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Top management team correlates of organizational growth in a small business context: A comparative study
Abstract
Achieving growth is critical to the success of many small firms. The impact of top-management teams (TMTs) has been widely studied in large-firm settings, but research that tests the applicability of TMT variables on small-firm growth is limited. This study attempted to determine whether relationships between TMT variables and growth behavior were consistent with large-firm studies in a small-firm context. Using comparative partial-correlation analysis on samples of 74 small firms and 114 large firms, this study finds that some large-firm TMT theory is also applicable to small-firm growth. However, relationships between certain TMT variables and organizational growth were moderated by firm size.
... Although the leading entrepreneur is key to developing social ventures, he/she is not alone. His/her work is complemented by the different skills and knowledge provided by the team (Gilmore and Kazanjian, 1989;Newth and Corner, 2009;Weinzimmer, 1997). However, research on social entrepreneurship has tended to focus on the analysis of individual founders of social enterprises to examine the likelihood of a venture to create social value (Baum et al., 1998;Nicholls, 2010;Timmons et al., 1994). ...
... Concerning the growth of a small and medium firms, Storey (2016) highlights management team building as a key requirement. Furthermore, Weinzimmer (1997) indicates that the firm that seeks growth must have a formalized management team. ...
Social entrepreneurship is a topic studied in depth in recent years, especially due to the continuous emergence of organizations categorized within this concept during the economic crisis. However, very little research has been done on the team associated to the social entrepreneur. By looking at a case of social enterprise in the gastronomy sector in Spain, this paper makes an additional contribution to social entrepreneurship theory adding the role of the team that of the social entrepreneur. The case demonstrates that, in addition to the key role of the social entrepreneur in detecting the opportunity, the subsequent development of the business also depends on the rest of the team. Likewise, other types of personal characteristics and experiences of the team are highlighted that, for the achievement of the social objective of the company, may be even more important than their functional backgrounds. Finally, the role of external social collaborators (mainly chefs) stands out, which help to make up for certain deficiencies for the correct development of the social venture. This article provides a basis for further qualitative and quantitative research in order to delve into the role of social enterprise teams, in this case those related to the world of gastronomy.
... Past research has shown that TMT demographic heterogeneity significantly influences the propensity for change (e.g., Grimm and Smith, 1991;Wiersema and Bantel, 1992) and firm outcomes such as firm performance (Glick, et al., 1993;Hambrick, et al., 1996;Kilduff, et al., 2000;Simons, et al., 1999). In the entrepreneurship literature as well, TMT demographic characteristics are routinely identified as proxies for other variables that potentially influence firm strategy and performance (e.g., Certo, et al., 2009;Cooper and Bruno, 1977;Daily, et al., 2003;Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven, 1990;Gilbert, et al., 2006;Weinzimmer, 1997;Zimmerman, 2008). Figure 1 offers a preview of our theoretical model. ...
... In new firms, the founding team members were found to have emphasized the functional areas in which they were experienced (Boeker, 1988). Researchers have argued that greater heterogeneity in the functional backgrounds of team members increases variety in the environmental scanning alternatives and effective decision making, influences competitive action and response, leads to creativity and innovation, influences strategic decision making, and improves firm performance (Bantel and Jackson, 1989;Glick, et al., 1993;Hambrick and Mason, 1984;Hambrick, et al., 1996;Lant, et al.,1992;Murray, 1989;Roure and Keeley, 1990;Weinzimmer, 1997;Williams and O'Reilly, 1998;Zimmerman, 2008). Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven (1990) found a TMT with more functional heterogeneity can better address strategic opportunities and better enable the firm to grow. ...
We explore the influences of the demographic characteristics of a firm's top management team (TMT) on the time it takes to complete an initial public offering (time-to-IPO), and the consequences of this decision for the firm's performance. Using data from prepackaged software industry firms that completed IPOs between 1993 and 1997, we find TMT age, tenure, size, and tenure heterogeneity all increase time-to-IPO. While time-to-IPO has no direct effect on firm performance, it moderates some of the relationship between TMT characteristics and firm performance.
... For example, TMT demographic heterogeneity has been shown to significantly influence the propensity for change (e.g., Grimm and Smith, 1991;Wiersema and Bantel, 1992) and firm outcomes such as firm performance (Glick, Miller and Huber, 1993;Hambrick, Cho and Chen, 1996;Kilduff, Anglemar and Mehra, 2000;Simons, Pelled and Smith, 1999). In the entrepreneurship literature as well, TMT demographic characteristics are routinely identified as proxies for variables that potentially influence firm strategy and performance (e.g., Certo, et al., 2009;Cooper and Bruno, 1977;Daily, Certo, Dalton and Roengpitya, 2003;Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven, 1990;Gilbert, McDougall and Audretsch, 2006;Weinzimmer, 1997;Zimmerman, 2008). ...
... In new firms, the founding team members were found to have emphasized the functional areas in which they were experienced (Boeker, 1989). Researchers have argued that greater heterogeneity in the functional backgrounds of team members increases variety in the environmental scanning alternatives and effective decision making, influences competitive action and response, leads to creativity and innovation, influences strategic decision making, and improves firm performance (Bantel and Jackson, 1989;Glick, et al., 1993;Hambrick and Mason, 1984;Hambrick, et al., 1996;Lant, Millikan and Batra,1992;Murray, 1989;Roure and Keeley, 1990;Weinzimmer, 1997;Williams and O'Reilly, 1998;Zimmerman, 2008). In addition, Buyl, Boone, and Matthyssens (2012-13) posited that knowledge diversity enables a TMT to offer a balanced attention on exploratory and exploitive issues. ...
The focus of this paper is the relationships among a firm's top management team (TMT) characteristics and its time-to-IPO. Specifically, we explore the influences of TMT demographic characteristics and heterogeneity on the time taken by a firm from its founding to its initial public offering (time-to-IPO). Using data from firms that completed an IPO in the prepackaged software industry, and a hierarchical regression model, we find that increases in TMT demographic characteristics of age, tenure, and size, as well as the TMT's tenure heterogeneity increase time-to-IPO. Results presented in this paper contribute to our understanding of the TMT's role in accomplishing a major milestone of the firm, its IPO.
... Pour elle, c'est l'étendue des compétences entrepreneuriales et managériales de l'équipe dirigeante qui circonscrit le potentiel de croissance. La composition (Weinzimmer, 1997) et les interactions (Penrose, 1959 ;Bourgeois et Eisenhardt, 1988) au sein de l'équipe dirigeante apparaissent donc comme des clés fondamentales à la compréhension de l'hypercroissance. ...
... Pour étudier l'influence de l'équipe dirigeante sur la trajectoire stratégique d'une firme et sur sa performance, Hambrick et Mason (1984), puis Hambrick (2007) ont développé la théorie des échelons supérieurs (UET pour upper echelons theory). Dans ce cadre, les résultats de l'entreprise, et notamment sa croissance (Weinzimmer, 1997), seraient le reflet des caractéristiques, démographiques et cognitives, de ses principaux dirigeants. L'inconvénient de l'UET est cependant son caractère relativement statique. ...
Cet article s’attache à comprendre le lien entre la dynamique de l’équipe de direction, ses caractéristiques et le processus d’hypercroissance. Un cadre théorique fondé à la fois sur la théorie des échelons supérieurs – de première (Hambrick et Mason, 1984) et de seconde génération (Smith et al. 1994 ; Hambrick, 2007) – et sur la théorie de la croissance de la firme de Penrose (1959) nous amène à inverser le sens traditionnellement admis de la relation entre équipe dirigeante et hypercroissance, et à considérer la dynamique de l‘équipe de direction comme le résultat d’un apprentissage collectif émergeant de l’hypercroissance. L’analyse approfondie du cas d’une jeune entreprise à très forte croissance fournit une illustration concrète des propositions théoriques et révèle un apprentissage dont le coût psychologique est élevé devant l’ampleur de la tâche, lorsque la croissance est particulièrement rapide. Elle suggère, par ailleurs, l’existence d’un schéma séquentiel de diversification des expériences fonctionnelles et de la professionnalisation des services managériaux, provoquant une augmentation progressive de l’hétérogénéité au sein de l’équipe et une réallocation des tâches parmi ses membres.
... Roberts (1991) found that larger teams perform better, suggesting that the more the merrier. There are indeed several studies reporting that team size is positively related to firm performance (Baum & Silverman, 2004;Bruton & Rubanik, 2002;Cooper et al., 1994;Gruber, 2007;Weinzimmer, 1997) and employee growth (Bruton & Rubanik, 2002). However, there are studies suggesting the opposite, i.e. larger teams face more conflicts (Amason & Sapienza, 1997;Clarysse & Moray, 2004) and team size is not found to have any significant impact on performance (Ensley, 1999). ...
... No (Weinzimmer, 1997) Matched sample of 74 small and 114 large firms. ...
... According to the upper echelons theory (Hambrick, 2007;Hambrick & Mason, 1984), senior executives' demographic characteristics, professional backgrounds, past experiences, and other personal characteristics will enable them to perform highly personalized interpretations of their own behavior, which in turn affect the decision-making of company behaviors such as financing, technological innovation, diversification, restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions (Bernile et al., 2017;Farag & Mallin, 2016;Francis et al., 2015). Executive characteristics are considered as an intangible asset that promotes knowledge spillover, forming human capital in the form of experience, knowledge, and skills, which has a positive impact on the establishment of innovative capabilities and reinforcement of learning skills (Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1990;Weinzimmer, 1997). In addition, the characteristics of executives may also change the risk appetite of enterprises by affecting the organizational behavior of enterprises, including investing a lot of resources in high-risk and high-reward projects and exploring behaviors in unknown markets (Baird & Thomas, 1985). ...
The development of new energy vehicles has become an important means by which China can continue to grow as a major automobile manufacturing powerhouse while joining the worldwide effort to tackle climate change. This paper uses Chinese‐listed new energy vehicle companies during 2015–2019 as the research sample and examines the impact of government subsidies on enterprise innovation, with the technical background of CEOs as an important moderating factor. We also analyze the extent of this moderating role within different institutional environments and corporate ownership structures. The results show that government subsidies can encourage new energy vehicle enterprises to increase innovation investment, and CEOs' technical backgrounds can strengthen this relationship. Compared with regions with better institutional environments, the moderating effect of CEOs' technical backgrounds is more obvious in regions with poor institutional environments, and when compared with state‐owned enterprises, the effect is more obvious in the private sector. We propose a list of government and internal enterprise policies that would make use of the insights gained from our research results.
... It suggests that structured initiatives, such as directed educational or consultation activities aimed at alleviating this challenge, can have a strong positive impact. According to Weinzimmer (1997), with regard to the importance of creating leadership platforms, well-functioning and heterogeneous top management teams are indeed vital to small-firm growth. Moreover, Littumen and Tohmo (2003) find support for the need to create broad leadership platforms (or management groups). ...
The pursuit of growth is a key endeavor of all types of firms, but it is particularly important for SMEs. From a managerial perspective, growing SMEs face a wide range of challenges; this study proposes a broad framework that emphasizes not only the various types of managerial challenges, but also the importance of taking a balanced, broad approach to facing them. In a qualitative study of 44 Swedish SMEs, the researchers identify, map, and aggregate distinct challenges to SME growth, proposing three overarching themes – business model, leadership, and people. Multiple lower-level categories and individual challenges make up each of these themes suggesting that firms that seek to excel in growth should be aware of and manage all three themes in a balanced manner. This research provides insights into each theme and potential consequences for SMEs; it also offers an overarching, integrative perspective on SME growth challenges opening future research avenues.
... However, finance literature is progressing to investigate the decision makers' behaviours as characteristics of economic phenomena (Subrahmanyam, 2008). A number of researches have been conducted on UET, exploring the influence of board characteristics on related areas such as corporate disclosure (Bamber, Jiang, & Wang, 2010), research and development spending (Barker & Mueller, 2002), Cash holding (Orens & Reheul, 2013) and firm performance (Weinzimmer, 1997). ...
Due to the heightened competition and advancements in the dynamic business environment, considerable attention is given to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Most studies on CSR are quantitative and focused on linear relationships with profitability, firm characteristics, corporate governance, and board diversity. However, little is known on how board characteristics influence CSR Practices. Therefore, this qualitative study focuses on how board characteristics affect CSR practices in Sri Lankan context from Upper Echelon theory (UET) perspective. The data was gathered via in-depth interviews conducted with directors in selected companies in Sri Lanka. The study revealed that both male and female directors have equal opportunity to raise voice on CSR in board discussions and female directors are more interested in CSR practices relating to women and children due to their psychological cognitive such as inherent compassion, empathy and understanding of women’s needs. The directors with multiple educational and professional qualifications, especially in accountancy, showed a sound knowledge on CSR. Further, well-experienced directors in multiple industries are also more concerned with CSR and suggested genuine CSR practice as most companies use CSR as a promotional tool for building corporate image. It was further evident that the foreign directors have more exposure on CSR. According to the UET perspective, the different characteristics of upper echelon (board of directors) influence CSR practices.
... The size of the team and the expertise of the members can affect the success of the venture (Cooper 1993). Studies have shown that the majority of the nascent entrepreneurs work in teams of two or more (Aldrich et al. 2004;Davidsson and Honig 2003), and that team-founded ventures tend to outperform those of solo entrepreneurs (Cooper and Bruno 1977;Weinzimmer 1997). This may be due to the additional resources team members bring to the venture creation process (Steffens et al. 2012). ...
... An example of this was a study by Wiklund et al. (2009), in which they analyzed a series of factors that affect a firm's growth from five different perspectives; entrepreneurial orientation, environment, strategic fit, resources, and attitude. There are a considerable number of empirical studies and the majority of them use independent variables to predict differences in growth rates across firms and to examine the aspects that increase or limit growth (Achtenhagen, Naldi, & Melin, 2010;Davidsson & Delmar, 1997;Weinzimmer, 1997;Zahra, 1996). Even though there have been attempts to develop an integrative model of small firm growth, the results show that there is low concurrent validity for a number of growth measures and high variability among them over time (Wiklund et al., 2009). ...
Building on Resource-Based View (RBV) and Institutional Theory (IT), we decided to study the internal and external factors that affect the choice between different growth strategies in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging economy. We started identifying that there is a direct relationship between technological resources and an organic growth strategy, financial resources and an acquisitive growth strategy, and networking capabilities and a hybrid growth strategy. We argue that the intensity of these relations is moderated by institutional factors, such as a country’s intellectual property protections (for organic strategies), credit access (for acquisitive strategies), and trust in the business environment (for hybrid strategies). We based our findings on 450 face-to-face surveys with CEOs from firms in the Electronic Technology, Information, and Communication Sector (ETICS) in Mexico. Managerial implications are also discussed in the paper, as well as future avenues of research.
... Founder age: The age of the founder is related to a firm's performance and strategies (Hambrick and Mason, 1984;Weinzimmer, 1997). We expect that the founder's age will impact on IPO speed. ...
... Une première série de travaux a montré que l'association d'entrepreneurs pouvait résulter d'une réflexion stratégique ou être, au contraire, la traduction d'un fait social, l'entrepreneur s'associant alors avec des personnes proches de lui (Moreau, 2006). Lorsque la décision d'association est stratégique, l'accès aux compétences complémentaires de son associé devient un motif souvent évoqué par les entrepreneurs (Ucbasaran, Lockett, Wright & Westehead, 2003 ;Weinzimmer, 1997). Une deuxième série de travaux s'est intéressée aux effets de la complémentarité des compétences des associés sur la performance de leur entreprise (Roure & Maidique, 1986 ;Murray, 1989). ...
... However, finance literature is progressing to investigate the decision makers' behaviours as characteristics of economic phenomena (Subrahmanyam, 2008). A number of researches have been conducted on UET, exploring the influence of board characteristics on related areas such as corporate disclosure (Bamber, Jiang, & Wang, 2010), research and development spending (Barker & Mueller, 2002), Cash holding (Orens & Reheul, 2013) and firm performance (Weinzimmer, 1997). ...
Due to the heightened competition and advancements in the dynamic business environment, considerable attention is given to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Most studies on CSR are quantitative and focused on linear relationships with profitability, firm characteristics, corporate governance, and board diversity. However, little is known on how board characteristics influence CSR Practices. Therefore, this qualitative study focuses on how board characteristics affect CSR practices in Sri Lankan context from Upper Echelon theory (UET) perspective. The data was gathered via in-depth interviews conducted with directors in selected companies in Sri Lanka. The study revealed that both male and female directors have equal opportunity to raise voice on CSR in board discussions and female directors are more interested in CSR practices relating to women and children due to their psychological cognitive such as inherent compassion, empathy and understanding of women’s needs. The directors with multiple educational and professional qualifications, especially in accountancy, showed a sound knowledge on CSR. Further, well-experienced directors in multiple industries are also more concerned with CSR and suggested genuine CSR practice as most companies use CSR as a promotional tool for building corporate image. It was further evident that the foreign directors have more exposure on CSR. According to the UET perspective, the different characteristics of upper echelon (board of directors) influence CSR practices.
... The ability to work as a team and to sense an opportunity are critical elements of success (Timmons & Spinelli, 2009). Moreover, Weinzimmer (1997) has noted that the formal structure and diverse operational competencies of management teams are main success factors for small business growth. Unterkalmsteiner et al. (2016) emphasized that, while an innovative idea is important for the start-up, its success or failure ultimately depends on the ability of the team to execute it. ...
Healthcare and the well-being of populations are critical economic considerations. Increased healthcare service demand and the economic challenges faced by healthcare systems have recently intensified the need for effective, scalable, and innovative health services. Integration of digital technology into health services, known as eHealth, is an emerging and fast-growing area, which has been viewed as a key response to increased requirements of healthcare systems and services.
Start-ups have organizational agility, promising ideas, the willingness to take risks, and the
tendency toward growth that make them pioneers of innovation. EHealth service start-ups create digital solutions to meet the needs, complement traditional services, and even create new market in the areas of healthcare and well-being.
The theoretical framework of this study is based on the stages of growth approach, particularly from the viewpoint of the start-up stage of a service business. However, research areas related to start-ups in the eHealth context are also integral to this study’s theoretical background. As the start-up stage is the critical period for a new company’s survival and growth, growth management is of central importance. However, the current understanding of growth management in eHealth service start-ups is incomplete. Thus, there is a need for industry-specific understanding of eHealth service start-ups.
The aim of this study was to clarify the growth management of eHealth service start-ups. This multiple-case study used the critical incident technique in data collection, and the data were gathered from Finland, Sweden, and the United States.
The study revealed twelve characteristics of eHealth service business during the start-up stage which contribute to the understanding of growth management in eHealth service start-ups. Slow growth and extreme uncertainty were found to be key characteristics and the results of the other revealed characteristics. Moreover, the findings indicate that the literature on prior stages of growth does not provide research evidence that is precise enough about the growth management of eHealth service start-ups. Thus, the characteristics of eHealth service start-ups determined by this study should be taken into account in growth management.
The results of this study may be used to predict managerial challenges and to help managers to focus their attention on critical issues, which may lead to risk reduction during the start-up stage
... 조직에 각인되는 이러한 특성들은 창립 초기의 경쟁 환경 에 대한 조직 수준의 인식 기반, 조직의 역량, 조직구조와 같이 다양한 수준에서 혼재 하며, 이러한 특성들은 쉽게 변하지 않은 채 기업의 제반 경영활동에 영향을 주어 향 후 기업의 성과나 생존여부를 결정하는 중요한 요인으로 작용하게 된다 (Romanelli, 1989;Sydow, Schreyogg & Koch, 2009;Geroski, Mata & Portugal, 2010;Grilli, Jensen & Murtinu, 2014 (Delacroix & Carroll, 1983;Hannan & Freeman, 1989 (Carroll & Hannan, 1989 (Stinchcombe, 1965;Hannan & Freeman, 1977;Hannan & Freeman, 1984;Johnson, 2007;Sydow, Schreyogg & Koch, 2009 (Deeds, DeCarolis & Coombs, 2000;Nielsen, 2010;김양민 김승주, 2013). 또한, 최고경영진의 규모, 평균연령 등은 의사결정과정에 영향을 주어 기업의 전략적 방향 과 성과를 결정하는 것으로 나타났다 (Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1990;Amason & Sapienza, 1997 'Amboise & Muldowney, 1988;Daily & Dalton, 1992;Weinzimmer, 1997 (Bantel & Jackson, 1989). 인간은 나이가 들어감에 따라 신체적 능력뿐 아니라, 학습능력이나 기억력과 같은 인지능력(cognitive ability) 또한 감소하는 경향이 있기 때문이다 (Burke & Light, 1981;Luo & Craik, 2008 (Child, 1974;Hambrick & Mason, 1984;Boeker, 1988;Wiersema & Bantel, 1992 (Sambharya, 1996;Nielsen, 2010). ...
The purpose of this study is to conduct an empirical analysis of the effects of founding team characteristics on ventures' survival within the framework of imprinting effect. To examine this, we analysed 184 IT and manufacturing companies which founded prior to the year of 2000. The statistical results show that firms’ survival has a negative relationship with founding top management teams’ average age. In addition, a positive relationship was observed between firms’ survival and founding top management teams’ high technological competence.
... 조직에 각인되는 이러한 특성들은 창립 초기의 경쟁 환경 에 대한 조직 수준의 인식 기반, 조직의 역량, 조직구조와 같이 다양한 수준에서 혼재 하며, 이러한 특성들은 쉽게 변하지 않은 채 기업의 제반 경영활동에 영향을 주어 향 후 기업의 성과나 생존여부를 결정하는 중요한 요인으로 작용하게 된다 (Romanelli, 1989;Sydow, Schreyogg & Koch, 2009;Geroski, Mata & Portugal, 2010;Grilli, Jensen & Murtinu, 2014 (Delacroix & Carroll, 1983;Hannan & Freeman, 1989 (Carroll & Hannan, 1989 (Stinchcombe, 1965;Hannan & Freeman, 1977;Hannan & Freeman, 1984;Johnson, 2007;Sydow, Schreyogg & Koch, 2009 (Deeds, DeCarolis & Coombs, 2000;Nielsen, 2010;김양민 김승주, 2013). 또한, 최고경영진의 규모, 평균연령 등은 의사결정과정에 영향을 주어 기업의 전략적 방향 과 성과를 결정하는 것으로 나타났다 (Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1990;Amason & Sapienza, 1997 'Amboise & Muldowney, 1988;Daily & Dalton, 1992;Weinzimmer, 1997 (Bantel & Jackson, 1989). 인간은 나이가 들어감에 따라 신체적 능력뿐 아니라, 학습능력이나 기억력과 같은 인지능력(cognitive ability) 또한 감소하는 경향이 있기 때문이다 (Burke & Light, 1981;Luo & Craik, 2008 (Child, 1974;Hambrick & Mason, 1984;Boeker, 1988;Wiersema & Bantel, 1992 (Sambharya, 1996;Nielsen, 2010). ...
The purpose of this study is to conduct an empirical analysis of the effects of founding team characteristics on ventures’ survival within the framework of imprinting effect. To examine this, we analysed 184 IT and manufacturing companies which founded prior to the year of 2000. The statistical results show that firms’ survival has a negative relationship with founding top management teams’ average age. In addition, a positive relationship was observed between firms’ survival and founding top management teams’ high technological competence.
... as a result, scholars increasingly focus attention on tMt human capital, which refers to tMt members' "knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSaOs)" that help them perform their duties (Becker 1964;Ployhart and Moliterno 2011, p. 127;Unger et al. 2011). Often acquired through education and work experience (Colombo and Grilli 2010;Geletkanycz, Boyd, and Finkelstein 2001;Khanna, Jones, and Boivie 2014), tMt human capital can be a critical differentiator among tMts (Helfat and Martin 2015;Zarutskie 2010) and can be important for growth in a small business context (Weinzimmer 1997). in line with this work, we focus on two key indicators of tMt human capital relevant to HGFs: tMt education and tMt entrepreneurial experience. ...
We integrate research on upper echelons theory, the resource‐based view, and gender to explore conditions that facilitate high growth for female‐led firms. We argue that female entrepreneurs have certain advantages that help them leverage their firms’ human and financial capital to achieve high growth. In support, using a sample of U.S.‐based entrepreneurial firms, we found evidence that having a female lead entrepreneur positively moderated the positive relationships between indicators of firms’ human and financial capital and high growth. The findings have implications for programs, policies, and practices to encourage more high growth in firms with female lead entrepreneurs.
... 102 Kamm et al. 1990 Watson et al. 1995. 103 Ucbasaran et al. 2003Birley & Stockley 2000; Cooper & Daily 1997; Weinzimmer 1997; Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven 1990; Vyakarnam & Handelberg 2005. 106 Lechler 2001 Rosa & Scott 1999; Vyakarnam et al. 1999. ...
... Their basic idea is that different top managers greatly influence organizational outcomes by the choices they make. Indeed, the upper echelons theory (UET) literature shows that CEO characteristics is linked to various organizational processes and outcomes, such as company financial disclosure (Bamber et al., 2010), R&D spending (Barker & Mueller, 2002), innovation (Kitchell, 1997), internationalization (Herrmann, 2002), development of business strategy (Gibbons & O'Connor, 2005) and corporate performance (Weinzimmer, 1997). Hambrick and Mason (1984) argue that under UET, managerial decision making is greatly influenced by top managers' intellectual, psychological and societal settings due to bounded rationality. ...
The study examines the moderating effect of CEO tenure and managerial experience on firm specific determinants of corporate cash holdings among private manufacturing firms in Kenya. The research employed the upper echelons theory to identify CEO characteristics that are linked to various organizational processes and outcomes such as cash holding. This survey-based study selected a sample of 156 private manufacturing firms from the firms registered with the KAM that are located in Nairobi and surrounding area using stratified random sampling technique. The research collected primary data using self-administered questionnaires to gather self-reported financial measures from the CFOs. The study employed stepwise multiple regression analysis to determine the moderating effect of CEO tenure and managerial experience on independent and dependent variables. The study concludes that the CEO tenure significantly moderates firm size, growth opportunities, and likelihood of financial distress as determinants of corporate cash holdings. Further, the study concludes that CEO managerial experience in other industries significantly moderates firm size and cash flow volatility determinants of corporate cash holdings among private manufacturing firms in Kenya.
... The diagram below explains how upper echelon characteristics affects corporate strategic choices. Hambrick and Mason (1984) Numerous researches have been carried out on the UET, examining the relationship between leader demographics and organizational outcomes such as innovation (Kitchell 1997), R&D spending (Barker and Mueller 2002), corporate disclosure (Bamber et al 2010), firm performance (Weinzimmer 1997), and cash holding (Orens and Reheul 2013). However, the empirical significance of these studies remains largely unknown especially in terms of the relationship between a leader's cognitive, social and psychological characteristics and financial leverage. ...
From the upper echelons perspective, we investigate the financial leverage decision of publicly listed companies in Bursa Malaysia for the period from 2002 to 2011. Using pooled OLS and fixed-effect regressions, we examine the impacts of CEO personal characteristics on financial leverage. Our measures of CEO personal characteristics such as CEO overconfidence based on CEO profile photo, CEO age, and CEO prior experience are significantly and negatively related to leverage. However, CEO education level and CEO tenure are significantly and positively related to leverage. Furthermore, we partition our sample of companies based on CEO age and CEO education level. In the CEO-age group, we find that female CEOs are greater risk takers as compared to male CEOs in Malaysia. With respect to CEO education level, we show that younger CEOs, female CEOs, and longer-serving CEOs are risk takers and more aggressive. This paper contributes to the debate of the UET as well as determinants of leverage decision from several dimensions. First, this is the first study that investigates the impacts of CEO personal characteristics on financial leverage of Malaysian firms. Second, we make the first attempt by classifying CEO certain characteristic (age and educational level) into groups to make a further comparison on the impact of CEO personal characteristics on financial leverage. Third, this study uses a larger data sample and a longer study period than the previous studies in the literature. Fourth, the paper also makes a methodological contribution. This study employs different methods (pooled OLS regression and fixed effects panel regression) for the analysis. It is hoped that the result of this paper can fill the gap of the literature on the relationship between CEO personal characteristics and financial leverage as explained by Upper Echelon Theory.
... For example, younger CEOs may aggressively reform company strategies or pursue high-risk strategies, while older CEOs are more conservative, tend to be pessimistic toward new technologies and prefer simpler solutions (Hambrick & Mason, 1984;Pegels & Yang, 2000;Barker & Mueller, 2002). Therefore, CEO age is highly correlated with corporate strategy and performance (Wiersema & Bantel, 1992;Weinzimmer, 1997). In addition, some studies have found that CEO age is related to the horizon problem. ...
Distinctive from prior research that emphasizes the influences of CEO demographic characteristics on corporate financial strategies, this study uses constellation as the proxy variables for CEO psychological traits and takes into consideration demographic characteristic variables to further analyze the relationship between CEO traits and corporate financial leverage, performance, and growth opportunity. This is an interesting issue worthy of study because shareholders and potential investors are always searching for CEOs that can create and increase values for the firms. The results show that there is a greater proportion of Leo CEOs in high-leverage firms, a greater proportion of Virgo CEOs in low-leverage and high-ROA firms, and a greater proportion of Pisces CEOs in both low-and high-MB-ratio firms. In addition, the CEOs with air-constellation are positively related to ROA. In general, fire-sign and earth-sign CEOs prefer high financial leverage, while air-sign CEOs are averse to such; fire-sign and air-sign CEOs have positive influences on firm profitability, while earth-sign CEOs have negative influences. Moreover, cash compensation will reduce the positive effect of air-sign CEOs on ROA.
... As a firm's scale and scope increase, an owner-manager needs to learn how to delegate authority (Roberts, 1999). The owner-manager must learn to interact effectively with their professional management team to whom they will need to delegate authority and the top-management-team needs to have a balance of skills and expertise that compliment those of the owner-manager (Weinzimmer, 1997). These include technical and managerial skills, organisational adaptability and an ability to acquire or use technology. ...
... Organizational growth can potentially provide the organizational business a myriad of benefits, including greater efficiencies through economies of scale, increased power, the ability to withstand environmental change, increased survival rates, increased profits, and increased prestige for organizational members. Consequently, organizational growth is often used as an indicator of effectiveness for organizational performance and is a fundamental concern of many practicing managers (Weinzimmer 1997). According to Hubbard and Bromiley's (1995), organizational growth is the most commonly identified measure of overall organizational performance (cited in Dess 1987; Johnson & Thomas 1987; Hamilton & Shergill 1992; Weinzimmer et al. 1998). ...
This paper attempts to explore how TMT (Top Management Team) attributes interact with environment dimensions to influence organizational growth. Specifically, this study will examine environmental dimensions as a potentially important moderator of the association between TMT attributes and organizational growth. However, the overall findings provide mixed results for the hypotheses tested. The results of direct effect show that: (1) organizational growth exhibits a significant positive relationship with TMT tenure; (2) TMT functional heterogeneity is insignificant with no change in the variance of organizational growth; and (3) positive but insignificant relationship between industrial heterogeneity and organizational growth. Furthermore, the interaction effect results indicate that: (1) as munificence increases, the relationship between TMT tenure and organizational growth shows increasingly positive; (2) concentration, dynamism and munificence moderate the relationship between TMT functional heterogeneity and organizational growth; (3) finally, the interaction effect also provide mixed results, such: as environment concentration increases, the relationship between TMT industrial heterogeneity and organizational growth increases positively; by contrast, as environment dynamism increases, the relationship between TMT industrial heterogeneity and organizational growth increases negatively; while the interaction between TMT industrial heterogeneity and environment munificence is not significant to explain the organizational growth.
... Thus, management experience increases the ability of the entrepreneurial firm to engage in more M&A and cooperative arrangements. Regarding the quality of corporate investment decisions, Weinzimmer (1997) argues that management teams with functional experience in the finance area especially are better able to allocate financial resources efficiently, leading to superior firm performance. The increased ability to manage complexity should also affect a firm's propensity to acquire and cooperate. ...
... Managers from small firms who are engaged in commercialisation of new technologies need to be competent in project management from a technical perspective (Salomo, Weise & Gemunden, 2007), however they also need to be capable of leading their teams in change and communicating these ideas to customers (Zahay & Griffin, 2004). The top management team within such firms needs to be balanced with a good cross section of functional skills (Weinzimmer, 1997). Given the focus of the MSC precinct it was not surprising to find that ICT and engineering dominated their educational training and contributed to their deep understanding of the industry. ...
This paper reports the preliminary findings of a study examining the impact of leadership on innovation among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) within Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). Leadership style has a profound impact on how an organization adapts to the changes in its environment. The ability of the leader to select the best strategy suited to his or her style will enhance the innovativeness of the organization. This paper discusses the findings from a pilot study that provides insights and lessons for both enhancing our understanding of the managerial task environment of innovation intensive SME, as well as possible implications effecting the future development of the MSC and similar initiatives like it.
... The role of entrepreneurship in firm performance has been analysed on different levels. On the one hand, the literature on entrepreneurship has paid attention to the role of founders, entrepreneurial as well as management teams, showing that their human capital, in terms of knowledge and skills, has a positive impact on firm growth (Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven 1990;Storey 1994;Timmons 1999;Birley and Stockley 2000;Weinzimmer 1997). On the other hand, some of the literature has focused on firms' entrepreneurial behaviour at the organizational level. ...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors affecting the growth of companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), the London Stock Exchange market for young and growing companies.
Design/methodology/approach
– The author investigates post-initial public offering (IPO) growth for a panel of 665 companies listed on the AIM between 1995 and 2006. The empirical model uses the generalized method of moment-System (GMM-SYS) estimator.
Findings
– The findings confirm that small companies listed on the AIM grow more quickly after the IPO. It seems that both human capital and firm characteristics are important determinants of their rapid growth.
Practical implications
– The results of this study have some implications for policy. Policy makers should take account of the relevance of an efficient financial system. It is important also to consider the process of transformation of the cultural and behavioural attitudes of various countries towards entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
– This paper analyses the determinants of firm growth in a particular entrepreneurial setting, that is, IPO on the AIM, the sub-market of the London Stock Exchange.
... The lack of research concerning small business culture is significant from both a theoretical and practical viewpoint. For example, change management, particularly in relation to organisational growth and development, is an important theme evident in the small business research literature (Weinzimmer, 1997). Without accompanying cultural change, most organisational changes fail or remain shortlived (Cameron and Freeman, 1991). ...
Despite extensive research on corporate culture, very little empirical research has examined the culture of small organisations. An updated version of the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP, O’Reilly, Chatman, and Caldwell, 1991) was used in an Australia-wide survey (n=1918). Executives from small, medium, and large organisations recorded perceptions of the culture of their organisations. The results indicate that small organisations (<100 employees, n=655) were perceived to be significantly more supportive, competitive, innovative, and performance-oriented than medium-sized or large organisations. Practical and theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed. Sommaire Malgré une recherche étendue sur la culture d’entreprise, peu d’études empiriques se sont penchées sur la culture des petites organisations. Nous avons utilisé une mise à jour du Profil de la culture d’entreprise (OCP, O’Reilly, Chatman et Caldwell, 1991) pour un sondage national en Australie (n=1918). Des cadres provenant de petites, moyennes et grandes entreprises ont décrit comment ils perçoivent la culture de leur organization. Les résultats indiquent que les petites entreprises (<100 employés, n=655) étaient considérées largement supérieures aux moyennes et grandes entreprises sur le plan du soutien, de la concurrence, de l’innovation et de la performance. Nous discutons les implications théoriques ainsi que les directions possibles pour la recherche à venir.
... Akadémiai körökben él egy olyan előfeltevés, mely szerint a nagyvállalatoknál használt fogalmak értelemszerűen alkalmazhatóak a kkv-kra is (Weinzimmer 1997). Más kutatók azzal érvelhetnek, hogy a menedzsment elméletek fősodrát nem lehetséges készen, változtatás nélkül alkalmazni a kkv-kra, mivel ezt a méretkategóriát más kontextusban, más feltételekre vonatkoztatva hozták létre. ...
A cikk a kis- és középvállalatokat (kkv-k) azonosításán és jellemzésén keresztül mutatja be a nagyvállalatoktól eltérő önértelmezési mintázatait a kisebb méretű vállalatoknak. A létszámon, árbevételen és mérlegfőösszegen túlmutató megkülönböztetés lényege, hogy feltárja a kkv-k egyedi jellegzetességeit, melyek megalapozzák, hogy miért értelmeznek máshogyan egyes vállalati funkciókat (pl. marketing) bizonyos vállalati méret alatt a gazdasági szervezetek. A cikk megvizsgálja, hogy a marketingfunkció miben és miért más kkv környezetben, mint amit a klasszikus marketing szakirodalom ismertet, alapvetően nagyvállalati kontextusban. A kérdésre 122 db. félig strukturált, kkv vezetőkkel, tulajdonosokkal és marketingért felelős alkalmazottakkal készített mélyinterjúból írt összegző esszé tartalomelemzésén keresztül keresünk választ a kérdésre.
The purpose of this study was to assess the challenging factors for growth of micro and small enterprises in Adola Woyu town. It covers both internal and external environment factors that have potential influences on growth transformation of MSE in town. The study adopted a mixed research approach. The primary data was collected from the member of MSE and concerned officials through written questionnaire and interviews. Data was collected from 212 respondents through those data collection tools. Both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were employed to select sample from targeted populations. MSE in Adola town were classified in five strata namely Trade, Manufacturing; Urban agriculture, Services and construction and sample were drawn from each stratum proportionally. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select interviewers from MSE members as well as from concerned officials. 5-point Likert scale questions were employed to investigate about the factors hinders smooth growth of MSE study area for indepth investigation of respondents’ feeling and believes through this attitudinal scale questions. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis. Frequency table, percentage, mean and standard deviation from descriptive and correlation and multiple regression were used for analysis. The findings of the study reveal that both internal and external variables have significant effects on growth of MSE in Adola town. Hence, it was recommended that both government and member of MSE should give more attention and watch both internal and external factors to ensure sustainable growth of MSE
The study examines the impact of positive and negative emotions by individual members on team outcomes in a small business context. Using a simulation, the research conducts a survey of individual perceptions to examine team dynamics over a three-month period. Initial negative emotions on team tasks were found to lower intra-team trust, while positive emotions increased trust through team identification. Initial identification was associated with improved team outcomes. Through subsequent relationship conflict, increases in negative (positive) emotions lowers (raises) team cohesion and performance. For small businesses, the results suggest that leaders should address assigned tasks to help members mitigate initial negative emotions. Leaders should also monitor employee emotions as work progresses, given that affective attitudes continue to impact team outcomes. In addition, pairing employees with previous work experiences may help build team identification and so improve outcomes.
L'objectif de cette recherche est d'évaluer l'impact du profil du dirigeant sur le niveau d'OE et l'influence de ce dernier sur la performance-export de la PME dans le contexte togolais. A cet effet, une analyse quantitative par la période de régression logistique auprès de 65 PME exportatrices montre que la vision stratégique, les compétences clés, les traits de personnalité du dirigeant et les caractéristiques de la PME affectent positivement l’orientation entrepreneuriale internationale et la performance-export. Ces résultats ont le mérite de confirmer le modèle conceptuel adapté de Miller/Friesen et celui de Covin/Slevin dans le cadre du Togo.
The aims of this study are to demonstrate and test a growth-based organizational diagnostic model, which is easy to understand and implement. In order to do so, fi rst a conceptual framework of the model is built while establishing rationale of different components of the model, and fi nally the application of the model on 51 sampled KSE-100 companies, from 18 different broadly categorized industrial sectors selected on the basis of purposive sampling, is demonstrated on case to case basis. In order to check if the data fi ts the model, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used. The result shows a perfect data to model fi t and usefulness of the model to carry-out instant organizational diagnosis.
This chapter examines creativity and its links to enterprise. This includes the three-stage process of entrepreneurship: opportunity screening; acquiring resources and building capability. Within this examination, the chapter reviews innovation and competitive advantage, financing ventures, team building and entrepreneurial growth. The process of entrepreneurship has been viewed as resting on four cornerstones. The first of these is the ability to impact your personal environment. Second is to possess a high degree of self-confidence. Next is the ability to create support networks that the entrepreneur can call upon for assistance, advice and resources. The final element is the ability to create a linkage from vision to action (Johannisson 1988). In this chapter, the role of creativity and the need to develop sound networks to support entrepreneurial activities are examined.
Start-ups organizations are increasing rapidly. To overcome “liability of newness,” it is essential for entrepreneurs to compose the right co-founding team. Based on the review of 57 journal articles on start-up co-founding teams and new venture teams, we found that the composition of the team, especially diversity among team members, was frequently studied. However, previous research has only focused on surface-level diversity such as gender, age, functional background, previous experience. Only a very few studies investigated deep-level diversity such as co-founding team members’ value, personality or thinking style. The present study explored what type of diversity is required in start-ups. Since this topic is rarely studied, we first conducted a qualitative study by interviewing with nineteen start-up founders and venture capitalists in Study 1. As a result we found that four individual characteristic factors (extraversion, agreeing to different idea, risk taking, optimism) and four work-related factors (business opinion, speed oriented, big-picture oriented, time perspective) were the key component of deep-level diversity. In Study 2, we conducted a quantitative study to empirically investigate these aspects by a survey to thirty start-up related individuals. The result confirmed that the diversity were required for six aspects deducted from Study 1. For the other factors of optimism and speed orientation, frequency tendency supported Study 1’s result.
The importance of teams has been largely recognized in recent management and entrepreneurship research. This article critically reviews the literature of entrepreneurial and management teams by comparing the key concepts, and the development and foci of research from the SME performance viewpoint in particular. The comparison reveals that entrepreneurial teams differ from management teams, and so the concepts should not be considered interchangeable. Such teams also operate largely in different contexts, however, both having different roles for management and a significant impact on firm performance. Moreover, the review suggests that entrepreneurial and management teams are often groups rather than teams and they are more common than previously believed, though there is much variation in their prevalence by industry sector and firm size.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential influence of friendship on entrepreneurial teams (ETs) and on venture formation and development. The theoretical framework is built on the literature around friendship ties, the interaction of friendship ties and professional ties, and ETs.
Design/methodology/approach
– Taking an interpretative methodological approach, the authors carried out qualitative interviews with ten business founders in Paris, France.
Findings
– The authors identified different four profiles or types of ETs according to how friendship ties interact with professional ties among team members, which the authors designate as “fusion” and “separation”, and describe the orientation of this interaction, which the authors label as “affective” or “strategic”. These profiles affect the emergence of the idea and the choice of members in the formation of teams. They also shape the functioning of teams in terms of decision-making processes, recruitment and investment.
Research limitations/implications
– The findings underline the difficulties of studying friendship in ETs empirically and recommend longitudinal approaches for further research.
Practical implications
– Findings offer insights in to why and how ETs based on friendship ties approach the pre-launch, launch and development phases of businesses as well as in to the interactions between professional and friendship ties, which is helpful to both practitioners and academics. The authors also discuss the consequences and implications of the different team types in terms of their risks and strategies for mitigating these risks.
Originality/value
– This is one of the first empirical studies to examine how friendship and professional ties may combine and evolve in ETs, and their influence on the entrepreneurial process as it relates to venture formation and development.
The article reviews the literature for the key markers of high growth firms, which create the majority of new jobs. From the review, a template is developed comprising the key markers. They include: training and experience in entrepreneurship and management; and strategies that emphasise innovation, marketing and employee and organisational learning. High growth firm owners take steps to access management skills that complement theirs through employment of a management team, outsourcing management tasks or making decisions with oversight from an informal board. Good reward structures, which may include ownership interests, are essential to performance of the management team. Access to resources, especially finance and human capital is critical to growth but abundant resources could compromise efficiency. The article finds that personality characteristics of owners and postgraduate education in management are not effective identifiers of high growth firms. Some of the barriers to identifying high growth firms are presented and suggestions made to overcome them.
We review and discuss the literature on small firm growth with an intention to provide a useful vantage point for new research studies regarding this important phenomenon. We first discuss conceptual and methodological issues that represent critical choices for those who research growth and which make it challenging to compare results from previous studies. The substantial review of past research is organized into four sections representing two smaller and two larger literatures. The first of the latter focuses on internal and external drivers of small firm growth. Here we find that much has been learnt and that many valuable generalizations can be made. However, we also conclude that more research of the same kind is unlikely to yield much. While interactive and non-linear effects may be worth pursuing it is unlikely that any new and important growth drivers or strong, linear main effects would be found. The second 'large' literature deals with organizational life-cycles or stages of development. While deservedly criticized for unwarranted determinism and weak empirics this type of approach addresses problems of high practical and also theoretical relevance, and should not be shunned by researchers. We argue that with a change in the fundamental assumptions and improved empirical design, research on the organizational and managerial consequences of growth is an important line of inquiry. With this, we overlap with one of the 'smaller' literatures, namely studies focusing on the effects of growth. We argue that studies too often assume that growth equals success. We advocate instead the use of growth as an intermediary variable that influences more fundamental goals in ways that should be carefully examined rather than assumed. The second 'small' literature distinguishes between different modes or forms of growth, including, e.g., organic vs. acquisition-based growth, and international expansion. We note that modes of growth is an important topic that has been under-studied in the growth literature, whereas in other branches of research aspects of it may have been studied intensely, but not primarily from a growth perspective. In the final section we elaborate on ways forward for research on small firm growth. We point at rich opportunities for researchers who look beyond drivers of growth, where growth is viewed as a homogenous phenomenon assumed to unambiguously reflect success, and instead focus on growth as a process and a multi-dimensional phenomenon, as well as on how growth relates to more fundamental outcomes.
This monograph is the fifth in a series of works bringing focus to some of our contemporary research themes. It presents a coherent and in-depth analysis of some key issues concerning the phenomenon of small business growth and contains much that is useful to practitioners and academic readers. The importance of small growth firms to economies is well recognised and this collection presents an empirical and up-to-date view that is timely and significant to current debate. The papers draw on research from the community of researchers in this area and it would seem that the importance of this work is common place internationally. In addition, something that is good to see, are contributions from well-established and emerging academics in the field of small business growth.
Corporate governance has been a central focus of strategic management research, particularly the associations among governance structures, strategic leaders, and firm performance. Extant research, however, provides little evidence of systematic relationships in these areas. There are a series of theoretical/conceptual rationales suggesting that such relationships might be more pronounced in entrepreneurial firms. Accordingly, we provide an overview and synthesis of the entrepreneurship literature addressing the intersection of governance and strategic leadership with firm performance. The strongest relationships reflected in this literature are consistent with a resource dependence perspective of the firm. We conclude with several suggestions for advancing research in this important domain.
L'objet de cette contribution est de s'interroger sur le lien entre les fondateurs des nouvelles entreprises de biotechnologies et leur modele d'entreprise. Cette recherche s'appuie sur l'analyse de 61 nouvelles entreprises de biotechnologies francaises (NEB) et de leur 129 fondateurs. Elle s'inscrit dans le cadre des theories de la firme basees sur les ressources. Quatre modeles d'entreprise sont differencies : produit, prestataire de service, plate-forme technologique, bio-sante. Les deux premiers se differencient des deux seconds quant aux competences des equipes de fondateurs, aux modes de valorisation de leur capital humain et des ressources technologiques et financieres mobilisees pour assurer leur viabilite[1]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1]. Cette enquete a ete realisee pour le compte du Commissariat General au Plan (voir Mangematin et al., 2001). Les auteurs sont largement redevables aux membres de l'equipe constituee pour cette recherche, notamment S. Lemarie et V. Mangematin pour l'idee et la typologie initiale des modeles d'entreprise, R. Coronini pour la collecte et le traitement des publications scientifiques des fondateurs et des conseillers scientifiques et M. Carrere pour les traitements statistiques. Ils demeurent cependant seuls responsables des resultats presentes.
De nombreuses PME qui survivent restent petites, soit en raison des potentialités de leurs marchés, soit parce que leurs dirigeants n’ont pas l’intention de croître, notamment pour des raisons de contrôle. Certaines d’entre elles, les « gazelles », se développent beaucoup plus rapidement que les autres. Leur potentiel de contribution à la croissance de l’économie et à la création d’emplois est aujourd’hui considéré comme majeur dans la plupart des pays de l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE). Or la volonté de croissance dans la PME reste difficile à assumer financièrement sur une longue période.
Dans ce travail de recherche, nous montrons qu’il est difficile d’appréhender la problématique financière de la PME indépendamment des caractéristiques de son dirigeant ou de son équipe dirigeante. Ces dernières ont une influence fondamentale sur l’intention de croissance, considérée comme une condition sine qua non à l’atteinte et au maintien d’une trajectoire de développement rapide. À chaque dirigeant correspondent donc « une forme » d’intention de croissance et une personnalisation des principales décisions financières.
Nos propos sont étayés par une revue de la littérature de recherche sur les exigences du phénomène d’hypercroissance et le rôle joué, dans ce contexte précis, par les caractéristiques des dirigeants sur l’intention de croissance et les décisions financières. Nous illustrons nos développements à l’aide de deux études de cas de PME en hypercroissance.
The question of company growth, particularly the impact of the entrepreneurial team on growth, is central to the study of the entrepreneurial phenomenon. One would normally approach this chapter with a discussion of growth and the problems that the entrepreneurial team faces in attempting to take the actions necessary to accomplish its growth objectives, but the theoretical and methodological issues of growth are addressed in this book. Therefore, we address here the issues related to the actions of the entrepreneurial team in achieving the desired growth. An assumption behind this approach is that if the new business is to grow at the desired rate, the entrepreneur is unlikely to be able to manage the process alone - the team must be in place at the start. This argument is both appealing and intuitively obvious. A question we will explore is how it works. So, what do we know about the impact of the management team upon the process of growth in the entrepreneurial venture?
This review explores Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for enterprise success in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The effect of critical success factors is complex as they are interrelated and circumstantial. Empirical evidence regarding their outcomes remains contradictory and inconclusive. Nevertheless, it is relevant to make further research the factors for SMEs as SMEs are considered the engine of growth especially in GDP, employment and exports of a country. Furthermore, such research will shed more lights the understandings and insights of the multifaceted issues and solution for enterprises success. Resource-constraint SMEs need to focus on CSFs to build competitive advantage to stay competitive amidst the challenges from and globalisation and liberalisation. From this literature review, it is revealed that there are around leadership and management, intellectual capital, organisational innovation, entrepreneurial competence, entrepreneurial characteristics, human resources, motivation and market orientation which are essential for sustained enterprise success, it is necessary to build resources as such leadership style, entrepreneurial competence, organisational innovation, image and reputation and organisational culture.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the present status of the use of information from management control system (MCS) and the effect of top management team demographic characteristics and societal culture on level of use of MCS in privatized firms in the transitional economy of Libya. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with twenty one managers in small and medium sized privatized manufacturing firms in Libya. The findings from this study suggest that uses of management control systems information among the firms vary firms according to the demographic characteristic and cultural background of the top management team. The study focuses on a sample of top management teams of small and medium-sized manufacturing firms; therefore the findings cannot be generalised to other sectors. Suitably designed quantitative studies may be conducted to verify the findings of this study. This paper is one of the few studies attempting to assess the effects of culture on the use of management accounting information in the transitional economy countries.
This study proposed a predictive model of new venture failure, survival and growth based on measures of resources discernible at the point of startup. Using a multinomial logit model, we achieved strong predictive power as indicated by the close fit between predicted and actual frequencies pertaining to these three outcomes.
Hypotheses relating to market, organizational and managerial determinants of profitability and growth are developed and tested using data collected by structured interviews in 45 randomly selected companies in the electrical engineering industry. Multiple regression analysis suggests that market share and barriers to entry are the principal determinants of profit margins, but that tightness of control of working capital and aggressive management style also have an important influence. Centralization of decision-taking among smaller companies, too, was associated with greater profitability, whilst more extensive budgetary control and planning of acquisitions or diversification were both negatively correlated with the latter. Profitability was the single most important predictor of the rate of company growth of sales but constraints from organized labor, from sources of finance, and conservative management styles, the rate of product change, R&D intensity, and decentralization all entered significantly.
A popular misconception holds that most new businesses experience similar growth stages of start-up, rapid growth, maturity, and decline. Yet, business statistics show that only a small number of firms grow into large organizations. A few experience some growth, but the majority have such small growth that they provide only a marginal income to the founder.While market conditions impact on the growth of the firm, they do not explain growth differences when they occur under similar market conditions. In this paper, the authors have compared psychological type preferences of founders/CEOs of fast-growth firms with those of slow-growth firms under the assumption that differences in psychological preferences, as they relate to gathering, assimilating, and processing information, would have an impact on the strategic or growth orientation of the firm.The results are based on the administration of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to the founders/cofounders of 143 firms included in the 1987 Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States and the comparison of these results with those of an earlier study of 150 founders/CEOs of successful, yet slower growing firms.The primary personality traits under consideration were an individual's preferred method of gathering information from the environment, making decisions, and drawing conclusions from the information.The results indicate that founders of rapid-growth firms have psychological preferences that are significantly different from those of their slower-growth counterparts. Growth oriented founders prefer an intuitive approach or consideration of future possibilities when gathering information, and a thinking or planned and organized approach to drawing conclusions. These preferences represent those facets most frequently used in strategic or growth planning.Investors in new firms that place importance on the capabilities and orientations of the management team as an evaluation criteria are currently limited to consideration of past experiences. An awareness of the management team's experiences can provide an indication of management ability, but unless their experience involves management of growth, the information related to growth propensities or orientations is limited. A measure of a person's preferences in gathering, assimilating, and processing information can indicate their desires for strategic and/or growth planning. Hence, investors may have another tool that can be used in the investment decision making process. In addition, government policy makers may have the opportunity for increased effectiveness in assistance programs by recognizing that the needs and preferences of founders of rapid-growth companies are significantly different from those of their slower-growing counterparts, and that these differences should be considered in the development of assistance programs.