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Does the environment influence the employment growth of SMEs?

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Janssen, Frank [UCL]

(eng) A great deal of empirical research has been devoted to the study of the impact of a firm's environmental characteristics on its growth. However, most of this work focused on one or a few predictors. Furthermore, no research has provided an exhaustive list of all variables previously studied. We have tried to fill this gap and have tested on a sample of Belgian SMEs the potential influence of 15 variables on employment growth. On the basis of Mintzberg's classification, we have grouped our variables into three sub-categories of determinants relating to the generosity or hostility of the environment, to its stability or dynamism and to its simplicity or complexity. Our results show that employment growth within SMEs is only influenced by two variables linked to the generosity sub-group. These also show that the environment, at least if it is studied independently, has only an extremely limited influence on the growth of SMEs. This leads us to question the validity of purely external approaches to firms’ employment growth, such as the theory of population ecology of organizations.

(fre) De nombreuses recherches empiriques ont porté sur l'impact des caractéristiques environnementales d'une entreprise sur sa croissance. Cependant, ces études ne mettaient l'accent que sur un ou quelques facteurs prédictifs. De plus, à ce jour, aucune recherche n'a fourni une liste exhaustive de toutes les variables qui ont été étudiées. Nous avons tenté de combler ce manque et avons testé auprès d'un échantillon de PME belges l'impact potentiel de 15 variables sur la croissance de l'emploi. La classification de Mintzberg fut utilisée afin de regrouper les variables en trois sous-catégories. De facteurs relatifs à la générosité ou l'hostilité de l'environnement, sa stabilité ou son dynamisme, et sa simplicité ou sa complexité. Les résultats révèlent que seulement deux variables de la sous-catégorie « générosité » jouent un rôle dans la croissance d'une entreprise. Les résultats révèlent également que l'environnement dans lequel l'entreprise évolue, du moins lorsqu’étudié de façon isolée, ne joue qu'un rôle très limité dans la croissance des PME. Ces résultats amènent les auteurs à questionner la validité des approches strictement externes, telles qui l’écologie des populations.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article)
Publication date 2009
Language Anglais
Journal information "Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship" - Vol. 22, no. 3, p. 311-325 (2009)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Routledge (Philadelphia)
issn 0827-6331
e-issn 2169-2610
Publication status Publié
Affiliations Louvain School of Management - Strategy and Organisation
UCL - ESPO/IAG - Département d'administration et de gestion
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Bibliographic reference Janssen, Frank. Does the environment influence the employment growth of SMEs?. In: Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 22, no. 3, p. 311-325 (2009)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078/71406