PERFORMANCE OF SMES AND THE ROLE OF RESILIENCE

Peak oil is increasingly seen as a major threat to economy as well as infrastructures. Peak oil either happened (2008) or is to be expected in the near future. European gas production has peaked and it is doubtful if imports will be sufficient. A decline in oil production will possibly trigger a decline in economic production or even a collapse. Thus, regional development policies should consider regional resilience strategies. In order to do this it is necessary to clarify the resilience and operationalize resilience components: economic, ecological, social factors and factors of the built environment. This describes the background for answering our research questions. What can be SMEs contributions? How social sciences can measure their performance and their strategic options to get statement rich in scientific content. Regional, national and EU policies are challenged. We carry out workshops with local entrepreneurs and their local stakeholders as well as interested public from May to July 2013 underpinned by social surveys within various organizations and business in order to crosscheck analyses from explorative interviews with key stakeholders before. The empirical data are basis for case studies in two regions rounded up by energy expert workshops in each region for analyzing sensitivity of empirical results (derived scenarios) against various expert scenarios.