Most research on institutional features of distinct varieties of capitalism in Europe has analyzed only large corporations. This volume explores the impact of the institutional and structural changes on corporate governance, management culture, and social relationships in small and medium sized enterprises in different European countries.

Autorentext
INGRID ARTUS is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. She publishes on collective bargaining systems in Germany, France and at European level. KATHARINA BLUHM is Assistant Professor for Sociology at the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena and currently fellow at the Wissenschaftszentrum in Berlin (WZB). She has been a Research Fellow at the Center for European Studies at Harvard, USA TADEUSZ BORKOWSKI is Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland (Institute of Economics and Management), and President of Hermes Organization SALMA FATTOUM is a PhD Student at the University of Lyon 3 and EM Lyon and a part time Pedagogical Assistant at EM Lyon Business School, France. She is also working at the Entrepreneurship Research Centre 'Entrepreneurial Process dynamics'. ALAIN FAYOLLE is Professor and Director of the Entrepreneurship Research Centre at EM Lyon, Senior Researcher at CERAG at the University Pierre Mendès France of Grenoble and Visiting Professor at Solvay Business School, Belgium, and HEC Montréal, Canada MICHAUL FAUST is a Senior Researcher at the Sociological Research Institute of Georg-August University in Göttingen (SOFI), Germany, and lecturers at the University. MICHAEL FICHTER is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science, Free University Berlin, Germany MIKE GEPPART is Professor of Comparative International Management and OrganizationStudies at the School of Management at the University of Surrey, UK GARY HERRIGEL is Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, USA HARTMUT HIRSCH-KREINSEN is Professor of Economic and Industrial Sociology at the University of Dortmund, Germany JÜRGEN KÄDTLER is Senior Researcher and Institute Director of Sociological Research Institute of Georg-August University in Göttingen (SOFI), Germany HERRMANN KOTTHOFF is Professor of Industrial and Organizational Sociology at the Technical University of Darmstadt and was Director of the Institute for Social Research and Social Economy (ISO) in Saarbrücken, Germany CHRISTEL LANE is Professor of Economic Sociology in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Business Research and Fellow of St. John's College, all in the University of Cambridge, UK RAINHART LANG is Professor of Organization Studies at the Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany ALEKSANDER MARCINKOWSKI is Senior Lecturer at Institute of Economics and Management, Jagiellonian University, Poland BERND MARTENS is Senior Researcher in the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 580 at the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena as well as a member of the Institute for Sociology at the University of Tübingen, Germany JOCELYN PROBERT is a Lecturer in International Management and Organization at the Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK RALPH-ELMAR LUNGWITZ is Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research in Chemnitz (WISOC), Germany. YVONNE RÜCKERT worked as Scientific Researcher at the Ruhr University of Bochum / IG Metall in collaboration with Dr. Ralph-Elmar Lungwitz (Chemnitz) and Manfred Wannöffel RUDI SCHMIDT is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and has held university and research posts at the universities of Berlin, Erlangen and Jena, Germany VOLKER TELLJOHANN is Senior Researcher at the Institute for Labour Foundation in Bologna, Italy MANFRED WANNÖFFEL is Head of the Office of the Cooperation between the Ruhr-University Bochum and Industrial Metal Union (IG Metall). He also lectures Sociology of Organizations and Participation Studies at the Faculty of Social Science at the Ruhr-University Bochum and at the Centre for Further Education at the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

Inhalt
Why should the Varieties Literature Grant Smaller Firms more Attention? An Introduction; K.Bluhm& R.Schmidt PART I: CHANGING FINANCING, OWNERSHIP AND FIRM MANAGEMENT The Power of Financial Markets: What does that Mean and how does it Work for Different Categories of Companies?; J.Kädtler& M.Faust Change within Traditional Channels: German SMEs, the Restructuring of the Banking Sector, and the Growing Shareholder-value Orientation; K.Bluhm& B.Martens Corporate Financing, Management and Organization: An Anglo-German Comparison; M.Geppert& B.Martens Stakeholder or Shareholder Orientation? Entrepreneurial Careers and Value Preferences of Entrepreneurs in East Germany; R.Lang SMEs in France: Perspectives and New Generation of Small Business Owners; A.Fayolle& S.Fattoum Family Business and Family Change: The End of Patriarchalism; H.Kotthoff PART II: SMES IN GLOBALIZED PRODUCTION NETWORKS SMEs in the Global Economy: A Comparison of the Global Production Networks of German and British Clothing Firms; C.Lane& J.Probert Flexibility and Formalization: Rethinking Space and Governance in Corporations and Manufacturing Regions; G.Herrigel Innovation Strategies of Non-research SMEs in Europe: H.Hirsch-Kreinsen From the 'Wild West' Towards Europe: SMEs in Poland: T.Borkowski& A.Marcinkowski PART III: LABOUR RELATIONS IN CHANGE Structural Changes and New Forms of Social Regulation in the 'Third Italy': V.Telljohann Polish SMEs at a Crossroads: Market Strategies and Labour Relations in Global Competition: R-E.Lungwitz, M.Wannöffel&Y.Rückert Unravelling Regulation: How Production Relocation to the East Impacts the German Model of Labour Relations; M.Fichter Irregular Forms of Interest Representation in SMEs: A German-French Comparison; I.Artus Social Relationships in German SMEs: An East-west Comparison; R.Schmidt