Role of Management Capability in SMEs

Wellington, New Zealand | 3-4 December 2019

APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group

April 2020
APEC Project: SME 07 2019A

Produced by
Lovish Thakkar
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Lovish.Thakkar@business.govt.nz

Bevan Hall
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Bevan.Hall@business.govt.nz

For
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat
35 Heng Mui Keng Terrace
Singapore 119616
Tel: (65) 68919 600
Fax: (65) 68919 690
Email: info@apec.org
Website: www.apec.org

© 2020 APEC Secretariat

APEC#220-SM-01.3

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Contents
1. Executive summary ............................................................................................................................... 4
Key insights from the Forum ..................................................................................................................... 4
Key areas of opportunity .......................................................................................................................... 5
2. Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 6
The organisers adopted a three-stage approach for the Forum .............................................................. 6
Management capability and productivity: key questions......................................................................... 6
Why management capability became a theme ........................................................................................ 7
Why measurement and evaluation became a theme .............................................................................. 7
Why sustainable economics became a theme ......................................................................................... 7
Economies and experts represented at the Forum .................................................................................. 7
3. Management capability ........................................................................................................................ 9
Barriers to businesses adopting best management practices ................................................................ 12
Governments can play a role in improving management capability ...................................................... 14
The role for the private sector in improving management capability .................................................... 15
Some economies are finding ways to help SMEs access finance............................................................ 15
Digital capability and productivity .......................................................................................................... 16
4. Measurement and evaluation............................................................................................................. 17
Evaluating the effectiveness of programmes ......................................................................................... 17
Randomised controlled trials: popular and effective but challenging .................................................... 17
Evaluating before intervening ................................................................................................................. 18
Measuring changes and impacts over time has delivered benefits for future studies .......................... 19
5. Sustainable economics........................................................................................................................ 20
Tailored programmes aim to make SMEs more environmentally aware ............................................... 23
Women mentors, role models, and societal change will encourage more women-led SMEs ............... 23
6. Case studies referred to in this report ................................................................................................ 25
Case studies from section 3 of this report .............................................................................................. 25
Case studies from section 4 of this report .............................................................................................. 38
Case studies from section 5 of this report .............................................................................................. 43
7. Insight statements, with questions to consider .................................................................................. 46
8. Selected references used in this report .............................................................................................. 50
Appendix 1: Q&A during the Forum ........................................................................................................... 52
Theme 1: Management capability .......................................................................................................... 54
Mindset is a management capability worthy of further research .......................................................... 57
Measurement helps us know whether we should intervene, and whether what we do works ............ 62
Sustainable economics is the way of the future for SMEs ...................................................................... 64
Appendix 2: Interview questions from the I4 Check-up programme in Thailand....................................... 69