IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobuve/v15y2021ics2352673421000214.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What do they think and feel about growth? Examining small business managers’ attitudes towards growth in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • McKelvie, Alexander
  • Brattström, Anna
  • Dennis Jr., William J.

Abstract

We replicate the Wiklund et al. (2003) study examining the attitudes towards growth of small business managers. We generalize and extend that study in three important ways: we focus on a different context (United States instead of Sweden), where the conditions and consequences for growth are different, we provide an additional predictor variable – behavioral control – in line with Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, and with a slightly modified dependent variable. The principal finding is that the strongest perceived consequence affecting attitudes towards growth among U.S.-based small business managers is the ability to increase income and other financial benefits. Change in employee well-being and change in dependence on outside stakeholders also ranked relatively high among eight potential growth consequences. The Wiklund et al. (2003) Swedish study finds, in contrast, that non-economic consequences are the strongest predictor of attitudes towards growth. We attribute these attitudinal differences to variations in institutional context, suggesting that policy and cultural norms are likely to underlie growth motivation. We also find that U.S.-based small business managers are likely to be influenced by the perception that growth is a “realistic” endeavor.

Suggested Citation

  • McKelvie, Alexander & Brattström, Anna & Dennis Jr., William J., 2021. "What do they think and feel about growth? Examining small business managers’ attitudes towards growth in the United States," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:15:y:2021:i:c:s2352673421000214
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2021.e00243
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352673421000214
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbvi.2021.e00243?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johan Wiklund & Dean Shepherd, 2003. "Aspiring for, and Achieving Growth: The Moderating Role of Resources and Opportunities," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 1919-1941, December.
    2. Frédéric Delmar & Johan Wiklund, 2008. "The Effect of Small Business Managers’ Growth Motivation on Firm Growth: A Longitudinal Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(3), pages 437-457, May.
    3. Delmar, Frédéric & McKelvie, Alexander & Wennberg, Karl, 2013. "Untangling the relationships among growth, profitability and survival in new firms," Ratio Working Papers 205, The Ratio Institute.
    4. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    5. Alexander McKelvie & Johan Wiklund, 2010. "Advancing Firm Growth Research: A Focus on Growth Mode Instead of Growth Rate," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(2), pages 261-288, March.
    6. Friederike Welter, 2011. "Contextualizing Entrepreneurship—Conceptual Challenges and Ways Forward," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 165-184, January.
    7. DeTienne, Dawn R. & McKelvie, Alexander & Chandler, Gaylen N., 2015. "Making sense of entrepreneurial exit strategies: A typology and test," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 255-272.
    8. Tommaso Minola & Giuseppe Criaco & Martin Obschonka, 2016. "Age, culture, and self-employment motivation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 187-213, February.
    9. Boris Nikolaev & Christopher John Boudreaux & Matthew Wood, 2020. "Entrepreneurship and Subjective Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Psychological Functioning," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(3), pages 557-586, May.
    10. Alexander McKelvie & Anna Brattström & Karl Wennberg, 2017. "How young firms achieve growth: reconciling the roles of growth motivation and innovative activities," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 273-293, August.
    11. Dean Shepherd & Johan Wiklund, 2009. "Are we Comparing Apples with Apples or Apples with Oranges? Appropriateness of Knowledge Accumulation across Growth Studies," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 105-123, January.
    12. Mathew L. A. Hayward & Dean A. Shepherd & Dale Griffin, 2006. "A Hubris Theory of Entrepreneurship," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(2), pages 160-172, February.
    13. Yang, Tiantian & Aldrich, Howard E., 2012. "Out of sight but not out of mind: Why failure to account for left truncation biases research on failure rates," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 477-492.
    14. Ger, Guliz & Belk, Russell W., 1996. "Cross-cultural differences in materialism," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 55-77, February.
    15. Tommaso Minola & Giuseppe Criaco & Martin Obschonka, 2016. "Age, culture, and self-employment motivation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 187-213, February.
    16. Forbes, Daniel P., 2005. "Are some entrepreneurs more overconfident than others?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 623-640, September.
    17. Johan Wiklund & Per Davidsson & Frédéric Delmar, 2003. "What Do They Think and Feel about Growth? An Expectancy–Value Approach to Small Business Managers’ Attitudes toward Growth1," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(3), pages 247-270, July.
    18. Chandler, Gaylen N. & McKelvie, Alexander & Davidsson, Per, 2009. "Asset specificity and behavioral uncertainty as moderators of the sales growth -- Employment growth relationship in emerging ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 373-387, July.
    19. Zoltan Acs & Sameeksha Desai & Jolanda Hessels, 2008. "Entrepreneurship, economic development and institutions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 219-234, October.
    20. McKelvie, Alexander & Haynie, J. Michael & Gustavsson, Veronica, 2011. "Unpacking the uncertainty construct: Implications for entrepreneurial action," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 273-292, May.
    21. Jonathan Levie & Erkko Autio, 2008. "A theoretical grounding and test of the GEM model," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 235-263, October.
    22. Cliff, Jennifer E., 1998. "Does one size fit all? exploring the relationship between attitudes towards growth, gender, and business size," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 523-542, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bort, James & Totterman, Henrik, 2023. "The growth aspirations of underdog entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    2. Dafna Kariv & Norris Krueger & Gavriellea Kashy & Luis Cisneros, 2024. "Process innovation is technology transfer too! How entrepreneurial businesses manage product and process innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 1762-1786, October.
    3. Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Halvarsson, Daniel & Gustavsson Tingvall, Patrik & McKelvie, Alexander, 2021. "Do Targeted R&D Grants Towards Potential Highgrowth Firms Increase Employment and Demand for High Human Capital Workers?," HFI Working Papers 23, Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut).
    4. Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & McKelvie, Alexander & Seerar Westerberg, Hans, 2023. "Right time or the right person? Investigating the hires of high-growth new ventures," HFI Working Papers 25, Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut).
    5. Agnieszka Ma³kowska & Ma³gorzata Uhruska, 2022. "Factors affecting SMEs growth: the case of the real estate valuation service industry," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 13(1), pages 79-108, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexander McKelvie & Anna Brattström & Karl Wennberg, 2017. "How young firms achieve growth: reconciling the roles of growth motivation and innovative activities," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 273-293, August.
    2. Siepel, Josh & Cowling, Marc & Coad, Alex, 2017. "Non-founder human capital and the long-run growth and survival of high-tech ventures," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 34-43.
    3. Delmar, Frédéric & Wallin, Jonas & Nofal, Ahmed Maged, 2022. "Modeling new-firm growth and survival with panel data using event magnitude regression," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    4. Ioannis Giotopoulos & Alexandra Kontolaimou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2017. "Drivers of high-quality entrepreneurship: what changes did the crisis bring about?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 913-930, April.
    5. Erik Lundmark & Alex Coad & Julian S. Frankish & David J. Storey, 2020. "The Liability of Volatility and How it Changes Over Time Among New Ventures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(5), pages 933-963, September.
    6. Alex Coad & Kristian Nielsen & Bram Timmermans, 2017. "My first employee: an empirical investigation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 25-45, January.
    7. Chong Kyoon Lee & Griffin W. Cottle & Sharon A. Simmons & Johan Wiklund, 2021. "Fear not, want not: Untangling the effects of social cost of failure on high-growth entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 531-553, June.
    8. Pittino, Daniel & Chirico, Francesco & Baù, Massimo & Villasana, Marcia & Naranjo-Priego, Elvira E. & Barron, Elda, 2020. "Starting a family business as a career option: The role of the family household in Mexico," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(2).
    9. Cyron, Thomas & Zoellick, Jan Cornelius, 2018. "Business Development in Post-Growth Economies: Challenging Assumptions in the Existing Business Growth Literature," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 29(3), pages 206-229.
    10. Laurent Vilanova & Ivana Vitanova, 2020. "Unwrapping opportunity confidence: how do different types of feasibility beliefs affect venture emergence?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 215-236, June.
    11. Bort, James & Totterman, Henrik, 2023. "The growth aspirations of underdog entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    12. Massimo Baù & Francesco Chirico & Daniel Pittino & Mikaela Backman & Johan Klaesson, 2019. "Roots to Grow: Family Firms and Local Embeddedness in Rural and Urban Contexts," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(2), pages 360-385, March.
    13. Li Yaokuang & Wang Jing & Long Dan, 2019. "How do Institutions Inspire Ambitions? Differentiating Institutional Effects on Entrepreneurial Growth Intentions: Evidence from China," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 9(4), pages 1-19, October.
    14. Lars Kolvereid & Bjørn Willy Åmo, 2019. "Growth Intention and Growth in Small Accounting Firms," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-11, April.
    15. M. Knockaert & M. Der Foo & T. Erikson, 2011. "Determinants of entrepreneurs’ growth intentions. A cognitive style perspective," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 11/720, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    16. Per Davidsson, 2016. "This Thing Called “Theory”," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, in: Researching Entrepreneurship, edition 2, chapter 3, pages 41-73, Springer.
    17. José Pedro Carreón-Gutiérrez & José Manuel Saiz-Álvarez, 2019. "Opportunity Motivation and Growth Aspirations of Mexican Entrepreneurs: The Moderating Role of the Household Income," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-15, November.
    18. Alexander McKelvie & Johan Wiklund & Anna Brattström, 2018. "Externally Acquired or Internally Generated? Knowledge Development and Perceived Environmental Dynamism in New Venture Innovation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(1), pages 24-46, January.
    19. Steven A. Brieger & Michael M. Gielnik, 2021. "Understanding the gender gap in immigrant entrepreneurship: a multi-country study of immigrants’ embeddedness in economic, social, and institutional contexts," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1007-1031, February.
    20. Crawford, G. Christopher & Aguinis, Herman & Lichtenstein, Benyamin & Davidsson, Per & McKelvey, Bill, 2015. "Power law distributions in entrepreneurship: Implications for theory and research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 696-713.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:15:y:2021:i:c:s2352673421000214. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-business-venturing-insights .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.