Is small more beautiful?

This thought was posted on Thinkaloo on 23 March 2008 by member dave.alam

Visit www.thinkaloo.com, our new online community where you can share your thoughts and knowledge, discuss your ideas, ask questions and meet smart people

---

I had this debate with a friend of mine who comes from a little town. The argument was that in a small place where everyone knows each other word of mouth spreads very fast. Thus if a business wants to survive, they can't offer crap quality. While this doesn't mean you end up with world-class quality in small towns, at least the bottom crap gets eliminated.

On the other hand it is only in a big city you will find world-class and better quality because of more competition. The counter-argument was that while it's true you will get more competition in a big city, you get it at all levels including at the bottom crap level. In other words, big size will allow some businesses to offer bad quality services or products AND survive.

I had to admit he had a point. So is size and not the degree of competition the ultimate factor behind eliminating bad quality? What do you think?