Growing beyond smallness: how do small, closely-controlled firms survive?

This research note on a family-controlled firm in Singapore suggests how such businesses, in competitive industries, may grow and survive. Located in the literature on small firm growth, we explore a corporate incident that threatened the survival of the firm under study. An analysis of the manner in which the firm’s managers responded to this threat by developing and launching a new core business, without external intervention, forms the basis of the scholarly contribution of the case. It illustrates how a corporate incident can draw the attention of core shareholders to their need to address specific business and management issues and make subtle organizational changes that ensure the firm’s survival under close control.