Owner-managers' motivation and the growth of family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises

Asta Wahlgrén and Aila Virtanen

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2015, vol. 26, issue 3, 293-311

Abstract: This paper explores the motivation of owner-managers, the growth of their small and medium-sized family businesses, and how the two phenomena are related. Using qualitative data and building on the perceptions of four Finnish owner-managers revealed three types of motivation - economic, psychological and social. The growth paths of the family businesses studied were unique, and the study illustrates the impact of the various stakeholders on the motivation of the owner-managers and the growth of the businesses. It is suggested that further research focusing on the motivation of owner-managers would prove valuable in explaining and promoting growth in small and medium-sized family businesses.

Keywords: owner-managers; family-owned SMEs; business growth; economic motivation; psychological motivation; social motivation; stakeholders; firm ownership; Finland; small and medium-sized enterprises; family firms; family businesses. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=72393 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijesbu:v:26:y:2015:i:3:p:293-311

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().