The last two steps in the succession process - the joint management and withdrawal phases - differ from preceding phases in that they mark the successor's official entry into the family business as future head and the gradual retirement of the predecessor. Alone at the helm until that point,...

Owner-managers make decisions and manage their firm as governed by the manner in which they conceptualize or ‘conceive’ performance for themselves and their firm, rather than being governed by researchers' and experts' conceptualizations of small business performance. On the basis of survey...

The entrepreneurship literature teaches us that the aspirations and competence of SME owner-managers as well as their strategic management behaviour can influence both the development and performance of their firm. However the research issues that surround the owner-manager's business venturing...