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<p>Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) underpin labour markets by providing roughly two-thirds of private-sector employment. However, only a minority of them translate this presence into sustained, broad-based job creation and competitiveness. Previous research has typically examined resources, dynamic capabilities, or entrepreneurial skills in isolation, leaving their interactive effects unclear. Addressing this gap, this study asks which competencies, and critically, which configurations of competencies are necessary and/or sufficient for high SME employment growth. Cross-national survey data from 778 growth-oriented SMEs in nine European and Latin-American countries were analysed using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Necessary Condition Analysis. Eight competency pillars from the Small Business Competitiveness survey – spanning resources, dynamic capabilities, and entrepreneurial abilities – served as causal conditions, while employment growth functioned as the outcome variable. Results reveal no single ‘silver bullet’: no individual competency is universally required. Instead, fourteen distinct competency combinations spanning resources, dynamic capabilities, and entrepreneurial abilities are sufficient for high growth, confirming equifinality. Internationalisation is the only statistically significant necessary condition, and bottleneck analysis shows that higher growth tiers demand proportionally higher competency levels overall. These findings highlight that employment-intensive SME expansion depends on assembling complementary bundles of competencies rather focusing on perfecting any single competency. By integrating resource-based view (RBV), dynamic capability (DC), and entrepreneurial abilities (EA) perspectives within a configurational framework model, this study advances SME growth theory and offers actionable guidance. Policymakers seeking to stimulate inclusive job creation should prioritise programmes that simultaneously enhance international market access, resource mobilisation, and entrepreneurial skills while avoiding one-size-fits-all prescriptions. For practitioners, the study offers empirically grounded insights into potential competency-related bottlenecks that may constrain growth trajectories under specific contextual conditions.</p>

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No single silver bullet: multiple competency pathways to rapid SME growth

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月10日

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  • Éva Komlósi,
  • László Szerb

摘要

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) underpin labour markets by providing roughly two-thirds of private-sector employment. However, only a minority of them translate this presence into sustained, broad-based job creation and competitiveness. Previous research has typically examined resources, dynamic capabilities, or entrepreneurial skills in isolation, leaving their interactive effects unclear. Addressing this gap, this study asks which competencies, and critically, which configurations of competencies are necessary and/or sufficient for high SME employment growth. Cross-national survey data from 778 growth-oriented SMEs in nine European and Latin-American countries were analysed using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Necessary Condition Analysis. Eight competency pillars from the Small Business Competitiveness survey – spanning resources, dynamic capabilities, and entrepreneurial abilities – served as causal conditions, while employment growth functioned as the outcome variable. Results reveal no single ‘silver bullet’: no individual competency is universally required. Instead, fourteen distinct competency combinations spanning resources, dynamic capabilities, and entrepreneurial abilities are sufficient for high growth, confirming equifinality. Internationalisation is the only statistically significant necessary condition, and bottleneck analysis shows that higher growth tiers demand proportionally higher competency levels overall. These findings highlight that employment-intensive SME expansion depends on assembling complementary bundles of competencies rather focusing on perfecting any single competency. By integrating resource-based view (RBV), dynamic capability (DC), and entrepreneurial abilities (EA) perspectives within a configurational framework model, this study advances SME growth theory and offers actionable guidance. Policymakers seeking to stimulate inclusive job creation should prioritise programmes that simultaneously enhance international market access, resource mobilisation, and entrepreneurial skills while avoiding one-size-fits-all prescriptions. For practitioners, the study offers empirically grounded insights into potential competency-related bottlenecks that may constrain growth trajectories under specific contextual conditions.