ABSTRACT. This paper is derived from another which was awarded the best paper prize at the 9th International Entrepreneurship Conference. Its theme is that while inven- tions and innovations make significant contributions to the growth and competitiveness of national economies, there are problems in the U.K. surrounding independent inventors (often a small, one person business) and their marketing, where there has been failure to stimulate and exploit inventions compared to other industrialised countries. There are long term impli- cations for economic competitiveness when new ideas are lost. Organisations pursue innovations as an important route in the search for competitive advantage, but this route is fraught with difficulties for independent inventors in getting organisations to accept their products and to market them. This paper reports from and builds on an earlier study from a small business per- spective which focuses, firstly, on the importance of capital- ising on this source of embryonic talent and secondly, the problems within the marketing communication process between potential adopter marketing organisations and inde- pendent inventors. A purposive, non-random sample was drawn, consisting of prominent independent inventors (exem- plars of good practice) who marketed both nationally and internationally and the potential adopter manufacturing and marketing organisations (customers). Trade associations with a role in facilitating the adoption process were also contacted. The method of enquiry in the study was by personal and tele- phone interviews. The findings from these three different groups seem to suggest that stereotypical views of indepen- dent inventors held by potential business adopters coupled with the often weak marketing communications and interper- sonal skills reportedly possessed by independent inventors present very real barriers to the adoption of new ideas by the business community. The paper concludes that small busi- nesses may be better placed to “exploit” ideas from indepen- dent inventors by virtue of their simpler organisational structure. Recommendations for the improvement of strategies to facilitate adoption of inventions with commercial potential are made for both types of small businesses (inventors and small business adopters). 1. Perspectives from the literature Recent writings have emphasised the importance attached to innovation for a country’s national well-being and its long term competitiveness. The writings of some authors (Mathur, 1984; Ohmae, 1985; Muelbauer, 1986; Bird and Jelinek, 1988; Mathews and Scott, 1995; Financial Times, 1999) have looked at innovation and its management from the organisational context, while others (Arthur, 1991; Parker, Udell and Blades, 1996; Wardell and Knight, 1996; Hill and McGowan, 1999) have highlighted the inventiveness of indi- viduals as innovators, and their problems in trying to succeed in the business world. Much new technology, for example, has been driven by smaller innovative firms headed by innovative entrepreneurs with foresight, for instance the leading technological firms residing in Silicon Valley, U.S.A. or Microsoft as a company example that became a new giant of industry. Michael Dell (Dell Computer Corporation), in just over a decade, has built a $18 billion business from a one man business based on marketing innovation. An imperative in economic survival is that a country should understand and accept that invention makes a positive contribu- tion. It does not always come from incremental improvements which are more commonly associ- Improving Marketing Communication & Innovation Strategies in the Small Business Context Small Business Economics 16: 113–123, 2001.  2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Final version accepted on November 1, 2000 Len Tiu Wright Graduate Business School (Bede Island) De Montfort University The Gateway Leicester LE1 9BH United Kingdom E-mail: lwright@dmu.ac.uk and Clive Nancarrow Bristol Business School University of the West of England Bristol, BS16 1QY, United Kingdom Len Tiu Wright Clive Nancarrow