SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT­ THE CONTEMPORARY OUTLOOK

The paper discusses the new dimensions of managing Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in India. SMEs mostly fall in the category of family businesses started by first generation entrepreneurs, with or with out the formal knowledge of managing an enterprise. India's large proportion of industries is constituted by SMEs and they have been contributing 35% to 40% of India's industrial production. The entrepreneurs give more emphasis on managing very basic 4Ms to manage their enterprise, viz., Men, Machine, Money and Methods. There is no doubt that the earlier dimensions of managing an enterprise work d best to earn the profits to SMEs. Today the business scenario is rapidly changing. Globalization demands more than making profit anyhow for short term. Traditional management dimensions may not fetch the desired results in tenns of sustaining the business of small and medium enterprises for long run. Many factors contribute towards the change in outlook of managing a SME. There is a strong need for SMEs to become professionally managed enterprises. SMEs are also expected to be learning organizations in the days to come. The paper discusses about four major Ts namely Technology, Time span, Talent and Terrain as new dimensions to manage SMEs, which determine the success of SMEs in future.