The predominance of small firms is one ofthe defining characteristics of the hotel industry both domestically and worldwide. Indeed small enterprises can be found at the heart of Irish industry and commerce, with companies employing less than 50 people comprising 98 per cent of all enterprises and 37 per cent of all employment (Government of Ireland, 1997). Despite this, however, a dissonance between this structural feature of the industry and the research interests of both mainstream and hospitality academics is evident (Thomas et al., 1999, Quinn et al., 1992; Dewhurst and Horobin, 1998).