Small Firm Growth: The Unfolding of a Trigger Point

Abstract

This study combines the concept of trigger points, events preceding bursts of growth, with a linguistic approach to show how firm growth unfolds through a process of translation. By marrying theories and methods rooted in the linguistic turn with firm growth theories, this study brings new insights on growth contributing to both the advancement of the trigger point concept and the wider understanding of entrepreneurial activities as complex and contextually bound processes dependent on human interaction. In doing so, the study also adheres to the current demand for advancing firm growth theory by relaxing the outcome-focussed approach and static life-cycle paradigm, and complementing it with alternative theoretical and methodological perspectives.