In the last years of general economic depression, European small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) have compensated for the large enterprises’ loss in value and job creation. A trend towards a “pulverization” of the economic system from large to small companies could be noticed. On the other hand, growth is an economic prerequisite for sustainable business success. Must a SME therefore grow and become a large enterprise in order to succeed? Not necessarily. Business growth is not a perpetuum mobile; it is restricted by internal diseconomies of scale and scope caused by the increased complexity of large organizations. In this paper, a new approach is presented which shows how small and medium sized companies can realize sustainable growth without losing the advantages of a small organizational structure.
