Survival Competence in Russian SMEs in a Changing Business Environment

Abstract

This paper focuses on the survival competences that enable small and medium enterprise (SME) managers to conduct business in change situations. Russian SMEs, which have undergone several drastic changes in operational environment in recent decades, comprise the subjects of the qualitative study. Their recent World Trade Organization (WTO) membership is challenging in terms of business continuity and competence. The results of the study show that both internal competences and network competences are needed in order to survive in crisis situations. Entrepreneurial competences acquired by everybody in the firm, an open-minded attitude towards external partners, and networking competences provide a future direction for managerial practice and public actors.

KEYWORDS:

• competence
• entrepreneurial competences
• multiple case study
• Russia
• SMEs

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We sincerely thank all the anonymous firms that contributed to this study. We are also grateful to the companies Science and Technology Center ROCAD and Promex for their interest in our study and also highly appreciate their open attitude to Russian SME research.