Management Training in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

This research is part of an OECD Working Party on SMEs research project on Management Training in SMEs. This project will paint an overall picture of existing training programmes for SME managers. As to this the following main questions will be answered in this study: 1. Who provides training & further education and in which format ? 2. Why is training an appropriate focus for public subsidy, especially for SMEs? 3. What are the approximate expenditures, numbers of participants etc. spend on management training ? 4. Which courses managers are interested in and what are the results of management training for companies/ the economy ? 5. Which studies could be conducted to determine whether there is evidence that firms participate in management training ? The ZEW is responsible for the co-ordination and project management of the entire study as well as the case study for Germany. The Finnish case study has been carried out by the Vantaa Institute for Continuing Education (University of Helsinki). The report consists of three parts. The first part summarizes the results and highlights selected conclusions from both case studies. The German case study is the second part of the report. The third part contains the Finnish case study.

Fier, Andreas and Georg Licht (1999), Management Training in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Survey of Germany and Finland, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris