Firm Growth as a Research Issue

A key issue of debate regarding small firms over the past two decades has focused on the ability of small firms to engender growth, particularly fast-growth firms. Many commentators believe that it is a minimal group of enterprises germinating rapidly that provide the real jobs and therefore, that it is these firms which policy makers should be converging upon. But how can small businesses be transformed into fast-growth firms? As Tuck and Hamilton (1993) noted, despite the magnitude of research on small firms, especially regarding growth, researchers are still uncertain why some firms grow and others do not when originating from similar circumstances.