SMEs performance

Inventory management and control plays a significant role in better performance of business entities. This paper analyses whether SMEs in Shomolu-Yaba of Lagos State carry out inventory management and the impact of Inventory Management and Control of cash flow on the liquidity of SME’s in Shomolu-Yaba Metropolis. The study used descriptive and analytical sample survey for the representation and the analysis of the findings. A sample of 150 SMEs was used. However, a total of 149 responses were received. The study relied on both primary data, collected through a questionnaire, and secondary data collected from reports and financial records of SMEs in Shomolu-Yaba. Summary of findings shows that the findings established a positive correlation coefficient (r), = 0.220, (r2) = 0.049 between Stock Ordering Level and Provision for slow moving/obsolete items in inventories, there is no positive effect between the techniques adopted by these SMEs in managing their accounts and the inventory level and measures employed by these SMEs in terms of profit and liquidity established a positive correlation coefficient (r), = 0.202, 0.174, 0.279, (r square) = 0.041, 0.030, 0.078. Finally, these SMEs should create a re-order level policy for their institutions that will create an enabling environment for them to request for the supply of moderate and high quality stocks.

La pubblicazione presenta i risultati dell’Indagine Individuazione di modelli di governance territoriale per il supporto alla generazione di conoscenze ed innovazione, promossa dall’Isfol e realizzata con Confindustria Veneto SIAV. L’indagine ha previsto la realizzazione di focus group e l’analisi di 51 casi di aziende innovative nei territori regionali del Piemonte, del Veneto e della Puglia. I risultati hanno consentito di trarre indicazioni rilevanti per: le imprese, fornendo una prima tassonomia dei modelli di business e indicazioni utili alla definizione di circuiti di apprendimento utili all’“assorbimento” dell’innovazione; le università e i centri di ricerca, delineando i modelli di relazione con il mondo produttivo e le necessità di integrazione attraverso figure di intermediazione emergenti; i soggetti deputati a promuovere policy e strumenti di finanziamento a supporto dei processi di creazione di nuova conoscenza per l’innovazione (Regioni, Fondi paritetici ecc.); le agenzie formative, attraverso la lettura delle nuove necessità di setting e modalità di apprendimento coerenti con i processi di assorbimento dell’innovazione.

Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) are generally acknowledged as having huge potentials for employment generation and wealth creation in any economy. Hence interest in their development continues to be in the forefront of policy debates. In Nigeria however, the sector remains relatively small in terms of its contribution to GDP or to gainful employment. Though the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry has played pivotal role in the economic development of the country since independence, with over 95% of total export revenue currently accruing from this sector, the participation of SMEs in the sector has been largely insignificant. However, the enactment of the Nigerian Content Development Act 2010 provides a number of opportunities for Nigerians to participate in the oil and gas sector. This paper examines the historical trend in the development of SMEs in Nigeria and identifies the several opportunities and competitive advantages now exclusively reserved for Nigerian companies under...

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Typography is one of basic elements in Visual Communication Design. Almost every promotional tools and media are using typography as a message conveyor. It is also has become an important yet attractive branding feature from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) or Industri Mikro, Kecil dan Menengah (UMKM) in Indonesia. Nevertheless, the lack of knowledge and understanding from the SMEs on how to build their brand has been camouflaged by the use of typography to represent a brand. There are at least 11.610 of Small Medium Enterprises available in the City of Semarang nowadays. This usage of typography as a brand representation is shown from packagings of apparel products, snacks, and processed foods comes from local plantations. These products will not be able to compete with any other modern day packaged products if not interfered by the knowledge on how to build a brand using visual communication design. The purpose of this research is to provide brand building knowledge bridging fo...

La Legge di Bilancio 2018 ha confermato ulteriormente l’intenzione del governo uscente e, in generale, delle forze politiche di proseguire il cammino verso l’implementazione di politiche pubbliche favorevoli all’Industria 4.0. Fino ad oggi è stata utilizzata soprattutto la leva fiscale per stimolare gli investimenti nei macchinari di nuova generazione e aumentare il tasso di automatizzazione dei processi produttivi all’interno del tessuto industriale italiano. Attraverso strumenti quali l’ammortamento e il credito d’imposta l’attenzione del Governo si è concentrata sul facilitare l’accesso ai macchinari ed ai software necessari a porre le basi per costruire fabbriche intelligenti e fattori meccanici di produzione interconnessi fra di loro. Questa strategia nazionale sembra aver funzionato solamente in modo parziale. Gli investimenti, come previsto, sono aumentati sensibilmente rispetto agli anni della crisi economica, tuttavia sono rimasti legati al mero rinnovamento del parco macchine. Ad oggi, sono rimasti esclusi da questo stimolo positivo due fattori fondamentali affinché le PMI italiane possano entrare pienamente nel mondo dell’Industria 4.0: la formazione e le competenze.
L’obiettivo di questo articolo è duplice. Da un lato viene sottolineata l’importanza delle competenze e della formazione del capitale umano in un contesto industriale 4.0. Dall'altro viene svolta un'analisi del Piano Industria 4.0 implementato nel 2016 dal Governo Italiano e dell'impatto che ha avuto sulle imprese italiane, in particolare per quanto riguarda la questione delle skill.

The objective of the paper is to review the previous studies on factors affecting small business growth or performance for the period of 2006-2014. The review of the literature of factors affecting small business growth or performance based on the papers available in online and published in referred journals is focused. 34 papers are considered as the primary research topic. Each of the articles has been used as the unit of analysis. The four broad areas of factors has been focused namely owner-manager characteristics, characteristics of firm, financial factors and external environment. The paper provides some ideas and approaches used in the previous literature to describe small business growth and factors affecting the growth. The literatures suggest that there is no unified theory or model to describe small business growth. Although there are many studies on the issue, still the theory of small business growth is very fragmented and inconsistent. The new theoretical perspectives ...

TFR), è attualmente al centro di un acceso dibattito economico-politico. Lo sviluppo dei fondi pensione e, indirettamente, la maggior capitalizzazione delle imprese, sono gli obiettivi della riforma. Nel presente lavoro viene analizzato l'impatto economico sulle imprese e sul sistema finanziario (mercato dei capitali, fondi pensione etc.) di alcuni provvedimenti di riforma del TFR, come il decreto, già in vigore, sulla cartolarizzazione (D.Lgs.299/99) e quello attualmente allo studio del governo riguardante la possibilità di utilizzare i flussi maturandi del TFR per alimentare i fondi pensione. L'analisi è stata condotta sulla base di un campione di imprese manifatturiere con più di 11 addetti, estratto dalla banca dati dell'Osservatorio sulle PMI del Gruppo Banca di Roma. Dallo studio svolto si possono trarre alcune indicazioni principali: a) un'eventuale eliminazione del TFR dalle fonti interne di finanziamento aumenterebbe il ricorso al credito bancario a breve termine, più oneroso rispetto all'attuale remunerazione del TFR; b) le imprese con un basso livello di autofinanziamento, di piccole dimensioni e appartenenti ai settori tradizionali, sarebbero relativamente più danneggiate da un provvedimento che impedisse di poter disporre del TFR come serbatoio di liquidità; c) una stima quantitativa dei flussi finanziari che potrebbero confluire verso titoli azionari o obbligazionari, come previsto dal decreto di cartolarizzazione, non evidenzia importi molto rilevanti anche nell'ipotesi forte di una completa trasformazione in titoli di tutto l'accantonamento annuo del TFR. Pertanto, i flussi generati non sembrano essere in grado di dare un contributo decisivo allo sviluppo dei fondi pensione né, tanto meno, a quello del mercato azionario. Molto più efficace, in tal senso, sarebbe il trasferimento diretto del TFR (indipendentemente dalle sue modalità e per tutte le categorie di imprese) verso i fondi pensione. 1 Per un'analisi del disegno di legge di riforma del TFR presentato alle Camere nel febbraio 2000 cfr. Castellino e Fornero, 2000.

The innovativeness of SMEs is a crucial factor of achieving economic benefits and enhancing competitive position of enterprises and economies. The aim of the article is to present the economic and institutional background of Polish SMEs’ innovativeness, as a starting point taking the description of the condition and the motives for the engagement of the SMEs entrepreneurs in the innovative activity. Moreover, the attention was paid to the most important obstacles to develop and implement new technologies in the SME sector, considering their institutional, cultural, financial and organisational dimensions. Addressing the above mentioned barriers should be the central point of innovation policy fostering effectively the Polish SMEs’ national and global competitiveness.

This report captures the main findings of an 18-month study on the growth of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Canada. The central question that this inquiry sought to answer was: what are the factors that drive SME growth? The study involved a large scale survey of SMEs and a set of in-depth interviews with the leaders of ‘High Impact SMEs’. High Impact SMEs are organizations that are achieving high growth (in revenue, profits and employment) and are disruptive, investing in a broader range of innovative activities, and being more diversified in the markets they serve. They exemplify organizations that many of us aspire to create. This report presents a new model – The Leaders Growth Mindset – to explain how leaders of High Impact SMEs operate. This model identifies a common set of practices leaders apply and that we can each develop in our everyday work.

La presente investigación busca lograr una aproximación sobre los conceptos, aproximaciones y alcances de la gestión y la innovación tecnológica en las organizaciones, donde la tecnología representa un factor de suma relevancia por su impacto en la generación de nuevos productos, procesos operacionales y servicios. Para ello, se hace una recopilación de elementos teóricos sobre temas relacionados con la tecnología, la gestión tecnológica, la innovación y sus diferentes manifestaciones, donde se concluye que los gerentes y administradores deben centrar sus esfuerzos para integrar a la gestión y a la innovación tecnológica a la estrategia de la organización, impulsando la creación de innovaciones a través de la adopción de las tecnologías más apropiadas y que den un impulso a la cadena de valor, logrando como resultado, amplios márgenes de ganancia y mayor capacidad para competir en mercados volátiles y competitivos.

The aim of this paper is to determine whether Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could be described as 'bleak houses' or whether they have developed over the last decade into 'bright prospects' typified by human resource innovations. This study builds on empirical work (n = 1425) from ten years ago (1998), and re-examines the prospects of SMEs through the lens of human resource management (HRM) practices. Uniquely, the 2008 cross-sectional data provides for the large-scale tracking of strategic HRM practices. Specifically, 110 HRM practices over five traditional areas across 1230 SMEs are analysed. The prevalence, change, and patterning of HRM practices used by Australian SMEs in 2008 are investigated. It was found that SMEs need less of a make-over in relation to the adoption of HR practices, compared to a decade ago. From a practitioner viewpoint, the study provides cross-sectional benchmarking against the previous time-point, 1998, as well as extending that work with an examination of a more extensive range of new and emerging HRM practices. This project was conducted with a USQ research grant. Given the nature of our two-point longitudinal panel data, this research question uniquely investigates the extent of change in HRM practices over the last decade. Question 3. To what extent do key firm characteristics differentiate the patterning and prevalence of HRM practices?

Purpose: Recognising the swift and negative impact of COVID-19 on innovation, entrepreneurial behaviour, and small and medium enterprises’ (SME) performance, the authors examine the situation and prospects of Hungarian companies and evaluate entrepreneurial resilience and firm performance, with a specific focus on subsidised firms.
Design/methodology/approach: Data from two surveys are used. This is a combined dataset of the database of Hungarian companies required to use the double entry bookkeeping system, and the integrated monitoring database, established by the MIT to cover financial assistance from
both the European Union and national budgets. The analyses use the propensity score matching method. The ultimate goal of the study is to show the micro-level effects of the COVID-19 crisis on entrepreneurs, with special focus on previously received financial assistance by a firm, its geographical location (based on NUTS1 level 2 regions and urban
development zones2), industry (level 2 NACE3 codes), and size.
Findings: The result provides evidence that subsidies have a positive impact on SMEs’ resilience, employment, sales, and productivity.

In this era of globalization, the perceptions of people are matters and overlooked by many in our everyday life. This also holds true for businesses owned by Malay businesspeople, as their richness has been questioned by netizens as well as from other races like they do not deserve the wealth of them. This situation is evident on what has an impact on Malay business people nowadays as they feel insecure and not eager to compete in business. Such events raise the question of how well Malay practices their skills in handling business and controlling the comments, criticism, and perceptions overthrown by Malaysian itself. Therefore, this study has been conducted to determine the extent to which are the main issues contributing to the lack of development of Malay entrepreneurs even though various of assistance has been given by the government and the private sectors in order concerning these Malay entrepreneurs.  Furthermore, I also reviewed how the situation of Malay entrepreneurs encounter living in the dynamic situation where the economic division of Malaysia remain at large. Lastly, the research analysing the role of government and the concern of the authority towards Malay business people to improve the progress of their business development and to look over the opportunities via an open market. The researcher employed a questionnaire survey to obtain data. 25 respondents who at least likely to have experienced in business were chosen as the sample. The overall findings show that there are several factors causing the lack of development in entrepreneurial activities by Malays in Malaysia are often used to been prejudiced their rights since back then and how the role of the government and authorities would change the mentality of Malay entrepreneurs to be more passionate and keen in business if the Malay entrepreneurs follow a suitable platform.

Digitalisation and sustainability are by far the two most dominant megatrends in the latest decades. The business implications of these two areas and the relationship between the two trends are popular research topics among both academics and practitioners. Each company has its own ability to adapt and respond to changing environmental challenges and it is an unfortunate fact that some of them are not always able to implement the latest technologies to their practices. Small- and medium-sized enterprises are particularly vulnerable in this respect, for whom digitalisation in particular is not just a competitive advantage but an unavoidable imperative of development, without which their survival may be at stake. Based on the opinions of 112 Hungarian small- and medium-sized company owners and top managers, this paper aims to explore the relationship between digitalisation and corporate sustainability in the SME environment, in order to identify the most appropriate development strategies to meet the needs of such businesses. The results showed that respondents have a realistic view of the impact of digitalisation on the sustainability dimensions and that they see the benefits of digital transformation mainly in terms of positive economic impacts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on people's lives and economies worldwide, presenting numerous challenges to private, public, and business organizations. To date, small and medium enterprises have been hit the hardest. That is why governments all over the world are actively encouraging and supporting SME growth as part of their overall development strategy, since SMEs are the most important business sector in any world economy. Therefore, resolving the challenges that SMEs face in the context of COVID-19 is critical. This paper seeks to shed light on the main strategic responses to crisis, especially for SMEs. Although deeper research is needed to better understand crisis strategy-making.

Business Analytics (BA) has become an important source of competitive advantage for small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the modern era of electronic commerce and commercial globalization. The application of BA is particularly widespread in the developed countries. However, in the developing world, such as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the uptake of BA is less impressive due to many factors including lack of finances. This study sought to establish the status of BA adoption among SMEs in the MENA region, the factors influencing their adoption, the role of business size in adoption decision, and the future of BA for SMEs in the MENA region. The study established that the size of a business plays a major role in BA adoption decisions due to size-related factors, such as ability to access finances and management structure. The study also established that while most of medium-sized enterprises in the MENA region have adopted BA tools, most of small-sized enterprises are yet to do so. Consequently, the future of BA for SMEs in this region is dependent on whether SMEs, particularly small-sized enterprises can obtain better access to credit. Government policies to enhance this access as well as to enhance awareness among the SMEs about the importance of BA will also play an essential role in determining the future of BA among SMEs in this region.

The purpose of this research was to study the configuration of the sufficiency economy model for small industries. A semi-structured interview was employed in this research in order to extract the configuration of the sufficiency economy model from five small industries whose their entrepreneurs won the first and the second Sufficiency Economy Fellowship Contest initiated by the Office of the Royal Development Project Board. The Thematic Analysis method was employed for the data analysis. The configuration of the Sufficiency Economy-based business model for small industries was found in this research. The model was divided by the Balanced Scorecard into five perspectives a learning and growing perspective, an internal process perspective, a customer perspective, and a financial perspective. To follow the proposed model maintains the sustainability since these five entrepreneurs can make corporate sustained, profitable business and overcome the economic crisis.

A literature review of Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) in Small-and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) shows that the main contributions focus on the development of theoretical models, but not on guidelines for practical implementation. In this context, an important neglected aspect is the general fitness or readiness of a SME to implement a PMS. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to determine critical prerequisites for a successful PMS implementation in SMEs. For this purpose, a case study in a German SME was conducted. The findings indicate that the existence of specific contingency factors-Corporate Strategy, software-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Activity Based Costing (ABC)-strongly supports the successful implementation of a PMS and its later use. Hence, further research shall include these prerequisites as new variables determining the PMS process. Based on that, researchers and managers of SMEs can develop individual indicators to identify their own PMS readiness.

The aim of the work is to find the correct and most effective synthesis between the theoretical-academic and operational aspects concerning the use of two corporate strategy tools such as the competitive benchmark and the strategic maps.

An essential impulse to the drafting of the work was provided by lectures on issues relating to the determination of margins, the costing of goods and services, the economic-patrimonial structure of the companies, the financial balance of businesses and information flows to investors; a crucial role has played the application of BSC frames and evaluation of intangibles.

Starting from the H. Igor Ansoff's matrix and going through the studies of Kenneth Andrews - about competition - and M. E. Porter on the components affecting profitability, the work explains why and how a benchmarking process develops and what benefits comes from it.
In the path towards the case study at the end, the peculiarity and the novelty of the Balanced Scorecard is illustrated, citing the dissemination of it in Italy by A. Bubbio.

The case study wants to grasp the strategic features of the single companies (7) competing with each other and to demonstrate the existence of a strong correlation between competitive benchmarking and strategic decisions.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have long been considered as the principle driving force of Bangladesh's economy. Along with stimulating private ownership and entrepreneurial skills, SMEs are flexible and can adapt quickly to changing market demand and supply. The aim of this study was to show that how the factors of barrier affected practicing of accounting software system in SMEs of Bangladesh. However, to get an exclusive finding, total 300 firms were randomly selected as a respondent and surveyed to get the specific answers of the specific questionnaire. Finally, the result of this study suggested the proper application and use of accounting software system ensured strong responsibility and accountability of the business enterprise and it also assisted the owner and policy makers of the firm's to better understanding about their performance and improvement. With employing accounting software technology, small and medium business enterprises can reduce its operating cost and increase its profitability and competitive advantages.

Even though the use of ERP systems is growing and becoming more popular, these systems are still somewhat unfamiliar in the SMEs. Many small and medium sized organization know how beneficial ERP systems are, but they still hesitate to adopt these systems due to their high cost and risk. Without a doubt, a successful ERP implementation is an essential for the benefits from such systems, so this issue is always considered top priority in the ERP related research area. It is obvious that several important factors must be considered for successful implementation, but most small and medium sized businesses have no idea what factors should be considered most heavily. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to help these firms better understand the critical factors that need to be considered to ensure the success of ERP systems. The survey instrument was designed based on the user satisfaction, and was tested before conducting the main survey. Since there have been few studies attempting to validate empirically the factors affecting both ERP implementation and user adoption, this research focused on identifying the factors for the ERP success from both implementation project and user adoption perspectives. Then, identified factors were examined to verify their relationships with success indicators associated with the redefined ERP success. Furthermore, the research suggested recommendations for the ERP success showing how to approach ERP implementation to avoid failure and what we should do considering the significance of each factor to a given dependent variable based on the findings of the study. These recommendations can provide helpful information to small and medium sized business when they consider implementing or upgrading their ERP systems. This information should help companies reduce tremendous ERP implementation risks so that companies can have more chances to improve their business value with the success of EPR systems.

MSMEs are defined in different ways in different parts of the world. In some countries, they are defined in terms of assets,
while few countries use employment as a parameter for defining MSMEs. The MSME sector is responsible for about 40 per
cent of the exports and 45 per cent of the total manufacturing output of the country. Today, it accounts for nearly 35% of the
gross value of output in the manufacturing sector and over 40% of the total exports from the country. The MSME sector has
grown rapidly over the years. The growth rates during the various plan periods have been very impressive. MSMEs not only
play crucial role in providing large employment opportunities at comparatively lower capital cost than large industries but
also help in industrialization of rural and backward areas, thereby, reducing regional imbalances, assuring more equitable
distribution of National Income and wealth. Though, the contribution of MSMEs in any economy cannot be overlooked but
MSMEs face several constraints and barriers. The main constraint that MSMEs face today is getting timely access to
finance. The researcher tries to analyze the various constraints that the MSMEs are facing today. The paper has been
prepared on the basis of available literatures. The present research paper reveals that there is a substantial amount of gap in
the overall finance for the MSME sector.
Keywords: MSME, Gap, Financial Constraints, Financial Problems

The study is primarily a qualitative research. The qualitative research will aim at gathering an in-depth understanding on how commercial banks play a role in SME development and how best these facilities maybe improved and amended. A case study approach will be taken. The researcher will select two successful SMEs, Plant Agri-Chem Services (Pty) Ltd, which has been successful over a long period of time from humble beginnings to a success empire and Barclays Bank Zambia whose mortal is to develop businesses around Zambia and therefore expanding its customer relations. The researcher will interview managers and peruse through the records of the SME (document analysis) checking through the growth trajectory of the SME over the last ten years.

Time Management is an important skill for any organisation to achieve its goals and objectives. Studies have shown that for any organisation to manage time effectively and efficiently, both the employers and employees will need to develop skills that will enhance their productivity or performance. Inefficient time management can affect the organisation to loose resources, opportunities, etc.

For any organisation to thrive, time needs to be managed effectively, efficiently, and optimally.

Employers and employees need to learn how to tackle distractions and unplanned circumstances that may affect attainment of their objectives.

Tasks and activities in the organisation need to be adequately planned and prioritised.

Das and Teng (2000) proposed four essential components of a resource-based theory of strategic alliances: rationale, formation, structural preferences, and performance. They note that transaction cost economics and the resource-based view (RBV) share a concern about the characteristics of a firm's internal elements. Resource characteristics, such as imperfect mobility, imitability, and substitutability, promise value-creation, facilitate alliance formation. New typology is based on the two dimensions of resource similarity and utilization, yielding four types of alignment: supplementary, surplus, complementary, and wasteful. Authors discuss effects of collective strengths and inter-firm conflicts in alliances which contribute to alliance performance, and developed number of propositions to facilitate theoretical empirical testing. The RBV emerged as a new theory of the firm. Alternative approach to understanding industrial organizations is defines as "tangible and intangible assets which are tied semi-permanently to the firm." Das and Teng (2000) purpose more encompassing resource-based theory of strategic alliances, by identify the resource characteristics of individual firms that are the antecedents of alliance formation and discuss structural preferences for alliances. Typology of inter-partner resource alignments develop and explore four components of a resource-based theory: rationale, formation, structure, and performance (Figure 1). Figure 1. Schematic of Exposition Resource-Based Rationale of Alliances Das and Teng (2000) compare transaction cost rationale with resource-based rationale regards question of ownership decision among internalization, market exchanges, and alliances.

The paper aims to elucidate the inevitability of production monitoring systems in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) manufacturing apparel in India. Presently, there is lack of proper monitoring system to control production and analyze the daily reports which is widely attributed to inadequate financial resources to acquire expensive Production Monitoring Systems. SMEs rely invariably on registers, challans and manual data sheet-based monitoring which are detrimental in the production process including unscheduled production stoppages as well as difficulty in ascertaining actuals with planned numbers. This research provides an insight to cost-effective solution to this problem through app-based platform.
TrackMyProduction (TMP) framework proposed for SMEs, facilitates production monitoring and solve issues pertaining to production output addressing various impediments involved in the process. TMP app explains the method of monitoring real time production and features analysis of resource availability in each department with facility to monitor status of sewing, cutting and finishing at any point of time. The paper reveals the impact of TPM in apparel production planning through reports and their graphical analysis of the data collected to analyze the daily production based on various parameters involved in apparel production.

Purpose: The objective of the study is to familiarise policymakers and practitioners in both the companies in their achievements of CSR projects and specialization by comparing Corporate Social Responsibility Practices (CSR) in Oman Liquefied Natural Gas Company LLC (Oman LNG) and Oman India Fertilizer Company (OMIFCO). Design /methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey was adopted and the details of the companies' business CSR approaches, CSR projects, measurements of CSR projects, disclosure, and challenges, in the long run, were obtained from the CSR experts in the companies. Further, secondary data was also collected from the companies' websites, annual reports, and CSR bulletins. Findings: The results of the study indicate that both the companies contribute to society in a positive way as they are accountable to implement CSR as they are the main players in Sur. Both the companies, value developing a practical CSR strategy in their business model concerning customers, stakeholders, contractors, and suppliers, more importantly, the society. However, there is no systematic approach and assessment approach to the level of impact on their CSR projects. Research Limitations / Implications: It is suggested that there is a need to establish a formal mean of dialogue between both the companies and the rest of the stakeholders in order to harmonize CSR projects so that replication of projects can be avoided. To achieve harmony of CSR projects, it is necessary to unite and share the best practices and innovative initiatives of CSR, through the development of a guide to familiarise the CSR concepts along with the tools and methodologies. Practical Implications: It can be seen that setting measurable goals, techniques, sustainability issue mapping, sustainability management system, life cycle assessment and CSR reporting are the significant gaps in the CSR approach of both the companies and the model practices should prescribe the same. Originality/value: This is the first-hand study of its kind as there is no comparative study of O&G companies has been done.

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/RIBS-02-2021-0027/full/html

Purpose: Although cross-border e-commerce has become increasingly popular among small and medium-sized enterprises as a foreign market entry mode, research on the determinants of its success is scarce. Drawing on the resource-based view, this study examines the relationship between a firm's information technology, international marketing, and export operations capabilities and its cross-border e-commerce strategic and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach: Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze data from a sample of Italian exporters in the food and beverage industry. Findings: The results highlight the mixed effects of information technology, international marketing, and export operations capabilities on both e-commerce strategic and financial performance. Moreover, the use of third-party e-commerce platforms reduces the effect of exporters' information technology capabilities on their e-commerce financial performance.

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) which is represented by five dimensions and business performance. A simple random sampling technique was adopted in which only hundred technology-based SMEs in Malaysia responded to the survey questionnaire and a total of eighty eight responses deemed to be usable. Descriptive statistical tool was used to analyze the data specifically Pearson product moment correlation and regression analysis.

In this research proposal, the researcher is  interested in assessing the effect of internal control systems in detecting and preventing fraud in business organizations. We are interested in determining the effect of financial governance controls on the level of fraud prevention and detection in Organizations, and to investigate the effect of reporting and budget controls on the level of fraud prevention and detection in Organizations, to identify the challenges faced by organizations in properly using internal control to prevent and detect fraud, to make recommendations that can help improve the quality of internal controls in organizations by the use of a structured questionnaires targeted at specific businesses in Fako Division of Cameroon.

In this paper, we provide new empirical evidence to the relationships between leadership styles (LS) and organizational performance, introducing gender as moderator variable. Data have been collected in two Congolese towns (Bukavu and Goma); an African post-conflict region dominated by very small family businesses that have not received enough attention. Combining exploratory factor analysis with a multivariate regression we found three main results. First, both leadership and performance are confirmed to be multidimensional. LS comprised participative/democratic leadership, and autocratic/ directive leadership, while performance has three dimensions: employee efficiency/productivity, effectiveness, and customer satisfaction/retention. Second, the autocratic leadership is the more adopted both by men and women, with a slight non-significant difference for men. Although democratic leadership is underscored, it appears to be more adopted by women with significant difference. Third, controlling for other variables, only participative/democratic leadership styles have positive impact on SMEs' performance, while autocratic leadership does not influence it. This implies that, in the growing competition facing SMEs, managers should adopt leadership style that allows their employees to internalize the firm's objectives and to be committed. Also, our research confirms that women have much to give in managing enterprises, as they appear to be stronger in leadership styles, which have more impact on main dimensions of firms' performance. Moreover, our results suggest new avenues for deeper research about leadership styles in family-owned enterprises.

This work aims to analyze FinTech for SMEs. Specifically the difficult regulatory environment faced today for the regulators and supervisors at either international and European level. Moreover it will be our concern to analyse instruments and options related to FinTech which SMEs can possibly use, by understanding also the transition from intermediation of financial services to the disintermediation, particularly Initial Coin Offerings and Security Token Offerings.

Considering the complexity of today"s service environment, Small-to-Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) cannot afford to accept the status quo of service operations and therefore must have some clear business analytics objective to reach. Without clear metric objectives, organisations are almost destined for disaster since the allocation of resources may not have responded to the demand exerted from outside of the organisation. This is particularly true within a complex and rapidly changing cloud computing environment. The cloud dynamic ecosystem is moving towards a collection of services which interoperate across the Internet. This chapter offers a discussion on an approach to assessing cloud capabilities through Cloud Service Capability Assessment Framework (CSCAF). Service metrics plays a critical role in CSCAF and presents managers with a practical framework to carry out cloud capability assessments. The process may be simply described as publishing, retrieving, and managing cloud service descriptions, service publications which are matched with descriptions of consumer"s requirements and service matching.

This papers assesses the effects of income taxation on growth of medium and small enterprises in Limbe, Malawi. The desk research has revealed some of the effects to be that the burden reduces profits and hence retards the growth of SMEs. This study will use descriptive research design in order to analyse the burden income tax imposes on MSMEs in Malawi. Questionnaires will be used to collect data from respondents. The conclusion will be established based on the analytical review of the responses.