\ 7 \ This paper examines the relationship between planning process sophistication and the financial performance of a select group of small firms in a growth industry. Multivariate analysis of variance is used to identify statistically significant differences between firms that employ sophisticated plans and those that do not. The results support previous research on strategic planning and financial performance.
A conceptual model of small firm performance is developed based on extant theory in strategy, entrepreneurship and organization theory. It provides a framework for the study of the interrelationships among entrepreneurial characteristics, contextual factors and performance outcomes. It is considered a first step toward a limited domain theory of small firm performance.
The Miner Sentence Completion Scale-Form T and an innovative technology survey were administered to applicants for development grants under the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Program. Data were obtained from 118 entrepreneurs who had founded their firms and from a comparison group of 41 manager/scientists who had submitted applications but were not founders. Measures of firm growth were developed from the innovative technology survey to serve as dependent variables. The MSCS-T has been developed to measure the motivational variables of a task theory that closely parallels achievement motivation theory. Task motivation exhibited a substantial relationship with the indexes of firm growth; it also differentiated between entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs. Thus, this article presents a new research direction that differs substantially from previous efforts to use the hierarchic theory of managerial motivation and the MSCS-Form H to study the motivation of entrepreneurs.
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This study reanalyzed data from an examination by Hom, Griffeth, Palich, and Bracker (1998) of the mechanisms by which posthire realistic job previews reduce turnover. Irving and Meyer (1999) argued that Hom et al. overstated support for their mediation theory by calculating residual difference scores (errors derived from predicting experienced attainment of job outcomes from initial expectations of outcomes) to operationalize met expectations. Rather, Irving and Meyer showed that methodological weaknesses associated with difference scores also plague residual difference scores. Prompted by their demonstration, this research applied partial correlations (partialing out experienced outcomes from residual differences) and Edwards' (1994) polynomial regression approach to verify whether met expectations underlie realistic previews' effectiveness. These reanalyses disputed met expectations. As a result, this inquiry revised the formulation advocated by Hom et al. (1998), positing that coping strategies and perceptions of employer concern account for how posthire previews work.
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