STRATEGY

EDITOR'S NOTF.

While budget balancing has bccn the driving I'orce behind much ol'he activity in
Congress, small business owners continue to institute real and meaningful changes to
streamline their businesses. Much of the focus of this issue supports ef'forts to address cost
containmcn&, thc cfl'cctivc use ol external resources and to reduce the burdens placed on small
businesses by government regulation.

In the lead article Roy Cook and Janet Wolvcrton provide a praciical hands-on small
business perl'ormance scorecard to help small business owners un&lertakc, a comprehensive
review of operations. In a similar manner, as large public accounting firms rediscover the
greater signilicance ol'mall business and entrepreneurship, Drs. Wolk and Wootton provide
a meaningful guide to service and compctitivc cnhanccmcnt availahlc to small firms.

Professor Scherr shows how small businesses can adopt and modil'y traditional credit
management strategies while outsourcing others to costly to be cffcctivcly supported.
Addressing thc ridiculous burdens placed on small businesses hy litigation cxpcnscs, Mare
Lampc and Scth Ellis show how small I'irms can avoid costly litigation by resolving disputes
through mediation and arbitration. In another cost assessment article, Suzanne Milburn, Ray
Siehndel and I collaborated in presenting ncw cost containment health care insurance practices
I'or small businesses.

In an exploratory study that extends thc research I'rontiers of'new venture strategy, Jim
Chrisman and Gcorgc Danforth seek to explain how outsiders can best be used to assist new
ventures with growth management planning. Another cutting edge article by Ravi IJchara and
David Gundcrscn, deals with susiainahle competitive advantage issues and the application of
a contemporary strategic thinking model that has proven to he a ncw approach to help small
business firms realize their future.

The last article in this issue by prot'essors Strong and Winchell tackles the
controversial cfl'cct&vcncss of market intervention by the federal govermnent &n creating small
business technology partnerships. Although designed as a means of assisting small business
in becoming competitive in ncw markets, such partncrism may very well be wrought by bad
science.

In total, with the end ol'our sixth year ol'publication, we continue &o bring our readers
articles to keep them abreast of new knowledge and practical applications for small business
and entrepreneurial success.

Joseph F. Singer, Ph.D.
Editor