There are many small companies who are content to stay small; there are many who would like to expand their operations; and there are a few who experience rapid and sustained growth. What is it about these “gazelles” that enables them to put their ideas into practice on a larger scale, to create employment and new activity, and – in some cases – to become players on the world stage? Innovation is often a large part of the answer: sometimes involving a brilliant new idea (a better vacuum cleaner, say), sometimes a new business model or organisational structure (a new type of coffee shop, say), and almost always involving acumen in marketing the firm and its products to financiers and suppliers as well as customers. These, and related, issues are explored further under this theme.

Related GRIPS activities

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