STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Kolkata, 3 July
Small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) around the world and across industries are competing with larger companies by investing in technology to improve operations and become more efficient. These companies are making major changes to their business models, products and go-to-market strategies.
A survey of 2,100 executives from SMEs in 21 countries, released today, says they believe they are equipped to compete with larger firms and have some clear advantages over them. The Oxford Economics’ global study sponsored by SAP looked at SMEs with an annual turnover of $20 million to $750 million across the globe.
The findings overturn some industry stereotypes of smaller companies as local or regional entities that are largely technophobic.
The study reveals that SMEs that do business in six or more countries will more than double in three years.
SMEs are expected to grow outside their home markets while facing increasing global competition at home. The number of firms expecting to generate as much as 40 per cent of their revenue internationally will jump by 36 per cent in the next three years.
Fifteen per cent of the respondents currently do business in six or more countries today, a figure that is expected to rise to 35 per cent in three years based on survey responses.
More than one-quarter of respondents cite increasing global competition among the top three trends affecting their business today.
Nearly 60 per cent say competition from companies in other countries has increased substantially in the past two years. And 59 per cent say they are competing more with larger companies now than in the past.
SMEs are forming networks around the globe. Over half of the respondents say they increasingly are forming partnerships with suppliers and other vendors located in countries outside their home markets.
A similar number are increasingly collaborating with other firms via online business networks and platforms to help drive innovation and growth.
Nearly 40 per cent of SMEs cite forming strategic partnerships and alliances as a key challenge as they remake their companies for the global marketplace.