Search results

Drawing on the motivation theory and family business literature, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of family effect in growth behaviour of small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.

The authors first compare the actual and expected growth of family and non-family-owned SMEs. The authors then compare the growth behaviour of small family firms managed by owner-directors and small family businesses co-managed by family and non-family directors with the non-family-owned SMEs.

The authors find a negative effect of family ownership on actual and intended small business growth behaviours. In addition, the findings also suggest that small family firms co-managed by non-family and family directors are no different from non-family-owned firms, in terms of reporting past actual growth in employment size and turnover as well as expecting growth in workforce size and turnover. The authors also observe a significant difference in anticipating sales growth between family-controlled and non-family-controlled firms. However, this difference is not explained by the heterogeneity of a top management team.

The study has important implications for managerial practice to family firms and on policies that improve the growth of SMEs. Specifically, the competence of managers and decision makers matters considerably in evaluating the efficient operation of the business and maximising the economic growth in SMEs.

The study makes two important theoretical contributions to small business growth literature. First, the findings underline a negative family effect in the actual and expected growth behaviour of SMEs. Second, the mode of family ownership alone may not sufficiently capture family effect and offer a thorough understanding of growth behaviour in SMEs.

Audit committees (ACs) have been perceived as an important means of corporate governance, safeguarding the interests of shareholders by monitoring internal control and risk management. This study aims to examine specific structural and operational characteristics of ACs for firms in Hong Kong, where regulators have strived to adhere to international compliance standards.

This study is based on a cross‐sectional examination of disclosures on ACs by 223 listed companies in Hong Kong.

The independence and financial expertise of AC members do not enhance the value of the respective firms, despite maintaining satisfactory compliance. The discrepancy in the value relevance of ACs in prior studies is explained by the possible inadequacy of the resources available to ACs.

The data in this study are entirely from secondary sources of disclosures by listed companies for the year immediately following the implementation of the code of best practices of corporate governance. No in‐depth case studies are supplemented.

A key implication of this study to the regulators is that the proper allocation of resources to an AC should be considered beyond the independence and financial expertise of AC members to ensure the effectiveness of an AC.

This paper is an empirical study about the practices and compliance of ACs among listed companies in a global financial centre.

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact that certain human capital variables have over employment growth of small firms in Romania.

The human capital components considered in this paper are education, previous work experience, employment motivations, the presence of entrepreneurial teams, and the presence of family members in the firm. To attain the objective of the paper we carry out a regression analysis using a rich data set of 635 Romanian firms for the year 2006.

Consistent with different employment growth measures, the empirical findings indicate that human capital matters for explaining small firms' employment growth. Previous work experience, the presence of entrepreneurial teams and the proportion of family members working in the business appear as determinant components. In addition, the results indicate that an active involvement of the entrepreneur in managerial tasks increases the intensity with which the entrepreneur makes use of his/her human capital, and this leads to higher employment growth rates.

The main limitation of the paper lies in the absence of a longitudinal analysis that could have given a greater perspective to the study. In order to enrich the analysis, future research should attempt to further explore the impact of human capital components on small firms' growth in other transition economies.

The paper increases the literature dealing with the determinants of small firms' growth in transition economies. The results of the paper also have important implications for academics and support institutions in Romania, as they suggest that, in the Romanian context, small firms may obtain significant benefits from support policies more oriented towards the formation of human capital.

The aim of this paper is to present longitudinal data regarding the career progression of Irish tourism and hospitality management graduates.

A survey instrument was designed to incorporate questions relating to current and previous employments, recent training/education and personal details. The original study was sent to graduates by their respective colleges and there were 444 respondents to the survey. The follow‐up questionnaire in the current study was sent to all those who had responded to the initial survey and who had provided addresses (374).

There is a significant drop‐out rate from employment in the tourism/hospitality industry in Ireland, which is particularly obvious amongst women. Those employed in the industry identified poor remuneration and unsuitable working hours as the major issues in need of redress. There is constant reference to work conditions within the tourism/hospitality industry throughout this study and, in particular, their apparent incompatibility with family life.

Owing to the small sample size, results presented here are largely indicative. Nonetheless, some general trends are discernible.

The issues raised in this study have implications for those involved in the provision of tourism/hospitality programmes as well as tourism employers, particularly in an Irish context, where there is an ongoing shortage of skilled workers in the sector.

Tracking studies usually only attempt to monitor graduates' entry into the workforce and do not follow their career paths over time. The objective of this study, however, was to provide longitudinal data and unique insights regarding the career progression of Irish tourism and hospitality management graduates.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the long-term operating performance of family and non-family firms from the agency theoretic perspective. The analysis is focused on investigating the impact of family ownership on principal–agent conflicts of interest.

This paper examines the relationship between firm operating performance and family ownership for a large sample of 677 Australian-listed companies. The paper uses the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimator model developed by Arellano and Bond (1991) and used by other studies in finance (Baltagi, 2012; Bond, 2002; Mohamed et al., 2008).

The empirical results show that firms with ownership concentration has a better operating performance due to the alignment of owner-management interests. This study also finds that family-listed companies have higher survival rates and perform better than non-family companies. Findings support the hypothesis that agency costs arise as a result of privileged access of information and self-interest behaviour of managers (outsiders) in firms with dispersed ownership structures.

Earlier studies have only focused on short-term perspectives, particularly investigating small and medium types of Australian family businesses from narrow aspects, such as productivity, business behaviour, capital structure and leverage. Therefore, this paper has conducted a comparative examination of family and non-family firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) to identify the impact of agency costs on their financial performance.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between firms’ intellectual capital (IC), financial performance (FP) and market value (MV) as well as the relationship between ownership concentrations on IC performance.

A large sample of non-financial listed firms belonging to 14 countries in Western Europe, for the period between 2004 and 2015, was investigated using the GMM system (1998) dynamic estimator and the effect of lagged explanatory variables on firm’s FP and MV.

The results reveal that IC is an important resource for firms’ value creation. Human capital is found to be a key factor of firms’ wealth. Results show that capital employed efficiency positively impacts on firms’ FP in the short run. The impact of IC components on firms’ MV may not be immediate. The structural capital positively affects firms’ FP in the long run. Also, the results reveal that ownership concentration and owners’ management involvement constrain firms’ IC performance.

The current study contributes to IC research by exploring a large sample of firms across countries in Western Europe using econometric modeling. Considering that the effect of IC on firms’ FP needs time to be realized, thus to be measured, the effect of lagged explanatory variables on performance was tested, using dynamic panel estimators, specifically the GMM system (1998) dynamic estimator.

The aim of this paper is to present the literature which identifies the characteristics of small enterprises and outlines the opportunities to utilise them in working with small businesses to prevent and reduce exposures to hazardous substances.

A search of a variety of data sources, including Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, was conducted which combined the keyword search terms “small business”, “small enterprise”, “management”, “health and safety management”, “hazardous substances”, “hazardous chemicals”, “management of hazardous substances”. High quality studies were selected and combined with studies known to the authors.

A strong body of evidence exists which shows that the management of OSH in small enterprises has been extensively reviewed and the most recurring theme is the identification of problems and challenges. A growing body of literature also confirms that models for chemical risk management and social responsibility issues can play a key role in managing hazardous chemical exposures in small enterprises. Furthermore, studies have shown that there are certain characteristics of small business that potentially provide positive opportunities for the implementation of preventive interventions.

The paper identifies these characteristics and features and suggests these can be effectively utilised in the design and development of interventions to prevent and reduce exposures to hazardous substances in small enterprises. Few interventions, however, have been developed utilising these positive characteristics.

One result of the recent upsurge of national, and indeed international, political interest in the small firm sector of the economy has been a focus on the role of management training and development in the small firm and on the wider, but related, issue of education and training for entrepreneurship. The basis for this renewed government attention seems to lie in recognition of the employment potential of small firms rather than in the contribution that training and education might make to productivity and efficiency. Added to the weight of official concern is pressure from individuals who, without the early possibility of becoming an employee, are being forced to look to their own resources and initiative. It is, therefore, scarcely surprising that much of the recent stimulus to small firms training has come from government training schemes and, in the UK, from local community‐based ventures aimed at improving local job prospects. The accent in the UK has been on encouraging the new small business start up.

The chaebols in Korea contained some problems. One is that they have represented a disturbing concentration of market power. There is no evidence of the big firms colluding; for the most part they compete fiercely. But, taken together, the four biggest chaebols, Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo and LG, employ only 3 per cent of the workforce while accounting for almost a third of the total sales of all South Korean companies. These four groups alone handle nearly 60 per cent of total exports. The concentration of ownership is tighter still, the families that founded the top 30 chaebols still own perhaps 60 per cent of their combined equity. The formation of chaebol and its developing process will be reviewed and some points of their systematic problems will be summarized in this paper. Adjustment cost and equity on the reform of chaebol also will be discussed. It is natural to argue that the productive efficiency engaged in super size enterprise group should be one of the objectives which inflict large costs on the economy. It can be suggested that more reform would be efficient in choosing a new system. Professional management seems to be one of the practically efficient outcomes. As a efficient policy, it will withstand future policy challenges better than the status quo. In terms of economic efficiency and equity as well, professional management systems which clean out illegal behaviour consistently may represent an optimal mix as long as they are under the present system.