Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to utilise a sample of 384 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who applied for external finance in the Beijing area of China to investigate the characteristics of firms against: the amount of external finance sought, the amount received, and the...

The size, characteristics and structure of boards of directors have been claimed to be an important influence on the performance of large firms, but have been less examined in small firms. For larger firms the role of boards acts more as a substitute for the development of internal staff and...

Purpose – Aims to provide an assessment of the role of external business advice for small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), comparing “soft” outcomes (improved ability to manage, ability to cope), “hard” outcomes (profitability, turnover, reduced costs), and overall satisfaction...

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to assess an expectations‐based approach to service evaluation by small and medium sized companies (SMEs) of government advice services. These are often criticised for providing what politicians think SMEs need rather than what SMEs want. Little...

This paper uses a large‐scale survey of SMEs (1,531 respondents) in the UK to assess the factors associated with their competitive conditions and their competitive advantage. Results appear to confirm that, as SME businesses grow, they develop their strategy to seek specialisation and...