Main themes

- To understand the concept of SMEs and features specific to them.
- To understand the key elements of the SMEs and ways in which they depend on one another.
- To understand the methods and approaches that are reflected in the successful management of SMEs.

Content and teaching methods

Content
- The concept of SMEs and the importance of this economic actor in the development of the economy.
- Individual entrepreneurs.
- The conditions in which SMEs perform:
. the personality of the manager;
. clear vision and objectives;
. exploitation of comparative advantage;
. trade capacity;
. financial balance.
- SMEs, innovation and the latest technology: the bringing together of entrepreneurs, researchers and financiers.
- The causes of bankruptcy among SMEs.
- Types of association, cooperation and collective action.
- The judicious use of public aid.
Methodology
- Talks, cases and substantive examples.
- Accounts of experiences by SME managers.
- Teaching back-up based on research in the field, and on cases.
1. Subjects
- A study of small and medium-sized enterprises in the framework of micro- and macro-economic theory.
- The role of SMEs in industrial policies.
- Substantive aspects of these firms, and particularly how they are set up, how they are managed and how they grow.
2. Methodology
Lectures and practical cases of SMEs. For each case, an SME manager will describe his/her own experience in respect of a particular problem. These lectures will be prepared by groups of two or three students, who will present the firm and introduce the problem. They will also run the ensuing debate and write up the conclusions.

Other credits in programs