Differences in large and small firm responses to environmental context: strategic implications from a comparative analysis of business formations
通过分析1977-1987年美国制造业数据，比较大小企业在行业结构特征影响下的形成差异，发现小企业能利用特定资源克服大企业难以应对的障碍并更易抓住行业机会。
Despite growing recognition of some strategic advantages held by small firms, little comparative research has been performed on the advantages and disadvantages accruing to firm size. In order to delineate the differential responses of small and large businesses to their environmental context, we perform a comparative analysis of the impact of industry structural characteristics on the formation of large and small businesses in a large sample of U.S. manufacturing industries from 1977 to 1987. The results suggest that small businesses possess certain resources that allow them to overcome some barriers which create greater difficulties for their larger counterparts, as well as allow small businesses to exploit certain industry opportunities more readily than larger ones. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.