Corporate Governance in Export-Oriented Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Manufacturing Industry

According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, the number of registered small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for only 3.6 percent of the total number of registered micro, small, medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs (MSME)1 in 2015. Small and medium enterprises comprised 51.7 percent of MSME employees, while the income from exports accounted for as much as 77 percent of export revenues of the MSME sector (export activities were registred in 36 percent of the total number of small enterprises and 52.5 percent of the total number of medium-sized enterprises). Considering the important role of these companies in the manufacturing industry in the domestic economy, this paper is focused on testing basic business compliance with key areas of corporate governance in the group of small and medium-sized enterprises with the highest credibility in business and high credit worthiness. The focus of the research is on the role of owners, management and supervision over business, as well as on the transparency of the companies’ operations and commitment to the basic principles of corporate governance. The paper demonstrates an analytical presentation of the business according to the technology intensity, which points to the leading areas of the manufacturing industry with the highest potential for growth in the following period.