No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
A new typology of micro-firm owner-managers
... Dès lors que l'on étudie l'entrepreneur, on plonge dans un paradoxe : celui de la simplicité -complexité des processus qu'implique la petite taille. Plus la taille de l'entreprise est petite, plus il est difficile de dissocier l'entrepreneur de l'organisation (Jaouen et Lasch, 2015 ;Torrès, 2015). Ainsi dans la littérature, un consensus existe quant à la relation dialogique entre l'individu et son organisation (Fonrouge, 2002), à la difficulté voire l'impossibilité de les dissocier, à la forte personnalisation de la stratégie, mais aussi à la fragilité de ces firmes (Filion, 2008 ;Djupdal et Westhead, 2015 ;Torrès, 2015). ...
... Enfin, Hernandez (2005) adopte quant à lui une approche plus anglo-saxonne de l'entrepreneur et considère que le coaching entrepreneurial a pour objectif de développer chez les acteurs de l'entreprise différents comportements entrepreneuriaux. Plusieurs travaux ont souligné que le dirigeant de TPE / PME n'entre pas de manière naturelle dans l'une ou l'autre catégorie (Marchesnay, 2003 ;Jaouen et Lasch, 2015). Dans cette recherche, nous nous intéressons à l'entrepreneur en tant que dirigeant de PME quelles que soient les phases de la vie de l'entreprise. ...
... Le coaching s'intéresse ainsi à la relation personne-situation. Or, la littérature en entrepreneuriat reconnaît que l'une des principales caractéristiques de la PME (et encore plus en contexte de microentreprise) est la (con)fusion entrepreneur-entreprise (Fonrouge, 2002 ;Marchesnay, 2003 ;Jaouen et Lasch, 2015). Cet amalgame implique un certain nombre de biais cognitifs. ...
... Marketing abilities may generate better performance (Sanzo et al., 2012). However, SSBs are oriented to the short term (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015), limiting their marketing orientation (Didonet et al., 2020), and conditioning their marketing capabilities. In addition, the customers with whom SSBs work in a subsistence marketplace are regular (usually with limited resources) or sporadic customers. ...
... The leadership of SSBs is possibly distinct; subsistence entrepreneurs usually have little training, and their business knowledge is usually based on experience (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015). These businesses are usually made up of the entrepreneur's family members, so the entrepreneur's leadership of the SSB is closely associated with their prestige within the family. ...
... Partner linking refers to the ability of a firm to interact with partners and orchestrate the resources and capabilities of partners in value creation Thus, as has been noted previously, marketing capabilities are vital for organizations (Day, 1994). SSBs usually have little strategic vision; they are invariably oriented toward short-term economic benefits (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015), and they do not typically exhibit organizational learning (Jardon & Susana Martos, 2012). They have difficulty developing marketing capabilities, as they are not marketing orientated (Didonet et al., 2020). ...
Small businesses are vital in developing countries. Usually, the marketplaces in the most impoverished areas are subsistence marketplaces, and small businesses are frequently created as the only form of subsistence for the entrepreneur and their family. These businesses working in subsistence marketplaces have distinct marketing needs. These businesses may require leadership to use their marketing capabilities to be competitive. This paper analyzes the mediation of marketing capabilities and leadership as sources of competitive advantage in subsistence small businesses using a partial least square technique and timber industry data from a region in Argentina. This paper confirms that transformational leadership and marketing capabilities are a source of competitive advantage in subsistence small businesses. In particular, leaders use marketing capabilities to generate a competitive advantage.
... Dès lors que l'on étudie l'entrepreneur, on plonge dans un paradoxe : celui de la simplicité -complexité des processus qu'implique la petite taille. Plus la taille de l'entreprise est petite, plus il est difficile de dissocier l'entrepreneur de l'organisation (Jaouen et Lasch, 2015 ;Torrès, 2015). Ainsi dans la littérature, un consensus existe quant à la relation dialogique entre l'individu et son organisation (Fonrouge, 2002), à la difficulté voire l'impossibilité de les dissocier, à la forte personnalisation de la stratégie, mais aussi à la fragilité de ces firmes (Filion, 2008 ;Djupdal et Westhead, 2015 ;Torrès, 2015). ...
... Enfin, Hernandez (2005) adopte quant à lui une approche plus anglo-saxonne de l'entrepreneur et considère que le coaching entrepreneurial a pour objectif de développer chez les acteurs de l'entreprise différents comportements entrepreneuriaux. Plusieurs travaux ont souligné que le dirigeant de TPE / PME n'entre pas de manière naturelle dans l'une ou l'autre catégorie (Marchesnay, 2003 ;Jaouen et Lasch, 2015). Dans cette recherche, nous nous intéressons à l'entrepreneur en tant que dirigeant de PME quelles que soient les phases de la vie de l'entreprise. ...
... Le coaching s'intéresse ainsi à la relation personne-situation. Or, la littérature en entrepreneuriat reconnaît que l'une des principales caractéristiques de la PME (et encore plus en contexte de microentreprise) est la (con)fusion entrepreneur-entreprise (Fonrouge, 2002 ;Marchesnay, 2003 ;Jaouen et Lasch, 2015). Cet amalgame implique un certain nombre de biais cognitifs. ...
... We find references to the characteristics of micro-enterprises in analyses that deal with the management of small businesses (<50 workers) (Battisti, Beynon, Pickernell, & Deakins, 2019;Fuller-Love, 2006;Martinsons, Davison, & Huang, 2017;Santoro, Messeni-Petruzzelli, & Del Giudice, 2020), and in the literature on entrepreneurship that deals with problems related to the process of creation and the first few years of the new ventures (Hahn, Frese, Binnewies, & Schmitt, 2012;Smith, 1999), as well as in works on the growth drivers and barriers of small businesses, whether they are more technological (start-ups) or not (Gherhes, Williams, Vorley, & Vasconcelos, 2016;Pelz, 2019;Wiklund, Patzelt, & Shepherd, 2009). It would seem that the rest of the literature on management, considering growth as an objective per se, assumes that either there is no need or no possibility of management in M-Fs that do not ambition to grow (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015). ...
... Many of the studies explicitly recognise that M-Fs are an object of research and contribute to validate the specific characteristics of this typology of enterprises by studying their strategies of internationalisation (Dana, Chan, & Chia, 2008;Hermel & Khayat, 2011), of cooperation-coopetition (Granata et al., 2018;Jaouen & Gundolf, 2009;Reinl & Kelliher, 2010;Tu, Hwang, & Wong, 2014), innovation (Baumann & Kritikos, 2016), quality management (Klute-Wenig & Refflinghaus, 2020), management learning-training (Devins et al., 2005;Schaper et al., 2005), the strategic decision-making, business model, and other management practices (Kelliher & Reinl, 2009;Liberman-Yaconi et al., 2010) or the determinants of performance (Berrone, Gertel, Giuliodori, Bernard, & Meiners, 2014). Since the OMEs are decisive in the evolution of these M-Fs, there is an interest in categorising them (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015) and delving into their characteristics and capabilities (Duarte Alonso, Kok, Sakellarios, & O'Brien, 2019;Fazal, Mamun, Ahmad, & Masud, 2019;Kelly, Kelliher, Power, & Lynch, 2020). ...
... 5 Jaouen and Gundolf (2009) Qualitative, semi-directive interviews 40 semi-directive interviews with OMEs in France Propose a typology of M-F alliances and find specificities (lack of formalisation, of contractual relationships, and trust) 6 Kelliher and Reinl (2009) Cooperation of M-Fs with consumers does not improve product and service innovations, but does improve the cooperation with suppliers. 12 Jaouen and Lasch (2015) Qualitative. Semi-directed interviews. ...
Extant literature on SMEs currently offers an incomplete and deterministic characterisation of micro-firms (M-Fs) that are not growth-oriented start-ups, so very little is known about the actual functioning and internal challenges that hinder the adoption of management practices of these companies, and how to facilitate their management development. Using the Socio-Economic Approach to Management (SEAM) as theoretical lens and SEAM intervention-research as methodology, the study uncovers myths in the managerial characterisation of micro-firms and suitable patterns of change management practices for them. Our research contributes to the study of M-Fs by being the first study specifically devoted to mature M-Fs, and by proposing a theoretical framework that shows the dynamic nature of the characteristics associated with M-Fs.
... Founder identity has been linked to different behavioral priorities and venture growth (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015;Mills & Pawson, 2012). Whether the venture strives for survival, lifestyle, managed growth, or aggressive growth is said to depend on the founder's identity (Morris et al., 2018). ...
... Our study also looks at the behavioral manifestations of identity tension resolution and their impact on founders' priorities for venture performance. Thus, we offer dynamic, processual insights that advance the link between identity and venture growth trajectories (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015;Morris et al., 2018). The approach we take highlights that the founder's identity in relation to entrepreneurship is not predetermined at the start of the process. ...
... Our findings also suggest a more complex picture in the link between founder identity and growth than currently held. Previous work has suggested that founders of low-growth ventures self-identify as entrepreneurs, although not as strongly as founders of high-growth ventures (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015;Mills & Pawson, 2012;Morris et al., 2018). We find that founders who do not aim for venture growth as their priority actively defy entrepreneurial identities when they believe they are attached to ideas of commercial goals. ...
Research suggests that venture founders from creative backgrounds can experience identity tension if they view artistic and commercial logics as competing. Whether they experience this tension and how it is resolved can have implications for their behavioral responses, ultimately shaping the development of their ventures. In this article, we adopt an identity work lens in a longitudinal study of venture founders from creative backgrounds. Our findings and subsequent model detail the circumstances that trigger identity tension and how founders from arts background experience and resolve it in different ways. This leads to practices that focus on different conceptions of performance and growth.
... Existing research is focused on challenges that inhibit growth, such as restricted finances (Addo, 2017), operation from home (Reuschke and Houston, 2016), and "psychological thresholds [that] need to be crossed on the journey out of micro status" (Houston and Reuschke, 2015). While some artisan entrepreneurs elect to remain small and are disinterested in growth (Bouette and Magee, 2015;Curtis, 2016;Jaouen and Lasch, 2015;Reuschke and Houston, 2016), others struggle to grow and to transition from nonemployer firms to employers. Support for microbusiness development can be a "cost-effective tool for state and local governments to use" to encourage job creation, especially in low-income and economically disadvantaged communities (Edgcomb and Thetford, 2013). ...
... Microbusinesses are growing in both number and relative proportion to all businesses throughout the world. While some researchers define microbusinesses as companies with fewer than five employees (Roberts and Wortham, 2018) or "businesses with fewer than six employees and very small amounts of financial capital" (Addo, 2017), microbusinesses are more commonly defined as firms with fewer than 10 employees (Brawley and Pury, 2017;Houston and Reuschke, 2017;Jaouen and Lasch, 2015;Reuschke and Houston, 2016;U.S. Small Business Administration, 2017). ...
... Existing research suggests that microbusinesses experience obstacles that may limit growth, including limited financial resources (Addo, 2017), home-based status (Reuschke and Houston, 2016), and "psychological thresholds [that] need to be crossed on the journey out of micro status" (Houston and Reuschke, 2017). Other researchers have noted that many microentrepreneurs "have no desire for growth" (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015) and remain small by choice (Bouette and Magee, 2015;Reuschke and Houston, 2016). In contrast with microbusinesses of the past, today's microenterprises have access to global markets through affordable technologies. ...
... How dynamic capabilities are enacted and the micro-foundations underpinning them have traditionally been analysed within large organisations (Koryak et al., 2015), ignoring micro-enterprises which are an important segment of the business population. While a heterogeneous category, micro-enterprises share a number of characteristics in terms of size, limited market share, resource scarcity and an owner-manager undertaking the majority of managerial tasks with, in some cases, support from small generic management teams (Gherhes et al., 2016;Jaouen and Lasch, 2015;Martín-Tapia et al., 2010). These characteristics make micro-enterprises vulnerable to the effects of market shifts and loss of key customers (Kelliher et al., 2018). ...
... In micro-enterprises, there is a limited number of individuals and the owner-manager/management team is typically dominant (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015), leading to the links between the individual, group and organisational levels to become blurred. This questions whether the theorised relationships between dynamic capabilities at different analytical levels apply in the micro-enterprise context. ...
... With an owner-manager or small management team dominating the strategic, operational, and cultural side of micro-enterprises (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015;Kearney et al., 2019), the lines between individual, group and organisation levels become difficult to demarcate. Initially, this might question the applicability of the dynamic capability and dynamic managerial capability concepts to the micro-enterprise context, given that these concepts are distinguished by analytical level. ...
This article analyses how dynamic capabilities are enacted in micro-enterprises and what role different parties and managerial time allocation play in this enactment. Drawing upon three in-depth case studies of micro-enterprises, we make three theoretical contributions. First, after arguing that micro-enterprises are likely to enact individual- or group-level dynamic managerial capabilities rather than organisation-level dynamic capabilities, we counter Teece’s warnings about the vulnerable nature of dynamic managerial capabilities. Second, we identify that how managers allocate their own time, is a core micro-foundation of dynamic managerial capabilities; we illustrate that failure to allocate time to capability enactment can lead to capability vulnerability. Finally, we introduce the notion of ‘self-damaging dynamic managerial capabilities’ – these being capabilities that damage established micro-foundations.
... Equally, while inter-personal and relational trust can encourage social capital between collaborators, such ties may not realise the benefits expected by those involved in the knowledge transfer process (Kelliher et al., 2018). Pro-environmental knowledge transfer may be impeded by differences in cognitive processes (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015), and mis-alignment in the organisation's values (Ogunmokun et al., 2020), or a mismatch of the collaborative process (Zeng et al., 2014). To this end, questions remain over the direct relationship between social capital, trust-based decisions, the intention to engage sustainably, knowledge transfer and similarly, willingness to engage in and action sustainable knowledge transfer. ...
... Using observations and insights within established, emerging, and developing Small and Medium Tourism Enterprise networks could reveal how SMTEs respond to pro-environmental initiatives. Such inquiry would build upon the work of Jaouen and Lasch (2015) and Ogunmokun et al. (2020) by investigating the (mis)alignment of individual and organisational pro-environmental values and the efficacious dynamics of knowledge transfer within intra and inter-organisational networks. ...
... Given their limited resources, most micro-firms can only access and process a minimal amount of information and resources to, respectively, inform and execute strategic decisions (Simon and Houghton, 2002). Therefore, they might use different sources of information, both internal or external or derived from formal or informal relationships, and resources (Daft and Weick, 1984;Simon and Houghton, 2002), prioritise a few specific strategic issues (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015) and rely strongly on the cognitive characteristics of the individuals responsible for interpreting information and seizing opportunities (Daft and Weick, 1984;Simon and Houghton, 2002). The alignment between strategy and resources, whether it pertains to individual owners/managers or, more broadly, a firm's organisational structure as in the case of large firms, remains unclear (Levinthal, 2017;Maritan and Lee, 2017). ...
... The role of owner/managers, who strategically, operationally and culturally dominate micro-enterprises (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015;Kearney et al., 2019), has been noted as crucial in strategic decision-making (Greenbank, 2000;Phillipson et al., 2004). As such, strategic decisions largely depend upon the owner's discretion rather than on formal decision models (Kelliher and Reinl, 2009). ...
Resource allocation decisions are pivotal in shaping the strategic direction of organisations, particularly in micro-firms that operate with limited resources and dispersed information. This research delves into the intricate interplay between managerial and organisational factors related to information collection, processing and resource allocation in the context of high-performing micro-firms. By advancing our understanding of how the internal coordination of information needed in decision-making and resource allocation evolves within micro-firms, we reveal the mechanisms that stabilise the relationship between participants and problems. Additionally, we explore how the capabilities of managers and owners, who often centralise final decisions in micro-firms, can catalyse the emergence of such coordination. This holistic view of strategic resource allocation in micro-firm settings addresses the fundamental question of how micro-enterprises overcome structural limitations to achieve high levels of performance. Our findings provide valuable insights for scholars, managers and policymakers, contributing to the broader discourse on resource management in micro-firms.
... Small business owners are often described as being "craftsmen" or "lifestyle entrepreneurs", and their family business was characterized to be risk averse because the entrepreneur must prioritize the possibility of making a living for his or her family ahead of potential growth of firm. Those entrepreneurs start their businesses in areas that reflect their desired living environment, develop businesses closely related to areas of personal interest, and keep their businesses small (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015;Sjgren, Puumalainen and Syrja, 2011). ...
... Kisfalvi (2002) suggested that the strategy making processes of such entrepreneurs primarily reflect their particular set of life issues. This suggestion is particularly relevant for family firms, in which entrepreneurial behaviour and family issues frequently are deeply embedded (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015). ...
... In the context of micro-firms, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) (that is, how entrepreneurial is a firm across different levels, Wales et al., 2020) is particularly important because this strategic posture will help businesses to be innovative, proactive in exploring new opportunities and markets, and deal with risk (Rauch et al., 2009) which is especially relevant for the survival of micro-firms. In line with the role of owner-manager in the micro-firm context (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015), EO in a micro-firm typically emanates from the CEO or owner, who defines this strategic posture and best leverages its outcomes (Covin & Slevin, 1989). Literature has consistently shown that EO has a positive and significant relation with different performance measures, such as business growth, in small and medium-sized companies (e.g., Wolff et al., 2015). ...
... While "People-centric HRM practices" explain the growth in the number of employees because those microfirms are "a good place to work", they are also associated with lower levels of net income growth because the sustainability of the business is dependent on human capital development. This is in line with Jaouen and Lasch's (2015) typology of micro-firms owners, which recognizes that some types of micro-firms do not want to grow and demonstrates the complexity of the link between micro-firms and economic growth (Mueller et al., 2008). ...
... Le dirigeant propriétaire a un rôle déterminant dans le développement de son affaire (Reijonen, Komppula, 2007 ;Delmar et Wiklund, 2008 ;Filion, 2008;Anderson, Tell, 2009 ;Jaouen, 2010 ;Higgins et al, 2013 ;Garavan et al, 2015 ;Jaouen et Larsch, 2015). Le développement et la croissance de son entreprise dépendent de son comportement et de ses traits de caractère (Cossette, 2001 ;Reijonen, Komppula, 2007 ;Jaouen, 2010 ;Hahn et al, 2012 ;Jaouen et Lasch, 2015). Les profils des dirigeants propriétaires vont donc avoir une incidence sur leur stratégie de développement. ...
... Le dirigeant propriétaire est au coeur du développement de son entreprise (Reijonen, Komppula, 2007 ;Anderson, Tell, 2009 ;Higgins, Mirza, Drosynska, 2013 ;Garavan et al., 2015 ;Jaouen, Lasch, 2015). Ces travaux insistent sur la personnalité du dirigeant propriétaire comme variable explicative de son comportement stratégique. ...
L'entreprise artisanale représente une entreprise française sur trois et exerce une des 510 activités artisanales, répertoriées dans 4 secteurs différents. Etre dirigeant propriétaire d'une entreprise artisanale ne s'improvise pas. Plus de la moitié des entreprises ont disparu au bout de 5 ans (D'Amboise et Gasse, 1982 ; Baldwin, Gorecki, 1991 ; Gasse, 1996 ; OCDE, 2002 ; Picard, 2006 ; Boughattas, Bayad, Schmitt, 2006; Ndangwa et al, 2007 ; Jaeger, 2009), du fait, entre autres, d'un problème de méconnaissance du métier d'entrepreneur (Boughattas, Bayad, Schmitt, 2006). Les compétences sont les facteurs clés de succès de la compétitivité de l'organisation et, par conséquent, une condition nécessaire à sa pérennité (Prahalad et Hamel, 1990 ; Grant, 1991 ; Amit et Schoemaker, 1993; Peteraf, 1993 ; Hoskisson et al, 1999; Fourcade, Polge, 2006 ; Wernerfelt, Polge, 2008). Ce travail se propose d'explorer le rôle des compétences du dirigeant propriétaire artisan dans la manière dont il pérennise son entreprise. Une étude qualitative de type compréhensive a été menée auprès de 30 entreprises artisanales et 33 dirigeants propriétaires artisans. L'analyse comparative se fonde sur l'étude de l'ambivalence des compétences techniques, propres à la pratique d'un métier, et des compétences managériales, requises pour gérer l'entreprise artisanale. Elle s'appuie également sur l'analyse des différents niveaux de compétences (individuel, organisationnel, stratégique, environnemental) mobilisées par le dirigeant propriétaire artisan. In fine, les résultats de notre recherche permettent d'identifier les stratégies déployées pour pérenniser l'entreprise artisanale, via différents schémas de combinaison des compétences. Les résultats de cette recherche permettent ainsi de dépasser le concept classique de compétence et d'enrichir la notion de développement de l'entreprise artisanale par le prisme de la pérennité organisationnelle.
... In the context of micro-firms, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) (that is, how entrepreneurial is a firm across different levels, Wales et al., 2020) is particularly important because this strategic posture will help businesses to be innovative, proactive in exploring new opportunities and markets, and deal with risk (Rauch et al., 2009) which is especially relevant for the survival of micro-firms. In line with the role of owner-manager in the micro-firm context (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015), EO in a micro-firm typically emanates from the CEO or owner, who defines this strategic posture and best leverages its outcomes (Covin & Slevin, 1989). Literature has consistently shown that EO has a positive and significant relation with different performance measures, such as business growth, in small and medium-sized companies (e.g., Wolff et al., 2015). ...
... While "People-centric HRM practices" explain the growth in the number of employees because those microfirms are "a good place to work", they are also associated with lower levels of net income growth because the sustainability of the business is dependent on human capital development. This is in line with Jaouen and Lasch's (2015) typology of micro-firms owners, which recognizes that some types of micro-firms do not want to grow and demonstrates the complexity of the link between micro-firms and economic growth (Mueller et al., 2008). ...
This study explores the configurations of people management practices in micro-firms and their relation with entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in a four-year window. Based on the ability-, motivation- and opportunity-focused practices framework, we identify configurations of HRM practices used in micro-firms and, in conjugation with entrepreneurial orientation, how they affect employee growth and net income. We analyzed data collected from 114 micro-firm owners combined with firm objective performance measures using Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. Results show a taxonomy of three configurations of HRM practices associated with different entrepreneurial orientation strategic postures in micro-firms: “Financial centric HRM practices”, “Operations centric HRM practices”, and “People centric HRM practices”. We assume that configurational methods can help uncover the complexity of the interplay between HRM practices and strategic postures on micro-firm performance. This study contributes to the literature in micro-firms by revealing effective people-related managerial practices on performance.
... Literatūrā visbiežāk uzņēmuma īpašnieku-vadītāju raksturo kā individuālu personu. Ir pētījumi, kas saista šīs personas rīcību uzņēmumā ar viņa vai viņas attieksmi pret izaugsmes vai dzīvesveida jautājumiem (Jaouen, Lasch, 2015) vai, piemēram, ar izaugsmes motivatoriem (Wahlgrén, Virtanen, 2015). Būt par sava uzņēmuma īpašnieku un vienlaikus arī par tā vadītāju -tā var būt gan priekšrocība, gan izaicinājums (Millers, Gaile-Sarkane, Sceulovs, 2016). ...
... Pētot īpašnieku-vadītāju uzskatus par izaugsmes un dzīvesveida jautājumiem, pētnieki Joena un Lašs (Jaouen, Lasch, 2015) saistīja viņu uzvedību uzņēmējdarbībā ar personības profiliem. Īpašnieku-vadītāju attieksmi pret sava uzņēmuma izaugsmi pētīja arī Valgrēns un Virtanens (Wahlgrén, Virtanen), un viņu pētījums atklāja trīs veidu izaugsmes motivatorusekonomiskos, psiholoģiskos un sociālos (Wahlgrén, Virtanen, 2015). ...
Promocijas darbā pētīts, kā laika gaitā veidojusies un mainījusies izpratne par mazajiem un vidējiem uzņēmumiem (MVU), šādu uzņēmumu īpašniekiem-vadītājiem, kā ir attīstījušās uzņēmumu pārvaldības pieejas. Veikts empīrisks pētījums par īpašnieku vadītu MVU pārvaldību, un pētījuma dati ir analizēti, izmantojot statistiskās analīzes un rezultātu vizuālās analīzes metodes. Darbā piedāvāta jauna MVU īpašnieku-vadītāju tipoloģija, veikta uzņēmumu pārvaldības pieeju profilēšana, kā arī izstrādāta un aprobēta metodika, ko MVU īpašnieki un vadītāji var izmantot savu uzņēmumu darbības analīzei un attīstībai.
... Also, the terms "family-run business" or "family business" are used to describe a special type of enterprise, as well as to describe how such a company is run (Cohen, Lauterbach, 2008;Gilding et al., 2015;Goffee, Scase, 1985;Poutziouris, 2003) Most often, the owner-manager of the company is described as one individual person. There are studies that link this person's actions in the company to his or her attitude to growth or lifestyle issues (Jaouen, Lasch, 2015) or, for example, to growth motivators (Wahlgrén, Virtanen, 2015). Being the owner of a company and at the same time being its manager can be both an advantage and a challenge (Millers, Gaile-Sarkane, Sceulovs, 2016). ...
... Studying the views of owners-managers on issues of growth and lifestyle Jaouen and Lasch linked their behaviour in business to their personality profiles (Jaouen, Lasch, 2015). Wahlgrén and Virtanen also studied the attitude of owners-managers towards the growth of their company, and their research revealed three types of growth motivators -economic, psychological and social (Wahlgrén, Virtanen, 2015). ...
The Doctoral Thesis examines how understanding of small and medium-sized enterprises, concept of owner-manager and government practices have evolved and changed over time. Empirical study on governance of owner-managed SMEs has been carried out, and research data have been analyzed using methods of statistical and visual analysis. A new typology of SME owners-managers, SME profiling based on governance approaches, and methodology that SME owners and managers can use to analyze and develop their businesses is developed in this work.
... Micro-firms possess their own unique identity and cannot be considered diminutions of larger firms (Gherhes et al., 2016). Such micro-firms have flat management structures with no layers of excessive bureaucracy, thus it habitually befalls the owner manager to be the primary decision-maker, strategist and resource allocator (Campin et al., 2013;Jaouen & Lasch, 2015). The denudation of bureaucracy within the micro-firm bestows upon it a structural and cognitive agility to be more nimble in altering its resource base than larger firms (Gherhes et al., 2016). ...
... The visual density of Figure 1, mirrors the complexity of the owner manager's managerial and operational challenges in maintaining the viability of the firm within a resource stretched environment. The owner manager is the primary strategist and instigator of executive decisions (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015), a conduit of operational actions (Campin et al., 2013) and a gatekeeper of resources. On the left of Figure 1, routine operational capabilities enable the firm to trade on a day-to-day basis and owner managers have the option to exist within this realm, rebuff change signals and preserve the status quo. ...
This research explores senior tourism adaptive strategizing capabilities through the lens of micro-firm owner managers. The findings derived from 24 qualitative tourism practitioner interviews demonstrated that senior tourism engagement does not necessitate a profound strategic change of direction or extensive resource reconfiguration. However, the strategic commercialization of this cohort remains under-utilized and findings perpetuated stereotypical assumptions regarding a lack of diversity within the senior market. Owner managers that actively embrace adaptive decision-making capabilities proactively target this market, whereas those with little strategic intent view senior tourism as a generic cohort of questionable commercial value. A thematic map positions the owner manager as a pivotal decision-maker within this strategic milieu and charts the trajectory of market alignment and resource transformation as a means of accessing the silver economy. Its adaptive ethos offers avenues for growth by creating bespoke authentic experiences, geared explicitly towards senior tourists as a heterogeneous cohort.
... The initial settings of a business can hint at the capacity to grow and the relational dynamic between the partners. Some couples start small and intend to keep their business small to maintain the work-life balance they sought when starting their couple business in the first place (Jaouen and Lasch 2015). Other couples start larger or want to grow, and this reflects in the way they run their business, how they evolve and how they behave with each other. ...
... Other couples start larger or want to grow, and this reflects in the way they run their business, how they evolve and how they behave with each other. We would expect, for example, that couples who have growth intentions tend to be more professional towards one another and have different perceptions of tensions or synergies than a couple running a business for lifestyle reasons (Jaouen and Lasch 2015). Thus, we encourage future research to link the reasons behind starting a business to the foundational settings of the entity. ...
Businesses run by romantic couples—couple businesses—are an important social and economic phenomenon. These businesses are widespread and represent a distinct form of business; they can be large corporations or home-based businesses, they can make large or small revenues, and the couples running them can have high or low levels of education. Scholars from different disciplines have addressed couple businesses, which makes the literature base fragmented. In this review of 71 articles on couple businesses, we synthesize the research around three guiding questions: what is a couple business (descriptions), where does it come from (antecedents), and where does it lead (outcomes)? Providing a cohesive picture of empirical research on couple businesses adds clarity and richness to the research field and increases our understanding of the phenomenon. Avenues for further research are discussed in five thematic areas: conceptualizations of couple businesses, work-home boundaries, gendered power differentials, and antecedents and outcomes of couple businesses.
... Yet with managerial practices comprising the strategies and activities of the firm, support can be argued to first influence managerial practices, and these then in turn directly impact firm performance. Indeed, the managerial practices that small firms enact have been found to be important for building value (e.g., Frankenberger & Stam, 2021), while differences in how these practices are enacted have also been found present in firms that grow with those that do not (e.g., Jaouen & Lasch, 2015;Mueller & Volery, 2012). ...
Governments have long favoured business advisory services and grants as key tools for supporting firms. While existing research generally underscores their positive impact on firm performance, there is less clarity on how this support influences specific managerial practices. These practices, which encompass a firm's strategies and activities, are thought to be first shaped by business support, which then in turn more directly impact firm performance. In this research paper, we analyse data from the Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS) between 2018 and 2022 to examine the links between receiving business support in 2018, the managerial practices implemented in 2019, and firm performance (turnover growth and employee growth). Our study reveals that although business advice and government grants enhance the likelihood of adopting managerial practices, their individual and combined direct and indirect effects on firm performance are marginal. Additionally, the impact of business support on performance seems lagged, as SMEs require time to implement the support before observing any noticeable improvements. We discuss the implications of these findings and highlight the need for further research to explore these results in greater detail.
... Enterprise management techniques can also be impacted by the owner's mindset [34], age of the CEO or owner [35], management style, and individual preferences [36,37]. Since it is assumed that managers of SMEs frequently lack a traditional management education, an analysis and development method for their management practices must take into account their knowledge and proficiency in management. ...
Self-managed teams are perceived as highly productive and have been actively studied in recent times. Considering this, the notion of the utility of establishing and cultivating such teams in small and medium-sized businesses in Kazakhstan has emerged, aiming to enhance their role in the country's economic development. Therefore, the authors of this article have resolved to conduct an empirical study on teams operating within the SMEs sector of Kazakhstan. This study aims to present the findings of an initial survey conducted among employees of small and medium-sized enterprises to characterize their self-management capacities and identify factors influencing their self-management abilities. For this purpose, representatives of teams in small and medium businesses in Kazakhstan were surveyed. The design of the survey questionnaire involved three field experts to validate and refine the questions. Findings reveal that approximately two-thirds of SME teams in Kazakhstan demonstrate characteristics of cross-functionality, diversity, motivation, and co-location, indicative of their self-managing nature. This suggests agile management's potential for organizational goals. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study aimed to investigate how far the teams in Kazakhstani enterprises are self-managed. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2024-05-03-016 Full Text: PDF
... This form of self-employment, also known as 'artist-entrepreneur', becomes a solution allowing to combine the pursuit of a professional artistic career with securing their autonomy, independence and the capacity to define one's own career path (Feder and Woronkowicz, 2022). Nevertheless, such form of entrepreneurship is more focused on subsistence than growth, where entrepreneurs are willing to accept limited finances as long as they could make a living from their passions (Jaouen and Lasch, 2013). Furthermore, artists' emotional attachment to their own creative work, has led some to claim that they may experience the emotional exposure required in entrepreneurial venturing, as an even more significant challenge than efforts to raise funding (Brown, 2005). ...
Crowdfunding has been proclaimed as a new fundraising channel offering multiple benefits to artist-entrepreneurs, yet its use has been surprisingly underwhelming. The study examines the determinants of artist-entrepreneurs' intentions to use crowdfunding in fundraising for their projects. It does so by suggesting and testing a model combining classical antecedents of intentions adopted from the theory of planned behaviour (i.e., attitudes (ATT), subjective norms (SUBN), perceived behaviour control (PBC), and self-efficacy (SELE)), and aspects specific to creative and artistic work (i.e., conventionality of creative work and the size of existing fanbase (FAB)). The analysis employs survey data collected from artist-entrepreneurs in Norway. Findings show that while ATT towards crowdfunding and SUBN are positively associated with crowd-funding intentions, SELE and PBC are not. Moreover, non-conventionality of creative work and FAB are positively associated with SELE and PBC, though they are not significantly associated with ATT and SUBN. These results remain stable even when controlling for sub-sectoral affiliations of artists based on the type of creative work they do.
... The same perception is also accurate for growth and innovation. Owner-managed firms and firms managed by professionals characteristically engage in different leadership, management and innovation behaviors, for example, in relation to ownership stakes and objectivity (Daily and Thompson, 1994;Jaouen and Lasch, 2015). However, for SMEs in the African context, our study agrees with Eze et al. (2014) that IT and its ecosystem are the means for remaining in business from IT development and even becoming competitive from emerging opportunities. ...
Purpose
In the African context, the threat of the disruption of traditional business value-creation processes, currently facilitated by the growing information technology (IT) ecosystem, came with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on interfirm relationships within the context of the digital ecosystem in Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs an explanatory–exploratory qualitative approach from an interpretivist stance to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on interfirm relationships. The authors conducted seven in-depth interviews with top management executives in a Nigerian technology company, together with the company's archival data that provided the pre, during and post pandemic (2018–2021) business-to-business (B2B) relationship structures, to determine how these relationships have been affected.
Findings
The results suggest that the pandemic had a minimal effect on partnership relationships in the B2B ecosystems of the case company but affected only non-partnership relationships.
Research limitations/implications
The authors' qualitative study is interpretive and the sample size is limited. Hence, there is a need for caution in generalizing the findings. The framework can be further validated across a wider population.
Practical implications
Partnerships can help organizations weather business crises. Consequently, organizations should maintain a healthy number of partnership relations to deal with periods in which challenges emerge in the business landscape. In other words, with tight contracts and a strategic focus on goals and objectives, partnership relations can help organizations weather business crises.
Originality/value
This study builds upon the burgeoning body of literature on digital ecosystems within the African context, which is a relevant contextual contribution.
... La PME, pour répondre aux exigences des clients dont elle dépend pour sa survie, peut donc être contrainte de modifier son organisation ou d'adopter une démarche RSE (Gélinas et al. 1996 ;Quairel et Auberger 2005). Les relations avec ses clients sont d'ailleurs parfois particulièrement déséquilibrées, du fait des asymétries d'information et des déséquilibres de pouvoir dans la relation avec la grande entreprise (Burkhardt, 2016;Pellegrin-Romeggio, 2016 Le dirigeant occupe une place centrale dans la direction, la gestion et la dynamique de la PME (Chabaud & Sammut, 2016;Jaouen & Lasch, 2015;Marchesnay, 1991;Torrès, 1999). Les décisions stratégiques sont généralement le seul fait du dirigeant, contrairement aux grandes entreprises où celles-ci sont le fruit de confrontations entre plusieurs acteurs (Hambrick & Snow, 1977). ...
Les innovations managériales (IM) portant une philosophie gestionnaire alternative à celle de l’organisation hiérarchique suscitent l’intérêt croissant des entreprises et de la recherche académique. Leur adoption par des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (PME) apparaît a priori inattendue au regard des spécificités des PME, notamment leur vulnérabilité et la forte centralité du dirigeant. Le contexte exacerbé qu’est celui de la croissance de la PME rend d’autant plus inattendue l’adoption de telles IM, car il amène de multiples bouleversements et tensions déstabilisatrices, et tend à faire évoluer la PME vers une organisation hiérarchique classique sur le plan organisationnel. Or, la littérature existante fait état d’un faible nombre d’études menées sur l’IM en PME, et a fortiori sur les IM alternatives à l’organisation hiérarchique dans les PME en croissance, n’apportant pas un éclairage suffisant sur ces phénomènes. Dans un premier axe de recherche, ce travail doctoral a donc pour objectif d’identifier les motivations poussant des PME en croissance à adopter une IM alternative à l’organisation hiérarchique. Dans une perspective plus dynamique, notre second axe de recherche s’intéresse à l’évolution de telles IM lorsque la PME connaît une croissance postérieure à son adoption. Notre choix s’est porté sur une méthodologie qualitative pour répondre à ces questionnements, méthodologie cohérente avec notre paradigme épistémologique interprétativiste. Nous étudions trois cas de PME en croissance dans le cadre de notre premier axe de recherche, et deux cas de PME connaissant une croissance postérieure à l’adoption d’une première IM dans le cadre de notre second axe. Nos résultats mettent en évidence que les PME étudiées adoptent des IM alternatives à l’organisation hiérarchique car elles refusent, dans le cadre de leur croissance, d’évoluer vers une organisation hiérarchique perçue comme éloignant la PME de son identité et de ses valeurs originelles. Elles adoptent de telles IM dans l’intention de pérenniser leurs valeurs originelles et leur histoire. Notre axe 2 montre que les deux PME étudiées mettent en place une deuxième IM alternative à l’organisation hiérarchique afin de faire face au nouveau palier amené par leur croissance. Cette deuxième IM est alignée avec la philosophie de la première IM, elle-même congruente avec les valeurs originelles que la PME souhaite pérenniser.
... Nous confirmons une formation de nature diverse (OSEO, 2005) et d'un haut niveau : 100% sont ici diplômés de l'enseignement supérieur au lieu de 70% dans l'étude de Chabaud (2013), ce qui se présente comme une limite de l'étude expliquée plus avant, en lien avec le recueil des données. Nous relevons la variété de statuts par la présence de dirigeants salariés, de créateurs, de repreneurs et d'un héritier, tout comme d'autres auteurs (Boussaguet & Grima, 2015 ;Debray, 2012 ;Jaouen & Lasch, 2015). L'étude permet de témoigner de la dimension passionnelle de ce métier (OSEO, 2005), amenant même certains dirigeants à contester le terme de métier pour qualifier leurs missions : « Dirigeant ce n'est pas un métier, je fais ça parce que j'aime ça… » (PME 11). ...
Qu’est-ce que le métier de dirigeant de PME ? Nous proposons ici une étude qualitative, réalisée auprès de quinze dirigeants, pour identifier les contours de ce métier. Cette étude confirme, d’une part, la diversité du profil des dirigeants ainsi que la complexité et la polyvalence de leur métier. Elle met en avant, d’autre part, l’importance perçue par les dirigeants de la dimension RH de leur métier, tout en révélant leur difficulté à l’assurer tant d’un point vue stratégique, managérial qu’instrumental. Cette contribution questionne de ce fait le besoin de compétences des dirigeants en matière de GRH et les stratégies possibles pour les acquérir.
... The study of entrepreneurs' health merits separate attention because they are a 'breed apart' from managers (Buttner, 1992) in terms of their personality traits (Steward and Roth, 2001;Zhao and Seibert, 2006), the influence they exert on their business, and the way their health (both physical and mental) influences the profitability or even the survival of their business (Chao et al., 2007;Torrès, 2017). They often cope with limited resources and support, wear several 'hats' in terms of roles that they play in their organization, and heavily bear the cost of any mistake that they make (Cardon et al., 2013;Torrès and Julien, 2005;Jaouen and Lasch, 2015). Not surprisingly, these entrepreneurs are often under a lot of stress (Wincent and Örtqvist, 2009) which impacts their health (Lechat and Torrès, 2017;Perrewé and Harms, 2020;Wach et al., 2020) and wellbeing more broadly (Berrill et al., 2020; Van der Zwan and Hessels, 2019). ...
... Focussing on SM specifically is necessary as these typologies will be used to conceptualise and explain the relationship and any inference between SM engagement and entrepreneurial behaviours/traits (Collier et al., 2012). This research is, therefore, required since SM engagement can directly impact upon the strategic focus and development of the business (Jaouen and Lasch, 2013;Chen et al., 2017). In fact, the diverse and heterogeneous nature of the various categories of self-employed and solo selfemployed "calls for greater scrutiny" and a significant need to distinguish between the different categories of the self-employed population, including entrepreneurs (Cieslik and Dvoulety, 2019, p. 3;Shrzek-Lubasinska and Szaban, 2019). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to present typologies of entrepreneurs using entrepreneurs' engagement and use of social media (SM) for business purposes as a means of categorisation. Based on this categorisation, four types of entrepreneurs are proposed: the hopefuls, the assureds, the opportunists and the passengers. The emergent typology should serve as the basis for further thought and empiricism.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-phase quantitative opportunistic sampling approach was employed. First, entrepreneurial experts' ( n = 8) structured interviews informed the survey design. Secondly, an online survey, based on theory of planned behaviour (TPB), was completed with entrepreneurs at business incubation centres (BICs) in Ireland. Latent class analysis (LCA) identified a number of entrepreneur typologies using participants' ( n = 124) business-related SM activities. Differences in entrepreneurial types were explained using the TPB, trust, security and demographic variables.
Findings
Results indicate that there are four distinct types of entrepreneurs based on their business-related SM activities. Once the typology was created, comparisons were conducted between each type based on the psychological drivers of the TPB. Trend differences were identified between the distinct typologies.
Originality/value
The value of this research is that the research proposes a typology of entrepreneurs categorised based on SM engagement and use. The typology can be used to identify and compare the differences between entrepreneurs based on perceptions regarding SM, abilities related to SM and the support entrepreneurs need in relation to this. This research is novel in that the research addresses calls to segment the increasingly diverse and complex entrepreneurial population using the pillars of social and digital technology as a focus. The research also provides a framework for examination and replication in other geographic and entrepreneurial settings.
... From the complete pool of nearly sixteen thousand lumber companies, we sought to identify those with annual revenues between US$500,000 and US$5,000,000, and fewer than fifty employees -often termed "very small firms" (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015), a category comprising of more than 90% of the firms worldwide. The range we demarcated constitutes a key boundary condition, but also ensures a high degree of homogeneity and comparability among sample firms. ...
Trade credit strategies – comprised of the approaches used by internationalising firms to set the payment terms and schedules for their customers – are one of the few levers available to new small firms to overcome the liability of outsidership. They are vital to entrepreneurial firms seeking to achieve international market growth in the context of scarce resources and limited knowledge of foreign markets and partners. Though under-explored and under-theorised to-date, trade credits may unlock material insights for predictive models of entrepreneurial growth. As such, our study develops and tests the notion that trade credits constitute an important mechanism for entrepreneurial firms to initiate goodwill and generate valuable referrals. However, our findings also suggest that while riskier trade credit strategies help first-time exporters combat exclusion from networks key to a firm’s ability to internationalise, the attendant risks often have a detrimental impact on long-term profitability and survival thus, creating a decision-making conundrum for growth-aspirants. Drawing upon a sample of 88,000 export transactions by 1,040 small lumber firms from 52 countries, we advance theory and practice by showing how trade credit strategies shape both growth and performance.
... The profit is derived from the selling price of goods less the purchase price of the goods. However, the reseller is a person or businessman who remembers small and medium who resell products from suppliers to consumers (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015). ...
The number of unemployed increased dramatically due to COVID-19. This can happen because many companies instruct their employees to work from home and some companies forced to do temporary dismissal and/or lay off their employees to survive during a pandemic. After that, many of people decide to create online business and become entrepreneurs. Products sold can be obtained from other people (be reseller) or make it by themselves. These products will be sold online, both with shopping applications and social media. The purpose of this research is to introduce the advantages of being an entrepreneur with online business and to show how technology affects the business. Therefore, this research tries to analyze the benefits of being an entrepreneur compared to being an employee and to find out how new entrepreneurs manage and market their products by technology during this pandemic. The samples of this research are 10 new entrepreneurs who get temporary dismissal of workers and or lay off from their company and open the online business in Surabaya and Sidoarjo. The methodology of this research is a qualitative methodology by analyzing social media accounts or online shop accounts that entrepreneurs use for selling their products and also conducting online interviews with them to ensure their accuracy. The results of this research indicate that online businesses provide benefits and convenience for entrepreneurs to do business during this pandemic and also give a motivation for entrepreneurs to continue and improve their business if COVID-19 has been completed.
... dynamics are today comparable with those of neighboring countries such as Spain, Italy, Germany, and the UK; however, France is known as a distinctive micro-firm environment in which small and medium-sized firm are underrepresented and in which most firms are born and remain (very) small (Jaouen and Lasch, 2015). To create our sample, we use the French dataset SINE 2002 (Système d'Information sur les Nouvelles Entreprises). ...
... Artisan entrepreneurship has increased globally in the last decade. This is due to several factors, including a shift to an entrepreneurial economy (Jaouen and Lasch 2015) and consumer reaction against globalism following the 2008 economic crisis (Bernabei and Power 2018;Curtis 2016), the increased social value of the do-it-yourself lifestyle after the 'Makers Movement' (Luckman 2015; Munro and O'Kane 2017; Ratten et al. 2019), the proliferation of online craft and social networks (Howard et al. 2014) and the affordability of creative tools (Hracs et al. 2013;van Holm 2017). ...
Artisan entrepreneurship has been increasing in developed economies in the past decade. In order for artisan enterprises to thrive, these businesses would benefit from using technology to access global marketplaces, add value to their consumers and market beyond their local area. Unless operating as a collective, most artisan entrepreneurs manage microbusinesses with ten or fewer employees. Microbusiness owners face challenges to adopting technology including limited financial resources, lack of technological expertise and owner’s attitudes about technology. Extant research has not examined why and how artisan entrepreneurs introduce technology into their businesses. Crochet is an artisanal craft that can only be produced by hand without requiring any contemporary technological solutions. This collective case study explored how five women crochet artisan microentrepreneurs navigated the process of introducing new technologies into their businesses. Findings indicate that crochet artisan microentrepreneurs have diverse income sources, which are enabled by technology adoption. The communitarian nature of the artisan entrepreneur ‘ecosystem’ provides a supportive environment that facilitates the process of identifying, selecting and learning new technologies. Cost and perceived lack of self-efficacy are significant obstacles to technology adoption for crochet artisan microentrepreneurs. This study adds to the existing research on artisan entrepreneurship by exploring technology adoption in this context and sharing the perceived benefits and challenges experienced with other artisan microentrepreneurs.
... Management practices adopted in enterprise also can be influenced by the owner's mentality [23], the age of the owner or CEO [24], management style, and personal preferences [25,26]. Assuming SMEs often are managed by persons who do not have a formal management education, an approach to analyze and develop their management practices must correspond with their management skills and understanding. ...
A large proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises are managed by their owners and founders. The goal of this research was to describe the diversity of management practices in owner-managed SMEs. Understanding this diversity will raise awareness of the challenges SMEs are facing and suggest possible solutions that will help improve their management and sustainability. In this study, 205 owner-managed SMEs with more than nine people employed were analyzed using a company self-assessment based on a tailor-made governance model. Data were analyzed using statistical analysis software in combination with a visual analysis. To group similar companies, the cluster analysis technique was used. The results showed a high diversity in how companies were managed and their performances. This research indicated that statistical analysis itself is not sufficient for exploring this diversity, and other approaches, such as visual analysis, must be used as well.
... Such engagement with Jung's theory is perhaps unsurprising in a small firm context given the significant role that owner-managers, and their individual characteristics, attitudes and values, often play in shaping the firm and its practices (Andersson & Tell, 2009;Blackburn et al., 2013). Owner-manager characteristics are often magnified to describe and explain the small firm's character, as if the firm reflects that of the dominant individual (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015). In the current paper we employ Jung's original theory at the level of the firm. ...
Research on socially responsible supply chains has tended to define suppliers over‐simplistically as either responsible or irresponsible. This paper illuminates the varied roles of broadly socially responsible small and medium sized enterprises by seeking to discern the differences and highlight the heterogeneity of the approaches taken. Distinguishing our approach from extant corporate social responsibility categorisations, a typology is outlined, drawing on Jungian Theory of Extraversion and the strategic capability of smaller firms. The analysis suggests four groupings of socially responsible small and medium enterprise supplier: strategic engager; strategic contemplator; active connector and active reflector. Overall, the paper seeks to inject nuance into discussions regarding supplier social responsibility practices, adding to the small business social responsibility literature, as well as unifying a number of strands of research relating to supply chain responsibility. The proposed typology offers firm foundations for further empirical and conceptual research in the area.
... Dysfunction is especially prevalent under conditions in which the board is just one person with minimal regard for corporate governance, processes, procedures and best practices. Having often been established more out of necessity than out of opportunity or innate desire to be entrepreneurs, the typical owner-manager cannot run their business relying on any best practice or personal experience (Bass, 2015;Jaouen and Lasch, 2015), mainly placing short-term gains ahead of long-term sustainability as a corporate objective; as such, they often struggle to separate the management function from ownership interests. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the perspective of youth employees about owner manager businesses. The owner-manager business (a one-man business) is the most common in Lagos. Hence, an inquiry into their management style and how it impacts youth employees within the context of decent work is important to explore.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used the convenience sample technique to obtain data from 382 owner-managers and youth employees who work in owner-managed businesses across various sectors. They were administered a questionnaire with carefully structured questions, with an 81% return rate. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) technique was used to identify the prominent parameters, and the hypothesis tested and validated accordingly.
Findings
The study identified three prominent factors that youth consider when working for an owner-manager business, i.e. the workplace factor, geographical factors and employee benefit. Consequently, issues regarding sustainable employment, conducive working conditions, job security and pension are paramount in the youths' view. Many owner-managers do not respect labour laws, and job security is low in owner-managed businesses; hence, they experience high turnover as most youth work in one-man businesses to gain experience.
Originality/value
The owner-manager business is the most predominant in the country and yet is under-researched. Furthermore, the perception of youth employees regarding owner-manager businesses provides a better understanding of performance and expected satisfactory outcome required from youth employees and how they can be met through proper channelling of their energies to the right tasks.
... Isso se manifesta no aumento dos estudos das pequenas empresas em relação não somente às suas origens (Ayyagari, Beck, & Demirguc-Kunt, 2007), suas práticas (Cramer, Cappelle, Andrade, & de Brito, 2012;Zhou, 2016;Zica, Gonçalves, & Martins, 2016), seus impactos (Williams, 2004) e resultados (Chaganti & Parasuraman, 1997;Henrekson & Sanandaji, 2014), chegando também à formação de seus dirigentes (Gorman et al., 1997;Winborg & Landström, 2001), às suas características pessoais (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015), ao seu comportamento (Lubatkin et al., 2006) e às atitudes destes dirigentes (Fayolle & Gailly, 2015;Wiklund et al., 2003). ...
Resumo A gestão de pequenas empresas frequentemente convive com a escassez de recursos, além de outras limitações. Em particular, as limitações institucionais levam os dirigentes de pequenas empresas a realizar ações inovadoras de planejamento e gestão para que seus negócios sobrevivam e cresçam. Exemplificando tais ações e apresentando aos dirigentes de pequenas empresas alternativas que levem à superação das limitações institucionais, esta revisão da literatura selecionou 31 artigos de diferentes partes do mundo. Consolidados em uma tipologia, os artigos apresentam ações realizadas por dirigentes de pequenas empresas em resposta a limitações institucionais. Este trabalho serve a pesquisadores para que aprofundem os estudos quanto à efetividade dessas ações em mais contextos ou, ainda, que desenvolvam novas práticas. Serve também de inspiração para os dirigentes superarem limitações institucionais e usarem ações inovadoras para a gestão e o planejamento de processos ou modelos de negócio. Palavras-chave Empreendedorismo; Empreendedores; Pequenas empresas; Limitações institucionais.
... Multiple studies have been conducted on decision making and small business owner behaviour. New typology of micro-firm owners-managers was suggested in a research exploring owner-manager views associated with growth and lifestyle issues (Jaouen & Lasch, 2015). Differences in behaviour were associated with four profiles such as success, subsistence, hedonism and paternalism. ...
Purpose – individuals or families own and at the same time manage a large proportion of private enterprises. Previous studies mostly refer to owner-manager of the enterprise as an individual with own personal traits, styles and preferences. Purpose of this article is to propose a new typology of the owners-managers of the small and medium en- terprises representing all variety, determined by their different ownership status and managerial authorities in companies. Research methodology – research started with a systematic rapid literature review using an overview method. Data for research were collected through 52 semi-structured interviews with SME owner-managers representing broad range of industries and companies of different age. Key findings were discussed and approbated in two focus group discussions. Findings – as a result of this research, a preliminary typology was developed, consisting of ten types of the SME own- ers-managers, with a brief description of each type constructed. Research limitations – conclusions from this research are relevant to those SMEs analysed in this particular research and shall not be generalized without additional research and validation. Practical implications – the typology suggested in this article provides a structured way to explore the diversity of SME owners-managers and raise understanding of their behaviour when planning, controlling and managing their business. Originality/Value – the proposed typology is a step towards filling the knowledge gap caused by the lack of a holistic and systematic approach in addressing the diversity of the SME owners-managers.
... Concernant le projet alternatif défendu par les circuits courts, nos résultats témoignent bien que le militantisme, en tant que valeur centrale et moteur de l'action, est un élément clé dans les motifs des producteurs à entrer dans un MP. Ce positionnement fait écho à la vision moderniste des agriculteurs mise en avant dans certaines typologies (McElwee, 2008 ;Couzy et Dockes, 2008), mais aussi à la dimension lifestyle de plus en plus prégnante chez les entrepreneurs et dirigeants de PME (Henricks, 2002 ;Tregear, 2005 ;Gomez-Breysse et Jaouen, 2012 ;Gomez-Breysse, 2016) qui placent les valeurs au coeur du projet et cherchent l'alignement entre leurs convictions et leurs actions (Emin et Schieb-Bienfait, 2013 ;Jaouen et Lasch, 2015). ...
De nouvelles initiatives alternatives émergent dans le secteur alimentaire, avec un engouement particulier pour les circuits courts et la vente directe. Des producteurs se rassemblent pour créer des magasins de producteurs (MP) afin de vendre leur production localement. Face au contexte changeant et aux limites des formes d’action collective traditionnelles (coopératives), il peut être difficile pour les producteurs de faire un choix éclairé de circuit de commercialisation. Cette recherche vise à examiner ce nouveau type d’action collective et à comprendre (a) les motifs pour participer à un MP, (b) quels en sont les apports pour les producteurs et (c) quelles difficultés ils rencontrent. L’étude qualitative approfondie via 57 entretiens semi-directifs auprès de producteurs engagés dans des MP apporte des éléments de réponse à ces trois questions. Au niveau théorique, cette recherche permet de discuter en quoi les MP représentent un renouveau de l’action collective en agriculture. Au niveau managérial, elle propose un cadre réflexif pour les producteurs déjà engagés dans les MP ou souhaitant s’y engager.
... Despite the considerable body of research in entrepreneurship, the gap in addressing the diversity of entrepreneurs and their endeavors in the pursuit of opportunities has not yet been bridged (Jaouen and Lasch 2013;Mills and Pawson 2011). Because entrepreneurship in the craft sector has not yet been fully examined, it is pertinent to ask what kind of distinctive characteristics and attributes craft entrepreneurs possess and what is the nature of opportunity pursuit in the craft sector (Doyle and Ho 2010;Hall, Daneke, and Lenox 2010). ...
... On that point, the tools and strategies to be implemented to guarantee themselves sustainability in the market can relate to actions on a national scale, also, on a global scale, by internationalizing (Paul et al., 2017). who constitutes the central figure of his company (Chabaud, 2013;Jaouen & Lasch, 2015;Chabaud & Sammut, 2016), to the point that the personal reputation of the SME manager is directly linked to that of his entity while being a source of value (Torrès, 2011). ...
Throughout the lines of this article, we tend to expose the different theoretical approaches to the internationalization of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). In particular, this paper aims to present the main approaches proposed not only in the literature but also in the shadow of the new international behaviors of SMEs, to question their scope. Moreover, this contribution seeks to draw attention to new types of internationalization among SMEs, in this case, participation in Global Value Chains (GVCs) and electronic commerce (e-commerce).
Tematem przewodnim monografii jest elastyczność mikro i małych polskich przedsiębiorstw opisana z punktu widzenia jej relacji z finansowaniem zewnętrznym z udziałem środków publicznych. Rozważania koncentrują się na kwestii identyfikacji, czynnikach, analizie oraz ocenie wpływu finansowania zewnętrznego na elastyczność firm. Przyjęto założenie, iż finansowanie zewnętrzne z udziałem środków publicznych, przez swój sformalizowany charakter oraz rygorystyczny harmonogram prac, wpływa na elastyczność mikro i małych przedsiębiorstw. W publikacji została podjęta próba całościowego spojrzenia na ważną dla współczesnego zarządzania mikro i małymi przedsiębiorstwami kwestię elastyczności działania rozpatrywaną w kontekście przedsiębiorczości i zarządzania okazjami oraz cech posiadanych zasobów, w tym finansowych. Dostęp i pełne wykorzystanie zasobów finansowych, większa dyspozycja i kontrolowanie w wysokim stopniu mogą przyczynić się do wzrostu elastyczności przedsiębiorstwa i w efekcie pełniejszego wykorzystania okazji rynkowych. Monografia może stanowić użyteczną pomoc naukową, metodologiczną i dydaktyczną dla studentów przedmiotów z zakresu zarządzania i przedsiębiorczości, dla środowiska biznesowego, a także dla osób zajmujących się tematyką funkcjonowania mikro i małych przedsiębiorstw.
Since its modern form, microcredit has been deemed as a viable instrument to alleviate poverty. Popularized in poor countries, its value has grown worldwide, and it is being applied in developing and developed countries. Our research investigates the role of entrepreneurial motivation and repayment performance on credit terms in the context of the Portuguese microcredit industry. Using a 2,060-microcredit loan between 1999 and 2015, our results show that the Portuguese microcredit industry tends to lend higher amounts of credit with longer maturities to entrepreneurs with a lower likelihood of repayment (entrepreneurs moved by necessity). The focus on these riskier entrepreneurs led us to confirm the argument that MC is a prosocial instrument, following its initial belief.
Purpose
In this paper, the authors review the literature on the nature of the small and medium-sized enterprise concept. The review examines the broad diversity of terms and definitions used to describe these kinds of firms in scholarly and practical settings. They relate this examination to the concept of small business for the purpose of comparison, in order to highlight differences and similarities between the concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
Relevant literature including articles from academia and defining documents from practical settings was identified through a scope literature review. Field data were subsequently collected via questionnaires sent to editors and authors of articles related to the theme. The data were content analyzed and the resulting codes consolidated into dimensions in accordance with the Gioia method. Chi-squared tests were applied to categorical data.
Findings
The use of the composite category “small and medium” was found to be predominant in the labeling of small businesses in scientific articles, including those in journals that specialize in small businesses, with no justifications presented for this, characterizing a widespread and consensual practice between authors and editors. In the defining documents of practical settings, however, the authors observed greater consistency and precision both in the terms used and in the delimiting values for a small business (self-employed, micro business, small business). In the sample of 27 defining documents mentioned in the articles, 25 specifically defined “small business” and 20 defined “micro business,” using indicators such as number of employees and annual turnover. The indicators delimiting values regarding the category of micro business were the same in all the documents analyzed and, regarding the category of small business, many documents used the same delimiting values.
Practical implications
Recognizing the “non-large enterprise” myth will provide a more effective posture for editors and authors to avoid using the term “small and medium,” resulting in greater precision, understanding and knowledge regarding small businesses. A better definition of a small business by academia can help public policymakers and managers of organizations that support small businesses to tailor their actions better according to the different sizes of companies. This will also lead to social gains, given the importance of small businesses in terms of job creation and countries' economies.
Originality/value
The authors identified and described the myth of the “non-large enterprise” among academics, characterized by the dichotomous view of the business universe, composed of “large enterprises” and “non-large enterprises,” the latter group being characterized by the widespread use of the term “small and medium.”
Plain English Summary
Narcissistic workaholics achieve high business performance, unless their families become too involved. Founders wield outsized influence over new venture creation and early development. For example, past research suggests that personality traits of the founder, like narcissism, may boost new venture performance or destroy it. However, there are no consistent results regarding the impact of narcissism on performance. To understand the mechanisms shaping the relationship between narcissism and venture performance, we investigate founder’s workaholism as a possible mediator. At the same time, familial ties and relationships play important roles in many spheres of life, and we argue that family support may be beneficial to firm founders (or not), depending on the type of support and/or personal characteristics of the founder. In our study, we analyzed responses from active business founders about themselves and their businesses. We find that narcissism increases venture performance through workaholism, while family emotional support decreases the positive effect of workaholism. Thus, the main implication of our study for both researchers and practitioners is that workaholism may be a missing link between narcissism and performance. Furthermore, family support may augment the degree to which founders’ addictive desire to work positively impacts venture performance.
Research in leading entrepreneurship and management journals has tended to conceptualize entrepreneurship as motivated by the goals of wealth, income, or social value creation. This research has thus largely overlooked entrepreneurial motivations such as the desire to engage in particular activities that the entrepreneurs find rewarding or the desire to live in particular locations. The literature on such Lifestyle Entrepreneurship (LE) includes research on artisan, artistic, craft, creative, fitness, hobbyist, leisure, sport, and tourism entrepreneurship. This literature has grown quickly over the last decade, but it is scattered across a range of domains, disciplines, and journals and lacks conceptual clarity. In this review, we take stock, synthesize and offer definitions and a framework for investigation of LE that allows for its development and theoretical integration with, and contribution to, existing entrepreneurship theory. We conceptualize LE in relation to its purpose and function, identify different types of LE, and examine their respective antecedents, behaviours, and outcomes. We propose a research agenda based on the merits of viewing LE as a distinctive and theoretically important domain for the study of entrepreneurship and highlight the vital role that LE plays in enriching both individual and social welfare.
Composite categories such as “small and medium enterprise” (SME) violate canons of the categorization process, such as mutual exclusion, configuring a scientific-ontological problem and also a business-pragmatic one, as such categories make it difficult to understand and seek solutions for these companies. In order to explore this difficulty, this study analyzed the concepts recently used by researchers and practitioners to characterize businesses of small size. Two sets of texts were analyzed: i) defining documents from society (laws, norms, ordinances); and ii) scientific articles published in important journals that focus on businesses of small sizes. The analysis of the subcategories and the values of the delimiting properties showed that the defining documents work with typologies of businesses of small size that are more consistent and precise than those found in the articles, with articles being marked by the presence of many composite subcategories. We questioned editors and authors of articles from journals specializing in “small business” regarding the reasons for the prevalence of the SME to the detriment of the “small business” subcategory. A contemporary myth is highlighted, characterized by a dichotomous view of the business universe, covering large and non-large companies, with SME being an expression of the latter group.
Cette recherche vise à étudier les perceptions de dirigeants de petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) sur la responsabilité sociale et la manière dont ils l’intègrent dans leur processus de leadership. Basée sur des entretiens semi-directifs auprès de 24 dirigeants de PME françaises en Lorraine, notre recherche révèle que les dirigeants adoptent des pratiques de responsabilité sociale informelles et implicites. De plus, notre recherche souligne que les valeurs personnelles et professionnelles des dirigeants sont des moteurs clés du leadership socialement responsable. Cette recherche démontre que les employés et les clients sont les principales parties prenantes d’une PME.
This research explores the relationship that exists between inventory control and the use of technology. A survey was conducted in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico, covering 466 micro-companies. A logit analysis was used to calculate the probability for the micro-companies to implement formal inventory controls. The study found that using technology in micro-companies fosters formal inventory control. This chapter contributes to other management control studies which claim that technology might foster the use of formal inventory controls. Furthermore, this chapter aims to advise practitioners to adopt technology in their business as a way to facilitate the implementation of formal inventory controls.
A survey of young microfirms was conducted to investigate their growth intentions. The findings confirm the distinct profiles of four types of firms categorized on the basis of current and future employment: Lifestyler, Entrepreneur, Manager, and Mover. They differ in terms of the owner's perceptions of the desirability and practicality of growing their firm, and with respect to the moderating variables of industry affiliation, business location, and investment level. Research issues and service implications for business support agencies are identified.
This study examines the reasons 129 women executives and professionals left large organizations to become entrepreneurs and how they measure success. Findings indicate that the women's most important entrepreneurial motivations were the desire for challenge and self-determination and the desire to balance family and work responsibilities. Also important were blocks to career advancement in large organizations, including discrimination, and organizational dynamics. These entrepreneurs measure success in terms of self-fulfillment and goal achievement. Profits and business growth, while important, were less substantial measures of their success. Motivation to become entrepreneurs was related to the criteria the women used to measure their success.
The article examines the strategies by which environmentally-motivated social enterprises seek to scale up their positive impacts, drawing on a theoretical understanding of the role of entrepreneurial agency in transitions to a more sustainable economy and society. Case study evidence is used to explore different forms of enterprise growth, contributions to economic, environmental and social value, and the capabilities involved in their realisation. A typology of three distinct approaches or modes is introduced to help explain orientations and strategies that reflect both conventional conceptions of growth and alternative ways of growing social and environmental value. The role of values, capabilities and relational learning in shaping strategies and addressing the tensions and challenges encountered within each category is highlighted.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the social media marketing practices of SMEs. Social networks are profoundly transforming the way customers use the web and thus challenging SME business practices. Although the social media provide affordable channels for marketing and are thus appropriate tools for firms with limited resources, some SMEs and entrepreneurs still question their credibility and sustainability. Based on seven semi-structured interviews with web marketing consultants, an online survey with 104 owner-managers of tourism SMEs, and a netnographic study, this research analyses the place of social media in SMEs. It describes their practices, shows that SMEs underuse these tools, and proposes some managerial recommendations to small business owner-managers.
L'entrepreneur entretient avec son entreprise des relations éminemment plus affectives que le manager ou le salarié. L'idée innovante lui appartient, les méthodes sont les siennes et il entend faire comme bon lui semble. Dans le même temps, pour qu'une structure collective se mette en place, il lui faut accepter de s'effacer progressivement. Ce mouvement de l'entrepreneur vers l'entreprise est au coeur des phénomènes entrepreneuriaux. Il requiert de s'interroger sur les différentes relations entre l'entrepreneur et son entreprise et sur les modes de conversion d'une idée portée par l'entrepreneur à un collectif qui accueille et exécute cette idée.
This article is based on a long consideration of the concept of small business after 30 years of conceptual development. Most, if not all, researchers in small business have accepted the idea that small business is specific (the preponderant role of the owner-manager, low level of functional breakdown, intuitive strategy, etc.). However, the somewhat excessive assertion of this idea may suggest that all small firms adopt a specific management method, with the result that management specificity becomes a universal principle. If we allow that small business management can be specific, we must also allow the corollary of this statement, namely the possibility of denaturing (loss of specificity). In other words, a small-sized firm does not necessarily have to adhere to the classical management method. The authors of this article advocate a contingency approach to small business managerial specificity that would allow for the definition of a validity framework for the thesis of small business managerial specificity.
Purpose
– This paper aims first to identify the patterns and governance modes of strategic alliances between microfirms and second, to show that alliances between microfirms have specific characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
– The research adopts a qualitative approach, based on a survey of 20 alliances. It uses semi‐directive interviews with entrepreneurs of multi‐activity sector firms and discourse analysis.
Findings
– The paper proposes a typology of microfirm alliances, and highlights the importance of a coherent vision on the part of the partners: egocentered or co‐development logic. First, it explains alliance motivations, and presents the different alliance configurations: patterns, purposes, and entrepreneurs' relationships. Then, it analyses these configurations and governance modes, and shows several specificities: lack of formalisation, absence of contractual relationships, trust, and constrained trust. Finally, the paper questions the impact of strategic alliances on the development of microfirms.
Originality/value
– The research contributes to the knowledge of microfirms' strategic behaviours by showing new results about the functioning of strategic alliances. It shows that informal relationships predominate, and it confirms the research into the role of trust for construction and success of interorganisational collaboration.
This article develops a multilevel model to explain social ventures' organizational outcome. The study examines the relationships between entrepreneurs' motivations and vision, ventures' strategy and environment, ventures' performance, and five-year survival of nascent Israeli firms. The findings suggest that an entrepreneur's motivation is reflected in their vision, which in turn is transformed into their ventures' strategies. Additionally, the environment is associated with entrepreneur's motivations and strategies and success. The results show that the latter was the only predictor of a ventures five-year survival.
Relatively little is known about entrepreneurial activities of the sub-Arctic. This explanatory study compares the existing theories of entrepreneurship with the findings of an ethnographic study of entrepreneurs in a small Alaskan town. In the study, the word "entrepreneurs" refers to individuals who earn their livelihood by exercising some control over a business activity, and who produce more than they can consume in order to profit from the sales. Findings are analyzed using a theoretical typology of the entrepreneur derived from interdisciplinary literature. The study involved all of the town's 65 entrepreneurs. Non-quantitative methods were used in order to research not only individual entrepreneurs, but also the socio-cultural context. The study used a variety of ethnographic methods, and included participant observation and open-ended interviews of business owners, employees, and key informants. Traditional categorizations of entrepreneurs were found to be inappropriate to compare Eskimo and non-native entrepreneurs. Individual entrepreneurships were classified according to the theory relevant to the specific experience of each person. Eskimos in the town have a lower tendency to become entrepreneurs than non-natives. Perception of and response to opportunity are culture-bound. Eskimos and non-native respondents relate to opportunity differently; the former tend to become reactive entrepreneurs (less by choice than by life circumstances), while the latter tend to be opportunity seekers. Implications for new venture programs on fostering entrepreneurial spirit among non-entrepreneurship-oriented cultures are discussed. (AT)
The goal of this interdisciplinary study is to analyze the entrepreneurial personality in the context of resources, environment, and the startup process based on a configurational approach. The study focuses on the startup process. A questionnaire was developed to measure the configuration areas of personality, personal resources, environment, and organizing activities. A representative sample of 1,169 nascent entrepreneurs and new business owner-managers was examined. Three startup configurations were found which reveal different patterns of personality characteristics. These patterns are interpreted in the context of aspects of the environment, the resources, and the startup process.
This exploratory study examined the relationship between lifestyle entrepreneurship and life quality. The researchers defined lifestyle entrepreneurs as individuals who owned and operated businesses closely aligned with their personal values, interests, and passions. Researchers used a systems theory perspective to examine the role and impact of lifestyle entrepreneurship on life quality for individual business owners, their families, and communities. Through 12 descriptive case studies, researchers examined characteristics of lifestyle entrepreneurs, their businesses, and their perceived life quality. Many of the entrepreneurs owned and operated businesses related to family and consumer sciences, including apparel retail, interiors, food service, and hospitality firms. Two common themes emerged from the data: enhancement of business owners' quality of life as a result of the entrepreneurial venture and a perception of the entrepreneurial venture providing enhanced quality of life to employees, customers, and the community.
This paper re-examines the link between new firm formation and subsequent employment growth. It investigates whether it is
possible to have the wrong type of entrepreneurship—defined as new firm formation which leads to zero or even negative subsequent
employment growth. It uses a very similar approach to that of Fritsch and Mueller (Regional Studies, 38(8), 961–976, 2004),
confirming their findings that the employment impact of new firm formation is in three discrete phases. Then, using data for
Great Britain, the paper shows the employment impact of new firm formation is significantly positive in the high-enterprise
counties of Great Britain. However, for the low-enterprise counties, it shows that new firm formation has a negative effect
on employment. Of the 15 low-enterprise regions, eight are Scottish (of nine Scottish regions in our data base) and three
are North East Counties (of four). Our findings imply that having the “wrong type of entrepreneurship” is indeed possible.
The present chapter deals with the consequences of entrepreneurship for macro-economic growth. It consists of eight sections:
(1) Introduction; (2) The influence of economic development on entrepreneurship; (3) Types of entrepreneurship and their relation
to economic growth; (4) The effects of the choice between entrepreneurship and employment; (5) Entrepreneurship in endogenous
growth models; (6) Strands of empirical evidence; (7) The time lag structure; and (8) Conclusion.
This two-year study with 122 business owners examined the link between affective well-being and task-oriented as well as relationship-oriented personal initiative (PI). We tested two complementary models explaining the link between well-being and PI: (1) broaden-and-build theory and (2) self-regulation as limited resource approach. In line with current research on well-being, we differentiated between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being using life satisfaction and vigor as indicators. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that only vigor predicted both forms of PI. Our results support the self-regulation approach and indicate that eudaimonic well-being is the relevant affective well-being dimension for proactive behavior.
Financial criteria are usually considered to be the most appropriate measure of business success, yet many small business owners are motivated to start a business on the basis of lifestyle or personal factors. Non-financial goals could lead to alternative measures of success, particularly in the small business sector. To explore the significance of these two dimensions of success, 290 small business owner-managers in Western Australia were surveyed. Respondents rated the importance of items relating to lifestyle and financial measures, which they used to judge their business success. Findings suggest that both financial and non-financial lifestyle criteria are used to judge business success, with the latter being more important. Personal satisfaction and achievement, pride in the job and a flexible lifestyle are generally valued higher than wealth creation. Personal factors such as age and also business characteristics influenced perceptions on the importance of these factors.
The process of managing a small firm differs from managing a large firm, because small firms face distinct forms of risk and organize their human resources differently, often informally (Kotey & Slade, 2005; Storey, 2002). This paper introduces and tests a new variable, self-reported job quality (SRJQ), as a key link in the causal chain between HR practices and outcomes. In comparing small firms with large ones, we present three key findings: (1) employee reports of job quality are highest in small firms and decrease as firm size increases; (2) in workplaces owned by large firms, job quality is highest in the smallest workplaces; and (3) workers in small workplaces owned by large firms report lower job quality than workers in comparable sized workplaces owned by small firms. Our findings are partially explained by how formally HR practices are implemented. We show that formality increases with firm size and workplace size. Importantly, evidence suggests that employing an HR professional (a key indicator of HR formality) lowers SRJQ in single-site SMEs. Implications for small business owners, HR professionals in large and small firms, and policy makers are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nous considérons dans ce chapitre deux possibilités pour étudier un objet : par son contenu (recherche sur le contenu) ou par son processus (recherche sur le processus). Les recherches sur le contenu cherchent à mettre en évidence la composition de l’objet étudié, tandis que les recherches sur le processus visent à mettre en évidence le comportement de l’objet dans le temps. Les deux premières sections présentent chacune des deux approches, la troisième section offre au chercheur une vision plus nuancée pour positionner sa recherche. Il existe en effet un enrichissement mutuel entre les deux approches. C’est davantage le regard du chercheur sur la réalité étudiée et l’état de la littérature qui peuvent l’orienter vers une recherche sur le contenu, sur le processus ou encore vers une approche mixte.
Produire une typologie du patronat semble hors de portée, aussi l'auteur ne nous en annonce-t-il que «l'esquisse ». Deux dimensions lui semblent toutefois devoir être croisées. L'une, culturelle, s'enracine dans la sociologie et l'histoire, les éléments structurants en sont : l'influence des élites préindustrielles, le rapport parasitaire à l'État, le radicalisme du prolétariat français, et le catholicisme de contre-Réforme. L'autre, socio-économique, permet de distinguer les entreprises selon leur «nature » — grandes entreprises ou PME — et selon le mode de recrutement et les orientations de leurs dirigeants.
Dr LOUIS JACQUES FILION WAS UNTIL recently director of the Master's programme in Small Business at the University of Quebec at Trois Rivieres. He has recently been appointed director of training and research at the Heart of Quebec Enterpreneurship Center attached to the same university. This research is based on a smaple of 59 enterpreneurs-51 in small firms and eight in large firms from five countries. The implict systemic model of each enterpreneur was mapped using the soft systems methodology developed by Peter Checkland at the University of Lancaster in Britain. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews with the enterpreneurs themselves and,in most cases, teh people around them. The metamodel presetned tin this paper is a result of superimposing the models derived from each enterpreneur studied. This model implies three categories of vision: emerging, central and secondary. Following presentation and explanation of each category, a visionary process is proposed, based on the study and analysis of what enterpreneur do. The main factor supporting both teh development of teh vision and visionary achievement seems to be the enterpreneur's relations systems. Although it is the man factor as far the development of the vision is concrened, theree otehr factors also contribute to the visionary process: leadership, energy and the perceptive system conditioned by each individual's own values. this latter is introduced as the concept of Weltancschauung. A visionary process presetns an interest for enterpreneurial activites as it offers as framework for reflection and actions. It also offers a way for the enterpreneurs to integrate a tam into what he is doing.
This article explores how the family Influences an entrepreneur's career. There are various points In time where family and entrepreneurial dynamics intersect. These Include: (1) early experiences In the entrepreneur's family of origin; (2) family Involvement and support of early start-up activities; (3) employment of family members In the new venture; and (4) involvement of family members In ownership and management succession. The article explores each of these four areas and suggests research questions that need to be explored to develop a better understanding of the relationship between entrepreneurs and their families.
This study addresses a paradox: stakeholders agree upon the strategic importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) entrepreneurship, but little research provides empirical results to understand the ICT sector/entrepreneur. Analysing 469 entrepreneurs, the following specificities of ICT entrepreneurship in France were revealed: subsector differences, regional disparities, underrepresentation of female entrepreneurs, high qualification as prerequirement, insufficient preparation activities, a low level of entrepreneurship training and a surprisingly high proportion of necessity entrepreneurship. At the subsector level, four groups of entrepreneurs were identified: experienced cadre, ‘freshman’, well-prepared ‘provident’ and ‘kamikaze’. The ‘expert’ with industry experience contrasts with the inexperienced ‘freshman’. The careful preparer (‘provident’) displays a more technical profile, little management experience but the highest level of preparation of all four types. The opposite is the kamikaze: lack of specific knowledge, low educational level and little preparation. Implications for stakeholders (entrepreneurship support, venture capital) are suggested to assess and adjust measures for each type of entrepreneur.
This paper reports responses from 412 children of owner-managers (61% sons and 39% daughters) with regard to their attitudes to family and business Issues. The assumption in the study was that respondents would display a consistent set of attitudes toward the relationship between the family and the business. For example, those who believed that “management successors should be chosen from the family” would also consider “the business (to be) stronger with family members involved.” Moreover, this group would view their parents’ business as a family business and would have joined or intend to join. The reverse would also apply. In other words, those who did not believe that “management successors should be chosen from the family” would nor view their parents’ business as a family business, and would have no intention to join.
In the study, two distinct clusters of attitude were identified and were labelled the Family in and Family Out groups. While those in the Family in group were more likely to consider the business to be a family business, the results for the Family Out group were more complicated. The relationship held for those currently working in the business—the halo effect—but not for the rest. In other words, it was quite possible to belong to the Family in group and to see the business as a family business but not to have joined.
This paper reports the results of a 16-country study into the attitudes of owner-managers to both business and family decisions. Three clusters of attitudes emerged—those who wished to involve their family, those who wished to strike a balance, and those who wished to exclude the family. The paper concludes that there is a set of attitudes towards the family and the business that consistently combine to divide owner-managers. This research highlights the need to examine this perspective and to explore further how it may vary across countries.
The concept of strategic vision has attracted growing interest in recent years. However, very few methods exist to help enterprise leaders make their strategic vision more explicit. The goal of this research is to present and illustrate a new systematic method to help enterprise leaders articulate and question their strategic visions. The method is based on cognitive mapping, and can be broken down into four phases: an exploration phase, in which the leader explores his or her own ideas using a specially designed grid; a validation phase, to verify the credibility or "validity" of the cognitive map resulting from the first phase; an analysis phase, where the semantic network formed by the concepts and links of the map are analyzed using the Decision Explorer software; and a finalization phase, where the leader, after being informed of the results of validated map analysis and the researcher's interpretation of them, confirms or modifies the strategic vision. The paper contains a detailed description of the four phases together with the results obtained with the owner-manager of a small manufacturing business in Québec. Since the method described supports thinking and thus action, it is likely to be of interest to practitioners and consultants. Academics may also benefit from it, since it can be used to study strategic vision and its impact.
We examine how small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) chief executive officers' (CEOs) social capital (as measured by strength of ties and structural holes) can help them bring business to their firms through the spread of positive referrals. Based on a sample of 408 French SME CEOs, we find a direct effect of social capital. Such effect is contingent on the CEO's personality, with social capital being most beneficial to CEOs with low levels of conscientiousness. CEOs' social ties facilitate the distortion of information, thereby leading personal contacts to give referrals to and endorse a focal CEO, even in the presence of negative signals, such as low conscientiousness.
This article examines the experiences of women who establish new ventures in order to combine income generation with childcare responsibilities. Based on interviews with 20 ‘mumpreneurs’, we examined career narratives to show how these women described the transition to entrepreneurship and their experiences of this new mode of working. The findings suggest that the women weave a path between the discourses of intensive mothering and enterprise. Becoming self-employed was deemed preferable to being perceived as a housewife as it enabled identification with a discourse of intensive mothering, facilitating far greater engagement with children than was possible during previous corporate lives. However, the findings revealed tensions which required individualized strategies to address excessive working hours and constrain business growth.
This article describes an original typology of enterprise development narratives that emerged from a study of the motivation, risk-taking and self-identity of nascent ICT (information and communications technology) entrepreneurs. The typology provides a multifaceted and integrated framework for appreciating an entrepreneur’s quest to align ‘who I am and what I do’ and achieve what we are calling the ‘self-enterprise fit’. As such, it promises to provide a valuable framework for (re)locating the ‘psychology of entrepreneurship’ in entrepreneurs’ experiences of enterprise development so that our understanding of new entrepreneurs’ approaches to enterprise development is enhanced and business assistance can be more effectively targeted.
In this paper we propose two conceptual developments in understanding entrepreneur motivations and their effects. First, we argue that entrepreneur motivations develop dynamically in relation to career, household and business life courses. Second, we conceptualize how motivation and life courses develop interactively. We present an exploratory test of these ideas. In a sample of enterprise programme participants, we identify motivation profiles employing more robust cluster analyses than hitherto presented: our profiles are termed reluctant, convenience, economically driven, social, learning and earning, and prestige and control entrepreneurs. We then demonstrate statistical relationships between motivation profiles at a particular phase in the business life course (early establishment) and career and household life course factors. Motivations are also related to business resources, behaviour and performance. This initial confirmation of our conceptual claims suggests that further testing is warranted.
David Storey offers a novel theory to explain temporal variations in novel firm development. The article challenges this approach; it is suggested that it does not take account of important developments in recent entrepreneurship research. The themes of human capital, entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurial prior experience, attitudes and networks and networking to illustrate ‘one-way bets’, which can shape temporal firm growth, are critically evaluated. With reference to these themes, the article seeks to stimulate additional research attention with regard to several emerging relationships that are ignored or partially discussed, relating to diversity of the entrepreneur, venture and external environmental contexts.
This article argues that existing theories of new and small firms fail to capture the temporal diversity of such enterprises. Most are ‘one-way bets’ because they provide an explanation only for growing firms. To address this, this article combines the role of chance with the optimism of the business owner into optimism and chance (OC) theory. This provides an insight into why, for example, very few new or small firms grow continuously and why, when compared to Europe, individuals in the USA who initially failed in business, ultimately became successful.
This paper examines the goals of contemporary artisans. Two strands of literature offer different conceptualizations of artisans, the first inferring proclivity towards co-operation and community involvement, the second assuming prioritization of lifestyle goals over growth. Each conceptualization presents alternative implications for regional development. To assess the contrasting theories of the character and socio-economic role of artisans, a qualitative study was undertaken, involving in-depth interviews with 20 artisan food producers in the north of England, exploring their goals and activities. Results give strong evidence of both lifestyle goals and commercial ambitions and skills in the sample. Analysis further suggests that when operating in buoyant niche markets, artisan producers offer the potential for valorization of local resources, skilled employment, and development of localized supply chains. However, under adverse market conditions it is hypothesized that artisans may follow one of two pathways, both of which lead to a loss of socio-economic benefits. Further in-depth research is recommended at the individual firm owner level, to gain more insight into the balance of artisan goals and perceptions.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into small firm entrepreneurs' perceptions of success and how these perceptions affect the performance of a firm. The emphasis is on non‐financial measures of success and their interaction with the financial indicators of a firm's performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a comparative analysis of two separate studies conducted in the same geographical area in Finland. The studies were concerned with micro‐businesses in the industries of craft and rural tourism.
Findings
The study finds that non‐financial meters of success that are affected by the entrepreneur's motivations and goals influence the financial performance of the small firm. Making a living is important, but going beyond that is not often seen of great concern. Consequently, the entrepreneurs are likely to measure their performance by other criteria and find success, e.g. in job satisfaction and satisfied customers.
Research limitations/implications
In the data collection process, the used questions and themes were not identical. The main themes of performance, growth and success are, however, comparable.
Practical implications
The paper provides useful information about small firm entrepreneurs' perceptions and attitudes of success and growth and how these affect the management of the firm.
Originality/value
This paper brings empirical evidence to the studies of factors affecting small firm performance. In addition, it offers useful insight into the non‐financial measures of success.
Studies the nature of the entrepreneur in relation to the entrepreneur's firm and its subsequent growth. Rejecting the tendency to define an entrepreneur in terms of a firm characterized by innovation, the book instead uses Cole's (1959) definition of an entrepreneur as an individual who is primarily responsible for gathering together the necessary resources to initiate a business. From a sample of 110 mature enterprises (firms in business for at least five years, but begun after 1945) in six Michigan cities, two- to seven-hour interviews of 150 entrepreneurs were conducted, in which interviewees were asked to give their personal history and the history of the firm. Observations were also made about the entrepreneur's appearance and actions, as well as the appearance and layout of the firm. Following the Becker-McKinney model (1957), two Ideal Types were constructed through empirical analysis of the interviews: the Craftsman-Entrepreneur and the Opportunistic-Entrepreneur. The Craftsman-Entrepreneur tends to be focused on the present and past, has specialized technical education, and has low levels of confidence and flexibility. Conversely, the Opportunistic-Entrepreneur tends to have advanced education and social awareness, a high degree of flexibility, and an orientation to the future. The study implies that especially because the Opportunistic-Entrepreneur is flexible to change and oriented to the future, she will be most effective in making decisions that encourage innovation. The results of the study therefore support the hypothesis that an adaptable firm led by an Opportunistic-Entrepreneur will see the highest growth rate in terms of sales. (CJC)
This article gives an overview of the specificities of entrepreneurship research in France, paying attention to its emergence, nature, and focus. Reviewing 253 articles and conference papers from two journals and two conferences, considered main outlets for research outcomes from French scholars, our findings reveal a distinctive French touch of entrepreneurship research. The main facets we were able to identify with our data for the 1995 to 2005 period are as follows. There is a preference for qualitative methods, conceptual contributions, and the entrepreneurial process as privileged research theme. A particular strength of the French approach is also a strong focus of small and medium-sized organizations. The French touch of entrepreneurship research could make a distinctive contribution to the international research community and the mainstream debate. However, mainly French-speaking dissemination of knowledge and (still) insufficient international journal-oriented output strategies limit the diffusion of French entrepreneurship research. Implications for academic institutions and future research are discussed.
Starting from the premise that the small business sector represents a significant proportion of world economy, the literature on small business growth is reviewed and a framework that would help identify pro-growth small businesses is proposed. The results of a study of businesses conducted in Maribyrnong, Australia, are also presented. The purpose of the study is to understand the factors that contribute to a pro-growth small business orientation. The study includes a survey of 409 area businesses as well as case studies and interviews conducted at 20 of the businesses selected for their pro-growth orientation. A high percentage of the 409 firms are disinclined to access external assistance and advice relative to strategic decision-making. A key characteristic of a pro-growth small business, as revealed by the 20 case studies, is a balanced alignment of the owner-manager's intentions, the abilities of the business, and the opportunity environment. The public policy ramifications of the study are discussed.(CBS)
We study the cyclical pattern of entrepreneurial activity. Results across 22 OECD countries for the period 1972-2007 show that entrepreneurial activity is a leading indicator of the business cycle in a Granger-causality sense. This contradicts existing theoretical hypotheses which predict that entrepreneurship is pro-cyclical or not cyclical. We discuss possible causes and policy implications of this finding.
Based on survey responses from 159 owner-managers in small high-technology firms, we examined the association among specific individual characteristics, firm characteristics, and the individual outcomes of satisfaction and intentions to exit. Regression analyses indicated higher satisfaction and lower intentions to exit for owner-managers whose dominant decision-making style complemented the levels of formalization and structure in their firms. In addition, we found that both satisfaction and intentions to exit were significantly associated with actual turnover over a 5-year period. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
This paper studies the interrelationships in the strategic profile of a sample of small firms, and, by using cross-sectional analysis, attempts to identify any evidence to support the ‘stages of growth’ theories. Three surrogates for comparative growth were used in the analysis: number of employees, sales turnover, and profitability. A cluster analysis identified eight different ‘types’ of small firms characterized by ‘internal’ variables of ownership, management, and product structure; and by ‘external’ variables of product/market positioning. Analysis of variance tests found no significant differences between the clusters with regard to size. The results suggest that firms do change, but not necessarily in any prescribed sequence. Indeed, the evidence presented in this paper suggests that future research should be focused on developing theories which better describe the heterogeneity of the sector by analyzing the development within clusters of firms rather than seeking generalized overarching theories.
Considerable effort has been devoted to identifying the general characteristics of entrepreneur; however, much of this has been conducted from a trait–based rather than from a behavioral perspective. In this study of small firms in the United Kingdom, we explored the relationships among managerial behaviors (based upon a competence model), entrepreneurial style (based on Covin and Slevin's theory), and firm type (in terms of sales growth performance). Principal components analysis of a management competence inventory identified six broad categories of managerial behavior. Regressing a measure of entrepreneurial style on these six behaviors suggested that managing culture and managing vision are related to an entrepreneurial style, while managing performance is related to a nonentrepreneurial style. Entrepreneurial style—but not managerial behavior—was associated positively with the probability that a firm would be a high–growth type. The results are discussed from the perspective of a model of small firm management that posits separate entrepreneurial, nonentrepreneurial, and generic management behaviors derived from a global competence space.
By drawing upon the concept of competitiveness and the competency approach, a conceptual model is developed to link the characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs') owner–managers and their firms' performance together. The model consists of four constructs of competitive scope, organizational capabilities, entrepreneurial competencies and performance. The central focus of the model is the three entrepreneurial tasks that link different competency areas with other constructs of competitiveness. Propositions related to these relationships are made. The model suggests further research in different competency areas, interindustry comparisons, and validating studies.
Joint venturing is recommended to avoid some of the obstacles to successful business venturing, such as capability limitations and organizational resistance. However, the high dissolution rates for joint ventures suggest a need to learn how to utilize this cooperative strategy more effectively. Two frequently reported problem areas in joint venturing are unrealistic corporate expectations and inadequate planning. Thus, this study sought to examine the impact of strategic intent on joint venture success as measured by partner goal achievement and satisfaction.
Although entrepreneurs seem to engage little in formal planning, strategy in entrepreneurial firms can exhibit identifiable patterns over time. The strategic orientations of such firms are particularly likely to reflect the priorities of their entrepreneurial CEOs. While researchers have looked at entrepreneurial traits in order to explain business start-ups and generic strategies, little attention has been paid to possible interactions between entrepreneurs' personal characteristics and the strategic options they choose to pursue. This study links entrepreneurs' strategy-making processes to their life issues, legacies of their past histories. Its finding suggests that an entrepreneurial firm will consistently pursue the strategic directions that most reflect the entrepreneur's set of life issues.
Innovation lies at the heart of modernity. During the first (proto) modernity, it was the fact of “ingenious” persons, in the second (post) one, of “engineers”. Hyperfirms manage and plan innovation and thus deter the development of radical innovations. The third modernity is a rupture in the vision of innovation. It is now the fact of very small businesses, the so-called “hypofirms”, willing to remain small, by the way of a “singular” (unique) strategy, based on an idiosyncratic resource-competence approach, on a well defined market and on a strong relational network.
JEL codes: M130, L200
[fre] La petite et moyenne entreprise requiert des critères de gestion spécifiques, qui tiennent compte de la très grande diversité de ces entreprises. Cette spécificité résulte tout d'abord du caractère global du système de gestion, qui exige d'analyser ensemble les buts, l'environnement, l'organisation et les activités, en dégageant des concepts reliant ces pôles. La spécificité est également due au rôle prédominant de l'entrepreneur. Bien des classifications existent. Nous proposons de distinguer l'entrepreneur préoccupé par un logique patrimoniale et celui préoccupé par une logique de flux. [eng] The small and medium sized entreprise needs specific managerial criteria, taking account of the high level of diversity among those firms. That specificity results from the global character of the management system, needing to analyse together the goals, the environment, the organization and the activities, getting concepts connecting those poles. The specificity is also due the proéminent role of the entrepreneur. Many classifications exist. It is suggested to make a distinction between the entrepreneur focusing on a patrimonial logic, and the other one focusing on a flow logic.
Social entrepreneurship has been the subject of considerable interest in the literature. This stems from its importance in addressing social problems and enriching communities and societies. In this article, we define social entrepreneurship; discuss its contributions to creating social wealth; offer a typology of entrepreneurs' search processes that lead to the discovery of opportunities for creating social ventures; and articulate the major ethical concerns social entrepreneurs might encounter. We conclude by outlining implications for entrepreneurs and advancing an agenda for future research, especially the ethics of social entrepreneurship.