Studies of employment change have reported with varying emphasis, the superior job-generation performance of small compared with large firms. One deficiency in this area of research, however, is on the attributes of jobs in small firms and this has led to much speculation. Therefore, evidence is examined from a survey of 106 independent electrical and electronic engineering firms in Dorset (Class 33 and 34, 1980 Standard Industrial Classification). The job characteristics investigated include: their skill and gender composition; the full-time and part-time status of staff; the stability of the jobs they provide; their type of wage payment; and the incidence of training provision. A labour-market-segmentation framework is used to emphasise the importance of products, processes, and markets and to displace the notion of size as the prime causal factor in job quality. The central theme is that any stereotypical view of employment conditions in small businesses is misconceived.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AminA, 1989, “Flexible specialisation and small firms in Italy: Myths and realities”Antipode21(1) 13–34
2.
BannockG, 1981The Economics of Small FirmsBasil Blackwell, Oxford)
3.
BergerSPioreM J, 1980Dualism and Discontinuity in Industrial SocietiesCambridge University Press, Cambridge)
4.
BlackburnR A, 1987Job Generation and Employment Attributes in Small Firms unpublished PhD, Council for National Academic Awards, 344 Grays Inn Road, London WC1
5.
BluestoneBHarrisonB, 1982The Deindustrialisation of America: Plant Closings, Community Abandonment and the Dismantling of Basic IndustryBasic Books, New York)
6.
Bolton Committee, 1971Report on the Commission of Inquiry on Small Firms Cmnd 4811, BoltonJ E Chairman (HMSO, London)
7.
BruscoS, 1982, “The Emilian model: Productive decentralisation and social integration”Cambridge Journal of Economics6167–184
8.
BruscoSSabelC, 1981, “Artisan production and economic growth”, in The Dynamics of Labour Market Segmentation Ed. WilkinsonF (Academic Press, London) pp 93–113
9.
ChaillouB, 1977, “Définition et typologic de la sous traitance”Revue Économique28262–285
10.
CoyneM ABlackburnR A, 1988, “Subcontracting in electrical and electronic engineering”DP-39, Faculty of Business, Leicester Polytechnic, Leicester
11.
CurranJ, 1986, “Bolton fifteen years on: A review and analysis of small business research in Britain 1971 to 1986”, Small Business Research Trust, Francis House, Francis Street, London SW1
12.
CurranJ, 1989, “Employment and employment relations in the small firm”, OP-6, Kingston Business School, Kingston Polytechnic, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey
13.
CurranJStanworthJ, 1981, “Size of workplace and attitudes to industrial relations in the printing and electronics industries”British Journal of Industrial Relations1914–25
14.
DanielW WMillwardN, 1983Workplace Industrial Relations in BritainHeinemann Educational Books, London)
15.
Department of Trade and Industry, 1988, “DTI: The department for enterprise” Cmnd 278 (HMSO, London)
16.
EITB, 1985, “Employees in the engineering industry in Dorset and Great Britain 1978–1985”, unpublished analysis of manpower data, Engineering Industry Training Board, 54 Clarendon Road, Watford WD1 1LB
17.
FeldmanM M A, 1986, “Firm size and local employment change: Three issues”Regional Studies2073–89
18.
FriedmanA L, 1977Industry and LabourMacmillan, London)
19.
HartM, 1987, “The urban labour market, impact of new and small manufacturing firms-some evidence from the Belfast urban areas”, in Small Business Development: Some Current Issues Eds O'NeillKBhambriRFaulknerTCannonT (Gower, Aldershot, Hants) pp 239–263
20.
HolmesJ, 1986, “The organisation and locational structure of production sub-contracting”, in Production, Work, Territory: The Geographical Anatomy of Industrial Capitalism Eds ScottA JStorperM (Allen and Unwin, Winchester, MA) pp 80–106
21.
HymanR, 1970, “Economic motivation and labour stability 2”, Department of Industrial Relations, University of Warwick, Coventry
22.
ImrieR F, 1986, “Work decentralisation from large to small firms: A preliminary analysis of subcontracting”Environment and Planning A18949–965
23.
ImrieR FMorrisJ L, 1988, “Large firm-small firm links: The changing nature of subcontracting in Wales”, paper presented to the 11th Annual Small Firms Policy and Research Conference, Cardiff; copy available from Dr Morris, Cardiff Business School, University of Wales at Cardiff, Cardiff
24.
InghamG K, 1970Size of Industrial Organisation and Work BehaviourCambridge University Press, Cambridge)
25.
JohnsonS, 1989, “What sort of jobs do small firms create?—some recent evidence”, in The Role and Contribution of Small Business Research Ed. RosaP (Gower, Aldershot, Hants) pp 91–110
26.
KaplinskyR, 1987Micro-electronics and Employment Revisited: A ReviewInternational Labour Office, Geneva)
27.
KeebleDKellyT, 1986, “New firms and high technology industry in the UK: The case of computer electronics”, in New Firms and Regional Development in Europe Eds KeebleDWeverE (Croom Helm, Beckenham, Kent) pp 75–104
28.
LashSUrryJ, 1987The End of Organised CapitalismPolity Press, Oxford)
29.
LazersonM, 1989, “A new phoenix: The return of the putting-out mode of production”, European University Institute, Florence
30.
LewisJ RWilliamsA M, 1987, “Productive decentralization or indigenous growth? Small manufacturing enterprises and regional development in central Portugal”Regional Studies21343–361
31.
LoveringJ, 1986, “Bristol economy: Key sector studies”, WP-57, School for Advanced Urban Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol
32.
MarginsonPEdwardsPMartinRSissonKPurcellJ, 1988Beyond the WorkplaceBasil Black well, Oxford)
33.
MasonC M, 1984, “Small businesses in the recession: A follow up study of new manufacturing firms in south Hampshire”, DP-25, Department of Geography, University of Southampton, Southampton
34.
MasonC M, 1988, “Explaining recent trends in UK new firm formation rates”, Urban Policy Research Unit, Department of Geography, University of Southampton, Southampton
35.
MasonC M, 1989, “New manufacturing firm formations since the onset of the recession: A case study of south Hampshire”, in The Role and Contribution of Small Business Research Ed. RosaP (Gower, Aldershot, Hants) pp 111–129
36.
MatteraP, 1980, “Small is not beautiful: Decentralized production and the underground economy in Italy”Radical America September-October issue, pp 67–76
37.
MatteraP, 1985Off the Books, the Rise of the Underground EconomyPluto, London)
38.
MorganKSayerA, 1985, “A modern industry in a mature region”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research9383–404
39.
MorganKSayerA, 1988Microcircuits of Capital: ‘Sunrise’ Industry and Uneven DevelopmentPolity Press, Cambridge)
40.
MurrayF, 1983, “Decentralisation and the decline of the mass worker”Capital and Classnumber 19, 74–99
41.
MurrayF, 1987, “Flexible specialisation in the ‘Third Italy”’Capital and Classnumber 33, 84–95
42.
MurrayPWickhamJ, 1982, “Technocratic ideology and the reproduction of inequality: The case of the electronics industry in the Republic of Ireland”, in Diversity and Decomposition in the Labour Market Ed. DayG (Gower, Aldershot, Hants) pp 179–210
43.
NEDO, 1986, “Changing working patterns: How companies achieve flexibility to meet new needs”, prepared by the IMS for the NEDO in association with the Department of Employment (NEDO, London)
44.
OECD, 1985, “Employment in small and large firms: Where have the jobs come from”Employment Outlook September, pp 64–82
45.
PoliertA, 1988, “The ‘flexible firm’: Fixation or fact?”Work, Employment and Society2281–316
46.
RainnieA, 1985, “Is small beautiful? Industrial relations in small clothing firms”Sociology19213–224
47.
RainnieA, 1989Industrial Relations in Small Firms: Small isn't BeautifulRoutledge, London)
48.
RajanAPearsonR (Eds), 1986UK Occupation and Employment Trends to 1990Institute for Manpower Studies (Butterworth, Sevenoaks, Kent)
49.
ScottM, 1989, “The dangers of assuming homogeneity in small firms”, in The Role and Contribution of Small Business Research Ed. RosaP (Gower, Aldershot, Hants) pp 79–91
50.
ShuttJWhittingtonR, 1984, “Large firm strategies and the rise of small units: The illusion of small firm job generation”, WP-15, North West Industrial Unit, Department of Geography, University of Manchester, Manchester
51.
ShuttJWhittingtonR, 1987, “Fragmentation strategies and the rise of small units: Cases from the North West”Regional Studies2113–24
52.
Small Business Administration, 1986The State of the Small Business: A Report of the PresidentUS Government Printing Office, Washington, DC)
53.
SolinasG, 1982, “Labour market segmentation and workers' careers: The case of the Italian knitwear industry”Cambridge Journal of Economics6331–352
54.
StoreyD J, 1982Entrepreneurship and the New FirmCroom Helm, Beckenham, Kent)
StoreyD JJohnsonS, 1987Job Generation and Labour Market ChangeMacmillan, London)
57.
TaylorM JThriftN J, 1983, “Business organisations, segmentation and location”Regional Studies17445–465
58.
TeitzM BGlasmeirASvenssonD, 1981, “Small businesses and employment growth in California”, WP-348, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, University of California, Berkeley, CA
59.
ÜsdikenBSözenZEnbiyaogluH, 1988, “Strategies and boundaries: Subcontracting in construction”Strategic Management Journal9633–637
