The Incompatibility of Industrial and Trading Cultures: A Critical Appraisal of the Growth-Point Concept

IN September I963 the writer began an investigation into the purchasing behaviour of industrial buyers in the West of Scotland, the prime aim of which was to discover to what extent these professional buyers were influenced by regionalism in the carrying out of their duties. Early in the inquiry it was evident that the nature of the responses to certain questions began to show a marked similarity and increasingly more attention was paid to this aspect of the project. The field where the similar reactions occurred was where incoming firms, relatively new entrants to the area, were supplying information and expressing opinions on the suitability and availability of local supplies for their industries. Many of the companies interviewed had been encouraged to settle in the West of Scotland by governmental policy, and some of the largest of these firms are considered to be potential growth-points, which will give rise to additional employment by placing contracts with local suppliers for component parts; the growthpoint firm acting largely as an assembly plant. The automobile industry is probably the best example of this type, but many of the newcomers require to buy in a large part of the end product in the form of finished components, castings, finishes, etc. The findings of the inquiry would tend to suggest that the proponents of the growth-point concept have been too optimistic about the immediate and perhaps long-term expectations of such a policy. The success of this type of programme of development assumes a high degree of flexibility on the part of the local suppliers, but the investigation casts some doubt on whether this flexibility does exist on the scale needed. There would appear to be an incompatibility between the local supplier, or potential supplier, and the incoming firm. This incompatibility is not merely a technical one but is perhaps more concerned with commercial management and managerial attitudes. The technical and commercial relationship between the supplier and his old industrial market may bear little resemblance to that which would exist between this same supplier and the new entrant into the area. These differences appear to have received little, if any, attention but they could well jeopardize the well-intentioned development schemes, and might even suggest the need for more comprehensive planning of development areas in the future. The situation is made