ICSB Sunday Times Editor’s note:
Pour yourself a double cortado and settle in. This edition starts with a countdown to Paris, as the September 30 deadline approaches for research submissions to the ICSB × OECD SME World Forum 2026 under the theme “SMEs at Frontier Speed.” We then turn to entrepreneurial leadership and the idea that today’s leaders need to do three things at once: manage today, lead people, and create tomorrow. Finally, new research on micro and small enterprises shows how digital adoption, prior experience, and policy awareness shape survival, employment growth, and formalization. Together, these stories ask a practical question: what helps small firms not only survive change, but grow stronger through it? Curated by Dr. Ayman ElTarabishy
