An Investigation into the Management Development Issues Faced byGrowth Oriented Firms in Wales

Entrepreneurship and small business development has been subject to a considerable amount ofacademic speculation. Historically, a wide range of studies have reported that the organisationaland managerial dynamics of an entrepreneurial firm change as it develops and grows. It iscommonly acknowledged that in the early stages of development, the consequences ofentrepreneurial decision-making has a significant effect upon growth. Moreover, it is submittedthat fast growth firms are more likely to have developed or acquired managerial practices in areassuch as human resource management, finance and marketing. Despite this evidence that theexistence and development of effective management are essential determinants of growth little islittle known as to why growth firms adopt certain key management practices.This paper also examines how growth oriented firms in Wales have adopted managementpractices to build the necessary entrepreneurial capacity to sustain their growth trajectories. Agroup interview technique was utilised to examine the management development process in 18ventures from manufacturing, industrial and service industries. The research highlighted thatwhilst all firms proposed that the management practices they had implemented were to facilitatefurther growth, the importance of practices such as marketing, financial management andplanning varied across the three sectors. Furthermore, it was apparent that firms that continue tobe growth oriented are more inclined to look at the strategic benefits that certain practicesprovide. The paper concludes by stating the imperative for policy makers to widen existingtraining and support initiatives to include the development of entrepreneurial and managementcompetencies that engender sustainable growth.[...]