Thesis (M.B.A.)—Boston University

There are four parts to the thesis: Part I presents a review of the literature, a discussion and finally proposes a definition of the main concepts studied: entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, small business owner-manager and small-medium sized manufacturing enterprise. Part 2 presents an overview of organisation theory and explains our selection of content as well as of container approaches to study the phenomenon of the small business and its growth. It leads us to introduce the field of strategy, to go over a review of the essential literature on small business strategy and to discuss it. It also leads us to introduce systems approaches and to discuss the strategy behind the evolution of the systems approach we identify as best to study small business: soft systems methodology, as developed by Peter Checkland. Part 3 presents the way we have looked at the small business as well as at the entrepreneurs and/or small business owner-managers we have studied in four different countries. It explains the choice of the research methodology, a qualitative one: interviews. It also presents some findings, essentially that entrepreneurs project a vision, they build a relations system to realise it, and successful ones show a capacity to engage in anticipatory learning to make the projected vision become reality. Part 4 discusses these findings and their use in understanding what makes entrepreneurs successful. We propose a model that incorporates the research findings. It is based on the relationship between the vision, the relations with people who will help make it happen, and the anticipatory learning which the entrepreneur does to be prepared and able to realise the vision. Our main contribution seems to be the model. Many of the other findings relate to things which already exist in the literature. What is new is the way these concepts are linked and integrated in a model that could be called a "strategic entrepreneurial model".

This thesis examines micro-enterprises (firms with under ten employees) pursuing some degree of gradual growth. While very little research specifically targets the growth of micro-enterprises, there was a host of possible influencing factors suggested by the rather broader small business literature. Less literature was found on how the complex interaction of these factors might stimulate a firm's development. A framework was derived which suggested how the factors identified might interact with four key growth drivers, namely; management expertise for growth, owner's growth motivation, resource access and demand. The framework contributed a clear agenda for analyzing a firm's growth, while allowing the specific issues of any particular firm to be investigated within its environmental context. Sixteen case studies were investigated to allow sufficient comparison across a number of firms for some generalisations to be made with a degree of conviction, while retaining adequate quality in the detailed analysis of each firm to allow the intricate configuration of factors to be understood. Two dimensions of comparison were followed. Firstly, comparison between firms that achieved different levels of growth (no attempted growth, attempted but not achieved growth and achieved growth) and secondly comparison between different sectors (retailing, service, wholesale and manufacturing). Patterns were discovered in the interaction of these factors which allowed the original framework to be empirically authenticated and improved. The quality of the data encouraged deep consideration of the process by which factors influence the growth of the firm. The analysis suggests that for a firm to grow through the micro-enterprise phase, the combined influence of factors on all four sets of growth drivers proposed in the framework needs to be positive. The possibility of a number of different factors influencing any particular set of growth drivers suggests that no factor, however strongly motivating, will itself be essential to the growth of the firm. The framework provides a useful structure to help micro-enterprise ownermanagers and their advisors formulate growth strategies by highlighting areas which require attention. It may also afford some degree of qualitative prediction of the likelihood of a firm achieving successful growth. These results reinforce the need for researchers to accept the complexity of growth factors and not to search for simplistic solutions.

This thesis is concerned with the topic of the strategic management of technology as a source of competitive advantage in small high tech firms. The main objectives of this thesis were: to examine the corporate and technology strategy formulation processes within small high tech firms; to identify any change in these processes as the business and its core technologies mature; and to explore the role of the technical entrepreneur in initiating a strategic orientation within such firms. Empirical research proceeded in two phases. Phase One involved a postal survey based upon 519 small high tech firms located in UK science parks. 30 respondent firms were selected for Phase Two of empirical research, where in-depth company interviews were employed to investigate further the phenomena under scrutiny. Successful small high tech firms exhibit a strategic transformation over their life cycle. More formalised strategic management processes are implemented within such firms to support the organisation's evolution from an inward-looking orientation at inception focusing upon technological possibilities generated through R&D efforts, towards an outward orientation as core technologies mature, emphasising the need more closely to identify market opportunities in order to guide R&D activity. This research has confirmed that the professional orientation of company directors will determine whether technological considerations are subsumed within strategic planning processes, or whether they implicitly drive business activities. The required strategic reorientation of the business is unlikely to be achieved where management skills remain focused within narrow technical spheres and thus technological considerations dominate the strategy formulation process throughout each life cycle stage. Ultimately, the key determinant of success in the small high tech firm will be the ability of the technical entrepreneur to initiate a strategic orientation within the firm; this will require that he adapts philosphically and managerially as the firm grows, as core technologies mature and as marketing imperatives become the predominant force within the firm's chosen industry.

This thesis investigates small employment growth businesses and their use of accountancy support in the Northern region of England. Two separate and independent surveys of accountants and small business in the region are used to explore this issue. The thesis also uses three robust measures of growth. The thesis finds that small firms that experience fast employment growth are more likely to use government sponsored support rather than the support provided by accountants or other sources. This is a surprising finding, particularly as accountancy support is often identified as being the most common source of support for small firms. The thesis then goes onto to investigate if this is due to a demand side failure. The thesis finds little evidence of this. It also finds that the supply of accountancy services is constrained and accountants adopt a reactive rather than proactive approach to their clients. The implication of these findings is that there is evidence to suggest that there is a supply-side failure in the provision of accountancy services to fast growth businesses. This suggests that publicly funded provision of support to small firms who have experienced employment growth is important. It also suggests that accountancy practitioners may have to re-orientate their support they offer to such clients.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

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Recently, informal venture capital investors have been recognised as an important source of financing small & medium sized enterprises(SMEs). Unfortunately, very little research (if any) has been devoted to understanding how these investors fund particular investments in developing countries. This research study conducts the first-ever, detailed investigation in Saudi Arabia of the informal investor's characteristics, and decision-making behaviour across the full investment process. A theoretical framework, based on the asymmetric information that characterises this market, was used. Five hypotheses were developed to see how informal investors behave to reduce the inefficiencies and risks associated with the asymmetric information problem. Data from 156 Saudi informal investors were compiled. To analyze the data, three statistical methods, Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis and Two-Way ANOVA, were applied. A descriptive picture of the profile and the investment activities of informal investors is presented in Chapter Seven. Research hypotheses related to investors' decision-making were then tested in Chapter Eight. First, the study shows that informal investors in Saudi Arabia depend on personal searches for investment opportunities. This is clearly supports the view that the flow of information between entrepreneurs and informal investors is inefficient. Secondly, in order to select a high quality entrepreneur and venture, investors use specific criteria though clearly the entrepreneur's reputation is the most important criterion. Third, informal investors use staging of finance and involvement in the venture to have access to information and gain better control over the venture. Fourth, informal investors apply the above methods to reduce the risks of the agency problem. However, informal investors in Saudi Arabia prefer to monitor the behaviour of entrepreneurs through outcome-based incentives with moderate use of involvement and behaviour monitoring. In concluding the thesis, recommendations and the possible implications of these findings are discussed. Finally, future research is suggested that may improve the understanding of informal investors but which is beyond the scope of this thesis or which depends on its findings.

The rationale for this thesis stems from three interlinked issues. First, there is a general recognition of the importance of the small firm sector and the value of its contribution to the health of economies across the globe. Second, the provision of external finance for growing small firms in developed and developing countries has improved significantly over the last few years in terms of both the total of funds and the range of financial facilities available. Third, despite this rapid expansion in the range of public and private sector financial initiatives, there is widespread perception that financing difficulties continue to exist, difficulties which are perceived to be major obstacles or constraints on small firm growth. This thesis aims to contribute to a better understanding of the practices and problems of financing the growth of small firms in developed and developing countries with particular reference to the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Malaysia. In pursuing the main l objective, empirical study attempts to investigate the characteristics of small firms and their owner-managers, as well as the growth orientation of the firms and the extent to which these characteristics are associated with the need for, and use of, external sources of finance and with the existence of difficulties in obtaining the finance. Subsequently, comparative investigation between the two countries explores the similarities and differences with respect to the sources and patterns of finance as well as the difficulties in raising finance. Having identified the important variables in the theoretical framework of the study, the relationships among the variables are established and research hypotheses are generated. In order to achieve the main objective ofthe study, the empirical investigation was conducted using two research strategies: questionnaires and case studies. Nonparametric gamma and chi-square statistics are used in analysing the empirical results. Two major findings emerge from this study. First, the overall characteristics of firms and owner-managers have no association with the need for, and sources of external finance and the existence of difficulties in raising finance; whereas growth of the firms can be associated with the sources of external finance and the existence of financing difficulties. Second, whilst there is a significant difference in the need for external finance by growthoriented small firms in the U. K. and Malaysia, both the sources/patterns ofexternal finance and the difficulties experienced by small firms in the two countries are not markedly different.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University