Predicting management development behaviour in New Zealand SMEs

There has been a concern with raising managerial capability in SMEs by policy makers, but with little evidence on the key drivers of owner-manager participation in management development programmes. We argue that such participation is poorly understood. This paper develops a predictive model of the drivers of participation in sources of learning by owner managers. We test a theoretical model, based on the small firm as a learning organisation, that participation is driven by owner-managers’ learning orientation and the extent of their belief in self-improvement. Implications of the results are discussed in the light of the provision of management development programmes.