CIMR & SMEs

CIMR activities to engage and support small and medium-sized enterprises.

Our philosophy at CIMR is to foster “engaged scholarship”. Therefore, the CIMR family includes members from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They are embedded in different dimensions of the policy arena, with which we engage through a variety of events and activities. Additionally, we are part of a broader community of policymakers and practitioners. We strive for continuous dialogue, which is why our research is relevant to SMEs and other stakeholders by virtue of our existence.

Our research agenda is to undertake international research focusing on multi-disciplinary academic, industrial and commercial themes relating to the management of innovation and support for entrepreneurship. Our aim is to inform thinking and practice. We specialize in such themes as early stage and growing companies (performance, finance and investment, marketing), inclusive entrepreneurship, intellectual property rights, innovation management including open innovation and science-business engagement, entrepreneurial co-creation, data management, and ethical and environmental issues.

This section of the website reflects our commitment to working with SMEs and entrepreneurs, which was so important in the award of the Small Business Charter accreditation in December 2021.

This is an extract from the letter informing the School of the award:

“The value Birkbeck adds to their student business owners and the impact on their businesses is an order of magnitude higher than the assessors have seen elsewhere. Furthermore, the stature, relevance, and impact of Birkbeck’s research for policy markers is exemplary.”

The award is also, “a result of years of effort made to develop Entrepreneurship Education and Research at BEI”.

Learn how we strive to support SMEs with content including:

Please get in touch if you would like to create a SME collaboration with CIMR.