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Exploring the link, among small firms, between management training and firm performance: A comparison between the UK and other OECD countries

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 08:29 authored by David Storey
Small firms are much less likely than large firms to provide their employees and their managers with formal training. Storey and Westhead offer two explanations of this, which they refer to as the 'ignorance' explanation and the 'market' explanation. This paper reviews recent research findings that increasingly point towards support for the 'market' over the 'ignorance' explanation. While it has a policy interest in the UK, the paper draws comparisons with five other OECD countries: Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan and the USA. The paper shows that there is ambiguity in the evidence relating management training to small firm performance. When the views of trainees are sought, public programmes appear to be well received. However, econometric methods linking training participation to small firm performance produce weak findings. This suggests that the relatively low take up of formal management training is an informed decision on the part of the small firm owner/manager. It implies that seeking to increase formal small firm training activity by raising the awareness of owners/managers to the benefits of training is misguided.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

International Journal of Human Resource Management

ISSN

09585192

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Issue

1

Volume

15

Page range

112-130

Department affiliated with

  • Business and Management Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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