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Abstract

The impact of the defining characteristics of rural areas on SME development has attracted considerable interest among researchers on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite conflicting findings - influenced in part by the specificities of national contexts - there is considerable agreement among academics that SME development in the countryside may be influenced by the connectivity of rural areas with their urban counterparts.Within this context, the concept of the city-region is often used to capture the 'ripple effects' from urban centres to nearby rural areas.This article sets out to examine the case of a rural area (East Cleveland) within a city-region (Tees Valley). The article aims to explore the linkages between embeddedness patterns, enterprise strategy and performance. In doing so, it compares the experience of rural SMEs in the study area with that of a control group located in the core of the city-region (Middlesbrough).The evidence presented here shows that in the case of East Cleveland (unlike other rural areas of the UK) local embeddedness is commonly reported by the great majority of SMEs - the result of the specificities of the regional context. While disembeddedness is often linked with robust performance, local embeddedness may also underpin survival and growth among certain SMEs (for example those with no coherent strategy).At the level of the locality however, this may impact adversely upon the processes of economic development.

Stratégie, enracinement et performance des PME dans l'East Cleveland, au nord-est de l'Angleterre Christos Kalantaridis Université de Salford, R.-U. L'importance des caractéristiques déterminantes des zones rurales, sur le développement des PME, a suscité un intérêt considérable parmi les chercheurs des deux côtés de l'Atlantique. Malgré des conclusions contradictoires, en grande partie influencées par les spécificités des contextes nationaux, les universitaires s'accordent à reconnaître que le développement des PME dans l'espace rural pourrait être influencé par la connectivité des zones rurales avec leurs zones urbaines correspondantes. Dans ce contexte, le concept de la ville-région est bien souvent utilisé pour capter les "effets d'entraînement" qui s'étendent des centres urbains aux zones rurales limitrophes. Le présent article, qui se propose d'examiner le cas de figure d'une zone rurale (East Cleveland), au sein d'une ville-région (Tees Valley), a pour objectif d'examiner les liens existant entre les schémas d'enracinement, la stratégie et la performance de l'entreprise. Ce faisant, il compare l'expérience des PME rurales dans la zone d'étude à celle d'un groupe témoin situé au cœur de la ville-région (Middlesbrough). Les preuves que nous présentons ici montrent que dans le cas du East Cleveland (contrairement aux autres zones rurales de Grande-Bretagne), l'enracinement local est un phénomène courant noté par la plupart des PME, - résultat des spécificités du contexte régional. Alors que le déracinement est fréquemment associé à une bonne performance, l'enracinement local peut également soutenir la survie et l'essor parmi certaines PME (comme par exemple celles n'ayant pas de stratégie cohérente). Ceci dit, au niveau de la localité, ceci risque d'avoir des conséquences adverses sur les processus du développement économique.

Estrategia, radicación y actuación de las PYME en East Cleveland, Nordeste de Inglaterra Christos Kalantaridis Universidad de Salford, RU El impacto de las características definidoras de las zonas rurales sobre las PYME ha suscitado mucho interés entre los investigadores a ambos lados del Atlántico. A pesar de las conclusiones contradictorias, influidas en parte por las especificidades de los contextos nacionales, los académicos están de acuerdo en que el desarrollo de las PYME en ese campo puede estar influido por la conectividad de las zonas rurales con sus correspondientes zonas urbanas. En este contexto, el concepto de la ciudad región se usa a menudo para captar la `onda expansiva' que se extiende de los centros urbanos a las zonas rurales cercanas. Este artículo se propone examinar el caso de una zona rural (East Cleveland) dentro de una ciudad región (valle del Tees). El objetivo del artículo es explorar los vínculos entre las pautas de radicación, estrategia y actuación empresarial. Compara, a tal efecto, la experiencia de las PYME rurales en la zona de estudio con la de un grupo testigo situado en el centro de la ciudad región (Middlesborough). Las pruebas que se presentan aquí demuestran que en el caso de East Cleveland (a diferencia de otras zonas rurales del RU) la radicación local es común en gran parte de las PYME como resultado de las especificidades del contexto regional. Aunque la radicación suele estar vinculada con una actuación vigorosa, la radicación local puede también respaldar la supervivencia y crecimiento entre ciertas PYME (por ejemplo, aquellas que no tienen una estrategia coherente). A nivel local, en cambio, puede tener un impacto desfavorable sobre los procesos del desarrollo económico.

SME Strategic, Einbettung und Werteentwicklung in East Cleveland, Nordostengland Christos Kalantaridis Universität von Salford, Grojßbritannien Die Bedeutung der bestimmenden Charakteristiken ländlicher Gegenden auf die Entwicklung von KMUs hat bei Forschern auf beiden Seiten des Atlantiks beachtliches Interesse gefunden. Trotz der gegensätzlichen Forschungsergebnisse - teilweise auf Grund der Besonderheiten nationaler Kontexte - besteht eine bedeutende Übereinstimmung unter Akademikern, dass KMU-Entwicklung auf dem Land von der Verbindung der ländlichen Gegenden mit ihren urbanen Pendants abhängt. In diesem Kontext wird das Konzept der städtischen Region oft verwendet, um die ,,Welleneffekte" von urbanen Zentren in die umliegenden ländlichen Gegenden zu beschreiben. Dieser Artikel beginnt mit der Untersuchung einer ländlichen Gegend (East Cleveland) innerhalb einer städtischen Region (Tees Valley). Der Artikel versucht, die Verflechtungen von Einbettungsmustern, Unternehmensstrategien und Werteentwicklung zu untersuchen. Dabei werden die Erfahrungen von ländlichen KMUs der Studienregion mit denen einer Kontrollgruppe innerhalb der städtischen Region (Middlesbrough) verglichen. Die hier präsentierten Ergebnisse zeigen, dass im Falle von East Cleveland (im Gegensatz zu anderen ländlichen Gegenden Großbritanniens) lokale Einbettung im Allgemeinen von einer großen Mehrzahl der KMUs gemeldet wird - das Ergebnis einer Besonderheit des regionalen Kontexts. Während die Nicht-Einbettung oft mit einer robusten Werteentwicklung verbunden wird, kann regionale Einbettung auch das Überleben und Wachstum von bestimmten KMUs untermauern (zum Beispiel von denen mit keiner einheitlichen Strategie). Auf der Ebene der Lokalität kann dies jedoch auch negative Auswirkungen auf die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung haben.

Keywords

embeddedness rural areas SMEs

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SME Strategy,Embeddedness and Performance in East Cleveland,North East England

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