Performance implications of technological uncertainty, age, and size for small businesses

Abstract

ABSTRACT Small businesses face multiple sources of uncertainty that can hold negative implications for performance by magnifying liabilities of newness and/or exacerbating resource inadequacies. However, technological uncertainty may hold positive implications for performance by creating opportunities that small businesses are better enabled to exploit. These implications are largely unexamined in prior research, particularly for smaller/micro businesses. We theorize and examine these implications and find positive performance effects from technological uncertainty that are greater for younger and smaller businesses and robust among the smallest “micro” businesses. Results suggest that higher levels of technological uncertainty may create conditions for performance advantages for small businesses, but these advantages dissipate among older/larger businesses, holding interesting implications for research and practice.