Experience has shown that, due to the fact that SME themselves do not dispose of the necessary technology and overestimate the cost for the purchase of know-how, certain products are not brought onto the market. Dr. Franz J. Beeler, Swiss consultant and expert on technology transfer, in his article „Technologietransfer – unrecognized chance for SME and major enterprises” on the portal KMU Innovation rightfully draws the attention to the fact that virtually all technological problems emerging during the production of conventional products have already been solved somewhere in the world so that, as a rule, it was much more cost-efficient to purchase this know-how instead of re-inventing the wheel. In addition, the search for already existing solutions in patent and other data bases leads to additional knowledge on possible product extensions, competitors and potential co-operation partners.

“Economy in motion – challenges and strategies facing Germany” is the name of a major survey among 4001 German SME which forms part of a recent initiative called UnternehmerPerspektiven launched by the Commerzbank. Martin Blessing, member of the board of director and in charge of the Mittelstandsbank, presented the findings: more…

Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have developped a virtual guide which is supposed to facilitate the co-operation between small and medium-sized entities (SME). The pilot provides SME with confidentiality agreements, online questionnaires, check lists, action plans and training guidelines. The service is the result of a joint project called “InVirtO” which was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research. more…

In contrast to major enterprises, SME are still doubtful as concerns „Voice over IP” (VoIP, telephoning via Internet). The main reason for this is the fear of the costs entailed by the implementation of such a new technology. According to a study of the outsourcing service provider Accenture and the Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), 43 percent of SME definitely want to keep their traditional telecommunication equipment. more…

The Handelsblatt magazine recently published an interesting article on the subject matter of mergers and acquisitions of small and medium-sized entities (SME). According to the magazine about two thirds of all transactions in the M&A business refer to the selling of a company. Seldom the market for the selling of SME had been that favourable as it is now. more…

As was reported by the consultancy and market researcher Access Markets International (AMI) Partners in New York, the SME in the USA first of all rely upon software solutions for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). more…

The Austrian Computerwelt magazine has published an interesting article on Content Management Systems (CMS) and small and medium-sized entities (SME) on their website. The article´s author, Roland Kissling, presents a study carried out by Tekom and TC and more GmbH which examined the current situation on the CMS market for technical documentations by questioning 18 manufacturers and 771 users. more…

Whenever it seems to be appropriate, the results of surveys, statistics and studies are used in particular by associations and political parties in order to further their cause. But how reliable are these alleged pieces of evidence actually? more…

The professorship for conveyor systems, material flows and logistics at the Technical University in Munich has recently been extended by an innovation centre for logistics (liz). Here companies have access to a broad forum of research and development. The co-operation with the centre is particularly advantageous to small and medium-sized companies, since these companies in contrast to major enterprises often do not have the resources to engage in research by themselves. Thanks to the new centre they will now receive customized solutions corresponding to the state of the art. more…

The Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (ifm) is a central institution at the university of Mannheim carrying out research projects on subjet matters which are of high importance to small and medium-sized entities (SME). This institue was founded in 1989 on the initiative of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, but it works nationwide and deals with European topics as well. more…