The Competitiveness and Performance of Small Manufacturing Firms: An Analysis of Matched Pairs in Scotland and England

In this paper we present a comparative analysis of the competitiveness and performance of matched pairs of small manufacturing companies in Scotland and the south of England. Several aspects of performance are investigated, and evaluations of the price and quality competitiveness of the product samples are made. One-third of Scottish products were judged to be of an unacceptable quality by the matched English companies. English companies are manufacturing to a higher quality but at a similar price to the Scottish ones. English firms displayed higher levels of skill and were more aware of the need to train. The empirical evidence provides confirmation of the conceptual framework, namely that production-related issues lie at the core of the problem of competitiveness for small companies. The findings suggest that government assistance should shift away from fixed assets to soft assets, and especially towards training and advisory systems.