Differentiating factors of venture growth: from statics to dynamics

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 26, Issue 3

Littunen H., Virtanen M.International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research (UK), 2009, Vol. 15 No. 6, Start page: 535, No. of pages: 20

Purpose – Analyses which factors differentiate growing firms from the non-growth businesses. It seeks to analyse the start-up factors as well as the changes in the activities and the characteristics during the seven-year period from the start-up stage. Design/methodology/approach – The study is a part of a longitudinal research project that has followed the development of 200 SMEs in Finnish metal-based manufacturing and business services since their start-up in 1990. The paper uses a contingency approach and concentrates on 86 respondents who have survived after seven years’ activity. The paper develops a model for testing the factors that differentiate growing ventures from the non-growth companies.Article type: Research paperISSN:1355-2554Reference: 38AY076

Keywords: Business development, Business formation,Managerial strategy, Organizational performance