Combining Strategic Management and Internal Control Processes: A Recipe for Entrepreneurial Competitive Advantage‪.‬

INTRODUCTION Innovation, creativity, customer value, and reasoned risk-taking shape successful entrepreneurial business models. However, prosperous small businesses entrepreneurs ultimately encounter complexities of organizational structure and functional support processes that contribute to creative competitive advantages. Nearly 5,000 small businesses that have taken on regulatory responsibilities through public stock offerings now face challenges of conducting internal assessments of their financial reporting internal controls to comply with Sections 404(a) and (b) of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These small public firms with less than $75 million in market capitalization have begun to fulfill Section 404(a) requirements during 2008 by reporting internal assessments of their financial reporting internal controls in their annual 10-k reports to the SEC. An external audit report attesting to the propriety of financial internal controls will appear in small public company financial reports after December 15, 2009 ("SEC Extends 404(b) Compliance", 2008).