Small business

6.7 Programmes for civil servants
Objective: To improve the understanding of ‘enterprise culture’ and its promotion among civil servants
Effective development and implementation of policy requires highly competent and knowledgeable
public officials. Training and development of the relevant groups of public employees will often be
necessary because they may not fully understand small business, lack empathy with the culture of the
entrepreneur, and may have a limited ability to undertake or supervise needs analysis, programme
development, effective delivery, programme management and evaluation of SME support.
The development needs of public servants vary with their status and location. A basic programme for
public service development might cover:
• Understanding the importance of small businesses in society and the role they play in economic and
social development;
• Understanding the culture of entrepreneurship and how it is embodied in firms;
• The ways in which the differentiated SME structure can be segmented in a meaningful way for policy
development;

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• The basic characteristics of SMEs and the implications for the development of instruments of support
and regulation;
• Acquaintance with the scope for: policy setting; policy management; stakeholder, institutional and
programme development building on best national and international practice;
• Concepts of private sector led SME development and their particular relevance to support.
Staff of multilateral and bilateral donor/aid agencies may need similar training for the creation and
delivery of effective SME policies and programmes. These agencies play an essential role in supporting all
stages of SME development through funding and international know-how. However, their work is often
based on models that work in developed country contexts but may not do so in a transition or developing
economy without extensive adaptation. Ensuring sustainability of results in these countries often also
requires a longer time frame than foreseen in the programmes of these agencies. Few of the staff actually
have business experience. A greater awareness of the way in which the SME sector operates will increase
the effectiveness of external support. A more substantial discussion of the role of donors may be found in
Annex 9.
EFFECTIVE POLICIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS - © OECD 2004
6. Programme Development 
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