Journal Of Small Business And Enterprise Development

The Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development is written for leaders of SMEs and academics in the field of entrepreneurship. Combining case studies with quality research to provide you with an authoritative discussion on the developments surrounding small businesses. It seeks to explore best practices, investigate strategies for growth, and to assist and inform those responsible for the management of SMEs. This has been added to Entrepreneurial Resources Subject Tracer™ Information Blog.

Title: The role of boards of directors in small and medium-sized firms
Author(s): R.J. Bennett, P.J.A. Robson
Journal: Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
ISSN: 1462-6004
Year: 2004 Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Page: 95 - 113
DOI: 10.1108/14626000410519137
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Abstract: 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 management skills, indicating that for large firms directors chiefly support the control role of CEOs. The importance of seeing boards, external consultants and internal management skills as substitutes is demonstrated, and is shown to have a non-linear relation with firm size. However, a key finding of the paper is that there is little evidence of a strong association of board size, board qualifications, or board structure with firm performance, measured by profitability, employment growth or propensity to innovate.
Keywords: Boards of directors, Consultants, Management skills, Small to medium-sized enterprises
Article Type: Research paper
Article URL: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/14626000410519137