SMEs and Innovation
Team Manager : Stéphanie PETZOLD-DUMEYNIEUX
The scientific project implemented by the SMEs and Innovation team focuses on four areas of research, carefully defined so as to make optimal use of the expertise set of the BEM faculty :
- Focus 1: SMEs and innovation ecosystem. The aim is to study the role of SMEs in major innovation projects and the influence of host structures on the performance of micro and small businesses.
- Focus 2: Standards, quality management and SMEs. Although quality standards enable SMEs to establish their market credibility, the flexible structure and agility of these organisations is often counteracted by a lack of resources, excessive concentration of decisional powers at the top and, sometimes, a lack of mission-critical skills.
- Focus 3: Entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Upstream of the development process in SMEs, business creation (entrepreneurship) is consistently encouraged by institutions, much in the same way as initiating original ideas and seizing opportunities (intrapreneurship) is encouraged within corporate organisations themselves.
- Focus 4: Managing a SME in a time of crisis. Managing a SME in a time of crisis pushes innovation and puts management tools to the test.
