IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/ijmpps/v31y2010i4p392-409.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Working time management and SME performance in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Smith
  • Stefan Zagelmeyer

Abstract

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the management of working time flexibility and firm performance, measured by operating hours, in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe. Design/methodology/approach - The paper analyses the European Capital Operating time, Work and Employment Survey (EUCOWE), designed to collect workplace information on operating hours. With data on more than 17,000 establishments in six European countries – France, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK – the paper analyses working time patterns and operating hours. Findings - The authors show the positive relationship between company size and operating times and how SMEs make more limited use of more advanced forms of working‐time organisation that may allow them to extend their operating hours. The use of less complex working time measures such as overtime does not have the same positive association with operating hours. However, the results also highlight that smaller establishments can still benefit from the adoption of certain working time practices. The results suggest that the influence of the regulatory environment on the use of working practices or the duration of operating hours is not straightforward, and as such the impact of national regulatory frameworks cannot be discounted in the country‐specific differences identified. Originality/value - The paper uses the first comparable data on operating hours and working patterns to demonstrate the limitations on SME operating times across European countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Smith & Stefan Zagelmeyer, 2010. "Working time management and SME performance in Europe," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(4), pages 392-409, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijmpps:v:31:y:2010:i:4:p:392-409
    DOI: 10.1108/01437721011056994
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/01437721011056994/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/01437721011056994/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/01437721011056994?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luc Everaert & Francisco Simone, 2007. "Improving the estimation of total factor productivity growth: capital operating time in a latent variable approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 449-468, November.
    2. Lei Delsen & Derek Bosworth & Hermann Groß & Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo y Llorente (ed.), 2007. "Operating Hours and Working Times," Contributions to Economics, Springer, number 978-3-7908-1760-7, December.
    3. Horrell, Sara & Rubery, Jill, 1991. "Gender and Working Time: An Analysis of Employers' Working-Time Policies," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 15(4), pages 373-391, December.
    4. Mark Smith & Gilbert Cette & Frank Bauer & Lei Delsen (ed.), 2009. "Comparative Analyses of Operating Hours and Working Times in the European Union," Contributions to Economics, Springer, number 978-3-7908-2185-7, December.
    5. Brian Burgoon & Phineas Baxandall, 2004. "Three Worlds of Working Time: The Partisan and Welfare Politics of Work Hours in Industrialized Countries," Politics & Society, , vol. 32(4), pages 439-473, December.
    6. Robert L. Heneman & Judith W. Tansky & S. Michael Camp, 2000. "Human Resource Management Practices in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Unanswered Questions and Future Research Perspectives," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(1), pages 11-26, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Leung, Aegean & Zhang, Jing & Wong, Poh Kam & Foo, Maw Der, 2006. "The use of networks in human resource acquisition for entrepreneurial firms: Multiple "fit" considerations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 664-686, September.
    2. Brigitte Kroon & Karina Voorde & Jules Timmers, 2013. "High performance work practices in small firms: a resource-poverty and strategic decision-making perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 71-91, June.
    3. Radovan Savov & Drahoslav Lančarič & Jana Kozáková, 2020. "Size of the Company as the Main Determinant of Talent Management in Slovakia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Goerke, Laszlo & Hillesheim, Inga, 2013. "Relative consumption, working time, and trade unions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 170-179.
    5. Desiere, Sam & Walter, Christian, 2023. "The Shift Premium: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 16460, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Clint Chadwick & Adina Dabu, 2009. "Human Resources, Human Resource Management, and the Competitive Advantage of Firms: Toward a More Comprehensive Model of Causal Linkages," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 253-272, February.
    7. Andries de Grip & Inge Sieben, 2005. "The effects of human resource management on small firms' productivity and employees' wages," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 1047-1054.
    8. Domingo Soriano & Gary Castrogiovanni, 2012. "The impact of education, experience and inner circle advisors on SME performance: insights from a study of public development centers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 333-349, April.
    9. Seo, Joo Hwan & Perry, Vanessa G. & Tomczyk, David & Solomon, George T., 2014. "Who benefits most? The effects of managerial assistance on high- versus low-performing small businesses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 2845-2852.
    10. Bitsch, Vera & Kassa, Getachew Abate & Harsh, Stephen B. & Mugera, Amin W., 2006. "Human Resource Management Risks: Sources and Control Strategies Based on Dairy Farmer Focus Groups," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(01), pages 1-14, April.
    11. Bashir, Jibran & Afzal, Sara, 2008. "The significance of HRM for small enterprises of Pakistan," MPRA Paper 37049, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Moedt, Kristel & Lechner, Christian & Khapova, Svetlana, 2024. "Growing pains during scale-up hypergrowth: Integration and future research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    13. Didier Fouarge & Anna Manzoni & Ruud Muffels & Ruud Luijkx, 2010. "Childbirth and cohort effects on mothers' labour supply: a comparative study using life history data for Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(3), pages 487-507, September.
    14. Nazlina Zakaria & Siti Rohaida Mohamed Zainal (PhD) & Prof. Dr. Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin, 2012. "Investigating The Role Of Human Resource Management Practices On The Performance Of Sme: A Conceptual Framework," Journal of Global Management, Global Research Agency, vol. 3(1), pages 74-92, January.
    15. Asplund Disa, 2017. "Household Production and the Elasticity of Marginal Utility of Consumption," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 1-25, October.
    16. Wenhan Ren & Yu Chen, 2022. "Realizing the Improvement of Green Total Factor Productivity of the Marine Economy—New Evidence from China’s Coastal Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-22, July.
    17. Elena Patricia Mojica-Carrillo & Gonzalo Maldonado-Guzmán & Sandra Yesenia Pinzón-Castro & Angie Lorena Riaño-Castillo, 2021. "Effects of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Performance and Growth: Are Microenterprises and Small Firms Equal?," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(4), pages 1-2.
    18. Robert Drago, 1995. "Divide and Conquer in Australia: A Study of Labor Segmentation," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 27(1), pages 25-70, March.
    19. Nicolò Cangiotti & Mattia Sensi, 2023. "Exact solutions for a Solow-Swan model with non-constant returns to scale," Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1278-1285, December.
    20. Eva Gutiérrez-i-Puigarnau & Jos N. Van Ommeren, 2012. "Start Time and Worker Compensation Implications for Staggered-Hours Programmes," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 46(2), pages 205-220, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eme:ijmpps:v:31:y:2010:i:4:p:392-409. 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: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.