Abstract
It is widely accepted that strategic management should not only play an important role in large or established companies but also in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These SMEs represent more than 90 percent of all enterprises in Europe and supply almost 70 percent of all jobs in Germany (OECD 2002b). Due to the crucial role of SMEs and their powerful market position in Germany, the German word Mittelstand has been absorbed into the Anglo-American management literature. These Mittelstand companies serve as a very important source of innovation and technological change, and thus increase economic welfare and competitiveness (OECD 2002a). Still, both media coverage and scientifi c research predominantly focus on large enterprises.