Studies of small firms tend to assume either that models derived from large firms can be applied directly or that small firms are uniformly distinct from large ones. A recent framework, based mainly on low-wage family-owned firms, has identified an analytical space to identify different types of...

With companies being exhorted to become more strategically agile and internally connected,this article examines the role of the Senior Strategy Director, the executive tasked specifically with internal strategy. In particular, it explores what they do, what specific capabilities they deploy to...

This paper addresses the issue of 'reverse diffusion' of employment practices in multinational companies, which is defined as the transfer of practices from foreign subsidiaries to operations in the country of origin. It adds to the literature by examining the influence of the parent business...

This paper uses time-series analysis to model explicitly the take-up rate of the UK Government's Loan Guarantee Scheme over the 1980s. In doing so we consider the rationale for the scheme in the context of empirical and theoretical research into the financing of small businesses and in...

This article concentrates on the relationship between companies and their suppliers with a specific focus on the impact that information and communication technologies (ICTs) have on industrial (business to business) purchasing processes. After reviewing the extant literature, we classify the...

A target income/human capital model of startup survival and growth is derived and tested. The objective of the entrepreneur is to produce an independent source of income for him/herself to replace income from previous employment. Target income is a function of pre-entrepreneurial income and...

Recent work on competitiveness has emphasized the importance of business networking for innovativeness. Until recently, insights into the dynamics of this relationship have been fragmented. This paper presents a systematic review of research linking the networking behaviour of firms with their...

We present a model of training investments and employment outcomes. In this model training may enhance trainees' tastes for particular types of career (taste shift) and/or shift their wage offer distributions (pay-off). An empirical analysis is conducted with a unique data-set of UK graduates....

An attempt has been made to examine some aspects of transaction structure of the small business sector in Japanese manufacturing. It has been found that there are some interesting findings in the industrial organization of the sector (1) In the transactions of intermediate goods with...

A framework is presented that connects managerial decision making to resource building and firm performance. The framework takes a behavioral view of decision making and distinguishes two distinct decision-making processes. First there is the creative conceptualization of new resource...