Institute for SME Research Bonn

The Institute for SME Research Bonn (abbreviated IfM Bonn) was founded in 1957 on the initiative of Ludwig Erhard by the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as a foundation under private law. In the spring of 1958 it started at 5 locations: prominent scientists were at the head of the respective research departments: at the University of Cologne , a business department under the direction of Rudolf Seyffert , the sociological department under the direction of René König and the financial department under the Management by Günter Schmölders . At the University of Bonn it was the economics department under the direction of Fritz W. Meyer and the department for economic issues under the direction of Ernst Kamp.

In the beginning, the definition of the middle class and the development of statistical data were the focus of the scientific work. At the same time, the first studies on the “competitive situation of medium-sized companies”, on the comparison of companies as well as on business management training and advice for medium-sized companies were carried out.

In the course of the following decades the scientific activities of the five IfM departments were finally concentrated on the Bonn location (since then IfM Bonn). At all times, however, an essential characteristic of the institute was its interdisciplinary and independent work. Accordingly, he was able to identify topics at an early stage that later actually became relevant for medium-sized companies: in the 1970s, for example, it published basic studies on the start-up gap, in the 1980s on employment development and in 2000 on "SMEs in the Internet age ". His research work has also contributed to the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises have found lasting consideration in various laws.

Legal status and financing

The IfM Bonn, a foundation under private law, has its seat in Bonn . The exclusive and immediate purpose of the foundation is the establishment and maintenance of an institute for the scientific research of the situation of the middle class .

Two thirds of the research work of the institute comes from the federal budget, represented by the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy , and one third from the budget of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, represented by the state's minister for economy, innovation, digitization and energy North Rhine-Westphalia , financed. However, the IfM Bonn is independent in its research activities.

A cooperation agreement has existed with the University of Siegen since February 1, 2013 , at which the current President of the IfM Bonn, Friederike Welter , also holds the professorship for business administration, in particular the management of small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurship.

Bodies

The president is responsible for managing the institute. The Institute's activities are supervised by the Board of Trustees. This determines the research program in agreement with the institute management. The research council, which is composed mostly of scientists, supports the institute in the development and implementation of medium-term research projects.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees appoints the President of the institute and, in agreement with him / her, determines the research program. The Board of Trustees is also responsible for overseeing the administration of the foundation's assets as well as examining and approving the business plan in accordance with the federal budgetary provisions.

Chair:

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

Deputy Chair:

Ministry for Economy, Innovation, Digitization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

Other members:

Federal Ministry of Finance
Ministry for the Environment, Agriculture, Nature and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Rüdiger Kabst, Chairman of the Research Council, University of Paderborn

Research Council

The research council has the task of supporting the institute in the development of short- and medium-term research priorities and accompanying their implementation. In addition, it promotes the cooperation between the institute and science, medium-sized businesses, their associations and administration.

Chairman of the Research Council:

Rüdiger Kabst, University of Paderborn

Deputy Chairman:

Holger Lösch, Member of the Executive Board, Federation of German Industries

Other members:

Constanze Chwallek, Aachen University of Applied Sciences
Urs Fueglistaller, University of St. Gallen
Michael Frese, Leuphana University and National University of Singapore
Reiner Nolten, General Manager , West German Chamber of Crafts
Sabine Rau, European School of Management and Technology Berlin

Tasks and activities

The task of the IfM Bonn is to research the situation, development and problems of medium-sized companies, to make the research results available to the public and to contribute to the fulfillment of the tasks of the departments of its donors with its work.

IfM Bonn is independent in its research activities. The scientific work of the IfM Bonn is based on the "Recommendations for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice" of the German Research Foundation. An ombudsman and his deputy ensure that the institute's own regulations are observed.

The institute fulfills its tasks in a practice-oriented manner. For this purpose, it prepares extensive statistical data on SMEs on the basis of official, semi-official and specially collected data. So the IfM Bonn compiles based on the data of the Federal Statistical Office u. a. Regular statistics on the start-ups that are required to be registered, the corporate tasks that are required to be registered (liquidations) and insolvencies. In addition, the IfM Bonn has been determining the number of company successions since the mid-1990s using a self-developed estimation method, as there are no official statistics on this.

At the same time, the scientists work on current SME policy issues using empirical research methods and prepare expert reports. With the project “Mittelstand - what is it actually?”, The IfM Bonn has not only developed fundamental results for its own future research work, but also for scientific research in general.

Research activity

The focus of the activity lies in the four program areas:

SME statistics / ongoing economic monitoring
Middle class, society and the state
Development courses of medium-sized companies
Strategic corporate management

The basis for the institutional research of the IfM Bonn is the multi-year research program. The processing of research projects is documented in detail in annual work reports. In addition to institutional research, the IfM Bonn also accepts research contracts from third parties.

SME Future Panel

Since 2014, the IfM Bonn has been working with external experts from research, business and SME policy to identify future-oriented research fields and topics that are relevant for both the institute's research and for specifying SME policy.

NUI indicator

Since 1998, the scientists at IfM Bonn have been comparing the new entrepreneurial initiatives (NUI) in the 402 districts and independent cities in Germany to the resident population of the region who are fit for work. The NUI region ranking results from the formation of a ranking of the NUI indicator values.

Round table for medium-sized companies

At the end of 2014 the IfM Bonn revitalized the Round Table for SMEs in order to promote the dialogue between SME research, the SME economy and SME policy.

Offensive middle class

IfM Bonn is a partner of the SME offensive . This project was initiated in 2006 with the aim of providing medium-sized business leaders with free information and practical support so that they can continuously improve their business processes. In addition to the IfM Bonn, the network now includes around 150 partners from business, science, associations and various federal and state authorities.

International research

The European Network for Social and Economic Research (ENSR) is a Europe-wide network of renowned institutes for applied economic and social research, the partner institute in all 27 member states of the European Union (EU) as well as in Iceland, Norway, Switzerland (Liechtenstein collaborating) and belong to Turkey. The IfM Bonn has been part of the ENSR as the only German partner institute since it was founded in 1991.

Publications

IfM research newsletter
IfM materials
facts and figures
Working papers
Policy Brief "Mittelstand aktuell" (together with FGF Förderkreis Gründungs-Forschung eV)
Thinking papers
Viewpoints
Writings on SME research

Board members / presidents

Surname	Period
Rudolf Seyffert (board member)	1958-1970
René König (board member)	1958-1974
Fritz W. Meyer (Board member)	1958-1974
Günter Schmölders (board member)	1958-1974
M. Ernst Kamp (Board of Directors)	1958-1980
Fritz Klein-Blenkers (board member)	1970-1982
Horst Albach (board member)	1981-1987
Herbert Hax (board member)	1982-1998
Dieter Bös (board member)	1998-2004
Uschi Backes-Gellner (board member)	1998-2006
Georg Nöldecke (board member)	2005
Udo Koppelmann (board member)	2006-2008
Johann Eekhoff (President)	2009-2011
Ljuba Haunschild (interim board member)	2011–2012
Rosemarie Kay (interim board member)	2011–2012
Friederike Welter (President)	since 2013