IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ujbmxx/v52y2014i3p569-587.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effectiveness of Management Control in Small Firms: Perspectives from Resource Dependence Theory

Author

Listed:
  • Uwe Voss
  • Malte Brettel

Abstract

In the present study, the authors explore how small firms' human resource management (HRM) systems influence the effectiveness of their formal and informal management controls. Coinvestigations of broader control systems and HRM in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are significantly lacking in the existing literature. A better understanding of the links between control and HRM will lead to better prescriptions regarding how control relates to performance in small firms. To address this gap, the authors develop a theoretical model based on reen and elsh's seminal application of resource dependence theory to management control and test its propositions using structural equation modeling on a sample of 317 SMEs. The empirical findings suggest that control has a stronger effect on SME performance if the firm emphasizes HRM. Managers should employ a portfolio consisting of both formal and informal controls. The paper closes with discussions of its implications for theory and managerial practice, highlighting limitations and potential future research avenues.

Suggested Citation

  • Uwe Voss & Malte Brettel, 2014. "The Effectiveness of Management Control in Small Firms: Perspectives from Resource Dependence Theory," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(3), pages 569-587, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ujbmxx:v:52:y:2014:i:3:p:569-587
    DOI: 10.1111/jsbm.12050
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jsbm.12050
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jsbm.12050?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jiang, Zhenyu & Wang, Zongjun, 2024. "Impel or impede? Revealing the effect of the integration into innovation ecosystems on the development of SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:ujbmxx:v:52:y:2014:i:3:p:569-587. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/ujbm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.