“Keeping an eye on the market is key to the whole thing…” Sociography on the situation of Hungarian small and medium-size enterprises, 2017

Abstract

This economic-sociological analysis uses sociographical methods to demonstrate how the owners and the managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Central Transdanubia and Central Hungary perceived and evaluated the changes of the economic and social environment in focus group interviews conducted in 2017. Enterprises strive to base their operations on innovation, to be tested and hold their own in competition, but whereas this would require fair conditions, opportunism often prevails. The trivial statement highlighted in the title, in fact, expresses the knowledge and effort through which experienced entrepreneurs we interviewed are able to interpret the current economic conditions and strengthen their market position owing to the innovations that represent entrepreneurship itself. This qualitative piece of research complements the findings of numerous recent questionnaire-based surveys and quantitative analyses by providing a thematic description of what lies behind the problems. The substantive elements of the economy underlying the simplifying quantitative data become visible, such as how the competitiveness of Hungarian SMEs could be increased as well as the factors stimulating or stifling innovation. This sociography identifies the risks, as seen in the summer of 2017 by SME owners, inherent in the relationships of trust resting on paternalistic or reciprocal connections. It also presents the tools and strategies that small enterprises can deploy to help them reduce risks and survive. Keywords: SMEs, competitiveness, innovation, economic-regulatory environment