Purpose: To address the challenges regarding the concept of Industry 4.0 and the diversification methodology and based on the strategic guidance towards Industry 4.0, we propose a process model as a guiding framework for Industry 4.0 collaborative diversification vision, strategy and action...

This paper analyses the role of SMEs in regional development, focusing the particular case of This paper analyses the role of SMEs in regional development, focusing the particular case of Lublin Region in Poland. By using a questionnaire presented to firms that are operating in manufacturing and...

Small firms contribute to the economy by creating new vacancies and are the most common business form in the EU. However, small firms are not tended to expand internationally and only a limited number of small firms export to the countries outside the EU. The study aims to investigate...

The purpose of the paper is to expand the knowledge about interfunctional coordination (IFC). The term IFC has been used for 50 years and it extends to many branches. The most popular ones are in marketing, logistics and IT management. The purpose of IFC is to develop collaboration between the...

SMEs play an important role in the development of regional innovative systems because of their potential to accept new technologies and show fast growing rates. There is an interdependence between emergence of fast growing SMEs ('gazelles') and innovative development of regions. High level of...

Previous studies demonstrate that policy makers and practitioners should target support tailored to special needs of novice and habitual entrepreneurs. This paper aims to present a study of the role of prior business experience in the inclination to use external business support and the choice...

The goal of this paper is to reveal typical non-financial success measures in small family business in Croatia. Socioemotional wealth model is used as a basis for questionnaire construction. Questionnaire items represent family typical success measures and are adaptable to different business...

Several empirical studies showed that it is not the level of entrepreneurial activity itself, but the (long-term) survival and growth of new firms that determine the direct and indirect contribution of new businesses to regional employment. To this end, the aim of this paper is to analyze the...

In the expansionary phase of the economy (1995-2007) and, particularly after the Euro introduction, credit to the business sector increased significantly in Europe. According to surveys of the EC-Flash Eurobarometer (2005), over 77% of SMEs claimed to have appropriate funding levels. A number of...

This paper examines the relationship between economic growth and the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector for a panel of 503 Brazilian micro-regions for the period 1980-2004 using panel spatial econometrics. It investigates the importance of the SME sector size measured by the share of the...