepreneurship -Ethnic/diaspora/immigrant entrepreneurship -Youth and student entrepreneurship -Entrepreneurship in emerging/transition markets -Franchises, sport, health, consulting and other emerging types of SMEs -Corporate entrepreneurship E. Special topics in entrepreneurship and SME management -Family-based business -Social responsibility, environmental protection, governance, and ethics in SMEs -SMEs and regional, urban, rural, and national development -Entrepreneurship education -Epistemology, general theory development, and methods of research in entrepreneurship and SMEs -Entrepreneurship and sustainable development