摘要:在USA,小企业部门的管理面临着巨大的压力,本文是就此进行分析的一篇essay,政策制定者面临着不断增长的担忧,例如失业率增加,缺乏创造就业机会,经济增长差和全球化的问题,他们认为创业是解决这些问题的途径。
ngredient for economic prosperity, resilience and innovative growth and believes that a strong small firm sector can only lend stability to an economic system. In contrast, Sweeney (1981) argues that an economic system dominated by a few large firms can have catastrophic consequences should one or more of them fail. Sweeney (1981) goes on to mention that a diversified system through small to medium sized firms cushions the impact of any market or technical change.
Sweeney (1981) concludes by arguing that “they (small firms) give resilience and redundancy to the economic system.”
While entrepreneurship is behaviour focusing on opportunities rather than resources, this type of behaviour is present in both small and large firms alike (Thurik and Wennekers, 2004). Small businesses can be seen as the simple running of a firm for a living, such as shopkeepers, professional people, and franchisees. However, if the small firms engages in the introduction of new products and processes that change the industry, these firms are identified as Schumpeterian in nature (Thurik and Wennekers, 2004), which, by implication, would make them entrepreneurial in nature. Rwigema and Venter (2004) warn that not all small firms are entrepreneurial, despite making a significant contribution to the economy. The average shopkeeper, selling everyday items, is not classified as entrepreneurial due to the absence of innovation and change.
This observation implies that small firms can be vehicles for entrepreneurship, since entrepreneurship has as a dimension of innovation (Thurik and Wennekers, 2004; DTI, 1995). Thurik and Wennekers (2004) observed that, during the first decades of the last century and more than ever in today’s times, that small businesses are vehicles for entrepreneurship contributing not only to employment and social and political stability, but also to innovative and competitive power.
Acs (1992) claims that small firms play a critical role in the economy by serving as agents of change in terms of their entrepreneurial activities. He identifies four consequences of the new found importance of entrepreneurship, namely a vehicle for small business development; routes of innovation; industry dynamics; and job creation.
2.3 SME contribution
There has been a tremendous increase in the number of small firms operating in most of the advanced countries around the globe since the late 1960’s (Burns, 2001) with North America, Asia and Western Europe “undergoing an entrepreneurial renaissance” (Calvin, 2002). These small firms are considered, by many governments, as critical for the creation of employment and ultimately for the creation of wealth.
2.3.1 The United States of America
Longenecker et al., (2003), Elmuti and Kathawala (1999) and Alvarez (1998) provide statistics indicating that the USA’s 23 million small businesses continue to be a strong driving force in their economy. The small businesses absorb 52% of the private work force and contribute 51% to GDP in the USA (Longenecker et al., 2003; Calvin, 2002; Burns, 2001). Elmuti and Kathawala (1999) also suggest that a study conducted by the Small Business Administration in the USA revealed that small business accounted for half of all new innovations in the USA.
2.3.2 The United Kingdom and the European Community
According to Burns (2001) and Day (2000)
本论文由英语论文网提供整理,提供论文代写,英语论文代写,代写论文,代写英语论文,代写留学生论文,代写英文论文,留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。