Medium Enterprises In China Research Articles

Financing Challenges and Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises in China

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) financing in China, highlighting their critical role in the national economy by contributing significantly to GDP, tax revenue, job creation, and exports. Despite their importance, SMEs face substantial financing challenges due to traditional banking systems' risk assessments, leading to a significant financing gap. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges, threatening the survival of many SMEs. This research explores both traditional and innovative financing channels, including bank loans, equity financing, and digital platforms like Microconnect and Meituan. The difficulties SMEs face are also discussed, such as high loan rejection rates and the limitations of collateral-based financing which often push these enterprises towards high-cost alternatives or limit their access to necessary funds which hinder SMEs’ daily operation. It assesses the role of government policy and inclusive finance in supporting SME financing and examines the effectiveness of current financial support mechanisms while identifying ongoing gaps and challenges. It argues that while digital platforms like Microconnect and Meituan offer valuable insights and solutions, the complexity of China's financing ecosystem and regional disparities present ongoing challenges. The study ends by highlighting the importance of SMEs to China’s economy and the appeal for continued innovation and policy support to improve SMEs financing.

Sustainable agility of product development process based on a rough cloud technique: A case study on China's small and medium enterprises.

The importance of incorporating an agile approach into creating sustainable products has been widely discussed. This approach can enhance innovation integration, improve adaptability to changing development circumstances, and increase the efficiency and quality of the product development process. While many agile methods have originated in the software development context and have been formulated based on successful software projects, they often fail due to incorrect procedures and a lack of acceptance, preventing deep integration into the process. Additionally, decision-making for market evaluation is often hindered by unclear and subjective information. Therefore, this study introduces an extended TOPSIS (Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method for sustainable product development. This method leverages the benefits of cloud model theory to address randomness and uncertainty (intrapersonal uncertainty) and the advantages of rough set theory to flexibly handle market demand uncertainty without requiring extra information. The study proposes an integrated weighting method that considers both subjective and objective weights to determine comprehensive criteria weights. It also presents a new framework, named Sustainable Agility of Product Development (SAPD), which aims to evaluate criteria for assessing sustainable product development. To validate the effectiveness of this proposed method, a case study is conducted on small and medium enterprises in China. The obtained results show that the company needs to conduct product structure research and development to realize new product functions.

Supply chain management practices, competitive advantages and business performance of small and medium enterprises in China: Basis to develop an improved supply chain management framework

Supply chain management practices, competitive advantages and business performance of small and medium enterprises in China: Basis to develop an improved supply chain management framework

Internal migration experience and innovation: evidence from entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises in China

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of returnee entrepreneurs’ internal migration experience on enterprise innovation and explored possible mechanisms. Using data from the 2018 Enterprise Survey for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China (ESIEC), which collected a large sample of entrepreneurs from small and medium enterprises, the results of our study showed that entrepreneurs’ internal migration experience positively affected enterprise innovation activities and expenditure. Further, the effects were larger for the entrepreneurs who had the first migration at a younger age and had a longer duration of migration exposure. The mechanism analysis suggested that human capital accumulation was a potential channel underlying the innovation consequences of entrepreneurs’ internal migration experience.

Impact of Entrepreneurship on Innovation Performance of Chinese SMEs: Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Enterprise Dynamic Capability and Organizational Innovation Environment

The primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship of entrepreneurship, enterprise innovation performance, enterprise dynamic ability, and organizational innovation environment of small and medium enterprises in China. Based on a thorough literature review, this study constructed a research model of “entrepreneurship, enterprise dynamic ability, organizational innovation environment, and enterprise innovation performance”. To meet this purpose, a survey was conducted by collecting data using a random sampling method targeting five cities in Shandong and Henan, where the proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China is high. Additionally, SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 24.0 were used to carry out correlation analyses, structural equation path analyses, and intermediary effect tests on 426 valid questionnaires. There are three major findings. First, entrepreneurship positively affects the dynamic ability of enterprises and the organizational innovation environment and enterprise innovation performance. Second, enterprise dynamic capability and organizational innovation environment positively affect enterprise innovation performance. Third, enterprise dynamic capability and organizational innovation environment play a partial mediating role on the influence path between entrepreneurship and innovation performance. The findings of this paper provide further evidence for the positive impact of entrepreneurship on innovation performance and the relationship between variables. Suggestions are provided for SMEs to improve their innovation performance. To stimulate entrepreneurship of SMEs, more attention needs to be given to cultivate their dynamic capabilities, create an environment of organizational innovation for enterprises, and help them maintain a competitive advantage in the ever-changing market environment.

Supply chain network and financing performance of small and medium enterprises in China: a survey and quasi-replication using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis

PurposeThis paper examines how weak ties and strong ties in the supply chain network influence the financing performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the mediation of information sharing and innovation capability.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires were administered to 208 financial managers responsible for supply chain finance in SMEs in China. Data analysis techniques used included multiple regression analysis and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.FindingsThe authors found that weak ties had a more substantial impact on the financing performance of SMEs than strong ties did. Information sharing and innovation capability played a mediating role between weak and strong ties and the financing performance of SMEs. In addition, information sharing and innovation capability complement each other and jointly influence the financing performance of SMEs.Practical implicationsSMEs are suggested to actively embed themselves in the supply chain network to increase financing opportunities and reduce financing costs. The authors also recommend SMEs to enhance the level of their information sharing in the supply chain network and take advantage of their network ties to access and adopt new technology from other organisations and conduct collaborative innovation with partner institutions.Originality/valueThe paper extends the authors’ understanding of supply chain finance by exploring the intrinsic mechanism of how various constructs (weak ties, strong ties, information sharing and innovation capability) in the supply chain network have an impact on the financing performance of SMEs. In particular, the authors explore the under-researched mediating effect of information sharing and innovation capability on the relationship between network ties and the financing performance of SMEs.

Adoption of supply chain finance by small and medium enterprises in China

PurposeSupply chain finance (SCF) is a promising financing solution for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The study aims to highlight the determinants of the adoption of SCF and the theoretical implications for SCF in SMEs.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the authors develop a model and test hypotheses about the factors (1) SE, (2) attitude toward SCF, (3) social influence (SI), (4) adoption intention (AI) and (5) actual adoption (AA) of SCF. Data collected from a survey of 211 managers in SMEs in China were used to conduct a partial least squares (PLS) estimation.FindingsThe empirical results indicate that attitude toward SCF and SI positively affect AI towards SCF, whereas AI positively affects the AA of SCF. Specifically, the authors find that AI plays a mediating role in the relationship between SE and AA of SCF, whereas attitude toward SCF plays a mediating role between SI and AI.Originality/valueFirst, the authors use the TPB to study the adoption of SCF in SMEs. Second, the authors apply PLS to clarify the influence mechanism of behavioural factors on the adoption of SCF. The authors provide a useful approach for practitioners in examining the adoption of SCF by SMEs.

PROBLEMS AND IMPROVEMENT MEASURES IN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED PRIVATE ENTERPRISES IN ZHEJIANG PROVINCE

The operating and development environment of small and medium private enterprises in Zhejiang has undergone major changes. Under the trend of fierce market competition and continuous economic development, some of the disadvantages and drawbacks of private small, medium and micro enterprises are constantly exposed. Among them, the financial management of enterprises is particularly prominent. The purpose of writing a scientific article is to analyze the existing problems of financial management of small and medium enterprises in China, as well as to identify priority strategic management measures, the implementation of which will promote the development of business entities. This article analyzes the problems in the financial management of private small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly due to poor financing ability; business operators lack financial risk management awareness; financial management is weak and financial systems are not sound; investment is lacking in science. Problems existing in financial management of private small and medium enterprises in Zhejiang: private small and medium enterprises have limited capital strength and lack of capital becomes their development bottleneck; private enterprises have weak awareness of financial risks; the financial management mode is rigid, and the quality of enterprise personnel is uneven. Small and medium private enterprises must actively adapt to changes and innovate financial management. Only by further strengthening financial management and optimizing the implementation of management measures can the scientific rationality of private small and medium enterprises in the market development be ensured. Enterprises need optimize financial management models.

In Search of the Best Interest Rate for Group Lending: Toward a Win–Win Solution for SMEs and Commercial Banks in China

To better help resolve the dilemma of more demand for bank lending and increasing defaulted bank loans, this paper develops a pricing model on SMEs’ group lending practice using a gaming method. The optimization method and the game analysis are used to model the dynamical interest rates of group lending in order to maximize the profits for SMEs and to guarantee basic income for commercial banks. A simulated empirical analysis is used to obtain the optimal lending rate and expected profits, and the results provide support for the proposed model. The result of this study provides valuable insights on designing effective incentives to encourage commercial banks to provide funds to SMEs and to encourage SMEs to pay back the loans to commercial banks, and thus is able to help resolve the funding dilemma between commercial banks and small and medium enterprises in China.

Cognitive leader–member exchange differences between supervisors and subordinates

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reveal the influence of organizational identification (OI) on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) directed toward organization (OCB-O) and OCB directed toward individuals (OCB-I), and explore the moderating effects of turnover intention (TI) and the differences of the moderating effects of supervisors’ ratings of leader–member exchange quality (LMX-L) and subordinates’ ratings of LMX quality (LMX-S) in the process.Design/methodology/approachBased on social exchange theory, this study took administrative staff of private small and medium enterprises in China as population. A paired-samples design was used, and 437 valid paired samples were collected finally. Data analyses were conducted by using structural equation modeling.FindingsOI indicated a positive influence on both OCB-O and OCB-I. TI showed a negative moderating effect on the positive relationship between OI and OCB-I, but no significant moderating effect on the positive relationship between OI and OCB-O. LMX-L and LMX-S were not in one same direction and showed different moderating levels. LMX-L had no significant effects on the relationship between OI and OCB-O, nor did on the relationship between OI and OCB-I. On the other hand, LMX-S strengthened both the positive relationship between OI and OCB-O, and the positive relationship between OI and OCB-I.Originality/valueThis study explored the relationships from social exchange perspective, found that OCB-O and OCB-I had different formation mechanisms and should be explored as distinct variables, and confirmed that it was necessary to use the paired-samples design when studying dyadic phenomena.

Factors Hindering Business-IT Alignment in Small and Medium Enterprises in China

Business-IT alignment (BITA) continues to be important for organizations and has received a considerable attention during the last 25 years from academic research. The organizational size has already been found to affect business-IT alignment but there are still a fewer research studies exploring BITA in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) compared with those studies done on large-size companies. Moreover the previous research studies have less focused on understanding the existing factors hindering BITA in SMEs particularly in China. Especially in regards to China, where there are millions of SMEs that are facing different challenges in achieving and sustaining their business-IT alignment. Therefore, case studies have been conducted in three SMEs in China that have no more than 250 employees and their turnover does not exceed 50 million annually. The data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with managers in these SMEs and also from SMEs internal documents and then analyzed thematically. The results of this study are a number of 26 factors hindering BITA in SMEs in China including seven new factors that are hindering BITA in these SMEs. The findings of this study could help researchers but also business and IT practitioners to understand the factors that are hindering BITA in Chinese SMEs and the actions to be taken for aligning business and IT strategy.

Guanxi’s Contribution to Commitment and Productive Conflict Between Banks and Small and Medium Enterprises in China

Guanxi has long been thought to play a critical role in understanding and practicing leadership, teamwork, and organizational partnerships in China. Researchers have argued that guanxi can be usefully understood as a kind of close relationship that obliges partners to assist each other. This study proposes that the theory of cooperation and competition as developed in the West can help us to understand how guanxi affects partner relationships. Findings from data on partnerships between banks and small or medium enterprises in Shanghai support the argument that guanxi strengthens cooperative goals, which in turn results in relationship commitment and productive conflict. Our study’s findings suggest that partners with guanxi interact in mutually beneficial ways that enhance their cooperative goals. Further research is needed to provide a stronger foundation for the causal inferences of these findings, and to investigate whether guanxi as it is known in China can also serve to develop cooperative goals, relationship commitment, and productive conflict among partnerships in other Asian societies and in the West.

When Shadow Banking Can Be Productive: Financing Small and Medium Enterprises in China

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent the backbone of China’s economy, yet they face challenges in accessing bank credit. SMEs thus rely on a wide range of alternative sources, including informal finance, online peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms, registered non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), and underground financiers. This article distinguishes among different types of ‘shadow banking’ to clarify popular misconceptions about the nature of risks associated with informal financial intermediation in China. Given their familiarity with local business conditions and needs, regulated and well-managed NBFIs could provide an enduring foundation for commercialised financial intermediation serving SMEs.

The City Commercial Bank’s Credit Rating on Steel Distribution Industry in China

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises make a significant contribution to economic growth in China. City Commercial Banks mainly serve the local Small Medium Enterprises in China. Every City Commercial Bank provides Small and Medium-sized Enterprises clients the credit rating grade, and it decides on whether to give them financial support according to credit rating result. Usually, banks work on credit rating of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises according to the characteristics of the industry. This work gives the designing process of credit rating system of steel distribution industry. By using questionnaire and analytic hierarchy process, researcher chose a City Commercial Bank as an example and designed a credible credit rating index system for steel distribution industry.

How innovativeness and institution affect ISO 9000 adoption and its effectiveness: evidence from small and medium enterprises in China

Innovation studies show that innovative firms are more likely to change existing routines and operation procedures and create new ones. Neo-institutionalism, however, suggests that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) suffering from strong legitimacy constraints tend to conform to isomorphic institutional pressure, especially when they expand into the international market. However, there has been little empirical research on why, how and with what outcomes SMEs from China, the world's largest emerging market, adopt the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 certification as a legitimisation strategy. Using a survey sample of 561 Chinese SMEs, this study shows that innovative SMEs are more likely to get ISO 9000 certification, because they face more stringent institutional pressure as well as less internal obstruction. This propensity for ISO 9000 certification is strengthened when SMEs have an export business and need to deal with multiple institutional constraints. Additionally, we find that SMEs may maximise their performance benefit from the certification when they operate in multiple institutional contexts. This study is one of the first empirical studies from China explaining how innovativeness and multiple institutional constraints influence the likelihood and outcomes of SMEs' ISO 9000 adoption.

Financing Small and Medium Enterprises in China: Recent Trends and Prospects Beyond Shadow Banking

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent the backbone of China's economy, yet they lack access to bank credit. SMEs thus rely on a wide range of alternative sources, including informal finance, online peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms, registered non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), and underground financiers. This paper distinguishes among different types of 'shadow banking' to clarify popular misconceptions about the nature of risks associated with informal financial intermediation in China. The evolution of SME finance in other contexts suggests that regulated and well-managed NBFCs provide an enduring foundation for commercialised financial intermediation even in advanced industrialised economies.

Research on Digital Industrial Design System

This paper presents innovation design method of product on basis of the typical theory of new product development and research of the process and industrial design in the different phases of the product development function for small and medium enterprises in China's. On this basis, the paper put forward to ensure full participation in industrial design and play the role of segmented flow, determine the objectives and tasks for each stage of development, the personnel involved in the coordination method, steps and related links. In addition, we studied the evaluation system of product development, according to the stage characteristics of new product development process for enterprise, using different evaluation methods, established the overall evaluation system of industrial design process model.

Research on Effectiveness of the Government R&D Subsidies: Evidence from Large and Medium Enterprises in China

To cope with the fast-changing business environment, Chinese government makes every effort to increase business R&D subsidies. The aim of this paper is to examine the efficiency of Chinese government R&D subsidies on innovative performance and the moderating role of a firm’s R&D capacity. Based on the data from Chinese Large and Medium Firms during 1997-2012, we analyze whether government R&D subsidies affect a firm’s innovative performance, as well as how this effect works. The findings suggest that the firms that received increasing government R&D subsidies will have a better innovative performance, yet up to a point. Beyond this threshold, a greater share of government R&D subsidy will reduce a firm’s innovative performance. And such substitution effect is larger for firms with greater R&D capacity. Also, the firm’s own R&D capacity, size, industry technical levels have varying degrees of impact on the efficiency of government R&D subsidies. The findings of this paper may have practical value and help governments to develop relative regulations and policies.

Effectiveness of participatory training on improving occupational health in small and medium enterprises in China

Participatory training on occupational health is widely used in the world. Evaluations of local experiences are necessary to its successful performance. The project evaluated the effectiveness of participatory training on occupational health improvement in small and medium enterprises of China, and explored local practice experiences. Participatory training was provided to 525 welding workers from 25 small and medium enterprises in ship building and machinery manufacturing industries. This training consisted of interactive learning, worksite assessment and group discussion on laws/regulations, safety of machine operation, prevention of slips and trips, fire/explosion prevention, ergonomics, and recognition and prevention of other workplace hazards. Workers completed knowledge, attitude, and practice and worksite assessment questionnaires before and 3 months after intervention. Knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were significantly increased through the training. An inventory of workplace safety modifications was proposed by participants and many were fixed by workers and employers. Health management and personal protective equipment provision/use were most often improved, but improvements in engineering control and health-related accommodations remained unsatisfactory. Workers could recognize and fix workplace hazards after the participatory training. More efficient measures in China are to be explored to improve implementing solutions, especially on preventive engineering and human ergonomics.

The Building of Cigarette Factory Warehousing Management System Based on Data Warehouse

The construction of X Cigarette Factory’s Material Order and Warehousing Management System is underway, at the same time, the new system and the office automation system, the production execution system and the automated logistics system can form an integral enterprise business that operates on the basis of supply chain. It is necessary to be point out that it is an approach with Chinese characteristics on developing information system: compared with integrative and Process Reengineering construction model of the developed countries, most Chinese enterprises like X Cigarette Factory tend to develop information system gradually and by outsourcing partly subject to financial, staff and process stability factors. X Cigarette Factory’s practices and experiences can gave an inspiration to other small and medium enterprises in China.