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The geopolitical situation and growing fragility of trade relations are currently posing particular challenges for export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). International entrepreneurship researchers dicussed at the International Roundtable on SMEs in Berlin end of October how these companies can respond to these challenges.
The geopolitical situation and increasingly fragile trade relations are currently posing particular challenges for export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). "At the same time, the expanding defence sector also offers opportunities for companies that are prepared to change their business model accordingly. Due to their flat hierarchical structures, small and medium-sized enterprises can act in a much more flexible way than large companies, which has an impact on their innovativeness," said Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Friederike Welter at the International Roundtable on SMEs end of October. Approx. 30 representatives from politics and business discussed the current situation in European SMEs with international entrepreneurship researchers.
Research by Professor Pontus Braunerhjelm and Dr Maryna Brychko (Royal Institute of Technology Karlskrona/Sweden) shows how economic sectors can change rapidly in technological terms under extreme geopolitical pressure, as the Ukrainian drone industry demonstrates: "Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, technical training and skilled IT professionals were one of the country's key strengths. The war has added other important factors that have contributed to the rapid development of the drone industry: the mobilisation of the civilian population, accelerated government reforms, targeted procurement incentives, and foreign partnerships that have facilitated technology transfer," the two researchers reported. This has created a decentralised innovation ecosystem that efficiently bridges the military and civilian sectors.
In order to enable Germany's Mittelstand enterprises to act as quickly as their Ukrainian counterparts, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) advocates an integrated foreign, trade and industrial policy that focuses strategically on economic security and European interests and sets clear priorities. "If we harmonise political pragmatism, economic resilience and sustainability requirements, we will lay the foundations for companies in Germany to actively shape technological change while maintaining their international leadership role. But to achieve this, the federal government would have to take immediate action: pure announcements are not enough – we now need concrete measures that create planning security and enable investment", said Cedric von der Hellen, expert on foreign trade policy at BDI.
The SME Connect Defence Working Group has already developed a knowledge base for small and medium-sized enterprises at European level to accelerate SME participation in European defence supply chains while strengthening competitiveness and strategic autonomy. "The focus is on dual-use applications – automated storage and transport systems, robust data layers in the supply chain and advanced lightweight protection. We believe this offers a fast track for scaling civil innovations to practical defence level", explained Markus Becker, chair of the SME Connect Defence Working Group.
Independent from the necessities arising from the current economic and geopolitical conditions, family businesses also conduct an active risk management at their own initiative: "Through their ability to quickly reorganise complex, cross-organisational assets in crisis situations, family businesses not only protect the entrepreneurial basis for future generations, but also secure their liquidity and position themselves for new growth opportunities", reports Professor Alfredo De Massis (IMD Business School and University of Chieti-Pescara/Italy) in his presentation. He used various case studies to illustrate how companies simultaneously mobilise their networks to break free from dependencies, manage foreseeable risks and initiate innovations. He then used his scientific research to show that, in the current geopolitical situation, politicians can support these corporate networks by promoting cross-sector alliances, for example.
Geopolitical alternatives are required
Small and medium-sized industrial companies are operating in an increasingly difficult geopolitical environment. China has become a strong competitor and is limiting access to important resources. In Germany, the international economic promotion agency, Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), evaluates statistical data on potentially relevant countries in order to support companies in their search for alternative production locations, for example in East Asia. GTAI division manager Achim Haug presented various alternatives to China in his presentation.
From a strategic perspective it is important to know in which fields German economy has its particular strengths. "If Germany dominates the export of certain goods, other countries are dependent on it to a certain extent. In view of US tariff policy and the Chinese government's steady tightening of export conditions for rare earths, this can be a trump card for exerting political pressure," explained Jürgen Matthes, head of the International Economic Policy, Financial and Real Estate Markets cluster at the German Economic Institute (IW) in Cologne. Germany on its own would perform significantly worse than the US and China in terms of the number of product groups with export dominance, but if the EU or G7 and EU are considered together, these groups of countries dispose of significantly more export-dominant goods than China.
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