Small Subcontractors in UK Engineering: Competitiveness, Dependence and Problems

Bruce R Lyons and Susan Bailey

Small Business Economics, 1993, vol. 5, issue 2, 09 pages

Abstract: This paper reports the results of a new survey of small subcontractors in U.K. engineering. We are able to characterize the main source of competitive advantage as being experience with a particular technology. Labor flexibility, but not cheap labor, is also a necessary condition for success. There is a clear trend towards limited concentration of one third of all output with the single most important customer. More negatively, there is evidence for substantial avoidance of ideal, relationship specific investment, and for lack of communication and trust. This is despite the fact that most subcontractors are located close tot their customers and have been serving them for many years. Copyright 1993 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Date: 1993
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