A/HRC/35/32 disadvantage29 and offer an opportunity to enter the workforce to groups that have been traditionally excluded from employment in large businesses in some States (e.g. women and ethnic minorities). For these groups, self-employment and ownership of small businesses can be a means to engage in economic life. In South Africa, small and mediumsized enterprises have provided critical avenues for non-whites to own businesses, after having been historically discouraged from doing so. 30 23. Small and medium-sized enterprises are more flexible than their larger counterparts, enabling them to respond better to changes and disturbances in the social environment. Most also have a shorter-term outlook and strategies that are intuitive and opportunistic, which can be both a strength and a weakness. Within local systems of production, such enterprises can often be more flexible and responsive to customer needs than large firms. They can pool resources and share the costs of training, research and marketing with other firms of a similar size and industry.31 Their products and use of local technology may be more likely to satisfy the needs of poor people than the products of large enterprises using foreign technology, 32 and they can adapt new technologies to gain an edge over larger business enterprises. This flexibility may also facilitate adaptation to new expectations and requirements to respect human rights in line with the Guiding Principles. Small and medium-sized enterprises are potentially “quicker on and off their feet”, which allows them to be better placed than major corporate entities to take advantage of the fact that society and the media revere qualities such as honesty, integrity and the ability to say sorry. 33 2. Need for tailored guidance 24. The dynamic nature of small and medium-sized enterprises may, however, result in their limited strategic capacity, especially over the long term. 34 Furthermore, their limited market share means that they may be heavily reliant on a few customers, or in some cases just one. This dynamic nature also results in their constant creation and destruction: in 2002, it was estimated that 460 million adults around the world were involved in entrepreneurial activity, which could result in the creation of 100 million new businesses. 35 However, in the Philippines, for example, for every 10 people currently starting or running a new business, there are 7 who have discontinued one in the past year. 36 Half of European businesses started in 2001 had ceased operation by 2006.37 25. Despite the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises are of vital importance for the promotion of economic growth, job creation and the mitigation of poverty, particularly 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 8 See Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, “Beyond the Equality Bill: embedding equality and diversity in SMEs” (2010). Available from www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDFtechnical/small-business/tech-tp-beb.pdf. See “SMME Development” (footnote 22 above), p. 111. See http://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/1918307.pdf. See “SMME Development” (footnote 22 above), p. 111. See N. Sarbutts, “Can SMEs ‘do’ CSR? A practitioner’s view of the ways small- and medium-sized enterprises are able to manage reputation through corporate social responsibility”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 7 (2003), pp. 340 and 346. Available from www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/13632540310807476. See L. Ettkin, F. Raiszadeh and H. Hunt, “Just-in-time: a timely opportunity for small manufacturers”, Industrial Management (January 1990), pp. 16-18. See P.D. Reynolds et al, “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2002 Executive Report” (Babson College, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, London Business School, 2002). Available from www.esbri.se/gemglobalreport_2002.pdf. See D. Kelley, S. Singer and M. Herrington, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2015/16 Global Report (Entrepreneurship Research Association, 2016). Available to download from www.gemconsortium.org/report. See H. Schrör, “Business Demography: Employment and Survival” (Eurostat, Statistics in Focus 70/2009), p. 4. Available from http://edz.bib.uni-mannheim.de/www-edz/pdf/statinf/09/KS-SF-09070-EN.pdf.