Small business

MANAGEMENT, MONITORING, EVALUATION AND CONTROL
14.1 Management responsibility
Objective: To attribute clear responsibilities for SME development
This should cover the key areas set out in the review with the focus on who is responsible for specific
aspects of policy, in particular:
• Areas where co-ordination is needed between different departments of government, for example,
between ministries of employment and education in areas of entrepreneurship education and training
or between ministries responsible for specific sectors with large numbers of SMEs, for example
ministries of tourism, agriculture or crafts;
• Management of changes in regulation. Responsibility for de-regulation or re-regulation will vary
between departments. This can cause problems as even ‘independent’ agencies and ministries with
major responsibility for SME development are not in a position to initiate all relevant regulation or
deregulation; 
• The specific responsibilities of the private sector for specific SME policies/programmes. SME business
associations, for example, may have responsibilities in licensing and in representing the private
sector when policy changes are planned;
• The responsibilities of local and regional bodies for the delivery of particular programmes/projects,
such as the operation of local business advice centres;
• The responsibilities of a national small business agency for key parts of the programme. This might
cover the operation of management or advisory boards to the agency, responsibilities for meeting key
counselling and training target, the management of business centres and their performance and the
way in which this is reported to the relevant minister;
• Responsibility for communication and promotion to all key stakeholders. This will normally be the
responsibility of a national small business agency or department and may take the form of an annual
report on the state of small business (see Annex 6 for an example of its structure).