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The paper has been developed from a critical review of available literature drawn from the micro firm, managerial capability and innovation management fields. The paper aims to address these issues.

The paper has been developed from a critical review of available literature drawn from the micro firm, managerial capability and innovation management fields.

Four criteria of micro firm managerial capability emerge from micro firm managerial traits in the literature namely, leadership; strategic thinking; problem solving and people relationships. The review also shows that micro firms are embedded in three resource pools which include stakeholder ties; the local community and the proximate market environment. Micro firm managerial capability is argued to emerge from the interaction of the managerial capability criteria and the resources in a process mediated by the resource based and dynamic capabilities perspectives from the strategic management literature.

A gap in the academic literature is identified and the proposed theoretical model is presented to address this deficiency in the literature. Future empirical research is recommended.

This proposed model will allow practitioners to better conceptualise and design programmes that will assist companies in developing managerial capabilities to innovate. Deep links between hotel industry practitioners and the academic community will enable the effective dissemination of the research.

Hotel micro firms play an important social and economic role. There has been little research into how they innovate and specifically into managerial capability for innovation in context. The present research uses conceptual research to map the field and identify critical avenues for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a resource‐based approach for exploring micro‐firm management practice, as informed by the relevant literature. Specifically, the paper analyses available literature and catalogues micro‐firm and managerial competence criteria in pursuit of managerial insights in this environment.

A comprehensive literature review precedes the conceptualisation of micro‐firm management practice.

Literary findings suggest that, considering micro‐firms' internal resource constraints, minimal environmental power, and owner‐centred culture, it is vital for these organisations to embed their valuable resource in their core business strategy, to ensure survival in the longer term. Furthermore, there is an assumption that knowledge must be used optimally within the micro‐firm by developing the analytical and critical skills of individuals, groups and the entire organisation so as to sustain and grow these firms' competitive advantage. Having identified and catalogued a range of factors that impact micro‐firms, the authors propose a “resource taxonomy of micro‐firm management practice”, which establishes factor interaction and the interrelationships between each resource in this environment. The purpose of this taxonomy is to assist in the analysis of management practices in the micro‐firm milieu.

The authors go on to discuss taxonomy implications for micro‐firm training policy and propose further exploration of micro‐firm management practice and resource‐based research in this environment.

Academic research, which focuses specifically on the micro‐firm, has historically been rare, despite multiple calls to study these firms in their own right. By proffering a “resource taxonomy of micro‐firm management practice”, the authors seek to inform this neglected research area.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and impact of effectual logic used by owner-managers of established micro firms when making buying decisions.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 owner-managers of micro firms, concerning their decision-making processes when selecting suppliers. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, then analysed thematically.

This study contributes to the literature in respect of effectuation by considering its use by a micro firm owner-manager to develop relationships with trusted suppliers. The findings suggest effectuation positively promotes flexibility and reduces loss potential, thus positively affecting the price that the owner-manager is willing to pay. Furthermore, it also appears to necessitate effectual selling, with an ongoing iterative process, in which effectual selling leads to effectual buying. In contrast to extant literature, this study suggests that application of effectual logic to buying and selling decisions, by a micro firm owner-manager can create, rather than reduce, uncertainty.

This study is based on single interviews with a sample of owner-managers of micro firms that operate within the same industry and within a single country. The subjective nature of qualitative research, homogeneity and size of sample may prevent generalisation of the findings.

Effectual buying and selling appears to provide a micro firm with the ability to engage with flexible suppliers so as to offer a heterogeneous array of products and services to its customers, thus promoting sales success. Yet, the lack of homogeneity of customer needs and need for supplier flexibility may lead to overall costs being greater than those that could be achieved if the micro firm specialised in a smaller range of products and services and developed internal resources to meet the needs of its customers.

In contrast to extant literature that states that effectuation is a way to reduce uncertainty to a level at which a decision can be made, this study suggests that continual use of effectual logic by owner-managers of micro firms when making buying and selling decisions can instead create more uncertainty in the longer term.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze resources and capabilities that distinguish between traditional, slow born‐global and rapid born‐global micro‐firms.

The study uses multiple case study methodology. Three case studies are presented to compare the internationalization pathways of three French micro‐firms.

The paper emphasizes the importance of leveraging between internal and external resources for rapid internationalization of micro‐firms. The rapid internationalization is driving and facilitated by managerial abilities, innovation and network. The study shows that analysis of micro‐firms in terms of resources and capabilities enhances the understanding of internationalization.

Because it is limited to three case studies, the generalization of findings to a broad sample of French micro‐firms will be needed.

The research suggests that two‐level analysis (i.e. individual level and micro‐firm level) should be considered when examining rapid internationalization. Micro‐firm top managers need to be aware of the importance of developing internal resources to facilitate incorporation of new external resources. Their experience and expertise in addition to the micro‐firm's innovation capacity or reputation can be used to expand rapidly abroad.

The distinction between traditional, slow born‐global and rapid born‐global French micro‐firms in terms of resources and capabilities makes this study original.

Despite their economic and cultural significance, the growth of handicraft micro firms is vulnerable, given their small size and resource limitations. By examining the impact of cooperation on firm performance via innovation capability, this study shows how micro firms can address constraints and achieve sustainable development by acquiring and utilizing external resources, complemented by innovation capability, through internal development.

Data were collected from 164 handicraft micro firms in Pakistan via a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was employed to estimate interrelations of various constructs simultaneously and control measurement errors.

The impact of cooperation with customers and suppliers on firm performance via innovation capability was positive and significant. Contrarily, competitor cooperation did not significantly affect innovation capability. Furthermore, there was a positive and significant interaction effect of customer and competitor cooperation on innovation capability. Thus, micro firms must reinforce their customer and supplier relationships through innovation capability and internal transformation for sustainable development. Moreover, a balance must exist between cooperation and competition to achieve optimal innovation returns for the sustainable development of firms.

This study emphasized that micro firms must strengthen their customer and supplier relationships via innovation capability and internal development to achieve higher performance. Moreover, the study introduced a new dimension for measuring firm performance.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate key criteria underpinning network-facilitated green innovation capability development in micro-firms.

Micro-firms, those firms with less than ten full-time employees, need to continuously innovate in order to sustain their business in the emerging green economy. This study uses an interpretive multiple case approach to explore micro-firm owner-manager (O/M) green innovation activities, encompassing O/M views on facilitated network engagement in Ireland and Canada over a 12-month period.

The findings show that proactive implementation of green innovation is influenced by the O/M’s natural environment orientation and the potential for economic gain, while facilitated networks provide an additional resource that the O/M can draw from that allows the O/M to test new ideas, comprehend new and existing legislation and identify potential supports in pursuit of green innovation capability development within the micro-firm.

This study offers a contribution to knowledge in the areas of green innovation, micro-firm capabilities and facilitated network engagement. However, the sample size is small and distance was a challenge, yet data and case protocols are in place which allow for replication of the study. As the research is embedded in the resource and capability theories, alternative theoretical frameworks may shed a different light on the research question.

Prior studies have found that facilitated networks have a positive impact on micro-firm sustainability as these networks enhance the firm’s constrained resource base. The proposed framework can be used as a guideline for support organisations including facilitated networks in assisting micro-firms in reaching their green innovation goals and objectives. It can also be used by micro-firms in the attainment of the green innovation capability.

Though certain characteristics of micro-firms affect the likelihood of their participation in external relationships, how cooperation in craft enterprises differs from low and high-tech enterprises has not been investigated yet. Therefore, this study aims to fill the above gap in the literature.

This study adopts a descriptive approach by extensively reviewing relevant literature to explore the unique characteristics and nature of micro-firm's co-operative behavior. The theoretical approach of this research is grounded in resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theories.

This study finds that handicraft micro-firms possess special and unique characteristics that differentiate them from low- and high-tech firms. Further, handicraft micro-firms' co-operative behavior also differs from other firms in terms of cooperation motives, breadth, depth and factors that inhibit or promote cooperation. Additionally, in small handicraft firms, the co-operation is more informal, personal and through social networks, whereas in the corporate sector, it is more formal, direct and through supply chains. This study also argues that contrary to handicraft and low-tech firms, high-tech firms are more likely to cooperate with external partners and invest heavily in R&D for new product development (often radical in nature).

This study enriches our understanding of handicraft micro-firms' special and unique characteristics that differentiate them from low- and high-tech micro-firms. This research also provides in-depth knowledge to understand the handicraft micro-firms’ co-operative behavior and how it differs from low- and high-tech firms.

Understanding the micro-start-up resources and its relationships with entrepreneurial orientation and performance is unique because it operates a business in a poor resource setting. However, poor resource settings of micro-start-up are not adequately examined into the literature in relation to entrepreneurial orientation and performance. Therefore, grounded on resource-based view, this paper aims to attempt to examine the relationships between resource capital, entrepreneurial orientation and performance in a developing country context.

To establish this, the authors conducted a survey among 180 micro-entrepreneurs from Bangladesh and analyzed the data using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach.

The results demonstrate the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between human and financial resources and performance, while having partial mediating influence between social resource and performance, therefore indicating the importance of resources for determining business outcomes for micro-entrepreneurs.

These results extend theoretical explanations of micro-entrepreneurship within the poor resource setting context. The findings have implications for identifying micro-firms likely to succeed for the purpose of strategic allocation of resources and supports; they also provide future research avenues.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has established that entrepreneurial orientation plays a critical and mediating role between resource capital and micro-firm performance in a poor resource setting.

The purpose of this study was to examine pathways towards, and the rationale behind internationalisation from the perspectives of micro firms' operators involved in the globally competitive wine industry. Moreover, drawing from entrepreneurial action theory, the study developed a theoretical framework to help understanding micro approaches and rationale for internationalisation.

Data were collected through interviews with 19 micro winery owners and managers operating in the Prosecco Superiore (Italy) and cava industry (Spain).

Aligned with entrepreneurial action theory, uncertainty in participants' environment, coupled with the associated need to diversify through exports, were predominant drivers of internationalisation. However, internationalisation also emerged through non-deliberate channels, including through growth of wine tourism and increasing foreign wine enthusiasts. Thus, while entrepreneurial action through deliberate means triggered a stronger focus on internationalisation, other passive interventions beyond the control or influence of micro firms, but rather emerge serendipitously, can similarly spur direct action.

The study demonstrated its originality and value in various ways, fundamentally, addressing three knowledge gaps, thereby contributing to practical and theoretical discourses with corresponding value, including managerially. First, it extended literature focussing on micro firms, which as compared to small and medium enterprise research is much more limited. Second, it provided a comparative component, which is much rarer in contemporary research discussing internationalisation amongst micro firms. Third, the study proposed a theoretical framework stemming from the chosen inductive approach, thus, addressing concerns regarding the lack of theoretical rigour or depth in internationalisation activities amongst micro firms.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

It is becoming a requirement for micro-firms to become more engaged with the green economy. This briefing looks at what micro-firms need to do to successfully adopt green innovation practices.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists, and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.