Abstract
Davis, Charles H., Florin Vladica, and Irene Berkowitz (2008). Business
Capabilities of Small Entrepreneurial Media Firms: Independent Television
Production in Canada, Journal of Media Business Studies 5(1):9-39.
Key Words: television, independent producers, organizational capabilities, project
management, Canada
This article investigates business capabilities of Canadian independent television
production firms that produce children's television, an entertainment product area in which
Canadian firms have achieved relative success in domestic and international markets.
The Canadian independent television production industry is populated by many
precarious micro-enterprises. Competition is intense, and the domestic market provides
limited opportunities for growth. The authors use the Davidsson-Klofsten model of a
business platform as a framework or organizing enquiry into the capabilities of eight
Canadian producers. The research shows that, contrary to much of what is said about
firms that engage in project-based production, firm-level capabilities are critically
important, and small organization size does not necessarily imply small capabilities.
Furthermore, among successful independent television production firms, project
execution is a taken-for-granted business capability, and is not considered to be the most
challenge business capability of the firm.
Davis, Charles H., Florin Vladica, and Irene Berkowitz (2008). Business
Capabilities of Small Entrepreneurial Media Firms: Independent Television
Production in Canada, Journal of Media Business Studies 5(1):9-39.
Key Words: television, independent producers, organizational capabilities, project
management, Canada
This article investigates business capabilities of Canadian independent television
production firms that produce children's television, an entertainment product area in which
Canadian firms have achieved relative success in domestic and international markets.
The Canadian independent television production industry is populated by many
precarious micro-enterprises. Competition is intense, and the domestic market provides
limited opportunities for growth. The authors use the Davidsson-Klofsten model of a
business platform as a framework or organizing enquiry into the capabilities of eight
Canadian producers. The research shows that, contrary to much of what is said about
firms that engage in project-based production, firm-level capabilities are critically
important, and small organization size does not necessarily imply small capabilities.
Furthermore, among successful independent television production firms, project
execution is a taken-for-granted business capability, and is not considered to be the most
challenge business capability of the firm.
