Why Should the Varieties Literature Grant Smaller Firms More Attention? An Introduction

Katharina Bluhm and Rudi Schmidt

Chapter 1 in Change in SMEs, 2008, pp 1-14 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still a disregarded species in social science. This may be explained by the ‘long shadow’ of Fordism, which raised the expectation that large vertically integrated conglomerates would eliminate the SME sector, especially in manufacturing. In contrast to large firms, SMEs have little power to shape the institutional and market environment. The lack of scholarly interest might also be caused by the cultural distance to the patriarchal-authoritarian leadership style that used to be widespread in family firms, as well as by the difficult access for academic researchers to this type of enterprise. The latter has partly to do with the limited available time of small management staffs in SMEs, and partly with owner desires to control the information flow going outside the firm.

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Small Firm; Large Firm; Family Firm; Collective Bargaining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1057/9780230227781_1

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