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Book review: Dynamics of international business: Comparative perspectives of firms, markets and entrepreneurship

A total of 11 chapters include empirical work, such as Patel’s study of High Performance Work Systems (HPWS). Interestingly, given other work in the volumes around geographic and institutional differences, he finds that Eastern cultural values may increase the impact of HPWS on productivity. Clark and Newbert study top management team (TMT) networks and extend existing scholarship to small firms, finding that TMT networks improve the ability to innovate in small firms, although they are more difficult for small firms to establish. Gras, Lumpkin, and Nason undertake a longitudinal analysis of social entrepreneurs. They find that social entrepreneurs, balancing both social and financial needs, are often driven to change their strategic focus. In the era of disruptive innovation and perhaps even the end of competitive advantage itself (McGrath, 2013), any comprehensive study of small firms must cover innovation, opportunity, and the impact of technology. These volumes contain several such chapters, including Matthews, Schenkel and Yates’ discussion of whether opportunities are discovered or created. Tribble, Drnevich and Ha write an overview of technology and innovation in small firms, offering a broad view of technology while applying ideas such as absorptive capacity and firm capabilities. The macro section includes a chapter by Chavez, Linton, Stinnett and Walsh on the commercialization of new technologies. They discuss policy prescriptions and suggest small firms use their ‘Strategic Technology Firm Fit Audit’. This tool could be useful for both managers and researchers. There is considerable breadth in these volumes. Still, they are cohesive and their voice is consistent. The chapters are readable and generally concise. While they are academic in style, most also bridge the gap between theory and practice effectively. A few areas could have used additional time. Given the dominance of many large firms, an exploration of operating in niches would be useful. In a related vein, more could have been said about growing a small firm into a big firm – surely the goal of many of these firms. Tribble, Drnevich and Ha do note that innovation is the key to both finding niches and scaling, and Matthew, Shenkel and Yates contrast small firms expecting to remain as such versus those seeking scalable opportunities, but with regard to founder attributes, as opposed to how firms can scale. Some of this weakness stems from the origins of management scholarship. For example, Carter, Alsos and Ljunggren describe the non-financial rewards that accrue to small business owners, but focus on autonomy and task completion – items driven by research in traditional firms. They do not mention satisfaction stemming from growth, creating jobs or building a large enterprise, which surely are important to small firm founders. Even so, these well written volumes will be useful and of interest to anyone involved in studying, teaching, or engaging in the work of small firms.