Training and performance in small firms

Purpose - To explore the relationship between training and growth in small manufacturing businesses. Design/methodology/approach - Discusses the general arguments for training within small firms drawing on the related small firms literature, which displays an expectation of a positive relationship between training and performance, yet delivers little evidence of this relationship. Considers other owner-manager, firm, and business strategy variables that may impinge upon small firm performance in addition to training, including age and size of firm, state support, export propensity and firm ownership styles. Describes a two-stage (1997 and 2003) survey of a sample of manufacturing small to medium-sized enterprises aimed at testing a number of training-company performance relationship hypotheses. Findings - Arrives at a cautious conclusion that external management training may yield a less immediate but more persistent return to firm performance than in-house training, capable also of contributing to firm survival. Contends that public and private business support agencies tend to be more accepting of the connections between training and performance than are the more sceptical community of business managers who administer the budgets and jostle with priorities. Research limitations/implications - Suggests that future research should have a finer focus on specific types of training and on the perceived span of its impact within the firm. Originality/value - Contributes to the limited literature on the relationship between in-house training programmes, external training management and sale growth in small manufacturing firms