Some Essentials Charakteristicks of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Small and medium sized enterprises were investigated by means of university students who helped managers to fulfill 185 questionnaires. Questionnaires were sorted according to the size of firms into 4 groups [1-9, 10-24, 25-49, 50-249 employees] and according to the branches [Industrial production, Building firms, Woodwork, Food processing firms, Retail business, Services including transportation]. The main indicators concern the size of firms, number of employees, productivity, legal form, number of managers, form of production, foreign country activities and strategy of enterprises. Interesting results were received especially in classification according to branches, where firms in Engineering production and Services substantially differ from others. Classification according to the size showed better results in enterprises with more employees. Enterprises should take these differences into account when applying new methods of organization and management.