Realizing high performance on multiple stakeholder domains : A resource-based analysis of professional service firms in the Netherlands and Germany

This book presents an empirical study on small and medium-sized professional service firms in the Netherlands and Germany. The overall aim of this study was to specify and test those intra-organizational resources that enable small and medium-sized professional service firms to realize high performance scores on multiple stakeholder domains. Five intra-organizational resources were found to be crucial in this respect: If small and medium-sized professional service firms succeed in establishing organizational practices that foster a proactive market orientation, a strong competitor orientation, and professional knowledge management, and combine it with satisfying reward practices for their personnel and competent top management, they will have good chances to gain a competitive advantage on multiple stakeholder performance domains. This means that these firms will be more successful than their competitors in attracting and maintaining high quality personnel, in satisfying their clients, in improving their market position, and in realizing financial growth.