Structural Growth Disengagement and Entrepreneurship in Small and Micro-Firms. Mapping Pathologies and Physiologies of “Business Dwarfism” in a Dynamic Resource-Based-View

This paper focuses growth disengagement, in the perspective of those firms who have been keeping their structures, processes and relational systems unchanged for a very long time. The implicit hypothesis according to which such businesses are affected by a structural disease, are not able to create any significant value, and characterised by similar features, is critically discussed. Through an analysis of the phenomenon in the business growth and dynamic resource-based-view, a first attempt taxonomy, based on case-studies, is sketched. It is demonstrated how the implicit assumption according to which such firms are affected by a pathological condition is false, at least if seen as an a priori statement.