Initial Situation/Problem Statement
The current multiple and, in some cases, unexpectedly occurring crises pose significant challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and SME policies. The task of applied SME research is to identify new challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at an early stage, enabling policymakers to make proactive decisions in support of the SME sector. Strategic foresight processes elucidate the topics that will be relevant for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as for economic and SME policies in the coming years. These methods are therefore of great interest to the applied SME research conducted by the institute.
Research Objective/Approach
The goal of the project is to develop, test, and implement a foresight process for SME research. To achieve this, existing foresight processes will be reviewed and analyzed for their suitability in capturing SME-specific needs. The project builds upon previous efforts currently underway in the "Crisis, Structural Change, and SMEs" project. The text analysis tool, tested in the pilot phase of that project, is being enhanced for use with large databases. Based on artificial intelligence (AI), the tool analyzes data from various sources (e.g., company websites, annual reports, business news, scientific pages) and condenses them into relevant topics. In a second step, the tool is validated regarding its utility for SME research and policy.