Performance, HR Practices and the HR Manager in Small Entrepreneurial Firms‪.‬

Introduction and Review of the Literature There is considerable evidence that effective human resource (HR) practices improve performance and provide organizations with a competitive advantage (see Becker and Gerhart, 1996). The extant research, however, was almost always conducted on large organizations, leaving suspect the generalizability of the findings to small firms. Although these organizations are vital to an economy, small-firm research is limited, in spite of the many calls for such a focus (for example, Heneman and Berkley, 1999; Good, 1998; Hornsby and Kuratko, 1990). More attention needs to be focused on the HR activities and outcomes of small firms, with resulting information provided to those involved in these organizations (Heneman, Tansky and Camp, 2000; Way, 2002).