The Penrose’s growth theory: a systematic review of the literature

The objective of this article is to systematically review the literature in the last 60 years to investigate Penrose's theory.

The research methodology involves a descriptive and practical approach with a scientometric technique using co-word analysis. Review articles related to the topic and research question were extracted from the Google Scholar site between 1994 and 2021, and the list of frequently occurring keywords in these articles was obtained using the visualization software VOSviewer. The key ideas hidden in Penrose's growth theory were obtained by analyzing the textual content.

The key ideas hidden in Penrose's growth theory were identified, including mental imagery of entrepreneurs, dynamic capabilities, unused and surplus resources, management team, productive opportunities, and innovation. The article proposes future research to study the relationship between business models and growth stages of companies and identify the background conditions affecting the selection of suitable models for entrepreneurial company growth.

The article concludes that theories are the best tools of knowledge. Paying attention to the keywords and subjective views raised can be among the appropriate research topics in the subject area of entrepreneurial business growth. The study emphasizes the importance of theories and highlights the potential for future research to address knowledge gaps in the field.