ABSTRACT
It is best to begin this chapter with recognition of the variety which exists in the small business population. Obviously SMEs differ greatly in size, in their activity sector, their growth rates and in other dimensions. In fact, it is well established that there is far greater variability in some SME characteristics than among large firms: profitability is a good example. In a non-economic sense, the ‘personality’ of a small firm, reflecting as it does the ideas and idiosyncrasies of its owner(s) is also bound to vary, as individuals obviously differ from one another. It is no exaggeration to say that each small firm is unique. This contrasts with large firms, where the separation of ownership from control and the group pressures for conformity among its numerous managers erode (but do not entirely eliminate) idiosyncrasy. Common observation suggests, for example, that large firm management frequently falls into the grip of the latest management fads and fashions from which most SME owners, less interested in the art of management as an abstraction, are largely free.
