High-Growth Firms (HGFs) haben in den letzten Jahren großes Interesse durch die wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Forschung erfahren. HGFs bezeichnen dabei Unternehmen, die in mindestens drei aufeinanderfolgenden Jahren mindestens 20% Umsatzwachstum aufweisen können. Das Phänomen des schnellen Wachstums ist dabei auch aus Unternehmenssicht von großem Interesse. Beispielsweise haben solche Unternehmen einen vereinfachten Zugang zu Finanzierungsquellen und potentiellen Mitarbeitern. Dennoch wurde die unternehmerische Perspektive auf HGFs weitestgehend vernachlässigt. Die Literatur gibt bisher kaum Antworten darauf, welche Faktoren schnelles Wachstum treiben oder hemmen und mit welchen Praktiken schnell-wachsende Unternehmen diese Faktoren nutzen oder überkommen. Dabei fehlte es bisher insbesondere an Erhebungen, die sich der spezifischen Gruppe kleiner und mittelgroßer Technologieunternehmen in Deutschland widmet. Die Masterarbeit widmet sich daher der Frage, welche Faktoren schnelles Unternehmenswachstum treiben oder bremsen.
Die Arbeit wendet eine Kombination aus induktiver und deduktiver Herangehensweise an. Dazu leitet die Arbeit zunächst deduktiv Treiber und Hemmnisse aus einer umfangreichen Literaturanalyse von 120 wissenschaftlichen Artikeln und Büchern ab. Um neuartige Erkenntnisse für die Gruppe deutscher Technologieunternehmen zu erheben, wurden Interviews mit Gründern und CEOs von 21 schnell wachsenden Unternehmen durchgeführt und mittels Software-gestützter Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet.
Die Arbeit trägt in mehrfacher Hinsicht zur bestehenden Forschung bei. Erstens generiert sie eine umfassende Klassifizierung der bestehenden Literatur hinsichtlich der Faktoren und Praktiken schnellen Unternehmenswachstums. Zweitens, generiert die Arbeit generiert aufschlussreiche empirische Daten und entwickelt ein Wachstumsmodell für schnell-wachsende Technologieunternehmen. Weiterhin ordnet sie den identifizierten Wachstumsphasen die entsprechenden Treiber, Hemmnisse und Unternehmenspraktiken zu. Zuletzt generiert die Arbeit ein Set an Propositionen zur weiteren Untersuchung und entwickelt ein Instrument, welches es Managern erlaubt, das Wachstumspotential ihres Unternehmens zu planen und mit konkreten Maßnahmen zu planen.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 High-Growth Firms: Literature Review
2.1 Interest in High-Growth Firms
2.2 Definitions of High-Growth Firms
2.3 Firm Growth
2.4 Properties of High-Growth Firms
2.5 Drivers and Barriers of High-Growth Firms
3 Methodology
3.1 Exploratory Research Design
3.2 Data Collection Method
3.3 Sample of High-Growth Firms
3.4 Data Analysis
4 Findings
4.1 Characteristics of the Sample
4.2 Categories and Sub-Categories of Content Analysis
4.3 High-Growth Phases
4.3.1 High-growth Phase One
4.3.2 High-Growth Phase Two
4.3.3 High-Growth Phase Three
5 Discussion of Findings
5.1 Presentation of High-Growth Framework
5.2 Internal Drivers of High Growth
5.2.1 Strategy
5.2.2 Growth Intent
5.2.3 Business Model
5.2.4 Product
5.2.5 Marketing and Sales
5.2.6 Innovation
5.3 External Drivers of High Growth
5.3.1 External Network
5.3.2 Customer
5.3.3 Market
5.4 External Barriers to High Growth
5.4.1 Macro-Environment
5.4.2 Finance
5.4.3 People
5.5 Internal Barriers to High Growth
5.5.1 Structures and Procedures
5.5.2 Management Team
5.5.3 Company Culture
5.6 Summary
6 Managerial Implications
6.1 General Implications of this Research
6.2 Application Possibility: A Systematic Approach towards High-Growth Management
7 Conclusions and Directions for Further Research
Objectives & Thematic Focus
This thesis aims to generate new insights into the drivers and barriers of high-growth SMEs in Germany, providing a holistic and management-oriented framework. The central research objective is to bridge the gap in existing literature by identifying how high-growth firms manage their internal processes, strategy, and resources across different development phases to achieve rapid growth.
- Analysis of drivers and barriers influencing high-growth firm development.
- Categorization of growth factors into an integrative, management-oriented framework.
- Investigation of growth dynamics through three distinctive high-growth phases.
- Development of systematic approaches and management tools for practitioners.
- Empirical study of German high-growth SMEs in technology and B2B sectors.
Excerpt from the Book
High-Growth Phase Two
The HGP 1 usually ended when the firms encountered substantial growth barriers or when the management took deliberate, preventive action to secure the sustainability of the firm’s growth rate. Hence, they entered a transition phase in which they distributed large shares of their resources towards an internal restructuring process. This restructuring process was primarily concerned with introducing specialized functions, standardizing the existing processes and formalizing the communication. This transition phase was several times described as ‘painful’. In general, the main purpose of this transformation was to secure the firms’ long-term survival by building a solid organizational foundation around the successful offering.
After the HGFs had successfully transformed themselves, they entered the high-growth phase two (HGP 2). In this phase, the firms focused on scaling their organization and business model in order to allow for further growth. Six firms from the sample are in this second phase at the moment, ranging from 50 to 150 employees and from 2.5 to 20 million euro in revenues. During the HGP 2, firms professionalized the relationships with their external network (e.g. integrate their supply chain partners), actively locked-in their customer, systematically strengthened their brand image, and fostered sales and marketing activities. In general, they shifted their business model from offering customized knowledge-intensive services (e.g. consultancy projects) towards more standardized products (e.g. software).
Still, the firms in the HGP 2 generally continued to focus on their core unit of products and services, although they added various components to their offering. This phases offered both external and internal challenges. For instance, some firms reported on how their stakeholders started treating them differently as they increased their size. Regarding internal challenges, firms became more bureaucratic and less agile in this phase. While it was easier to attract highly qualified personnel, new employees were often less entrepreneurial-driven than the staff that had been with the firm already in the start-up phase. Consequently, this phase is also characterized by cultural tensions within the organization. As the firms’ structure got more bureaucratic, less flexible and produced more fix costs, firms sometimes reported on decreasing profit margins. The interview statements suggest that the growth of the firms in the HGP 2 was mainly driven by the higher scalability of their business model, products and operations.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: Introduces the phenomenon of high-growth firms, identifies the research gap in existing literature, and defines the objectives and methodological approach of the thesis.
2 High-Growth Firms: Literature Review: Synthesizes existing theories and definitions of high-growth firms, identifying key themes and classifying known drivers and barriers.
3 Methodology: Details the exploratory-qualitative research design, the selection of the firm sample, and the qualitative content analysis approach used to process the interview data.
4 Findings: Characterizes the study sample and identifies the 15 influential categories and three distinctive high-growth phases that impact SME growth.
5 Discussion of Findings: Presents the integrated high-growth framework, analyzing the elements of strategy, business model, and culture across different growth phases.
6 Managerial Implications: Derives concrete insights for practitioners and proposes a systematic approach for managers to assess and improve their firm's high-growth potential.
7 Conclusions and Directions for Further Research: Summarizes the thesis, discusses limitations of the study, and suggests directions for future academic research in the field of high-growth firms.
Keywords
High-Growth Firms, HGFs, SME Growth, Driver, Barrier, Business Model, Strategy, Innovation, Growth Phases, Qualitative Content Analysis, Scaling, Management, Germany, B2B, Entrepreneurship
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
This research focuses on identifying and understanding the drivers and barriers that influence the rapid growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany, specifically within technology and B2B sectors.
What are the primary thematic fields covered?
The work covers a broad range of management topics, including strategic planning, business model innovation, organizational culture, financial management, marketing and sales, and innovation processes.
What is the central research question or goal?
The goal is to provide a holistic, management-oriented framework that structures and integrates existing knowledge, offering practitioners a guide to actively manage and sustain high growth in their firms.
Which scientific methodology does the author use?
The author uses an exploratory-qualitative methodology, primarily based on semi-structured interviews with CEOs of 20 German high-growth firms, followed by a qualitative content analysis to identify common patterns.
What is discussed in the main part of the thesis?
The main part analyzes 15 empirically identified drivers and barriers, clusters them into four segments (internal/external drivers and barriers), and explains their evolving impact across three distinctive phases of firm growth.
What characterizes this thesis's approach?
The approach is distinctive for its combined inductive-deductive research, its focus on manageable internal factors rather than external market properties, and its development of a dynamic, phase-dependent growth model.
How do growth drivers shift across the three phases identified?
In Phase 1, growth is driven by superior value propositions and initial customer acquisition. In Phase 2, the focus shifts to scaling the business model and standardization. In Phase 3, growth is driven by systematic diversification, innovation, and decentralized organizational structures.
Why does the author differentiate between internal and external barriers?
The distinction helps managers identify which factors they can directly influence (internal, e.g., organizational structure) and which factors require external adaptation or strategic mitigation (external, e.g., labor market conditions).
- Quote paper
- Karl Täuscher (Author), 2013, Drivers and Barriers of High-Growth Firms, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/305274
