Strategic determinants of the use of development-support instruments in the management of SMEs

Abstract

The development of small and medium-sized enterprises, which occurs under distinctive circumstances of resource shortages, is strongly determined by the ability to absorb the external instruments offered by commercial and non-commercial organizations supporting small business. Such instruments include those based on finance, capital, consulting, training, information, law, innovation or general business. The absorption of these instruments by SMEs depends on many factors of which strategic importance is given to intangible resources (knowledge and inter-organizational relations) as well as to skills and abilities (operational flexibility and the implementation of changes in an organization). With this in mind, the goal of the paper is to identify and assess the influence of these strategic factors on the use of development-support instruments by small and medium-sized enterprises. The study presents the author's own model of strategic resources and skills determining the use of development-support instruments in the management of SMEs. The goal of the paper was also pursued through empirical studies conducted on a sample of three-hundred small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the European Union.