The Honeycomb and the SME: Facilitating Growth Through Social Media in a High Technology Enterprise

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how a SME owner manager utilised the LinkedIn social media platform to create strategic growth for a new high technology firm in the business-to-business market. The primary research draws on a series of in-depth phenomenological interviews carried out with the owner manager. Findings, when viewed in the context of the owner managers local logic of action and the related opportunity focus, indicate that LinkedIn can provide a valuable conduit for the development of strategic growth opportunities in an SME. Interview analysis details a series of successful routes to growth that could provide the basis for analysis and action for similar firms, in similar situations. In terms of originality, the social media honeycomb construct is deployed as a theoretical and practical device, through which to structure and explore key issues. These include the importance of individual subjectivity in strategy making, a firm’s use of resources, and its growth in terms of the adoption and use of social media, in a dynamic product and market setting. Findings will be of value to other researchers interested in the areas of SME strategy, social media and the use of phenomenology as a research tool.