Distinctive Features of the Existence of Activity

of SMEs
Nyegran Laura

The SME environment.

 Carson et al. (1995) implies that the small scale of these businesses mean they
have a limited power to modify the environmental factors, and they only accept
industry prices without being able to have an impact on these.
 Later we can see that these power dynamics changed and SMEs play an
increasingly important role in all economies, and have also an increasing power
over the price evolution of certain products.
 Due to the small size the organizational structure is less rigid, sophisticated and
less complex than large firms, these permits for more fluid arrangements, these
allows them to be more creative and flexible.
Small firms’ marketing

 Very often SMEs (especially in Ro) don’t have a specific person let alone an entire
department that has marketing as its sole responsibility.
o This phenomenon according to a study made on RO and MT countries is
generally valid. With the growth of turnover of the companies, or number
of employees we can see more and more companies having at least one
employee responsible for marketing.
 Most often small companies don’t even have a marketing plan, especially not
one with clear objectives and annual budget allocated.
o This phenomenon isn’t much impacted neither by Turnover or employee
count
 In the study 47% of Romanian SMEs have a marketing budget allocated on the
spot for the marketing activities
Decision-making in SMEs

 Emotional elements
o Emotions play a big role in the decision making of a SME entrepreneur
since they have a lot less data at their disposal
 Personal factors
o Entrepreneurship psychological like: risk taking, innovation, positive
mentality and creativity have a positive effect on occupation
o 2 researchers support that differences in the decision maker’s
characteristics regarding demographics, stylistics and personalization
influence have an influence on the decision making
 Creative thinking
o In 2010 researchers majored in behavioral sciences applied the term
creative thinking for explaining the strategies existing in searching and
processing information
o It is also referred to in different parts as the entrepreneur’s
comprehension and explanation of information
Staying in business

 SMEs in general face a much higher risk of going out of business than any of the
big companies will ever face. For a big period of an SMEs lifespan it’s not clear
weather they’ll keep on staying in business or not.
 According to “Business Research and Insights” here is a list of 10 characteristics
of a successful SME:
o 1. Be prepared to work really hard
o 2. Be passionate about your business, and be persistent, no matter what
 o 3. Be good at dealing with customers, especially when they’re being
difficult
o 4. Be a life-long learner and update your skills
o 5. Be willing to fail and learn from your mistakes
o 6. Strive for continuous improvement
o 7. Stay calm under high pressure
o 8. Be open to change and embrace it
o 9. Adapt quickly to changing market conditions
o 10. Be a very good financial manager
 While looking at the list it becomes very apparent that the SMEs stay alive of fail
all due to the actions and decisions of a single person especially in the beginning
Informal learning

 SMEs having a big part of the employment pool it is a major part of workplace-
learning context
 In studies it is documented that SMEs are characterized by continuous learning
with a preference leaning towards informal learning to maintain a competitive
advantage for the owner and the staff members alike
 Informal learning in these contexts is characterized by: “non-didactic,
predominantly learner initiated and self directed; socially collaborative; based on
learning form experience; oriented to a focus on action; embedded in everyday
goal-directed work activities and the organizational context; delimited by the
nature of the task, they way in which problems are framed, and the work
capacity of the individual to understand the task; motivated by an intent to
learn, improve and develop; and enhanced by proactivity, critical reflection, and
creativity”

Bibliography
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Enterprises(SMEs). International Journal of Academic Research in Business & Social Sciances,
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Business View. (2017, Jul 24). Retrieved from Busienss Research and Insights:
https://business.nab.com.au/top-10-characteristics-successful-smes-25412/

Coetzer, A., Kock , H., & Wallo, A. (2017). Distinctive Characteristics of Small Business as Sites for
Informal Learning. Sage, 111-134.

Hill, J. (2001). A multidimensional study of the key determinants of effective SME marketing activity:
Part1. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 171-204.
Izvercian, M., Miclea, S., & Porta, S. (2016). Marketing Practices in SMEs. Case Study: Romania vs. Malta.
ScienceDirect, 135-141.

Ogarca Ph. D, R. (2010). Features of the Decision-Making in SMEs. Annals of the University of Craiova,
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