Abstract
Governments, anxious to assist the SMEs in their countries to survive and grow, face not only policy choices about how to assist with technology, financial resources and business direction, but also the complex issues of how to design organizations that can deliver these policies effectively. This study is a comparative analysis of how “technology extension” (TE) organizations are designed to support SMEs in seven countries. The study focuses on the design requirements for such organizations and on the design choices that have been used to satisfy the design requirements, given different policy frameworks. Prescriptive advice on the design of TE organizations is offered to both policy makers and managers of such organizations.