Variety in Strategic Management, Perceptions of Strategy

Variety in strategic management, perceptions of strategy: A study of entrepreneurship in fast growth medium-sized firms

Small and medium sized firms (SMEs) and entrepreneurs strongly contribute to the development of new ideas and technologies, which drives growth of (new) industries, but they rarely utilize formalized strategic management concepts. Following the research goal to explore the entrepreneur's perception of strategic management this paper explores strategic management perceptions and conceptualisations in SMEs from a combination of the entrepreneurial research and a behavioural approach of managers. To explore the conceptualization and meaning of strategic management in an entrepreneurial context we have interviewed entrepreneurs in Europe whose businesses have grown rapidly from small to medium size in terms of employment over a five year period. We found typical and mixed entrepreneurial styles.

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