A review of the food processing, retail and tourism sectors in Germany, Ireland and Greece. In a context of increasingly fierce competition, driven by market globalisation, business sectors and individual enterprises need to respond effectively to constant change. With view on this, the present study aims to:

- investigate how, and under what conditions, quality approaches to training are introduced in or for small enterprises in various sectors in Member States and to draw comparisons between them, with particular emphasis to the ‘sector logic’, the sectors’ special characteristics and to the national cultural and institutional environment;

- investigate how small enterprises plan human resources development, how the relevant training is implemented, how the results and outcome of training are assessed and evaluated, and how conclusions are drawn from such evaluations and utilised for improving training and overall performance;

- make comparisons between countries and sectors and to formulate proposals for disseminating identified good practices and supporting small enterprises in improving quality in training and their competitiveness.