Medium Industrial Enterprises Research Articles

How an unlearning context can help managers overcome the negative effects of counter-knowledge

AbstractCustomer relations provide a valuable link between customers and the companies who produce the products they buy and the services they use. Every organisational member carries out actions which reflect the existence of counter-knowledge (i.e., obsolete knowledge and inappropriate knowledge structures) which in turn can lead to detrimental effects on customers. A decision to reorientate counter-knowledge takes an extended period of time to produce significant results as this process involves the integration of existing capabilities with newly acquired knowledge. Crucially, however, it also involves the unlearning of capabilities which are no longer relevant. Unlearning is the process by which firms eliminate old logics and behaviours and make room for new ones. With the development of this paper, we intend to address the following question: How can managers help to correct counter-knowledge in order to foster customer relations? These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 164 small and medium enterprises in the Spanish construction industry. Our results show that an unlearning context (i.e., the examination of lens fitting, the framework for changing individual habits and the framework for consolidating emergent understandings) is an important solution for the process of counteracting the negative effects of counter-knowledge (e.g., misunderstandings and misconceptions). The results also shed light on a tangible means for managers to enhance customer relations through unlearning practices.

How an unlearning context can help managers overcome the negative effects of counter-knowledge

AbstractCustomer relations provide a valuable link between customers and the companies who produce the products they buy and the services they use. Every organisational member carries out actions which reflect the existence of counter-knowledge (i.e., obsolete knowledge and inappropriate knowledge structures) which in turn can lead to detrimental effects on customers. A decision to reorientate counter-knowledge takes an extended period of time to produce significant results as this process involves the integration of existing capabilities with newly acquired knowledge. Crucially, however, it also involves the unlearning of capabilities which are no longer relevant. Unlearning is the process by which firms eliminate old logics and behaviours and make room for new ones. With the development of this paper, we intend to address the following question: How can managers help to correct counter-knowledge in order to foster customer relations? These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 164 small and medium enterprises in the Spanish construction industry. Our results show that an unlearning context (i.e., the examination of lens fitting, the framework for changing individual habits and the framework for consolidating emergent understandings) is an important solution for the process of counteracting the negative effects of counter-knowledge (e.g., misunderstandings and misconceptions). The results also shed light on a tangible means for managers to enhance customer relations through unlearning practices.

Evaluation of Financing Possibilities of Small and Medium Industrial Enterprises

In the submitted article we evaluate the possibilities of financing of enterprise subjects, with focus to small and medium- sized industrial enterprises. Each enterprise needs own financial sources for its activity. But many companies by the medium of self-financing cannot assure the trouble free running of the business and they are using various forms of external resources of settlement. The main aim of this article was to identify and evaluate the possibilities by which small and medium industrial enterprises in the Self-Governing Region of Trenčín were financing their business activities. Partial aims were identification of factors which are determining selection of financing forms, analysis of financing forms of business subjects. The result of the realized research showed that the decision-making of enterprise's financing form determine mainly the actual business needs, the ability to access foreign resources, and consequently the interest costs.

An investigation and identification of lean supply chain performance measures in the automotive SMES

The basic goal of this paper is to identify the underlying lean supply chain performance components and related measures with a special focus on small and medium enterprises in Iran's automotive industry. An initial list of supply chain performance measures was compiled and then modified by six experts in order to extract the appropriate lean supply chain performance measures. Following this, a questionnaire was designed and sent to 580 supply chain practitioners working at small and medium enterprises in Iran's automotive industry in order to score the measures. Principal component analysis was applied to identify and group the lean supply chain performance components and related measures. From the initial list, a total of 28 performance measures were chosen by the experts and considered essential to monitor the leanness of a supply chain. Four underlying components were identified (quality, cost, flexibility, and delivery and reliability) and the 28 related measures were subsequently grouped under these performance components. By identifying and validating a multi-dimensional list of lean supply chain performance components and related measures for small and medium enterprises, the research can be useful for practitioners or academics that are going to evaluate the leanness of a supply chain. Key words: Iran, lean supply chain, performance measures, small and medium enterprises, automotive industry.

Identifying Tools and Techniques for Managing Construction Project Delivery in Small and Medium Enterprises in South African Construction Industry

The purpose of this study was to assess the management tools and techniques that are used to manage time, cost and quality and determine if the management tools and techniques used were effective in managing time, cost and quality. Fifteen small and medium construction enterprises accepted to be interviewed after they were purposively sampled in Gauteng province in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. This study reports the findings of in-depth structured interviews with directors and construction managers of the small and medium construction enterprises. The results were analysed using content analysis and the findings reveal that the management tools and techniques used to manage time were bar charts or networks; in managing cost, cash flow and cost breakdown structure or bill of quantity, and in managing quality, inspection of work and specifications. The respondents agreed that in using these management tools and techniques they were able to effectively manage their projects and attained the targets set.

Small and Medium Enterprises and Biopharmaceutical Innovations in Africa: Challenges and Prospects

Biopharmaceuticals can be described as medicines or medicinal products manufactured through biotechnological processes with links to biological sources especially those of live organisms or their active components. The biopharmaceutical industry is presently experiencing tremendous revenuegrowth rates projected at more than $167 billion worldwide in 2015. There are more than 500 biopharmaceutical products that have been approved with about 400 presently marketable in the United States and European markets. The full potential of biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, genomic, genetic and biogeneric compounds is best realized in small entrepreneurial firms which have the capacity for creativity, risk, flexibility and iteration that no large biopharmaceutical entity can match. Although there are challenges facing African Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in biopharmaceutical industry, the prospects on the other hand can be lucrative taking into cognizance Africa’s ever increasing population and the need for affordable health care. To facilitate the contribution of SMEs in Africa, this article presents a perspective on the prospects of African SMEs in biopharmaceutical innovations such as new products, processes and services. The roles of SMEs in the global biopharmaceutical industry are reviewed. Additionally, selected critical factors to accelerate the contribution of African SMEs in global biopharmaceutical innovation are described. Finally, the prospective areas for biopharmaceutical innovation in Africa include research and development, marketing, workforce development and contract manufacturing.Keywords: Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, SMEs, Biopharmaceuticals, Research and Development, Contract manufacturing.

Competitiveness of Indonesian Small and Medium Food Processing Industry: Does the Location Matter?

In this paper, we compare the competitiveness between clustered and dispersed Small Medium Enterprises(SMEs) in Indonesian food processing industry. This study was driven by the important role of SMEs inIndonesian food processing industry for helping low income people access the low price foods. Furthermore, asIndonesian Government implements policy that support clustered SMEs, it could be expected that SMEs in thecluster area could pursue and emphasize different performance than their non clustered counterparts. Primarydata was collected in West Java, Indonesia. The sample includes only companies with fewer than 100 employeesand those operate in the food processing industry. We put market orientation, innovation, and businessperformance as proxy of competitiveness. Mean comparison statistics was used to compare market orientation,innovation and business performance of clustered and dispersed SMEs. The main findings were found throughdata analysis notably there was significant difference between clustered and non clustered SMEs in marketorientation, innovation and business performance.

An evaluation on growth potential of the small and medium scale enterprises (SME) in Turkish furniture industry

With its increasingly expanding uses, the furniture industry has become a basic industrial sector in the world, especially in the developed countries, and it represents 2% of the total labour and 2% to 4% of the total production. The global foreign trade of furniture was around $174 billion in 2008. Though it has been growing fast, the furniture industry in Turkey is far from the level in the developed countries. In regard to the Turkish furniture industry, 99% of which consists of small and medium scale enterprises, just like all the other industries, few data are needed to be able to make accurate evaluations. The current conditions in the small and medium scale enterprises have been neatly described in this study. It tries to offer solutions to the problems, analyze the competition opportunities and shed light for future studies by eliminating inadequate data. It is the first study in the field since there has not been such research which covers the whole country except for the regional ones. Also, this project is supplementary to the studies carried out by the researchers on the large-scale enterprises, the whole industry is analyzed. Key words: Furniture, furniture industry, small and medium scale furniture enterprises.

Competitive Strategy and Business Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Indonesian Food Processing Industry

In this paper we present the results of an empirical study on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the food processing industry in Indonesia. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the correlation between competitive forces, competitive strategy, and business performance of these SMEs. We provide a description of SMEs in the food processing industry in Indonesia based on a field survey that was carried out in three provinces, namely Jakarta, Banten and West Java. The primary data collected was analyzed by regression and correlation analysis using the path analytical approach. The relationship between competitive forces and competitive strategy as well as the relationship between competitive strategy and business performance was examined. Using the path analytical model, we conclude that competitive forces influence the business performance of SMEs in the food processing industry with competitive strategy as a moderating factor.JEL Classification: L66, O31, Q12, Q13

Influence of the open-mindedness culture on organizational memory: an empirical investigation of Spanish SMEs

‘Organizational memory’ (OM) is a concept that has been used to refer to stocks of data, information, and knowledge to which every member of the organization has access. This article examines the relative importance and significance of the existence of an ‘open-mindedness culture’ (OC) to the existence and nature of ‘OM’. We further examine the effect of the existence of OM on conditions that promote individual learning (IL). An empirical study of 164 small and medium enterprises in the Spanish construction industry was conducted, and the results were analyzed using structural equation modeling validated by factor analysis. Two structural equation models, derived from relevant literature, have been used, resulting in the conclusion that the existence of OC is a prior step in the utilization of OM. Our analysis also found that the extent to which conditions that promote IL occur depends on the extent and nature of the OM developed by the company.

A Study on Survival Analysis of the Guaranteed Small and Medium Enterprises in Construction Industry by Support of Korea Technologies Guarantee Funds

A Study on Survival Analysis of the Guaranteed Small and Medium Enterprises in Construction Industry by Support of Korea Technologies Guarantee Funds

CSR and the legitimacy of business in transition economies: The case of Russia

This study investigates the attitudes of Russian executives towards corporate social responsibility. The empirical study is based on an original survey of executive managers of 129 medium and large industrial enterprises in all regions of Russia. The questionnaire was designed using some important conclusions made by theorists who have analysed the development of CSR in mature capitalist economies. The objective was to probe whether the reaction by Russian managers would be in line with expectations grounded in western theoretical constructs, in particular the concept of business legitimacy. The study provides evidence of a discrepancy between anticipated outcomes based on the studies, reflecting western practice, and actual attitudes shown by Russian managers. A range of economic, social and political factors are considered in the discussion section in the search for an explanation of these results.

Bribes and Local Fiscal Autonomy in Russia

Russian industrial enterprises inherited from the Soviet era a tradition of producing welfare and infrastructure services within the firm, also for outside users. Despite the massive restructuring of the economy that took place since, many firms are still active in service provision. At the same time, opaque fiscal federalism is a problem for municipalities whereas rent extraction by public sector officials is a problem for firms. In this paper we examine whether there is a link between these phenomena. We propose a model on local fiscal incentives, service provision by firms and the municipality-firm relationship in the form of bribes. Using survey data from 404 medium and large industrial enterprises in 40 regions of Russia, we find that the higher the share of own revenues in the local budget, the more likely the firms are to report bribes. In the case of infrastructure services, the data also support the hypothesis that the channel is through service provision: the less fiscal autonomy, the more service provision and the less likely the firms are to report bribes.

Bribes and Local Fiscal Autonomy in Russia

Russian industrial enterprises inherited from the Soviet era a tradition of producing welfare and infrastructure services within the firm, also for outside users. Despite the massive restructuring of the economy that took place since, many firms are still active in service provision. At the same time, opaque fiscal federalism is a problem for municipalities whereas rent extraction by public sector officials is a problem for firms. In this paper we examine whether there is a link between these phenomena. We propose a model on local fiscal incentives, service provision by firms and the municipality-firm relationship in the form of bribes. Using survey data from 404 medium and large industrial enterprises in 40 regions of Russia, we find that the higher the share of own revenues in the local budget, the more likely the firms are to report bribes. In the case of infrastructure services, the data also support the hypothesis that the channel is through service provision: the less fiscal autonomy, the more service provision and the less likely the firms are to report bribes.

Lobbying at the Local Level: Social Assets in Russian Firms

In the planned economy firms were made responsible for providing their workers with so-cial services, such as housing, day care and medical care. In the transforming Russia of the 1990s, social assets were to be transferred from industrial enterprises to the public sector. The law on divestment provided little more than general principles. Thus, for a period of several years, property rights concerning a major part of social assets, most notably hous-ing, were not properly defined, as transfer decisions were largely left to the local level players. Strikingly, the time when assets were divested varied considerably across firms. In this paper we utilize recent survey data from 404 medium and large industrial enterprises in 40 Russian regions and apply survival data analysis to explore the determinants of dives-titure timing. Our results show that in municipalities with higher shares of own revenues in their budget and thus weaker fiscal incentives, firms used their social assets as leverage to extract budget assistance and other forms of preferential treatment from local authorities. We also find evidence that less competitive firms were using social assets to cushion them-selves from product market competition. At the same time, we do not find any role for lo-cal labor market conditions in the divestment process.

Breaking Out of Lock-In

Small and medium enterprises in the Indian software development industry, like their larger counterparts, are mostly low on the value ladder. This paper examines the difficulties confronting them in moving up the ladder and the strategies and circumstances conducive to success, drawing on three case studies. Human resource development emerges as central. Though SMEs have meager resources for moving up, compared to large firms, they have a greater incentive to do so, and this organizational interest accords with the interests and motivations of their employees for career development. It is found that the keys to success are to treat employees as co-investors in their own human capital in order to form an effective community of practice across the firm and to find market opportunities that stretch the firm in the right direction and to the right extent. For the last of these, the main contribution is made by existing clients, but an important role may be played by venture capitalists, particularly those that are US-based.

Computer aided managerial making and planning in small and medium industrial enterprises

The development of decision support systems for supporting effectively the ill-defined and unstructured enterprise decisions associated with the managerial making and planning both at the strategic & tactical level constitutes a very challenging and at the same time a practically quite useful task. These systems, if properly developed according to the requirements of the users, can be very useful for all kinds of enterprises, and in particular for the small & medium enterprises, which do not have the required specialized personnel and expertise for strategic & tactical planning. In this paper is described the ergonomic development of a decision support system for supporting the managerial, making and the strategic & tactical planning in small & medium industrial enterprises, putting special emphasis on the human factors. The system is based on an extensive knowledge base including more than 500 rules, extracted from structured interviews and planning scenario analyses conducted with managers of small & medium industrial enterprises.

SME clusters, acquisition of technological capabilities and development : concepts, practice and policy lessons

The paper contributes to the current policy debate about promoting regional economic growth and competitiveness of small and medium industrial enterprises in development. An analytical framework is elaborated, which integrates complementary insights from existing approaches that have been used as a basis for policy design in this area. These are: the meso-level collective efficiency approach and the micro-level technological capability approach. The new framework gives insight into the different ways in which firm-level technological learning could be fostered through geographical clustering. It also provides new directions for policy. An empirical case study of farm equipment manufacturing in Pakistan's Punjab Province is used to illustrate the added value of the new approach.

Sepiolite: A domestic mineral raw material for small and medium enterprises and environmental protection

The paper presents the phases in the research of sepiolite - hydrated in fibrous magnesium silicate, and in the development of different products based on sepiolite, at the Institute of General and Physical Chemistry (IGPC). Also, a review on sepiolite world deposits, general properties and practical uses is given in the paper. An the IGPC sepiolite from the mine Golesh was investigated, concerning its uses in paints, as a pigment and rheological aditive; in the rubber industry, as an active filler; in sepiolite, papers, for purifying, waste gases in industry and homes and as a powder combined with sepiolite paper, to purify old transformer oils. It was concluded that a number of technologies based on sepiolite could be developed in small or medium industrial enterprises, which are of the strategic interest for Serbia, especially since domestic sepiolite deposites can be further developed and that some of these technologies are important in environment all protection.

The Contract Responsibility System: Transition from a Planned to a Market Economy

prises. A campaign to extend the CRS to medium and large industrial enterprises was launched in early 1981. Although 80% of the stateowned industrial enterprises are involved,1 the results are mixed so far, which is not unexpected given the differences in administration and regulation of the industrial and agricultural sectors. Economic planning in China follows closely the Soviet model. The plan is stated in terms of physical inputs and outputs and a financial plan that consists of government expenditures and receipts, credit flows, the anticipated sources and uses of banking funds, and the planned changes in currency in circulation, or cash flow. Within this framework, there is a distinction between the regulation and degree of control of enterprises in urban and rural areas. Urban or industrial enterprises are under the jurisdiction of bureaus and ministries at the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels. The administrators in these government agencies have