Search results for: large privately owned enterprises

Authors: Lemuel David

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The importance of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises sector is well recognized for its legitimate contribution to the Macroeconomic objectives of the Republic of Liberia, like generation of employment, input t, exports, and enhancing entrepreneurship. Right now, Medium and Small enterprises accounts for about 99 percent of the industrial units in the country, contributing 60 percent of the manufacturing sector output and approximately one-third of the nation’s exports. The role of various financial institutions like ECO bank and Non-financial Institutions like Bearch Limited support promoting the growth of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises is unique. A small enterprise or entrepreneur gets many types of assistance from different institutions for varied purposes in the course of his entrepreneurial journey. This paper focuses on the factors related to financial institutional support and non-financial institutional support entrepreneurs to the growth of Medium and Small enterprises in the Republic of Liberia. The significance of this paper is to support Policy and Institutional Support for Medium and Small enterprises to know the views of entrepreneurs about financial and non-financial support systems in the Republic of Liberia. This study was carried out through a survey method, with the use of questionnaires. The population for this study consisted of all registered Medium and Small enterprises which have been registered during the years 2004-2014 in the republic of Liberia. The sampling method employed for this study was a simple random technique and determined a sample size of 400. Data for the study was collected using a standard questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: the first part consisted of questions on the profile of the respondents. The second part covers (1) financial, promotional factors and (2) non-financial promotional factors. The results of the study are based on financial and non-financial supporting activities provided by institutions to Medium and Small enterprises. After investigation, it has been found that there is no difference in the support given by Financial Institutions and non-financial Institutions. Entrepreneurs perceived “collateral-free schemes and physical infrastructure support factors are highest contributing to entry and growth of Medium and Small enterprises.

Keywords: micro, small, and medium enterprises financial institutions, entrepreneurship

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Authors: Atef Aladwan

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This research will focus on stimulating greater freedom and facilitating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Jordan to create jobs, as it is emerging as a key development issue. It will highlight the importance of integrating SMEs into development strategies. Jordan has potentially a large market for its products as a result of proximity to developed country markets, signing of various free trades agreements with European countries, cheap energy sources and vast sovereign funds willing to invest in the development of local enterprises. It is beginning to be accepted by governments that SMEs rather than government need to be the main player in domestic economic activity, especially as providers of employment opportunities, and hence generators of sources of income for many households. To foster SME development, it is generally recognised that reforms are needed in Jordan in order to bring about a more globally competitive and business-friendly environment.

Keywords: SMEs, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, jordan, development

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Authors: Woosik Jang, Seung H. Han

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The optimal partner selection is one of the most important factors to pursue the project’s success. However, in practice, there is a gaps in perception of success depending on the role of the enterprises for the projects. This frequently makes a relations between the partner evaluation results and the project’s final performances, insufficiently. To meet this challenges, this study proposes a strategic partner evaluation model considering the perception gaps between enterprises. A total 3 times of survey was performed; factor selection, perception gap analysis, and case application. After then total 8 factors are extracted from independent sample t-test and Borich model to set-up the evaluation model. Finally, through the case applications, only 16 enterprises are re-evaluated to “Good” grade among the 22 “Good” grade from existing model. On the contrary, 12 enterprises are re-evaluated to “Good” grade among the 19 “Bad” grade from existing model. Consequently, the perception gaps based evaluation model is expected to improve the decision making quality and also enhance the probability of project’s success.

Keywords: partner evaluation model, project based enterprise, decision making, perception gap, project performance

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Authors: Amina Oukennou, Zitouni Beidouri, Otmane Bouksour

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Small to Medium-sized enterprises are a very important component of the economy. They are present in the whole industries all over the world. They are considered as the engine for future growth in the economy. Project management is an economical international factor impacting all types of enterprises including the SMEs. This paper has the aim of measuring the weight of using projects and project management in Moroccan SMEs in comparison with the large companies. The study is based on interviews with experts: project managers, managers, directors, and consultants. They were asked questions measuring the weight of using projects, the level of using project management, and the resources employed. Eighteen Moroccan companies from a range of industries and sizes were consulted. All the companies consider projects as a key element in their strategy. Most of them affirm the great usefulness of the approach 'project', especially for the external activities. The main differences lie in the duration and the size of used projects. Despite the commonly shared idea about the importance of the project management, the interviewed persons believe that the project management knowledge has the same importance or less than the technical knowledge. All the companies affirm the need for a simpler version of project management. The content varies from one company to another.

Keywords: project dimension, project management, small to medium-sized entreprise, Morocco

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Authors: Janusz K. Grabara, Bartłomiej Okwiet, Sebastian Kot

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The purpose of the article is presentation and analysis of the aspect of job security in small and medium-size enterprises in Poland with reference to other EU countries. We show the theoretical aspects of the risk with reference to managing small and medium enterprises, next risk management in small and medium enterprises in Poland, which were subjected to a detailed analysis. We show in detail the risk associated with the operation of the mentioned above companies, as well as analyses its levels on various stages and for different kinds of conducted activity.

Keywords: job safety, SME, work risk, risk management

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Authors: Kharaishvili Eteri

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The article highlights the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in achieving the goals of sustainable development of the economy and increasing the well-being of the population. The opinion is put forward that it is necessary to adapt the activities of small and medium-sized firms in Georgia to sustainable business models. Therefore, it is important to identify the challenges that will ensure compliance with the goals and requirements of sustainable development of small and mediumsized enterprises. Objectives. The goal of the study is to reveal the challenges of sustainable development in small and medium-sized enterprises in Georgia and to develop recommendations for strategic development opportunities. Methodologies The challenges of sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises are investigated with the following methodology: bibliographic research of scientific works and reports of organizations is carried out; Based on the grouping of sustainable development goals, the performance indicators of these goals are studied; Differences with respect to the corresponding indicators of European countries are determined by the comparison method; The matrix scheme establishes the conditions and tools for sustainable development; Challenges of sustainable development are identified by factor analysis. Contributions Trends in the sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises are studied from the point of view of economic, social and environmental factors; To ensure sustainability, the conditions and tools for sustainable development are established (certified supply chains and global markets, allocation of financial resources necessary for sustainable development, proper public procurement, highly qualified workforce, etc.); Several main challenges have been identified in the sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises, including: limited internal resources; Institutional factors, especially vague and imperfect regulations, bureaucracy; low level of investments; Low level of qualification of human capital and others.

Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises, sustainable development, conditions of sustainable development, strategic directions of sustainable development.

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Authors: Abbas Raza Ali

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Big Data technology is gradually becoming a dire need of large enterprises. These enterprises are generating massively large amount of off-line and streaming data in both structured and unstructured formats on daily basis. It is a challenging task to effectively extract useful insights from the large scale datasets, even though sometimes it becomes a technology constraint to manage transactional data history of more than a few months. This paper presents a framework to efficiently manage massively large and complex datasets. The framework has been tested on a communication service provider producing massively large complex streaming data in binary format. The communication industry is bound by the regulators to manage history of their subscribers’ call records where every action of a subscriber generates a record. Also, managing and analyzing transactional data allows service providers to better understand their customers’ behavior, for example, deep packet inspection requires transactional internet usage data to explain internet usage behaviour of the subscribers. However, current relational database systems limit service providers to only maintain history at semantic level which is aggregated at subscriber level. The framework addresses these challenges by leveraging Big Data technology which optimally manages and allows deep analysis of complex datasets. The framework has been applied to offload existing Intelligent Network Mediation and relational Data Warehouse of the service provider on Big Data. The service provider has 50+ million subscriber-base with yearly growth of 7-10%. The end-to-end process takes not more than 10 minutes which involves binary to ASCII decoding of call detail records, stitching of all the interrogations against a call (transformations) and aggregations of all the call records of a subscriber.

Keywords: big data, communication service providers, enterprise data warehouse, stream computing, Telco IN Mediation

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Authors: Mateusz Rak

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Objective: The paper aims to present various sources of competitive advantage which may occur when an enterprise strategically applies its concept of corporate philanthropy. Methodology: The review of the literature and available reports on the research regarding corporate philanthropy. Results: Strategic philanthropy is a positive phenomenon. Unfortunately, enterprises in Poland do not see all positive sides of such activities yet. Three kinds of corporate philanthropy may be described. They are to fulfil a social duty, improve the company reputation and gain a competitive edge. Practical implications: Showing enterprises the advantages of taking philanthropic actions, in particular, a large role of strategic philanthropy in gaining a competitive edge in the market as well as how to avoid negative consequences of corporate philanthropy. The paper presents corporate philanthropy on a few layers: as a CSR element, actions generating values in products, actions improving a corporate image in the market, altruist actions of employees.

Keywords: corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, corporate foundations, CSR

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Authors: Jagriti Mishra, Vasundhara Chaudhary

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Introduction: The case highlights various issues and challenges faced by Khanna Enterprises while conceptualizing and execution of launching Active Leisure wear in the domestic market, where different steps involved in the range planning and production have been elaborated. Although Khanna Enterprises was an established company which dealt in the production of knitted and woven garments, they took the risk of launching a new concept- Active Leisure wear for Millennials. Methodology: It is based on primary and secondary research where data collection has been done through survey, in-depth interviews and various reports, forecasts, and journals. Findings: The research through primary and secondary data and execution of active leisure wear substantiated the acceptance, not only by the millennials but also by the generation X. There was a demand of bigger sizes as well as more muted colours. Conclusion: The sales data paved the way for future product development in tune with the strengths of Khanna Enterprises.

Keywords: millennials, range planning, production, active leisure wear

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Authors: K. Debkowska

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The aim of this article is presenting the possibilities of using Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) in researches concerning business models of enterprises. FsQCA is a bridge between quantitative and qualitative researches. It's potential can be used in analysis and evaluation of business models. The article presents the results of a study conducted on the basis of enterprises belonging to different sectors: transport and logistics, industry, building construction, and trade. The enterprises have been researched taking into account the components of business models and the financial condition of companies. Business models are areas of complex and heterogeneous nature. The use of fsQCA has enabled to answer the following question: which components of a business model and in which configuration influence better financial condition of enterprises. The analysis has been performed separately for particular sectors. This enabled to compare the combinations of business models' components which actively influence the financial condition of enterprises in analyzed sectors. The following components of business models were analyzed for the purposes of the study: Key Partners, Key Activities, Key Resources, Value Proposition, Channels, Cost Structure, Revenue Streams, Customer Segment and Customer Relationships. These components of the study constituted the variables shaping the financial results of enterprises. The results of the study lead us to believe that fsQCA can help in analyzing and evaluating a business model, which is important in terms of making a business decision about the business model used or its change. In addition, results obtained by fsQCA can be applied by all stakeholders connected with the company.

Keywords: business models, components of business models, data analysis, fsQCA

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Authors: Mohammad Tahir Yousafzai, Amna Rehana Siddiqui, Naveed Zafar Janjua

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We assessed the frequency and predictors of sharp injuries (SIs) among health care workers (HCWs) at first level care facilities (FLCF) in rural Pakistan. HCWs working at public clinic (PC), privately owned licensed practitioners’ clinic (LPC) and non-licensed practitioners’ clinic (NLC) were interviewed on universal precautions (UPs) and constructs of health belief model (HBM) to assess their association with SIs through negative-binomial regression. From 365 clinics, 485 HCWs were interviewed. Overall annual rate of Sis was 192/100 HCWs/year; 78/100 HCWs among licensed prescribers, 191/100 HCWs among non-licensed prescribers, 248/100 HCWs among qualified assistants, and 321/100 HCWs among non-qualified assistants. Increasing knowledge score about bloodborne pathogens (BBPs) transmission (rate-ratio (RR): 0.93; 95%CI: 0.89–0.96), fewer years of work experience, being a non-licensed prescriber (RR: 2.02; 95%CI: 1.36–2.98) licensed (RR: 2.86; 9%CI: 1.81–4.51) or non-licensed assistant (RR: 2.78; 95%CI: 1.72–4.47) compared to a licensed prescriber, perceived barriers (RR: 1.06;95%CI: 1.03–1.08), and compliance with UPs scores (RR: 0.93; 95%CI: 0.87–0.97) were significant predictors of SIs. Improved knowledge about BBPs, compliance with UPs and reduced barriers to follow UPs could reduce SIs to HCWs.

Keywords: health belief model, sharp injuries, needle stick injuries, healthcare workers

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Authors: Melchor C. Morandarte

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Entrepreneurship education if well-designed, supported, and true to its sense in its implementation, can play a pivotal role in the development of Micro, small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the country. As its foundation, there is no amount of economic shocks that can prevent the country’s economic development and sustainability. Likewise, if properly developed, entrepreneurship education is the only kind of academic activity that rains employment opportunities propel and sustain economic growth. The study will try to find the contributions of the entrepreneurship education in the Philippines. Provide possible solutions that will solve academic heads and educators of entrepreneurship dilemma in making graduates of the program to engage or pursue a business after their graduation. Transforming BS in Entrepreneurship graduates from employment to an entrepreneurial minded individuals to establish and manage their owned businesses (as designed) whether micro, small or medium enterprises justifies the purpose within which it was created. Formally started in academic year 2006-2007, the program suffers in a very low enrollment in the first three academic years when it was first offered in the different HEIs all over the country. It started to experience only some increase in enrollment as a result of the moratorium in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in academic year 2011-2012 till today. The number of enrollees resulted in a substantial number of graduates. Considering the number of Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship graduates as of today, there would have been an additional number of business establishments from since the program started to be offered in the different HEIs throughout the country. In conclusion, coming up with a well-designed curriculum, relevant curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities couple with much needed support from concerned government agencies, the institutions, other government and non-governmental institutions, private organizations, entrepreneurship practitioners can make the difference in terms of the mindset of the students of entrepreneurship.

Keywords: economic shocks, educators dilemma, rains employment opportunities, co-curricular

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Authors: Jaechun No

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This paper focuses on I/O optimizations of N-hybrid (New-Form of hybrid), which provides a hybrid file system space constructed on SSD and HDD. Although the promising potentials of SSD, such as the absence of mechanical moving overhead and high random I/O throughput, have drawn a lot of attentions from IT enterprises, its high ratio of cost/capacity makes it less desirable to build a large-scale data storage subsystem composed of only SSDs. In this paper, we present N-hybrid that attempts to integrate the strengths of SSD and HDD, to offer a single, large hybrid file system space. Several experiments were conducted to verify the performance of N-hybrid.

Keywords: SSD, data section, I/O optimizations, hybrid system

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Authors: Muhammad Bilal Mustafa, Javed Hussain, Simeon Babatunde

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The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of countless organisations beyond their size, type, and location. However, some groups and sectors are disproportionally get impacted by the pandemic. In the context of the UK, ethnic Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) turn out to be the most precarious group among all private sectors. Many ethnic SMEs shut down their business operations during a pandemic. A large portion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) owners have huge concerns regarding their business’ survival and resilience. The current UK-centric studies have focused on the large business population, and there is a gap in ethnic SMEs and how they get affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, there is a need to further knowledge and academic research to investigate the fundamental factors that could strengthen the resilience of ethnic SMEs as well as contribute to long-term sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to capture the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on ethnic SMEs in the UK and assess the survival measures taken by ethnic SMEs during Covid-19. Besides, this study adopts a dynamic capabilities perspective that how firms' specific capabilities enable ethnic SMEs to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, this research will help ethnic SMEs to develop vigorous resilience to address future external shocks and market uncertainties.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, ethnic minority SMEs, entrepreneurial resilience, dynamic capabilities, sustainability

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Authors: Lindelwa Mngomezulu, Tonderai Muchenje

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Over the decades, E-mails provide easy, fast and timely communication enabling businesses and state owned agencies to communicate with their stakeholders and with their own employees in real-time. Moreover, since the launch of Microsoft office 365 and many other clouds based E-mail services, many businesses have been migrating from the on premises E-mail services to the cloud and more precisely since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase of E-mails utilization, which then leads to the increase of cyber-attacks. In that regard, E-mail security has become very important in the E-mail transportation to ensure that the E-mail gets to the recipient without the data integrity being compromised. The classification of the features to enhance E-mail security for further from the enhanced cyber-attacks as we are aware that since the technology is advancing so at the cyber-attacks. Therefore, in order to maximize the data integrity we need to also maximize security of the E-mails such as enhanced E-mail authentication. The successful enhancement of E-mail security in the future may lessen the frequency of information thefts via E-mails, resulting in the data of South African State-owned agencies not being compromised.

Keywords: e-mail security, cyber-attacks, data integrity, authentication

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Authors: Madiha Gohar, Ayesha Abrar

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Social entrepreneurship has gained currency in the field of entrepreneurship, however, the theoretical underpinning and the contextual influences on the creation and operations of social enterprises are still in infancy. Contextual influences on entrepreneurial endeavors of women have been researched, and it is assumed that like commercial entrepreneurship, some socio-cultural factors are most suitable for the creation of women social enterprises. This research is an effort to explore the contextual influences on women social enterprises using institutional theory as the main conceptual framework. A case study analysis was used to assess the formal and informal institutional influences on women social entrepreneurs and their enterprises. The personal accounts of women social entrepreneurs reveal the importance of formal and informal institutions; however, they advocate greater consideration of informal institutions for their entrepreneurial endeavors.

Keywords: case study, institutional theory, women social entrepreneurship, Pakistan

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Authors: Wen-Chen Hwang, Yu-Hsi Yuan

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According to the estimation made by researchers of safety and hygiene, 80% to 90% of workplace accidents in enterprises could be attributed to human factors. Nevertheless, human factors are not the only cause for accidents; instead, happening of accidents is also closely associated with the safety culture of the organization. Therefore, the most effective way of reducing accident rate would be to improve the social and the organizational factors that influence organization’s safety performance. Overview the present study is to understand the current level of safety culture in manufacturing enterprises. A tool for evaluating safety culture matching the needs and characteristics of manufacturing enterprises was developed by reviewing literature of safety culture, and taking the special backgrounds of the case enterprises into consideration. Expert validity was also implied for developing the questionnaire. Moreover, safety culture assessment was conducted through the practical investigation of the case enterprises. Total 505 samples were involved, 53 were executives and 452 were operators. The result of this study in comparison of the safety culture level between the executives and the operators was reached the significant level in 8 dimensions: Safety Commitment, Safety System, Safety Training, Safety Involvement, Reward and Motivation, Communication and Reporting, Leadership and Supervision, Learning and Changing. In general, the overall safety culture were executive level higher than operators level (M: 74.98 > 69.08; t=2.87; p < 0.01).

Keywords: questionnaire survey, safety culture, t-test, media studies

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Authors: Fatima Homor

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The new era in business has started, according to my research paper findings, corporate social responsibility leads organizations to an incomparable advantage phase, where competition is secondary and financial growth is a result. Those who join later, lose their active advantage and cause passive disadvantage for their organizations. The main purpose of this presentation is to state the obvious and shed the light of the advantages of doing good, while doing well for multinational enterprises, extremely low fluctuation (preventing one of the highest costs), significantly lower marketing budget, enhanced reputation causing customer and supplier loyalty, employee commitment results in higher motivation level leading to better quality at each stages, Corporate Social Responsibility brings Unique Selling Proposition incomparable to others. The paper is based on a large research work conducted for the University of Liverpool Masters in Business Administration program, with the title of Corporate Social Responsibility for Multinational Enterprises to gain incomparable advantage. The research is based on both recent secondary data, but most importantly on 25 interviews with Chief Executive Officers at Multinational Enterprises and / or the Human Resources / corporate communications directors. The direct gains on Corporate Social Responsibility are analyzed when it is embedded into the core of the business. It is evident that project based Corporate Social Responsibility is not effective neither from the supported topic, Non-governmental Organizations point of view nor from the organization’s long-term sustainability point of view. Surveys have been conducted, data compared and consequences drawn. Corporate Social Responsibility must be started inside of the business to strengthen it. First, commit employees. It must come from the Chief Executive Officer. It must be related to the business profile. It has to be long term. They will commit customers. B-corps are coming (e.g. Unilever); the phenomenon of social enterprises has become a leading one.

Keywords: B-corps, embedded into core business, first inside, unique advantage

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Authors: Ivan Todorović, Stefan Komazec, Jelena Anđelković-Labrović, Ondrej Jaško, Miha Marič

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Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are important factors of the economy in each country. Recent years have brought increased number and higher sophistication of scientific research related to numerous aspects of entrepreneurship. Various authors try to find the positive correlation between entrepreneur's personal characteristics, skills and knowledge on one hand, and company growth and success of small business on the other hand. Different models recognize staff as one of the key elements in every organizational system. Human resource (HR) function is present in almost all large companies, despite the geographical location or industry. Small and medium enterprises also often have separate positions or even departments for HR administration. However, in early stages of organizational life cycle human resources are usually managed by the founder, entrepreneur. In this paper we want to question whether the companies where founder, entrepreneur, recognizes the significance of human capital in the organization and understands the importance of HR management have higher growth rate and better business results. The findings of this research can be implemented in practice, but also in the academia, for improving the curricula related to the MSME and entrepreneurship.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, MSME, micro small and medium enterprises, company growth, human resources, HR management

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Authors: Denila Jinny Arulraj, Thillai Rajan Annamalai

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This paper aims to study the relationship between funding sources and firm performance of Indian private limited SMEs using cross-sectional data obtained from a nation-wide census. A unique feature of the study is that it analyses firms that use only one form of external funding. Employing Propensity Score Matching, we find that obtaining any form of external finance has a negative influence on equivalents of profit margin and return on assets and a negative influence on asset turnover of small firms. But, the impact of institutional sources of funding on small enterprises is found to be lesser than that of non-institutional sources of funding. External/institutional sources of funding have a less negative impact on the profit margin for medium enterprises and have no significant influence on other measures of performance. The contribution of this research is the discovery of institutional sources wielding a lesser influence on performance measures considered. It is also found that institutional sources can benefit small enterprises more than medium enterprises.

Keywords: external finance, institutional finance, non-institutional finance, performance, India, SME

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Authors: Ossama Matrane

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Information System has become a strategic lever for enterprises. It contributes effectively to align business processes on strategies of enterprises. It is regarded as an increase in productivity and effectiveness. So, many organizations are currently involved in implementing sustainable Information System. And, a large number of studies have been conducted the last decade in order to define the success factors of information system. Thus, many studies on maturity model have been carried out. Some of this study is referred to the maturity model of Information System. In this article, we report on development of maturity models specifically designed for information system. This model is built based on three components derived from Maturity Model for Information Security Management, OPM3 for Project Management Maturity Model and processes of COBIT for IT governance. Thus, our proposed model defines three maturity stages for corporate a strong Information System to support objectives of organizations. It provides a very practical structure with which to assess and improve Information System Implementation.

Keywords: information system, maturity models, information security management, OPM3, IT governance

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Authors: Saheed Olakunle Sanusi, Israel Ajibade Adedeji

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The study analysed the effect of microfinance on the profit level of small and medium scale enterprises in Lagos. The data for the study were obtained by simple random sampling, and total of one hundred and fifty (150) small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) were sampled for the study. Seventy-five (75) each are microfinance users and non-users. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, logit model, t-test and ordinary least square (OLS) regression. The mean profit of the enterprises using microfinance is ₦16.8m, while for the non-users of microfinance is ₦5.9m. The mean profit of microfinance users is statistically different from the non-users. The result of the logit model specified for the determinant of access to microfinance showed that three of specified variables- educational status of the enterprise head, credit utilisation and volume of business investment are significant at P < 0.01. Enterprises with many years of experience, highly educated enterprise heads and high volume of business investment have more potential access to microfinance. The OLS regression model indicated that three parameters namely number of school years, the volume of business investment and (dummy) participation in microfinance were found to be significant at P < 0.05. These variables are therefore significant determinants of impacts of microfinance on profit level in the study area. The study, therefore, concludes and recommends that to improve the status of small and medium scale enterprises for an increase in profit, the full benefit of access to microfinance can be enhanced through investment in social infrastructure and human capital development. Also, concerted efforts should be made to encouraged non-users of microfinance among SMEs to use it in order to boost their profit.

Keywords: credit utilisation, logit model, microfinance, small and medium enterprises

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Authors: Ewa Rak

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This paper is part of a broader research project on employee development in small enterprises, financed by Polish National Science Centre. The project results will serve as basis for a doctoral dissertation. The paper utilises literature studies and qualitative research conducted in small enterprises operating in the Lower Silesia region of Poland. This paper aims to identify some of the factors that stimulate employee development in small companies operating in Poland. The great variety of business pursuits and applications represented by this sector makes it hard to determine a universal configuration of factors to offer best possible conditions for employee development. Research results suggest that each of the examined companies had one or two of such factors in focus, and serving as the basis for the entire pro-development system. These include: employment security (both for employee and entrepreneur) and extensive knowledge and experience of entrepreneurs, but only if it is combined with a willingness and ability to share it.

Keywords: employee development, factors that stimulate employee development, human resources development, Poland, small enterprises, training

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Authors: Indu Saini, Ashu Khanna, S. K. Peddoju

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Cloud computing is the new buzz word today attracting high interest among various domains like business enterprises, Particularly in Small and Medium Enterprises. As it is a pay-per-use model, SMEs have high expectations that adapting this model will not only make them flexible, hassle-free but also economic. In view of such expectations, this paper analyses the possibility of adapting cloud computing technologies in SMEs in light of economic concerns. In this paper, two hypotheses are developed to compare the average annual per-user costs of using Enterprise Resource Planning systems in two ways, The traditional approach and the cloud approach. A web based survey is conducted apart from the Interviews with the peers to collect the data across the selected SMEs and t-test is performed to compare both the technologies on the proposed hypothesis. Results achieved are produced and discussed.

Keywords: cloud computing, small and medium enterprises, enterprise resource solutions, interviews

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Authors: Kiumars Shahbazi, Salah Salimian, Abdolrahim Hashemi Dizaj

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Locating is one of the key elements in success and survival of industrial centers and has great impact on cost reduction of establishment and launching of various economic activities. In this study, streets with unequal length model have been used that is the classic extension of Spoke model; however with unlimited number of streets with uneven lengths. The results showed that the spoke model is a special case of streets with unequal length model. According to the results of this study, if the strategy of enterprises and firms is to select both price and location, there would be no balance in the game. Furthermore, increased length of streets leads to increased profit of enterprises and with increased number of streets, the enterprises choose locations that are far from center (the maximum differentiation), and the enterprises' output will decrease. Moreover, the enterprise production rate will incline toward zero when the number of streets goes to infinity, and complete competition outcome will be achieved.

Keywords: locating, Nash equilibrium, streets with unequal length model, streets with unequal length model

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Authors: Melvin Mothoa

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Small Micro and Medium Enterprises are very significant for the development of their market economies. They are the main creators of the new working places, and they present a vital core of the market economy in countries across the globe. Access to finance is identified as crucial for small, micro, and medium-sized enterprises for their growth and innovation. This paper is conceived to propose a perception-based SMME framework to aid in access to financial support. Furthermore, the study will address issues that impede SMMEs in South Africa from obtaining finance from financial institutions. The framework will be tested against data collected from 200 Small Micro & Medium Enterprises in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The study adopts a quantitative method, and the delivery of self-administered questionnaires to SMMEs will be the primary data collection tool. Structural equation modeling will be used to further analyse the data collected.

Keywords: finance, small business, growth, development

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Authors: Ananya Rajagopal

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The study is based on an analysis of qualitative data used to analyze the business performance of entrepreneurs in emerging markets based on core variables such as collective leadership in reference to social entrepreneurship and reverse accountability attributes of stakeholders. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 emerging enterprises within Mexico across five industrial segments. The study has been conducted focusing on five major research questions, which helped in developing the grounded theory related to reverser accountability. The results of the study revealed that the traditional entrepreneurship model based on an individualistic leadership style is being replaced by a collective leadership model. The study focuses on the leadership styles within social enterprises aimed at enhancing managerial capabilities and competencies, stakeholder values, and entrepreneurial growth. The theoretical motivation of this study has been derived from stakeholder theory and agency theory.

Keywords: reverse accountability, social enterprises, collective leadership, grounded theory, social governance

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Authors: Ernest Nweke, Enkhtuya Bavuudorj

Abstract:

The harsh realities of the scandalous failure of several notable corporations in the past two decades have inextricably resulted in a surge in corporate governance studies. Nevertheless, little or no attention has been paid to corporate governance studies in Mongolian firms and much less to the comprehension of the correlation among ownership structure, corporate governance mechanisms and trend of innovative activities. Innovation is the bed rock of enterprise success. However, the funding and support for innovative activities in many firms are to a great extent determined by the incentives provided by the firm’s internal and external governance mechanisms. Mongolia is an East Asian country currently undergoing a fast-paced transition from socialist to democratic system and it is a widely held view that private ownership as against public ownership fosters innovation. Hence, following the privatization policy of Mongolian Government which has led to the transfer of the ownership of hitherto state controlled and state directed firms to private individuals and organizations, expectations are high that sufficient motivation would be provided for firm managers to engage in innovative activities. This research focuses on the relationship between ownership structure, corporate governance on one hand and the level of innovation on the hand. The paper is empirical in nature and derives data from both reliable secondary and primary sources. Secondary data for the study was in respect of ownership structure of Mongolian listed firms and innovation trend in Mongolia generally. These were analyzed using tables, charts, bars and percentages. Personal interviews and surveys were held to collect primary data. Primary data was in respect of corporate governance practices in Mongolian firms and were collected using structured questionnaire. Out of a population of three hundred and twenty (320) companies listed on the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE), a sample size of thirty (30) randomly selected companies was utilized for the study. Five (5) management level employees were surveyed in each selected firm giving a total of one hundred and fifty (150) respondents. Data collected were analyzed and research hypotheses tested using Chi-Square test statistic. Research results showed that corporate governance mechanisms were better and have significantly improved overtime in privately held as opposed to publicly owned firms. Consequently, the levels of innovation in privately held firms were considerably higher. It was concluded that a significant and positive relationship exists between private ownership and good corporate governance on one hand and the level of funding provided for innovative activities in Mongolian firms on the other hand.

Keywords: corporate governance, innovation, ownership structure, stock exchange

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Filiz Ersoz, Deniz Merdin, Taner Ersoz

Abstract:

The objective of this study provides an insight into enterprises, who need to carry on their sustainability in harmony with the changing competition conditions, technology and laws, regarding the ISO 9001:2015. In the study, ISO 9001:2015, which is planned to be put in force and exists as a draft, was studied and its differences from the previous standard, ISO 9001:2008, were determined. To find out the differences, a survey was conducted among enterprises that implement a quality system. According to the findings obtained at the end of the study, it was observed that the enterprises attach importance to quality and follow the developments about quality management system, and they find the changes in the new draft document necessary.

Keywords: ISO 9001, quality, quality management system, quality revision

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Asma Dill

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to explore the role of HRM practices in SMEs success. The role of HRM practices in large enterprises is relatively known, on the other hand, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) companies have not been greatly studied in relation to the HRM practices in the past. Although, there is a lack of literature and empirical research in this area, several studies in the recent years emphasized on the importance of the HRM practices for the success of the SMEs. This study finds out relationship of HRM practices and SMESs performances. The objective is to analyze significant impacts of HRM practices (training, performance appraisal, compensation and employee development) on SMEs success, to determine whether SMEs recognize the importance of HRM practices in their businesses. To carry out this research a survey research strategy was followed. The sample frame for this study consisted of firms that belong to the services and commerce sector, employing at least 50 employees. The final research sample consisted of questionnaires. Descriptive statistical methods have been used during quantitative analysis to explore the relations. The findings of the study revealed that HRM practices have a significant influence on the performance of SMEs, and the better the HRM practice, the higher the performance of the SMEs. HRM practices, including, training, compensation, performance appraisal and employee development, have been found to be significantly and positively related to business success. Outcome of the study will provide useful guidelines to the business organizations. This study contributes to knowledge by providing insights on the impact of HRM practices on SMEs performance.

Keywords: compensation, employee performance, HRM practices, training

Procedia PDF Downloads 148