HOW TO TRANSFORM SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMES) INTO LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are the most dynamic and vital factor of progress in the contemporary society, main generator of economic performance and substance in any country, employment opportunity provider for most of population, major contributor to the national budget, and engine to improve the living standard of the population. SMEs represent 99% from all enterprises, drawing up the main human resource agglomeration. In Romania and other countries from The European Union, SMEs play an essential role in economic life, having special features that make adaptation process to the knowledge-based economy easier. In a knowledge-based economy context, SMEs should act as learning entities, by developing the most important resources they own: the human resources.