“…According to the definition of the European Commission (2003), SMEs are characterised by fewer than 250 employees, annual sales of up to EUR 50 million, and a balance sheet total of no more than EUR 43 million. They differ fundamentally from large enterprises not only in quantitative terms, but also above all in terms of leadership, human resource management, organisation, production and sales, funding and procurement, and research and development (Gilmore et al, 1999;Horch et al, 2014;O'Beirne, 2013).…”