SME Supports in the EU : Benchmarking American and Japanese Models

This research explores SME supports in the EU, and it aims to benchmark American and Japanese model to improve European Model. In the US, SME supports are divided into two groups: Information supports and Finance supports. And US model determines supporting organizations to donate those supports. In Japanese model, supports are divided into information and finance, and Japanese determines supporting organizations. In Europe, SME supports are widely dispersed among different kind of organizations. For example, 22 different funds and organizations donate various supports to SMEs. That may decrease the effectiveness of SME supports. Because European SMEs may not know which organizations give what kind of supports. Therefore, SMEs may need advising and advertising for acquiring supports. In addition, there may be authorization conflict between supporting organizations in Europe. Therefore, this study aims to group SME supports in Europe with benchmarking method of American and Japanese models