Listed SMEs and innovation: the role of founding board members

Abstract

Drawing from the resource-based view of the firm, Penrosean theory, and the resource dependence theory, it is argued in this study that the characteristics of directors are key factors for achieving the resources that listed SMEs will require to develop innovation, a scenario that often highlights the necessary replacement of the founding board members. We test our proposed relationships with a sample consisting of all the companies listed on the MAB (Alternative Spanish Stock Market) between 2010 and 2017. Our results offer new insights into the role of the founding board members, highlighting the need for the professionalization of the governance of these SMEs, by appointing independent outside directors and by decreasing the proportion of founding members on the board. Likewise, our results showed that this relationship is moderated by the age of the company.