<p><a href="http://www.upei.ca/research/files/research/blog/photo/standard/758/bigorsmall2.jpg"><img alt="Size Matters I tell you!" align="right" src="http://www.upei.ca/research/files/research/blog/photo/standard/758/bigorsmall2.jpg" width="283" height="306"></a></p> <p>It's the age old question - Does size matter?&nbsp; Well my guess is that just like almost any of the key questions in life... it depends.&nbsp; </p> <p>Let's look at some business examples and you can decide:</p> <p><strong>Size and economic development</strong></p> <p>When it comes to economic development, it appears that size does matter in the minds of economic developers.&nbsp; Most economic development agencies&nbsp; spend the bulk of their time and energy in the recruitment of BIG companies.&nbsp; It looks really good when you go to justify your existence to the&nbsp; legislature and you can show that you brought in 1,000 jobs to your state by recruiting someone like Google to your town.&nbsp; They might just approve your budget for next year.&nbsp;&nbsp; Yet comparatively little attention is given to saving or helping to start up one small business.&nbsp; It's funny really - since as a group, small businesses - in every state -&nbsp; are the single largest employer group.&nbsp; Even bigger than the Feds or the state itself.&nbsp; Take a look at the composition charts at <a href="http://youreconomy.org/pages/states/us.ye?region=comp">YourEconomy.org</a> to see what I mean. </p> <p><strong>Size and Innovation</strong></p> <p>How about Innovation?&nbsp; So often we hear that the greatest innovations come from small companies since the big ones are too mired down in red tape and inertia to create the new and novel.&nbsp; Maybe not.&nbsp; This is the list of&nbsp; the top companies by patent awards.&nbsp; Click on the links for each of the companies listed below to browse their innovations.&nbsp; <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-International_Business_Machines.html">IBM</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Samsung.html">Samsung</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Canon.html">Canon</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Microsoft.html">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Intel.html">Intel</a> , <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Matsushita.html">Matsushita</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Toshiba.html">Toshiba</a> ,<a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Fujitsu.html">Fujitsu</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Hewlett_Packard.html">Hewlett-Packard</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Hitachi.html">Hitachi</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Micron.html">Micron</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Seiko_Epson.html">Seiko Epson</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-General_Electric.html">General Electric</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Fujifilm.html">Fujifilm</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Infineon_Technologies.html">Infineon Technologies</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-LG_Electronics.html">LG</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Texas_Instruments.html">Texas Instruments</a>, <a href="http://ip.com/ps/pq-Honda.html">Honda</a> (Source:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.securinginnovation.com/2010/04/articles/patents/top-patenting-companies-in-the-usa/">IP.com</a>) </p> <p>But patents are only one measure of innovation and perhaps one that is understated.&nbsp; There are many inventions that never make it through the patent process. It is just too time consuming and expensive for many small companies, not to mention that actually enforcing a patent claim can cost thousands if not millions of dollars.&nbsp; As one small business person told me last week: "Big Company X is violating our patent.&nbsp; We called to inform them of it and requested further discussion as to either stopping or paying us a royalty - there response was - Sue me.&nbsp; We could never afford to do that and they knew it."&nbsp; </p> <p>Innovations are inventions that actually make a difference in the marketplace. Again, size has it's advantages since bringing a product to market takes LOTS of capital (money) to cast a wide net.&nbsp; Yes there are firms that started small and then grew rapidly through innovation and acceptance.&nbsp; But they are the ones that beat odds that would put a Las Vegas casino consistently in the money.&nbsp; </p> <p>How about innovation compared to country size?&nbsp; Big countries with lots of universities and leading economies have the advantage.&nbsp; Right?&nbsp; Maybe, Maybe not.&nbsp; If we measure innovation by the number of patents per capita, there are some very interesting results,&nbsp; <a href="http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_pat_gra_percap-economy-patents-granted-per-capita">just take a look</a>. Some of the smallest countries and with equally small economies, top the list.&nbsp; The economic big guns, the Japan, the UK,&nbsp; United States, Canada, China, rank as #19, #38, #40, #41, and #60 respectively.&nbsp; </p> <p>So when it comes to innovation, BIG has the advantage of resources but perhaps small has the advantage of greater personal motivation and reward for the innovator.</p> <p><strong>Size and Business Agility</strong></p> <p>Here small has the advantage according to most business books.&nbsp; Small companies are nimble, and can adjust their plans much more quickly than their behemoth brethren.&nbsp; So on the surface it's advantage to the Smalls.&nbsp; Yet, we often forget that it takes more than cutting through bureaucracy to create agility - it takes the resources to bank roll changes in direction.&nbsp; Here the advantage is almost always to the bigger firms whose access to capital on a short term basis provides many more avenues to resources.&nbsp; The smaller company may be able to make a decision faster - but the bigger one can get it funded and in action faster.&nbsp; So in this case - again, it depends.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p>So with all that said - Does size matter - it almost <u>always</u> depends.&nbsp; But one way or another each type of organization has its advantages and disadvantages.&nbsp; So perhaps the answer comes down to what Mark Twain once said about what really matters.</p> <p><strong>“It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.”</strong></p> <p>Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned...</p> <blockquote> <p>Joan Koerber-Walker</p></blockquote> <div style="display:inline;margin:0;padding:0;" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:983b63a7-035d-4fe0-9c39-e0734feb0dff" class="wlWriterSmartContent">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Joan%20Koerber-Walker" rel="tag">Joan Koerber-Walker</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/CorePurpsoe" rel="tag">CorePurpsoe</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Small%20Business" rel="tag">Small Business</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Big%20Business" rel="tag">Big Business</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Innovation%20Quotes" rel="tag">Innovation Quotes</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Economic%20development" rel="tag">Economic development</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Does%20size%20matter" rel="tag">Does size matter</a></div>