The Configuration Approach to the Strategic Management of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
The Configuration Approach to the Strategic Management of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Josef Mugler
Department of Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Augasse 2-6, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Abstract: The configuration approach to the strategic management of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) is presented as an alternative to the traditional approach of
industrial economics. The configuration approach combines the traditional market-based view with a resource-based view of strategic management theory, stimulates the consideration of interdependencies instead of unidirectional dependencies, and takes into account the timing of strategies within the business life cycle. The configuration approach thus provides a suitable frame of reference for
SME and entrepreneurship research as well
as education and training in entrepreneurial behavior.
Keywords: configuration approach, strategic management, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurship 1 The Challenge of Strategic Management in SMEs
The SME sector has shown steadily increasing numbers of enterprises and employees in the traditional market economies of Europe for many years, and in the new market economies since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989
. In most regions of Europe, however, entrepreneurs, representatives of small business associations and politicians are complaining more about threats than about opportunities. Indeed, there has always been turbulence within the sector: Entry and exit rates (measured in terms of stock turnover) are around 10% on average. A small number of fast-growing new businesses and a large number of selfemployed entrepreneurs and micro-enterprises have provided many new jobs,
while downsizing and streamlining have reduced the number of jobs in large businesses.
Industries which provided secure income for generations in
Josef Mugler
Department of Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Augasse 2-6, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Abstract: The configuration approach to the strategic management of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) is presented as an alternative to the traditional approach of
industrial economics. The configuration approach combines the traditional market-based view with a resource-based view of strategic management theory, stimulates the consideration of interdependencies instead of unidirectional dependencies, and takes into account the timing of strategies within the business life cycle. The configuration approach thus provides a suitable frame of reference for
SME and entrepreneurship research as well
as education and training in entrepreneurial behavior.
Keywords: configuration approach, strategic management, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurship 1 The Challenge of Strategic Management in SMEs
The SME sector has shown steadily increasing numbers of enterprises and employees in the traditional market economies of Europe for many years, and in the new market economies since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989
. In most regions of Europe, however, entrepreneurs, representatives of small business associations and politicians are complaining more about threats than about opportunities. Indeed, there has always been turbulence within the sector: Entry and exit rates (measured in terms of stock turnover) are around 10% on average. A small number of fast-growing new businesses and a large number of selfemployed entrepreneurs and micro-enterprises have provided many new jobs,
while downsizing and streamlining have reduced the number of jobs in large businesses.
Industries which provided secure income for generations in
References: 7 Wernerfeldt, B.: A resource-based view of the firm, 1984; Prahalad, C.K., Hamel, G.: The core competence of the corporation