Managing operations in small and medium sized Russian enterprises: an empirical research

The development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is one of the major features of the transition of the Russian Federation and the other new republics into a market economy. The private sector enterprises in Russia operate in highly unstable conditions, with an unsatisfactory financial market and often have a close relationship with public sector enterprises. This paper focuses on the Russian SMEs with the objective of helping them improve their performance in the new market conditions. It first presents the status of Russian SMEs by an industrial survey using questionnaires in the St. Petersburg region. Then, a summary of findings and recommendations for improving the competitiveness of Russian SMEs is discussed. The economy of Russia will largely depend upon the overall performance of SMEs as in all Western countries. Therefore, this paper focuses on the problems of Russian SMEs to help them in improving their competitiveness.