Innovation
in Small Businesses: Culture and Ownership Structure
Do Matter
Donald Gudmundson, C. Burk Tower,
E. Alan Hartman
Abstract
The empirical research presented in this article focuses on
the relationships between ownership structure (family v. non-family),
the type of customer served by the business, several dimensions
of organizational culture and innovation in small businesses.
The study posits that organizational culture, ownership structure
and the type of customer are predictor variables for innovation.
MANOVA and multiple regression were used in analyzing questionnaire
data from 4264 individuals in 89 small businesses. The results
indicate that initiation and implementation of innovation are
related to aspects of culture and ownership. Organizational
support was found to be more important for implementation than
for initiation of innovation. Family businesses were found
to have unique characteristics positively related to implementation.
Finally, the cultural support for innovation was found to be
related to the type of customer to which the firm sold and
ownership structure. Small business managers are provided recommendations
for improving firm innovativeness.
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Peer Lending Groups and Success: A Case
Study of
Working Capital
- Nazli Kibria,
Susan Lee,
Ramona Olvera
- Abstract
Microenterprise programs seek to encourage small business
through the provision of collateral-free loans and other
business and training services, typically to economically
disadvantaged populations. This paper explores one component
of microenterprise programs in the U.S. – the peer
lending group. This is a system in which small groups of
unrelated individuals work to support and enforce loan giving
and repayment. The analysis draws on a case-study of Working
Capital, a microenterprise organization based in Massachusetts.
Specifically, drawing on in-depth interviews with members
of Working Capital peer lending groups as well as program
staff, the processes and meanings of successful peer lending
groups are explored as they are understood and experienced
by those associated with them. The findings suggest that
in the context of the U.S., the successful peer lending group
is best understood as a place to build credit history, to
gain basic business skills, and to develop networks of support.
It was also found that the successful peer lending group
had important identity benefits for members, giving them
a sense of belonging in a community of entrepreneurs.
[top]
Human Resource Management in U.S.
Small Businesses: A Replication and Extension
- Jeffrey S. Hornsby, Donald F. Kuratko
Abstract
Human resource management practices in 262 U.S. small businesses
were investigated for purposes of examining and comparing
HRM practices in small business to those reported in a study
conducted by the authors over a decade ago. Most empirical
research has focused on larger U.S. firms, or on smaller
firms outside the U.S. Results of the current study indicate
little advancement in the human resource functions of smaller
firms over ten years. The critical HRM issues, as viewed
by the owners are also reported and compared to the 1990
study.
[top]
Customer Communication and the Small
Ethnic Firm
- Linda M. Dyer, Christopher A.
Ross
Abstract
The emergence of a small and medium enterprise sector and
conditions supporting entrepreneurship are key elements in
the transition to a market economy. This article reports
the findings of a survey of Russian women business owners,
and relates the results to key areas of entrepreneurship
research. Evidence is found of entrepreneurship among this
set of Russian women business owners. A majority chose growth
and expansion as important business goals. They also engaged
in innovative strategic practices – importing and exporting,
and providing benefits to their employees – and those
with a growth (entrepreneurial) goal for their business were
more likely to be engaging in such practices. Contextual
factors loomed large: the most important issues respondents
faced were external to their businesses and overshadowed
internal concerns, such as maintaining business profitability.
Despite formidable barriers, including a serious shortage
of capital, they were making a substantial contribution to
their economy and remained optimistic about the future of
their businesses.
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Russian Women Business Owners:
Evidence of Entrepreneurship in a Transition Economy
- Betty L. Wells,
Tamara J. Pfantz ,
Jennifer L. Bryne
Abstract
Informal financial institutions (IFIs), among them the ubiquitous
rotating savings and credit associations, are of ancient
origin.
Owned and self-managed by local people, poor and non-poor,
they are self-help organizations which mobilize their own
resources, cover their costs and finance their growth from
their profits. With the expansion of the money economy,
they
have spread into new areas and grown in numbers, size and
diversity; but ultimately, most have remained restricted
in
size, outreach and duration. Are they best left alone, or
should they be helped to upgrade their operations and integrate
into the wider financial market? Under conducive policy conditions,
some have spontaneously taken the opportunity of evolving
into semiformal or formal microfinance institutions (MFIs).
This has usually yielded great benefits in terms of financial
deepening, sustainability and outreach. Donors may build
on these indigenous foundations and provide support for
various
options of institutional development, among them: incentives-driven
mainstreaming through networking; encouraging the establishment
of new IFIs in areas devoid of financial services; linking
IFIs/MFIs to banks; strengthening NGOs as promoters of good
practices; and, in a nonrepressive policy environment, promoting
appropriate legal forms, prudential regulation and delegated
supervision.
