A new approach towards SME’s consideration

The definition of an SME may vary from country to country (for example, the definition in Germany has a limit of 255 employees, while in Belgium it can be 100), but in all of them they are regarded as the key drivers of the economy and represent its backbone. Indeed, SMEs provide innovations spread...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kostis C. Koutsopoulos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association of Geographers 2022-10-01
Series:European Journal of Geography
Online Access:https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/249
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841558787057516544
author Kostis C. Koutsopoulos
author_facet Kostis C. Koutsopoulos
author_sort Kostis C. Koutsopoulos
collection DOAJ
description The definition of an SME may vary from country to country (for example, the definition in Germany has a limit of 255 employees, while in Belgium it can be 100), but in all of them they are regarded as the key drivers of the economy and represent its backbone. Indeed, SMEs provide innovations spread throughout regions to solve a series of challenges like unequal development, climate change, resource efficiency and social cohesion. In addition, they involve: job creation; unemployment reduction; significant contribution to growth in GDP; sustainable spatial growth; needed money flow; the seed to form large companies; and the development of appropriate technology. However, despite the importance of SMEs, there is considerable confusion over which characteristics should be used to express and evaluate them, in determining policies and programs to help and support them. The literature (Peters and Waterman, 1982; Amini, 2004; Radam et al.,2008) has attempted to answer these concerns, but the BALANCE project’s (Green and Stable -Bringing Sustainability and Environmental Action Together for Better Future) research has shown that nowadays such justifications cannot be accepted, because the failure to address these issues lies on the inability of the traditional approach (exclusive economic) in describing, and analyzing them.
format Article
id doaj-art-a775bdd9d5664468bb04bdb078c701eb
institution Kabale University
issn 1792-1341
2410-7433
language English
publishDate 2022-10-01
publisher European Association of Geographers
record_format Article
series European Journal of Geography
spelling doaj-art-a775bdd9d5664468bb04bdb078c701eb2025-01-06T06:58:59ZengEuropean Association of GeographersEuropean Journal of Geography1792-13412410-74332022-10-0113310.48088/ejg.k.kou.13.3.44.49A new approach towards SME’s considerationKostis C. Koutsopoulos0V.P. EUROGEO The definition of an SME may vary from country to country (for example, the definition in Germany has a limit of 255 employees, while in Belgium it can be 100), but in all of them they are regarded as the key drivers of the economy and represent its backbone. Indeed, SMEs provide innovations spread throughout regions to solve a series of challenges like unequal development, climate change, resource efficiency and social cohesion. In addition, they involve: job creation; unemployment reduction; significant contribution to growth in GDP; sustainable spatial growth; needed money flow; the seed to form large companies; and the development of appropriate technology. However, despite the importance of SMEs, there is considerable confusion over which characteristics should be used to express and evaluate them, in determining policies and programs to help and support them. The literature (Peters and Waterman, 1982; Amini, 2004; Radam et al.,2008) has attempted to answer these concerns, but the BALANCE project’s (Green and Stable -Bringing Sustainability and Environmental Action Together for Better Future) research has shown that nowadays such justifications cannot be accepted, because the failure to address these issues lies on the inability of the traditional approach (exclusive economic) in describing, and analyzing them. https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/249
spellingShingle Kostis C. Koutsopoulos
A new approach towards SME’s consideration
European Journal of Geography
title A new approach towards SME’s consideration
title_full A new approach towards SME’s consideration
title_fullStr A new approach towards SME’s consideration
title_full_unstemmed A new approach towards SME’s consideration
title_short A new approach towards SME’s consideration
title_sort new approach towards sme s consideration
url https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/249
work_keys_str_mv AT kostisckoutsopoulos anewapproachtowardssmesconsideration
AT kostisckoutsopoulos newapproachtowardssmesconsideration