Characteristics Of Small And Medium Enterprises Research Articles

The effects of bribery on the digitization of small and medium enterprises in Latin America

AbstractIn this study, we examine the effects of bribery on the digitization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within Latin America. We apply neo‐institutional theory as the overarching theoretical framework to establish that bribery negatively influences digitization. We propose that firm characteristics (i.e., managerial experience and firm size) affect the firm‐level relationship between bribery and digitization. We also examine how the perceived tax burden mediates the effect of bribery on digitization. Our study is both theoretically and practically relevant. Theoretically, we are among the first to explicate the direct relationship between bribery and digitization. This novel perspective extends the information systems literature to explain digitization challenges in Latin America. For managers and policymakers, we present a path towards essential digitization for Latin American SMEs. Our empirical analysis uses secondary data from a World Bank survey of 1549 Latin American SMEs conducted over three years in six countries. Our findings show that bribery negatively influences digitization while SME characteristics positively moderate this relationship. In addition, we show that the perceived tax burden mediates the effects of bribery on digitization.

Non-Traditional Agricultural Export Performance in Ghana. Exporting SMEs’ Characteristics, Export Mode, and Institutions

Increasing focus of African economies, including Ghana, on non-traditional agricultural exporting (NTAE) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to counter declining earnings from traditional exports fall short to expectation. This study investigates this gap by looking at unstructured data, and the drivers of NTAE SMEs that can enhance performance and support sector policy initiatives. The research question to be answered is: Which SME characteristics, export mode and institutions (services and finance) are positively related to export performance in the NTAE sector in Ghana? This study applied PLS SEM analysis. The drivers of significance are export knowledge, corporate governance, product development, and professional and technical support. Although building social networks and export modes were found to be significant, they negatively affected the export performance. The cost implications limit the research to a cross-sectional study. Perceived export performance was used because the respondents did not provide export statistics. Most research on NTAEs in Ghana has focused on either subsectors or SMEs. This study adds value by focusing on SMEs in the NTAE sector, providing insights to policymakers and the government for intervention and policy formulation. Government policy implications include direct investments in shipping and air freight, tax rebates, concessions, and access to finance for NTAE SMEs. Managerial implications show that knowledge of export processes, export market regulations, and international consumer preferences is essential

A methodology for mapping cybersecurity standards into governance guidelines for SME in Portugal

The digitalization of companies and the implantation of Industry 4.0 concepts are emerging and challenging for micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). The benefits are evident for the companies, as their business processes become simplified, and the internationalization and global market penetration turn out to be improved.However, information security and cybersecurity concerns have been raised on SME, as best practices and regulations compliance should be applied. The wide set of these regulations and their broad scope has put constraints on their overall direct mapping and adoption into SME.This paper describes an original methodology to map the Roadmap for Minimum Cybersecurity Capabilities (RMCSC) delivered by the Portuguese Cybersecurity Centre, into the well-adopted international information security ISO 27001:2013 standard. The proposed mapping is oriented toward the characteristics of SME and allows these companies to assess their cybersecurity risk to further mitigate potential identified flaws.The main deliverable of this paper is the developed methodology, which correlates the actions of the cybersecurity capabilities roadmap and the security controls enclosed in the ISO 27001:2013 standard. A questionnaire was developed to support the cybersecurity risk self-diagnosis, and the actions were justified and detailed in this paper. Further developments include the submission of the questionnaire to a case study of SME in the centre region of Portugal.

Современные представления о взаимосвязи деятельности малых и средних предприятий с региональным экономическим развитием

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in regional economic development. However, the results of their activities largely depend on the regional factors. The article provides an overview of the most influential and latest publications on the relationship between SMEs and regional development processes. The impact of SMEs on the growth of the regional economy proved to be assessed ambiguously. A direct positive impact is typical for high-income countries, while other countries yield mixed results. High-income countries have factors and support mechanisms that overcome the objective limitations of SMEs. In the Russian regions, SMEs perform their functions to a lower extent and, as a result, have low factor productivity, which limits their contribution to the regional economy. No unified idea of SME differentiation factors was detected in domestic and foreign publications. Abroad, a higher level of SME development is usually associated with such obvious factors as population, the size of the regional economy, availability of financing, etc. The review of domestic literature revealed some data on the differentiation of regions according to the state and SME characteristics, but no patterns that would determine these features. The review highlighted some issues for further research of the relationship between SMEs and the regional economy. The results obtained can be used to develop regional SMEs and specialized university courses.

Kaidah Pengembangan dan Penguatan Inkubator Dalam Usaha Kecil Menengah (UKM)

This research is a business Incubator rule as a demand from the global economy, which occurs because of a rapid and very significant change where government rules and policies to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) survive during the crisis must be really effective. SMEs run effectively, namely through the identification of transmission lines that have an impact on SMEs and crisis mitigation measures, with a business strengthening, economic activities in East Java will be good from a business perspective through incubators. This research method uses a qualitative data approach with a system of people from various circles and finds out information about SME incubators in East Java where the system is used with an interview model for incubators and surveys to respondents as well as various characteristics of SMEs in East Java. The results and discussion of business principles that must be carried out by SME incubators are: a) Business vision and goals, be responsible. b) Values ​​in the rules guide top-level executives according to organizational values. c) strength (strength) weakness (weakness) opportunities (opportunities) threats (threats) as a whole. This analysis belongs to the reinforcement rule, because it is possible to rely on its strength as an advantage. d) Tactics of efficiency work operational business principles. time and effort. e) resource allocation, structured, responsible f) measurement of business principles to track performance outputs, targets for launching rules and the role of the incubator.
 
 Keywords: incubator rules, strengthening, business development.

E-Business Software Product Line Methodology Based on SMEs Characteristics

The growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will certainly have a positive influence on economic development in a country. However, many SMEs struggle to survive, grow, and show limited productivity. It was recorded that there were around 63.9% of SMEs in Indonesia whose turnover had decreased by more than 30% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the factors that cause the low survival rate of SMEs, a factor that is considered critical is the lack of success in the use of e-business. The use of e-business by SMEs is not a one-size-fits-all solution, because SMEs have various characteristics. In this study, an E-Business Software Product Line Methodology based on SMEs characteristics was proposed using Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) approach. In general, the proposed methodology was sufficient to describe the aspects needed in building a software development methodology. Aspects that had not been described were those related to software project management. The proposed methodology is useful for building an e-business application platform that can be customized based on SMEs characteristics.

Analysis of a Factors Affecting Use of Accounting Information in Small and Medium Businesses (MSMEs) on Medan City

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) are types of businesses that can be directly managed by communities or families, small and medium-sized businesses have a big impact on a country's economy, one of which is reducing unemployment. So SMEs must continue to grow from time to time, this is one of the most important things An important factor for SMEs to develop their businesses is accounting information (financial reports). This research is a descriptive study of small and medium enterprises in the city of Medan. Cooperation department. This study aims to describe the characteristics of SMEs, and as an understanding and trend of accounting, applications use but also provides an overview of SME from a demographic perspective. Research results according to the report, by gender, the majority of SME entrepreneurs are women. Leading the ethnic groups are Javanese and Batak. Most of the business fields carried out are trading business. Most SME entrepreneurs have recorded their business activities, but still in a very simple form. How many people run the accounting process that communicates the final results? accounting information, namely financial statements. SME follow and understand accounting training materials are provided by the cooperative.

What do we know about small and medium enterprises’ survival in a post-global economic crisis context?

Considering the impacts of the most recent global economic crisis in 2008/2009, this paper explores how firm size, type of business activity and approach to internationalisation influence SMEs’ survival. Based on the literature in the field, we developed three hypotheses regarding determinants of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) survival. We tested these hypotheses in a 7-year quantitative study and a survey of 344 SMEs in Poland – the seventh largest market in the European Union. Our findings reveal that, in the context of crisis, internationalisation acts as a stimulus for SMEs and influences their long-term sustainability, with businesses operating in foreign markets being more likely to survive after a global crisis. However, neither business size nor the type of business activity appears to have an impact on SMEs’ survival in a post-global economic crisis environment. Our paper extends knowledge about factors influencing a firm’s post-crisis survival and proposes a new framework for understanding characteristics of SMEs and their propensity to survive in a post-crisis context. In our conclusions, we discuss implications for SME entrepreneurs showing that, in order to enhance chances of survival, even small and medium enterprises should consider expanding business activities beyond their national markets.

New Product Development Process Design for Small and Medium Enterprises: A Systematic Literature Review from the Perspective of Open Innovation

New product development (NPD) is essential for large, as well as small and medium, enterprises (SMEs). Despite its importance for the economy, challenges remain in the NPD in SMEs. Product success is related with the NPD process, so it is important for SMEs to be able to design their NPD process. This paper aims to identify SME’s NPD research topics, the characteristics of the NPD process in SMEs, and important aspects to be considered for NPD process design. The literature review is done with the analysis of 99 selected academic articles from Scopus and ScienceDirect. Content analysis, bibliographic analysis, and clustering method (based on Pearson’s correlation coefficient) are used to conduct the identification. Less-formal processes, informal strategic planning, limited resources, need technology support, and lack of capabilities in certain fields are some of the characteristics of SME’s NPD. Collaborative product development, competitive advantage, information and communication technology (ICT), concurrent engineering, quality function deployment, and continuous improvement are important keywords based on previous research in SME’s NPD. Design activities in NPD, collaboration and source of innovation, and process modelling, tools, and techniques appear to be important aspects related with the SME’s NPD process.

Cost of Regulatory Compliance for Small and Medium Enterprises in the Philippines

It is widely recognized that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers of the Philippine economy through their direct contributions to employment, value-added, exports, and entrepreneurial activities. SMEs also play a role in the industrial process and the inclusive development agenda, among others. This study presents detailed profiling of small businesses in the Philippines using data from 590 SMEs in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao gathered in 2019. Business characteristics of SMEs in the survey in terms of ownership structure, asset size, and employment are among the key profiles presented. Also revealed in this paper are some behavioral indicators highlighting the perceived burden of national and local regulatory compliance of SMEs. The indicators of regulatory burden are expressed in terms of the number of hours and the percentage of expenditure on regulatory compliance. It is essential to balance adherence to regulations while encouraging firm growth. While regulations are important to promote the welfare of SMEs, policies must be engineered in a way that does the least harm and brings the most benefit to SMEs. With the sudden and prolonged shock brought by the pandemic, issues concerning the burden of compliance cost to SMEs require more careful attention than before. Discussions on evidence-based policy recommendations must be geared towards the objective of facilitating SME growth and post-pandemic recovery.

Exploring Health, Safety and Environment Management Practices across Small-Medium Enterprises in Oman: Review & Recommendations

Health and Safety can be described as regulations, policies and procedures which are put in place to prevent injury or adjacent unwanted events from occurring in the workplace and further afield. When individuals are approached by the topic of Health and Safety, they more than often unaware or uninformed of what it implies. However, they have unknowingly been practicing certain aspects of it all their lives. Research has shown that due to lack of resources, SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) tend to have poorer and less effective Health and Safety implementation due to several factors. This can lead to not only increased injuries but also a dark figure of Health and Safety violations, making it difficult to fully analyse the extent of the harm. In examining the development of H&S throughout the factory processes of the Industrial Revolution, significance is placed not only on greater transparency and attention paid to risk but also in ensuring uniformity of H&S implementation in the workplace hierarchy. In specific address to Oman, SMEs are attracted to the fiscal freedom the country provides. Oman has had a good track history adhering to international standards of H&S, also providing its own regulation. Most notably by the 2008 Ministerial Decree 286. Health and Safety in organisations is a significant tool used to protect the physical and mental well-being of the employees by identifying and eliminating safety hazards and creating a safety culture and Health and Safety management practices such as safety training, employee involvement and employee communication. There are characteristics of SMEs that impact HSE implementation which are important to understand as they are vital to working towards a more effective Health and Safety culture, implementation and therefore working environment. The major challenges facing SMEs in implementing H&S practices are costs, managerial commitment and safety culture.

Fostering growth patterns of SMEs through business model innovation. A tailored dynamic business modelling approach

In the contemporary complex and fast-changing markets, there is persistent pressure for Small-and-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to engage in business model innovation to promptly meet customer expectations and successfully compete for survival. In the last decade, multiple approaches to business model development and innovation have been explored. However, they have been primarily designed for large-sized companies, while SMEs display distinctive organizational attributes. Thus, SMEs require a tailored approach to design, experiment and innovate their business models, in order to frame the specific complexity of their value creation processes. This paper aims to explore how a Dynamic Business Modelling approach complies with inherent SME characteristics and serves as a lean strategy design tool for innovating associated business models. A case-study of a real SME currently involved in innovating its business model illustrates and discusses the empirical evidence emerging from the use of this approach.

The Relationship between Tax-Related Administrative Barriers and SMEs Characteristics: Evidence from Slovenia

Purpose: Legislation and tax authority conduct upon play a very important role in determining overall business environment by defining the rules under which the enterprises have to operate. Nonetheless, the complexity of legislation creates also unnecessary administrative burdens and consequently hinders entrepreneurial activity. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to establish whether there is a link between the perception of administrative barriers in the field of tax compliance and financial reporting and different characteristics of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/Methodology/Approach: Conducting a field survey and applying a parametric statistical technique on a sample of 293 Slovenian SMEs. Findings: The empirical results show that there are statistically significant differences in characteristics between those SMEs that perceive administrative barriers above average and those that perceive administrative below average in the field of tax compliance and financial reporting. Practical Implications: The overall findings suggest that regulatory authorities bear in mind that complexity of tax-related administrative barriers have a price resulting in deterioration of the business environment for SMEs and their performance. Originality/value: Utilising a comprehensive dataset covering Slovenian SMEs made by merging multiple data sources, namely field survey, balance-sheet and income-statement data, representing the main originality and value of the paper.

The factors affecting accessibility to credit capital of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam

The difficulty in accessing loans is one of the major barriers to the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Low accessibility to capital forces SMEs to spend both official and unofficial costs in order to obtain loans, and/or to access the unofficial market at higher interest rates, thereby increasing cost of production of enterprises. Studies suggest that the determinants of bank loan processing through which small and medium enterprises can access official loans include: characteristics of enterprises; indicators, reflecting the performance of enterprises; characteristics of loans; characteristics of enterprises, enterprise owners; geographical position of enterprises; the creditworthiness of enterprises and the role of the network.Purpose of the study.The aim of this paper is the quantitative analysis of the factors, affecting accessibility to credit capital of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam.Materials and methods.This study was conducted on the basis of a survey in December 2017. The survey includes 301 enterprises in Hanoi city. Selected enterprises are also enterprises, surveyed in the annual enterprise survey by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. This paper uses the Probit and Logit regression approach to estimate the impact of factors, affecting the disbursement probability of a loan of an enterprise. The number of SMEs accounts for 56.69% of the samples. The number of enterprises, applying for a bank loan accounts for 58.4% of the total samples, of which the percentage of disbursed loans for SMEs accounts for only 47.3%. For enterprises without a bank loan, eliminating the reasons for the lack of demand and unwish to be in debt, the main reasons not to access bank loans are high interest rates, complicated loan procedures and insufficient collateral.Results.The results obtained from the Logistic and Probit models show that the estimated coefficients are statistically significant, affecting the probability of taking a business loan, accepted by financial institutions. Although the coefficients, estimated from Logistics model are larger than those estimated from the Probit model, the estimated results show that the direction of impact of the variables in two estimation techniques gives quite similar results.Conclusion.Based on the results of this study, the Government of Vietnam should implement policies to support SMEs in the direction of improving their access to capital. The credit institutions should design products and services suitable to the characteristics of SMEs in Vietnam.

The Characteristics of SMEs Preferring Cooperative Research and Development Support from the Government: The Case of Korea

To find ways to make the government’s cooperative research and development (R&D) support policy for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) more effective, we analyzed the characteristics of SMEs that prefer such support. Through decision tree and discriminant analysis of 3300 Korean SMEs, we derived rules to distinguish between groups that prefer cooperative R&D support and those that do not. Based on the results, the important influencing factors were found to be the time required for R&D planning, prior experience in cooperation, the availability of equipment, the ratio of self-procured R&D funding, the attempts at R&D and the firm’s level of performance. The results suggested that if the policy objective is to encourage more active involvement of SMEs in cooperative R&D support programs, it is desirable to attract SMEs with less cooperative experience and not to give too much weight to past achievements when selecting beneficiaries. Furthermore, we believe that policies offering supports in the R&D planning stage and the joint utilization of equipment could be solutions to reduce the practical difficulties experienced by SMEs related to cooperative R&D.

The relationship between access to finance and growth of SMEs in developing economies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to establish the moderating effect of financial literacy in the relationship between access to finance and growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies. Thus, this study seeks to establish whether financial literacy moderates the relationship between access to finance and growth of SMEs in a developing economy like Uganda.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional research design was used in the study and data were collected from 169 SMEs located in Jinja and Iganga central markets. ModGraph (excel programme) was used to test for the moderating effect of financial literacy in the relationship between access to finance and growth of SMEs in developing economies.FindingsThe findings reveal a positive and significant moderating effect of financial literacy in the relationship between access to finance and growth of SMEs in developing economies. In addition, financial literacy and access to finance also have significant and positive effects on growth of SMEs in developing economies.Research limitations/implicationsThe study collected data from only SMEs located in Uganda, and there is an opportunity to test this finding in other developing economies. Furthermore, the findings from the study are based on quantitative data collected through use of semi-structured questionnaires. Besides, the study was purely cross-sectional; hence, it ignores the characteristics of SMEs, which could be investigated using a longitudinal study design.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the importance of financial literacy in promoting access to finance, which is necessary for the growth of SMEs in developing economies. Owners of SMEs could attend financial literacy programmes provided by entrepreneurial skill development organizations to enable them to acquire financial knowledge and skills to make wise and better financial decisions and choices.Originality/valueThe study contributes to existing international entrepreneurship literature by indicating the moderating effect of financial literacy in the relationship between access to finance and growth of SMEs in developing economies. The study shows that for SMEs to access finance to grow there is a need for financial literacy that promotes effective and efficient use of loans/credits. SMEs in developing economies need financial literacy, which helps them make wise financial decisions and choices before accessing financial services like loans.

A Unified Framework for Credit Evaluation for Internet Finance Companies: Multi-Criteria Analysis Through AHP and DEA

Internet finance is China’s newest hot topic in its booming economy. Success story of entrepreneurial ventures such as Alibaba have paved way for numerous entrepreneurs to establish innovative start-ups and enterprises. Presently, number of up and coming small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is above 80% of all new enterprises in China, involving 39 major categories of industrial sectors. Such enterprises are hugely backed by Internet finance companies for funding and easy transactions. It is important to develop efficient methodology and improve existing ones for credit assessment so as to aid Internet finance companies in making effective and symmetric funding decisions. To evaluate the performance of SMEs effectively, we propose an Internet finance credit index system, which includes financial, credit, enterprise development and Internet financial status. We combine the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to form a unified evaluation framework, which has the ability to address the subjective (AHP) and the objective (DEA) concerns, respectively. The proposed framework can assist Internet finance organizations to develop a transparent, unbiased and integrated framework for evaluating credit index of SMEs and start-ups. The result of our framework identifies the most important characteristics of SMEs and start-ups which contribute to overall credit rating, provides valuable references for Internet financial organization to make better resource allocation (funding decisions). The framework for credit evaluation also provides start-ups and SMEs an insight into improving their credit rating.

Stimulating entrepreneurship by introducing behavioural incentives. Propensity to use financial instruments in the context of decision makers' personal characteristics and their financial knowledge in Polish SMEs

The problem of the business policy targeted at the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is its diversified efficiency. As a consequence, some of the applied instruments are used by beneficiaries on a very large scale, while other more complicated forms, including the ones dedicated to supporting innovation, enjoy much less interest among entrepreneurs. According to the observations of the support instrument market in Poland, one of the causes of the above-mentioned situation is the failure to adapt proposed instruments to the characteristics of SMEs, in particular ignoring the behavioural determinants in this group of businesses, including the behaviours based on another concept of economic rationality (different from the mainstream economics). Owing to empirical research, it has been possible to show that in Polish conditions choices made by decisions-makers in SMEs in specific conditions may be influenced by personal characteristics such as gender, education, seniority, experience, financial knowledge and age. It can be expected that some of the personal qualities of decision-makers will contribute to either the acceptance or rejection of specific types of influences, which in turn may aid in the better presentation and tailor-making of instruments offered to support SMEs. As a consequence, such instruments should be offered differently depending on a specific recipient profile. Having in mind the practical dimension of conducted research analyses, at the Department of Macroeconomics, Faculty of Economics, University of Gdansk, Poland, the several series of research were developed in 2013-16 aimed at separating groups of decision-makers in Pomeranian Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that will be susceptible to specific (differentiated) behavioural stimuli.

Small and medium enterprises and the support policy of local government

The subject of this research are small and medium enterprises (SME) in the Polish economy, the support of this sector by local government and the functioning of small and medium enterprises in the local system of the town and commune of Pułtusk. The aim of this study is to present the condition and the role of SME in the local systems in light of the selected features of this sector in the country and evaluation of support for SME given by local government of the town and the commune. The case study research methods applied were literature research, documentation review and survey-based research using questionnaire. The survey was conducted in spring, 2014, on a random sample. The research resulted in learning the profile of a local entrepreneurs and the action characteristics of SME in the examined unit. The diagnosis of the sector’s situation was made, the stimulating and limiting factors of its prosperity were identified. The SME support system of local government and the entrepreneurs’ expectations towards commune government in the field of development of local enterprises were evaluated. The results and conclusions confirm the need for development of local government activity in formulating and implementation of the development of local enterprises policy.

Business characteristics of small and medium enterprises in rural areas: a case study on southern region of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa

This paper reports on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) business characteristics in rural places of Southern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. It was intended to identify and discuss the various characteristics and the implications they have on the survival and growth of rural enterprises. The study was conducted in five areas (uMuziwabantu, Ubuhlebezwe, Sisonke, Zingolweni and uMzimkhulu) Southern Region of KZN province. The sample consisted of 127 SMEs owners/managers operating in the selected areas using a quota sampling method, with respondents completing a five-point Likert scale questionnaire with the assistance of an interviewer. The findings indicated that most employees within the business are unskilled; the business operations are run by using modern facilities; most of business investment strategies are hindered by a lack of finance; and the local market is very small in selling rural SMEs’ products. SPSS (23.0) version was used for data analysis. The findings presented in the figures and tables. Statistical analysis revealed that business characteristics of SMEs in rural were tested and found to be significant (P = .000*). The paper will be useful tool for the policy-makers, business financial support institutions, and business stakeholders, government policy agencies in underlining a new way to consider future growth of SMEs in rural places, to understand challenges properly and to adjust growth strategies for the remote and under-developed areas. Most work has been focusing on SMEs in the urban and metropolitans areas with less emphasis on the rural SMEs with specific reference to KZN. The findings are limited by the quantitative nature, small sample and exploratory study. Therefore, generalization of these results should be done with care and more research with larger samples extended to other provinces is highly recommended