Coaching in small and medium business sectors (SMEs): a narrative systematic review

Coaching is implemented in many disciplines including business. The majority of coaching studies in business have been focused on large corporates. Therefore, there is a paucity of literature targeting SMEs. This narrative systematic review aims to provide an overview of what is known about coaching in SMEs. Three electronic databases: Business Source Ultimate, Google Scholar, and ProQuest, were searched using keywords and phrases ‘coaching’ and ‘small business’, ‘small organization’, or ‘medium business’. Studies were included if the article was published in a peer-reviewed journal, written in English, and the authors defined the size of the organization studied, which aligned to the definition of SMEs used in this inquiry. Findings showed that all guiding research questions were answered. Factors for successful coaching in SMEs were identified. Further research needs to measure the effectiveness of coaching in SMEs.