French small business information through the internet: A comparison with US organizations

摘要

Small business is taking a more and more impressive place in French employment. The South of France, and particularly the region of Marseille, has been hit hard by the economic crisis: the heavy industry factories have closed one after another and the unemployment rate has increased to 25 per cent of the active population. The emergence of dynamic small or medium-sized enterprises and industries (SME/SMIs) seems to be one of the solutions to creating business in this geographic area. The concurrence between the different public local small business information providers has created a complex situation in which strategic information is completely hidden. Of course the dissemination of small business information is not simple and depends on the local characteristics. The investments in the information superhighway are one of the Provence-Alpes-d'Azur region's characteristics. This article shows how the United States' administration has used the Internet to diffuse various types of small business information. This is followed by an explanation of the local problems of French small business resources. Finally, the first steps of a small firms help initiative is presented and some future developments are proposed in order to create a real small business help centre in Marseille.