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Profiles of managerial activities in small firms
Author(s) -
Russell Merz G.,
Sauber Matthew H.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/smj.4250160705
Subject(s) - contingency , contingency theory , consistency (knowledge bases) , business , taxonomy (biology) , marketing , knowledge management , structural equation modeling , survey data collection , industrial organization , computer science , ecology , biology , mathematics , artificial intelligence , machine learning , statistics , philosophy , linguistics
This paper addresses the contingency issues of managerial activities and reports the results of a study that configures such activities in small firms. In a survey of CEOs and top executives, data on planning, organizing, and controlling activities as well as entrepreneurial orientation and environmental turbulence were collected and used in the development of a taxonomy. Findings demonstrate that (1) small firms can be classified based on perceived differences in strategy, structure, and the environments they face, and (2) they display managerial and structural consistency when faced with similar contextual situations. The taxonomy developed in this study suggests that four distinct configurations describe the managerial profiles among small firms. Each profile and its corresponding contingency characteristics are discussed and managerial and research implications elaborated.