This paper examines how the ethnic composition of SMEs’ business teams, also in conjunction with their strategic behaviour (including digitalisation, innovation and exporting), affect their employment growth. The study conceptualises different forms and aspects of social capital to develop the theoretical framework and hypotheses. We utilise the UK Office for National Statistics’ Longitudinal Small Business Survey data for the period of 2018–2020 to test our hypotheses. Our study shows that ethnically diverse business teams achieve relatively higher employment growth as compared to more homogeneous teams. Moreover, ethnically diverse business teams that embrace innovation, international expansion, and digitalisation translate these strategies more effectively into increased employment compared to their more homogenous counterparts.

本文研究了中小企业业务团队的种族构成，以及他们的战略行为（包括数字化、创新和出口）如何影响他们的就业增长。该研究概念化了社会资本的不同形式和方面，以发展理论框架和假设。我们利用英国国家统计局 2018 年至 2020 年期间的纵向小企业调查数据来检验我们的假设。我们的研究表明，与更同质化的团队相比，种族多元化的商业团队实现了相对较高的就业增长。此外，与同质化的团队相比，接受创新、国际扩张和数字化的种族多元化业务团队可以更有效地将这些战略转化为增加就业。