A COMPARISON OF STRATEGIC ORIENTATIONS AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES AMONG SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

Marketing research firms, consulting companies and advertising agencies are service organizations frequently sought out by small firms seeking strategic and marketing advice. This study demonstrates, however, that there are significant size-related differences among these three types of service organizations in their own strategic and marketing orientations. A survey of 187 British marketing research, consulting and advertising businesses revealed that larger firms plan more extensively, track customers and competitors more frequently, and appear to investigate the complexities of differentiation more thoroughly than smaller firms.