“…However, this theory has gained considerable currency among scholars and practitioners for several reasons. First, its applicability has been empirically confirmed by a large number of researchers during the last three decades within different contexts (e.g., de Oliveira et al, 2015a, b; Dodge & Robbins, 1992; Eggers et al, 1994; Gupta & Chin, 1991; Hanks, 1990; Hanks et al, 1994; Kiriri, 2002; Lester et al, 2003; Masurel & Van Montfort, 2006; Miller & Friesen, 1984; Moores & Yuen, 2001; Perényi et al, 2011a, b; Shirokova, 2009; Smith et al, 1985). Second, the face validity of OLC theory has been confirmed by Eggers et al (1994) and Massey et al (2006) as all of the executives/owners of the firms who participated in these two studies found that the notion of OLC was meaningful and they were able to unambiguously categorise their firms into one of the five OLC stages.…”