Message-ID: <003201bdb4c9$e59deb80$806e86a5@katzja.slu.edu> Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 12:06:24 -0500 From: Jerry Katz <mailto:katzja@SLU.EDU> Subject: Caucus Announcement - Small Business & HRM To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT CAUCUS ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN SMALL & MEDIUM SIZE ENTERPRISESIn San Diego, Monday, August 10, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Marriott North, San Diego B, Table 6
While a decade ago few small firms had personnel departments or formalized HR functions, recent research has found evidence of an “unprecedented take-up in HRM practices” (Dunkley and Palmer, 1996; Benmore and Palmer, 1995). At least two explanations for this trend have been proposed: (1) many managers of larger firms who were found redundant during recent large firm re-engineering have started small businesses, bringing personnel/HRM practices with them and (2) government initiatives and regulations have required adaptations in this area from smaller businesses that, in the past, may have been less subject to such regulation.
A key point is that HR policies in small and family-owned enterprises are being shaped by circumstances and environmental change rather than being built through planned development. At the same time conceptual and empirical studies provide no guidance as they have concentrated primarily on large firms, as has the coverage in management texts. While SMEs are the predominant employer in market economies, little or no guidance for managing their people resources is available.
SMEs face unique problems that make use of large-firm HRM models difficult or impossible. These differences include succession planning with such issues as “objective vs. uncontrolled nepotism” (Daily and Reuschling, 1980), attracting non-family members to small firms and career-path concerns (Flamholtz, 1986), the potentially different role and pervasiveness of business culture in motivating and controlling employees (Gibb, 1988; Bacon, et. Al., 1996), lower levels of specialization in management roles, and the flexibility and related shorter time-horizons in planning and implementing changes in SMEs, to name a few.
The intention of this caucus is to bring together experts from both Human Resources and Small Business/Entrepreneurship to discuss available research and experience and to start to move toward developing a model for HRM that could provide guidance to both researchers and practitioners working with small firms. We might hope to begin to elaborate a list of key similarities and differences between small and large firms as well as discussing HR related issues that differ between family managed and non-family managed firms. We also hope to begin a database of research and researchers in these areas for posting on eWeb.
Scott R. Safranski (Contact) Pam Williams Department of Management Department of Management Saint Louis University Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 63108-3397 (314) 977-7156; Fax: (314) 977-3897 mailto:safranskisr@slu.edu
**************************************************************************** **** Jerome (Jerry) Katz, Saint Louis University Business School 3674 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108 *** Phone 314-977-3864 Fax 314-977-3897, Home 314-275-8721, Home Fax 314-275-7513 Email: mailto:katzja@slu.edu WWW: http://www.slu.edu/eweb **************************************************************************** ****