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Call for Papers available at http://bit.ly/1xdUxHz

Dear Colleagues,

2015 marks the 50th anniversary and 2016 the 30th anniversary, respectively, of Stinchcombe's (1965) landmark work on liabilities of newness and Auster and Aldrich's (1986) seminal work on liabilities of smallness.  Do new ventures (NVs) still face the same daunting survival odds scholars first asserted a half century ago or are they innovative, flexible organizations that attract customers, suppliers, and investors? Are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) unable to compete effectively with or can they respond to changing competitive environments better than their larger counterparts?  Extant research provides ample evidence that both these contrasting views may be valid.

On the one hand, scholars have found support for the deleterious effects 'liabilities of newness' and 'liabilities of smallness' can have on firm performance and survival. On the other hand, other theoretical and empirical studies have suggested that NVs and SMEs may actually enjoy important strategic advantages. 

These latter perspectives may be enhanced by recent innovations and other trends that could boost NV and SME advantages and/or partially mitigate their disadvantages.  For example, NVs and SMEs can now build a brand name and find critical human resources talent via social media, access essential software via cloud computing, prototype products with 3D printing, outsource production to overcome capacity constraints, run geographically dispersed operations with virtual teams, and raise capital for new business ideas through crowdfunding.  In addition, national and local governments have often tried to support entrepreneurship by passing favorable legislation and establishing incubation facilities.  These innovations and policies have often lowered industry entry barriers as well as enhanced the ability of NVs and SMEs to compete on a more equal footing with their more established and larger counterparts.

Accordingly, this special issue of Group & Organization Management (published by SAGE, impact factor 1.489) seeks to examine if and how critical issues related to liabilities of newness and liabilities of smallness have changed, given recent technological innovations and other trends. A special issue devoted to these topics is especially timely, not only because this research can inform current management theory, policy, and practice but also because it has now been five and three decades, respectively, since the publication of Stinchcombe's (1965) and Auster and Aldrich's (1986) seminal works.  These anniversaries provide an ideal time to reflect on findings, to date, and examine future research avenues.

See the Call for Papers at the link above for full details.