Differential HRM Dynamics and Leadership Paradigms in SMEs

Abstract

Human resource management and leadership styles are one of the key strategic issues for small and medium size enterprises. With the growing importance of SMEs all over the world, many small firms fail in their formative stage of life cycle. Academic research on SMEs in this context is scarce. In addition to scarcity of research, researchers overlooked the specific characteristics of small firms. In this chapter, the authors have provided a theoretical rationale for the differences in specific characteristics of SMEs. They have established the arguments that conducting the research in small firms on the same grounds as large firms leads to unreliable and hazy results. They have proposed that innovative research techniques and instruments must be established to get the true picture of human resource management techniques and leadership styles in SMEs.