Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups face distinct managerial challenges due to their size, resource constraints, and dynamic environments. This edited volume explores how globalization, digitization, sustainability regulations, and geopolitical crises intensify these challenges. Drawing on interdisciplinary research from management, economics, social sciences, and information systems, the book presents innovative strategies and real-world examples that help SMEs and startups not only navigate adversity but also transform challenges into entrepreneurial opportunities. It offers insights into how these firms adapt to shortened innovation cycles, demographic shifts, and competitive pressures, providing a valuable resource for academics, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to understand and support entrepreneurial resilience and growth.
Current Developments and Challenges in the Management of SMEs and
Startups.- Part I: Strategic Management and Business Environment.- Firm
Barriers in the Western Balkans: A Comprehensive Analysis.- Managing
entrepreneurial visibility in tech startups characteristics, challenges &
strategies.- Enhancing servitization in SMEs: the role of cost and
performance measurement tools.- Heterogeneity in Academic Entrepreneurship:
Classifying University-based Startups and establishing Everyday University
Startups.- Part II: Organizational Development.- External Cooperation for
Creative Problem-Solving.- The Dilemma of Employment and Small Family
Business Growth.- Family Climate: Driving Organizational Resilience of Hidden
Champions.- Knowledge Transfer and Psychological Safety of Migrants in SMEs:
An Exploratory Qualitative Study.- Part III: Entrepreneurial Finance.-
Business angels and small and micro-cap private equity funds as alternative
funding sources for SME acquisitions.- Differences in the Screening Criteria
Between US and Continental European VC Investors.- The Impact of the External
Environment on Venture Capital Decision-Making and Startup Financing.- Part
IV: Sustainable and Digital Transformation.- A Sustainability Reporting (and
Management) Framework for SMEs in the Furniture Industry: Key Thematic
Aspects and Indicators.- How to Develop Digital Products Legally?.- How does
digitalization affect innovation output? The case of German small and medium
sized enterprises.
Alexandra Moritz is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Business and Management, Hochschule Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, Germany (since 2022). Former Postdoctoral Researcher and Director of the Research Center for Small and Mid-Sized Firms at Trier University, Germany. Holds a doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) in Entrepreneurship and has over 10 years of experience in the international banking industry.
Sibylle Treude is Professor at the Faculty of Business and Management, Hochschule Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, Germany (since 2013). Previously Privatdozentin (Associate Professor) at the University of Siegen, Germany (20082013), with a Habilitation and Venia Legendi in Economic and Social History. Holds a doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) and a Diplom in Business Administration.
Joern Block is Professor of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Sustainability at Trier University, Germany (since 2012). Completed postdoctoral research at Technische Universität München, Germany, and Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Holds a doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) and a Diplom in Business Administration from Humboldt University of Berlin.
Arndt Werner is Professor of Management of SMEs and Entrepreneurship at the University of Siegen, Germany (since 2015). Completed his Habilitation and Venia Legendi at the University of Siegen in 2012. Previously served as Project Coordinator and Management Board Member at the Institute for SME Research (IfM Bonn), Germany. Holds a doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) and a Diplom in Business Administration from the University of Cologne.
