Size Matters

It has been asked many times whether a company can ever be too big. Companies grow and become more diversified and divided and branch out. Tesco and GE are two examples of businesses that have been accused of being too big. It is argued in turn that properly managed size should not really be a problem. As an observer at the small business and one man band end of the size spectrum we see companies being broken up and sold, operationally or functionally divisionalised, undergoing business re-engineering and structural reform and being divided into international or regional divisions.

Small enterprises are at the same time trying to grow through new products and breaking new ground in new and developing markets. Maintaining good working business and marketing relationships with internal and external contacts is what matters. It doesn't matter what criteria you use for size - turnover, balance sheet, number of employees, market capitalisation. If you want to grow you will need to find customers and keep them. Integrity is important in human and marketing relationships. A lot of companies have a set of core values that they maintain through thick and thin. The right inputs will reap their rewards.

New divisional heads are emissaries and ambassadors for their company and its mission and their country. The pressures on companies to perform well and ethically are growing. Both in this country and overseas it is the uneducated, marginalised, and those alienated from leadership and power who need thinking about as much as anyone. They will feel the impact of business strategy and operations more than anyone else. It is always a great achievement when diverse groups are brought together and agreements made where everyone is happy. That should be the aim at the centre of their activities rather than power and greed.