In all the best universities, lectures, visits from executives, lectures and case studies are used to teach students how international companies actually work. Still, it must be said that students hardly ever study small and medium businesses. This kind of knowledge is really lacking.
For instance, 99.9% of British companies are small and medium enterprises. Their share in private-sector employment is 60%, and in private-sector turnover – no less than 51%. Similarly, in France, 99.9% of businesses are small to medium, offering two-thirds of overall jobs. It seems that the market share of small companies is huge, but they are never studied properly.
Why Is It Useful To Study Smaller Businesses
According to Financial Times, most business school students dream about working for giant multinational juggernauts, mostly in the IT industry, or about launching their own start-ups, but the truth is that many of MBA graduates will end up at small to medium companies anyway.
While there is much to be taught about the inner workings of large companies, the opportunity to learn more about smaller, more limited businesses. The challenges faced by small to medium companies are different from their large counterparts, as well as their ultimate goals. Smaller businesses require no less creativity to run than large ones, as they have fewer resources for investment and drastically different problems. It’s actually much easier to find a fitting solution for a problem if there are more resources, thus, small to medium companies require more work to stay afloat.
Students should understand that any problem is much bigger and much more difficult for a smaller business, so priorities must be set. At business schools, students have a lot of classroom discussions about the social effect of companies, but only on a larger scale. It’s fine to talk multinational businesses, but domestic needs should not be forgotten, either.
How Can Students Become Assets for Smaller Companies
The problem is twofold: students should understand that small to medium businesses are no less interesting to study than large ones, while the companies themselves should realize how useful students can be. Many small businesses don’t even know that there is a top business school in their region.
Once, a small clothing store owner had a problem: customers often bought clothes to wear them only once and then return them to the shop without cutting off the tags. A business school student offered a good solution: to start a clothes rental company, which was admittedly more expensive to run, but the owner would never think of such a solution by himself.
Thus, students and their creativity may become a large asset for small to medium businesses, and smaller companies have much to teach business school students.
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