Globalization And Its Opportunities For Small And Medium Sized Enterprises

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 100%, University of Sussex, language: English, abstract: Small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) represent about 95% of enterprises in Europe, with a high amount of small companies ranging between 22% - 66% as well as high importance all over the globe. Nevertheless, the sector of SMEs has been ignored and poorly understood for many decades. Eventually, a research conducted by the economist David Birch published in 1979 revealed that especially SMEs are responsible for economic growth in general and are the prime source for job creation, accounting for up to 60% of the overall employment. As a result, the OECD considers them to be the core for economic growth and the dominant form of businesses worldwide in the future, acknowledging the importance of SMEs within global economy. Knowledge about small- and medium-sized enterprises has become even more important due to the fact that the interest of small firms to operate on foreign markets increased in the last decades. This essay depicts the characteristics of small- and medium-sized companies, compares it to multinational companies (MNCs) to determine advantages as well as disadvantages and, finally, examines certain opportunities for SMEs offered by globalization and internationalisation.

Abstracts of papers presented during a seminar.

Globalization has jarred the traditional role and competitiveness of small- and medium-sized enterprises. This masterful volume comprises leading scholars, policy makers and business leaders who have new insights and strategies for SMEs creating opportunities rather than being victims of globalization. The result is a breakthrough in our understanding of entrepreneurship in the global context. David B. Audretsch, Indiana University, Bloomington, US and WHU, Germany Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often have difficulty competing in the global economy unless they collaborate with domestic or foreign partners or with public sector organizations. This book addresses the resource leverage and innovation challenges that increased global trade represents for SMEs. In doing so, it explores how SMEs can become more competitive at home and in foreign markets as stand-alone firms or as members of supplier and customer networks. SMEs are turning increasingly to innovation as a source of competitive advantage in order to protect their home markets and participate in expanding foreign markets. The contributors to this volume leading experts in entrepreneurship, innovation, and international business provide in-depth coverage of the most compelling issues facing SMEs. These include: innovation as a competitive strategy, network dynamics, ways to leverage technology, internationalization, and the role of the public sector in helping SMEs to overcome resource deficiencies. This comprehensive look at SMEs in the global marketplace will be of great interest to academics who study entrepreneurship, innovation, or international business, officials from public sector agencies with responsibility for helping SMEs to internationalize and become more innovative, and senior executives of SMEs or executives of larger companies who are considering collaboration with SMEs.

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This book identifies the driving forces behind globalization and proposes innovative ways for small and medium-enterprises (SMEs) to confront them. More than ever, sustainable competitive advantage requires SMEs to continually adapt their strategy and confront new and current competition in the international market. SMEs working with multinational companies could also benefit from winning strategies based on a sensible analysis of rational and irrational phenomena at the micro- and macro-economic levels. This book uses different models developed and established through international business experiences to determine the relevant strategy in the global market. It illustrates each model through real, successful case studies of globalization of factor, efficiency, and innovation-driven SMEs. It will benefit scholars of entrepreneurship, international business, regional development as well as managers, governmental institutions, and regional development, and consultants to SMEs.

SMEs are significant job creators and drivers of innovation and competition in most economic sectors. Furthermore, the traditional constraints of small and medium enterprises, such as geographic operations, are now being dissolved by technological developments. This means that there are new opportunities for SMEs, and their fundamental principles are being redefined: the aims, competencies, strategy, management, practice, and scope of these businesses are changing, with wide-ranging implications. This is the first part of a two volume work that incorporates scientific chapters on SME business theory and practice. Authors provide a balanced perspective of the present and future of SMEs across all business disciplines, including management, strategy, marketing, economics, and finance. While Volume II explores external issues such as contextual forces, the effects of the financial crisis, and macro-economic effects, this first volume focuses on the individual SME and internal issues such as innovation, quality, and digitization.

"The principal aim of this publication is to fill a perceived gap in policy-related research and understanding of the development of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector in the Asia-Pacific region, in the context of a rapidly changing and mutating international business environment. To foster growing national economies, policymakers in virtually all countries are expected to facilitate the entry of new business ventures and to increase the competitiveness of SMEs. SMEs typically account for the vast majority of companies in an economy, create the majority of employment, and are responsible for a substantial number of technical innovations in various sectors. Thus, their growth and survival are critical for sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development under intensified global competition. However, the outbreak of the global economic crisis in 2008 added to the challenges faced by SMEs--and policymakers seeking to support the SME sector in an increasingly volatile international business environment. SME development is a key ingredient in the policy mix that will allow international business to return to healthy growth and permit Asia-Pacific economies to return to robust and inclusive growth. Although considerable research has already been undertaken in this broad field, many developing countries in Asia and the Pacific lack a comprehensive understanding of the rapidly changing needs of the business sector--a result of the ongoing globalization of productio--and how such needs should be taken into account in the design and implementation of effective enabling policy frameworks for SME development." --Publisher's website.

The drivers of globalization are removing the barriers that segregated the competitive space of the small and large firms in the past. It is becoming increasingly difficult for independent small firms to thrive in their traditional markets unless they are globally competitive. Managing an enterprise's commercial, industrial and political relations well, regardless of size and location, is the essence of the entrepreneurial challenge in this competitive arena. Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) often face very different issues than large multinational enterprises do when confronting internationalization. This volume provides an in-depth discussion of these challenges. The contributors to this volume explore the emerging patterns of SME growth and international expansion in response to the evolving competitive environment, dynamics of competitive behavior, entrepreneurial processes and formulation of strategy. They examine the basis and requirements of growth and expansion from three perspectives: the rapidly-changing environment in which business is conducted, entrepreneurial characteristics, and the evolving strategic and competitive response to this changing business environment. Business leaders, scholars and students interested in international business and entrepreneurship will welcome this volume.