Keys figures for SBAT
Number of companies using SBAT by size
Videos section
TOGETHER !
MEASURING SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (SMEs) PERFORMANCE,
SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURS, AND HELP POLICYMAKERS
TO IMPROVE BUSINESSES SUSTAINABILITY AND GROWTH PROSPECTS.

News

May 18, 2022
L'équipe de SBAT est fier d'être présent au sein du salon de la valorisation de recherche en sciences humaines et sociales du CNRS. Des belles discussions avec les acteurs de l'écosystème et des chercheurs CNRS
OECD Seminar
Jan 20, 2020
Happening now @OPEE_Contact participate at the OECD expert seminar on the development of an SME and entrepreneurship typology @NadineLevratto
WHAT IS THE OBSERVATORY ON PRACTICES OF ENTREPRENEURS AND ENTERPRISES ?
A mixed team of researchers and practitioners to contribute to business success and growth
The OPEE was created at the initiative of a group of researchers and professors in economics, management and statisticians who are keen to put their knowledge at the service of companies, entrepreneurs and policymakers. They are engaged in a knowledge-sharing process from a viewpoint of inclusive development.
OPEE's teams come directly from the academic world or maintain close collaboration with the world of research.
Assess the positioning of any enterprise and evaluate the impact of support measures dedicated to this enterprise.
SBAT (Small Business Assessment Tool) is above all a tool designed for micro-enterprises and SMEs. It aims not only to evaluate their activity but also to compare it with their main competitors' activities. This tool guides an entrepreneur in its decision-making process based on its market position, in order to ensure a safer and more prosperous future for his company.
SBAT also allows policymakers to assess the scope and effectiveness of public policies to support entrepreneurship. By measuring the evolution and the path followed by a company, SBAT provides a framework for the formulation of action proposals for the benefit of companies.
HOW IT WORKS?
A diagnostic in two stages!
First stage: Determine the Business Model
The first step in self-analysis is to determine the business environment of your business. The nature of your production process and the market on which you are positioned are identified through a dozen key questions about your products, your competitors and suppliers, your approach to competition.
At the end of that stage you will know:
- How your enterprise measures up to its competitors
- How your enterprise measures up to its competitors
- Your strengths and weaknesses within this business model
- Your business potential
- Your business potential
Four business models have been identified with reference to a theory developed by Robert Salais and Michael Storper: https://www.amazon.fr/mondes-production-Enquête-lidentité-économique/dp/2713210062
Price competitiveness business model
Companies offer standard and generic products, employ a uniform workforce, and aim minimizing the cost of their production factors. Underlying industrial standardization and market predictability make it possible to develop production plans and adapt production equipment to deal with expected economic risk.
Innovative business model
New services and new product are designed and created to answer new needs or to find new uses for existing products. Companies belonging to this model create a general knowledge that can be adapted to various uses or is able to introduce change in existing production processes. Their main problem is to balance taste for novelty and acceptance.
Economies of scope business model
These companies adapt products provided by firms belonging to the price competitiveness business model to meet a particular demand: they sell standard products to specific customers. Activities are designed according to the buyer’s requirements. The few producers who can meet this demand compete with each other on the basis of price and speed of delivery. Great flexibility is needed to respond to customers' changing requirements.
Customer relationship business model
These firms offer specific products through highly specialized production process. Their output relies on specialized skills and know-how of individuals organized to respect the preferences of specific customers. Personal relationships matter and are a core asset for these companies. Firms provide personalized products or services and need to create accurate expectations and be very flexible to keep their position in the market. Investments in intangible assets and human capital are crucial.
Second stage: the enterprise position
Once the reference business model has been identified, the company's position on various aspects can be assessed.
Finance
This component is designed to determine whether the financial structure of your company corresponds to that of its reference model and to draw up an inventory regarding eligibility for access to financial resources. Your answers will help establish a diagnostic of the nature of the relationships with financial partners and thus better initiate future discussions to negotiate new financing.
Innovation
The objective in this section is to analyze your business propensity for innovation, but also to initiate changes to your products the design and creation,in order to improve your company’s competitive position.competitors. The analysis of the replies the questionnaire will allow us to evaluate your ability to evolve and reinvent your working techniques and production methods.
Internationalisation
By exploring in detail, the different import and export activities that together shape internationalization, respondents will have a clearer vision of their international development strategy.The international component identifies weak points in the internationalization strategy adopted and identifies areas for improvement or changes.
Leadership
Through this component we will be able to discern your entrepreneurial qualities in terms of attitude, motivation and and ability. Thus, the answers collected make it possible to establish a realistic description of your skills as a leader and to suggest and prioritize ways for improvement.
Human ressources
In this part we will evaluate the human capital of your company and your methods of human resources management. In this way, you will know more precisely the training needs, be more efficient or recruitments and improve working conditions to increase the quality of life at work for your employees.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Through this component you will be able to appreciate the level and nature of social and environmental responsibility practices in your company. You will know the strengths and possible margins of progress in the implementation of a CSR strategy in order to reach a leader position in this field and, thus, conquer markets and win contracts for which this dimension plays an important role.
A UNIQUE AND INNOVATIVE APPROACH
A global approach of the firm, richer than a simple financial analysis
A vision of the enterprise beyond finance: SBAT is based on a multi-criteria analysis of the company and for this reason offers a more reliable diagnosis and advice than those produced by a chartered accountant who has a comparison benchmark and more limited analysis techniques.


Techniques based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), far beyond expertise
To date, there is no real expert system specialized in diagnosing SMEs using artificial intelligence approaches and Machine Learning tools. SBAT is a leader in this field and its experts are putting their experience at the service of SMEs.
Targeting the needs of SMEs, but useful for all
Corporate defaults related to small and young enterprises is a matter of concern to government, which devote large amounts to providing assistance and advice to companies in early stage. These resources are spread over a large number of support structures which, for the most part,rely on classical tools of financial analysis. SBAT's methodological and software innovations help improve the quality of services provided to small businesses, consolidate entrepreneurial systems, achieve competitiveness gains and create or maintain jobs.


An interdisciplinary team, not just management experts
The culture of interdisciplinarity characterizes all participants in the project. It facilitates mutual understanding and the development of common solutions on a daily basis as well as in the event of difficulties. Crossing ideas will also be facilitated by this culture.
OUR SERVICE
ANALYSIS AND MEASUREMENT OF ADVANCED PERFORMANCE, ACCESSIBLE TO ALL

OPEE provides a framework for the formulation of action proposals by and for companies and has created a tool for this purpose SBAT (Small Business Assessment Tool).
SBAT is a tool designed for micro-firms and SMEs. It aims not only to evaluate but also compare their activity with those of their competitors. SBAT operates on the basis of qualitative and declarative information provided online by entrepreneurs and processed using deep learning techniques that allow to carry out diagnoses without bias on the ideal company profile. SBAT can also be used by local communities, governments and international organizations, as a tool for analyzing public policies to support entrepreneurship.
SBAT aims at:
- Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a company,
- Assisting entrepreneurs in making the best decisions through exploiting their business.
- Developing entrepreneurship within territories,
- Assisting governments to carry out the best entrepreneurship policies.
SBAT is completely confidential, secure, user-friendly and has no commercial purpose. The questionnaire is mutually beneficial:
- Entrepreneurs receive direct assistance to develop their business in the best possible way,
- In doing so, they participate in a data collection operation that will have a significant impact on academic research aimed at improving and developing business and entrepreneurship support policies.
JOIN THE SBAT COMMUNITY: LET US DO IT, TOGETHER!
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AND HELP US BUILD THE MOST GLOBAL AND ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS

Entrepreneur
You are an entrepreneur, managing a company with 1 to 50 employees. You want to compare your business to other companies, keep record of this analysis. The SBAT diagnosis tool generates a diagnosis report of your company. This report contains a brief summary of basic information, a presentation of your company's reference business model and its positioning relative to peers, as well as a complete diagnosis for each of the components proposed by the expert systemthat you chose to provide information. It also indicates the weaknesses of your business and areas for improvement. We would like you to contribute to the OPEE, but we would like you even more to participate in the SBAT Community to witness, improve, propose and develop this concept.
Researcher
You are a researcher in management sciences, statistics and artificial intelligence. You want to share your scientific knowledge with the OPEE team and be part of this adventure. SBAT is a project based on interdisciplinarity and each researcher can contribute to the building.

Employers' organization
You are an employers' organization, a business network, a sectoral union, etc. You wish to cooperate with the OPEE for a specific or sectoral study in order to study in depth the firms which are members of your organization? Do not hesitate to be part of the community.
Local authority
You are a local authority, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a business support structure, etc. Do you want to improve your evaluation methods of your actions for entrepreneurship and SME development? Feel free to be part of the community and help us propose specific evaluation methods adapted to your actions.
OPEE TEAM

NADINE LEVRATTO
President, Co-founder and Scientific Officer
She is the author of numerous books, articles published in academic journals and communications to seminars on business trajectories (creation, growth, failure), local determinants of job creation, and support policies to productive activity. She is also scientific director of several studies and research conducted for ministries, local authorities and public banks on the theme of development of SME development and local public policies.

MARIE-FLORENCE ESTIMÉ
Development and Strategy Advisor
Since retirement, she has continued to work in the areas of SMEs and Entrepreneurship.She is currently a Board Member of INSME (International Network for SMEs based in Rome, Italy),and of several NGOs and non-profit associations. She is also undertaking a private non-profit sustainable development project in Haïti.

MAAROUF RAMADAN
CO-FOUNDER, GENERAL DELEGATE
He is the author of numerous books, articles published in academic journals and papers in conferences on the internationalization of enterprises, international entrepreneurship and corporate finance, particularly during the seed phase. He conducts part of his research in close collaboration with the French Federation of Business Angels in order to show their practices of support to start-ups in France and their driving role for innovation.
CONTACT
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