The dynamic SME - how to develop agility and resilience to cope with turbulent environments

• Published in: ICSB World Conference Proceedings pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: North, Klaus, Varvakis, Gregorio
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Washington International Council for Small Business (ICSB) 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Action research; Case studies; Competitive advantage; Employees; Empowerment; Entrepreneurs; Family owned businesses; Knowledge management; Leadership; Literature reviews; Managers; Organizational learning; Small & medium sized enterprises-SME

(Charles Darwin) Introduction To sustain competitiveness in turbulent environments SMEs face major challenges due to their limited human, organizational and financial resources and capabilities (Detarsio and North and Ormaetxea 2013, Van Bruystegem and De Woestyne and Koen 2008) .Theories of organizational learning (Scarbrough et al. 2004) and development of "dynamic capabilities" (Teece 2007), however, focus on big enterprises and provide only limited guidance for SMEs. In response to the identified challenges of a turbulent environment, the dynamic SME seeks to create a business model more resilient to the impacts of environmental turbulences as well as more agile to stay in the market and capture new business opportunities through enhancing capabilities. New roles for leaders, employees and SME support institutions There is research evidence that "the management style and external orientation of owner/managers appear to be significantly influential in the mode, scope and processes of learning" (Zhang and Macpherson and Jones 2006). The Dynamic SME recognizes or anticipates changes in the environment and (re)acts to them with high efficiency and speed, actively exploits market opportunities, develops a management approach of empowerment of employees and fosters the entrepreneurial spirit of employees, develops a high capacity for learning and innovation and integrates learning on the job in to daily business, cultivates emotional intelligence which results in a culture attitudes and behaviors of trust and collaboration. * Professor at Wiesbaden Business School - Germany - K.North@hs-rm.de *· Professor at Postgraduate Programme of Engineering and Knowledge Management at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - Brazil - g.varvakis@ufsc.br Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement n° PIRSES-GA-2010-268665 (Project "Dynamic SME") 1 Cases and action research findings are reported in North and Varvakis (2016) Bibliography Antonacopoulou, Elena P. and Zachary Sheaffer (2013).