Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research
1997 Edition

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EXPECTED CONSEQUENCES OF GROWTH AND THEIR EFFECT ON GROWTH WILLINGNESS IN DIFFERENT SAMPLES OF SMALL FIRMS

Johan Wiklund, Jönköping International Business School
Per Davidsson, Jönköping International Business School
Frédéric Delmar, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research Institute
Magnus Aronsson, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research Institute

Introduction
Method

The Need to Repeat Studies in Different Samples
Variables and Measures

RESULTS

Bivariate Analysis
TABLE 1: Independent Variables, How A Doubling Of The Number Of Employees Is Likely To Affect Each Area.
TABLE 2 : Comparison Of Means For Growth Willingness And Expected Consequences Of Growth For Firms Of Different Sized Brackets.
TABLE 3 : Comparison Of Means For Growth Willingness And Expected Consequences Of Growth For Old And Young Firms.
Multivariate Analysis
TABLE 4: Comparison Of Means For Growth Willingness And Expected Consequences Of Growth For Firms Of Different Industries.
TABLE 5: Linear Regression Results For The Effect Of Expected Consequences Of Growth On Growth Willingness When The Sample Is Divided Based On The Three Contingencies Industry, Size And Age.
TABLE 6: Linear Regression Results For The Effect Of Expected Consequences Of Growth On Growth
TABLE 7: Linear regression results for the effect of expected consequences of growth on growth willingness for the three different samples

DISCUSSION
Conclusion
REFERENCES

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on small business managers’ willingness to expand their firms. More specifically, we examine the relationships between expected consequences of growth on the one hand, and over-all growth willingness on the other. The data were collected in three separate telephone interview surveys of small business managers over a ten year period. Three broad industry groups (manufacturing, services, and retailing) and three size classes of firm (5-9, 10-19, and 20-49 employees) are covered. The same measuring instrument was used in all three studies. Central variables in the analyses are two indicators of over-all growth willingness, and eight expected consequences of growth, viz. its effect on the managers workload and work tasks, employee well-being, private finances, control, independence, quality, and crisis survival ability. In addition, we use firm size, firm age and industry as control variables. The results suggest that non-economic concerns may be relatively more important than the expected financial outcome in determining over-all growth willingness. In particular, the concern for employee well-being comes out strongly across samples, size classes, and industries. We conclude that this issue is worthy of further study, that it is likely to represent a broader concern for the ”soft” qualities of small scale, and that it may be a cause for recurrent conflict for small business owner-managers when deciding about the future route for their firms.

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