A Review of Global Challenges and Survival Strategies of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Economic globalization has created many challenges for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to the rapid increase in competition. Therefore, the downfall rate of SMEs is relatively high, a short period after their commencement. Accordingly, SMEs need to adopt survival strategies and strategic met...

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Published inEconomies Vol. 8; no. 4; p. 79
Main Authors Naradda Gamage, Sisira Kumara, Ekanayake, EMS, Abeyrathne, GAKNJ, Prasanna, RPIR, Jayasundara, JMSB, Rajapakshe, PSK
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published MDPI AG 01.12.2020
Subjects
economic crisis
global challenges
international terrorism
multi-national corporations
small and medium enterprises
survival strategies
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Summary:Economic globalization has created many challenges for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to the rapid increase in competition. Therefore, the downfall rate of SMEs is relatively high, a short period after their commencement. Accordingly, SMEs need to adopt survival strategies and strategic methods to succeed in confronting the various global challenges faced by the SME sector. This study critically examined the existing literature on global challenges for SMEs to understand the SMEs’ survival and successive mechanisms in the present competitive business background. Published information related to the field by the multilateral institutions and 110 research papers published by four recognized publishing companies, i.e., Emerald, Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, and MDPI, were chosen for this study. The review revealed the critical global challenges for SMEs within the context of economic globalization. They are the global market competition, global finance and economic crises, information communication technology, the emergence of multi-national corporations, transnational corporations, consumer changes and especially their preferences, trade dumping, international terrorism, and religious conflicts and trade wars. Furthermore, the study considered the survival strategies of SMEs in the industrial platform to recognize sustainability-related policies, specifically, the necessity for a robust theoretical examination on the survival strategies of SMEs in the field of global challenges.
ISSN:2227-7099
2227-7099
DOI:10.3390/economies8040079