The Effect of Small Business Managers’ Growth Motivation on Firm Growth: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study addresses the role of small business managers’ growth motivation for business growth, taking into account the important effects of previous motives and feedback from earlier performance. We hypothesize that small business managers’ growth motivation has a unique influence on firm outcome measured as growth in sales and in number of employees. Data were gathered from two different Swedish samples of small firms using telephone interviews. Using cross–lagged regression analysis, we find support for our hypotheses when examining employment growth, but only partial support when examining sales.