In a free market economy the importance of small business as a major job supplier, innovator and source of growth is widely recognized. Given the importance of small business for an economy, the survival, success and performance of these firms is an issue of continuous concern. Research that can...

This paper develops a structural model to investigate the direct and indirect effects of owner–manager and company characteristics and selected management practices on the financial performance of a sample of 218 small Belgian construction companies. The results show that the owner–manager...

Attempts to explore empirically the link between HRM and firm performance are numerous. Yet, research on this link remains restricted to large companies. Little is known about the extent to which the existing results extend to small businesses. The purpose of the present study is to develop and...

The majority of empirical studies on the HRM-performance link report a positive story. The costs associated with the productivity rise due to high performance work practices (HPWP) have been largely neglected. The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework that maps both the...

This study investigates the influence of business owner human and social capital on start-up export intensity. In addition, building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we assume the relationships between owner characteristics and firm export activities to be moderated by the start-up’s...

This study investigates how business owner human and social capital affect start-up absorptive capacity under different environmental conditions. From our analysis of a sample of 199 Flemish start-ups, we observe that the owner’s start-up experience and bridging social capital are positively...