Medium-sized Organizations Research Articles

AI-driven business analytics for SMES: Unlocking value through predictive and prescriptive analytic

Introduction: With an emphasis on predictive and prescriptive analytics, this study examines the revolutionary implications of AI-driven analytics on small and medium-sized organizations (SMEs). SMEs play a crucial role in the global economy and require advanced solutions to improve decision-making and operational efficiency. The research aims to explore how AI-powered analytics, particularly in predictive and prescriptive forms, can add value to SMEs by enhancing demand forecasting, customer behavior insights, and financial planning. To determine how AI-driven analytics might affect SMEs, a thorough assessment of the literature was undertaken. The study reveals that SMEs implementing predictive analytics experience notable improvements in areas such as inventory management, revenue generation, and overall operational efficiency. Furthermore, businesses that leverage prescriptive analytics benefit from optimized resource allocation, enhanced marketing strategies, and better risk management practices. These findings highlight the potential for AI to overcome key challenges faced by SMEs, including budget constraints and limited data availability. AI-driven analytics can provide valuable insights that allow SMEs to streamline operations and foster growth. With future trends pointing to greater accessibility and developments in machine learning, natural language processing, and the integration of AI with other cutting-edge technologies, like blockchain, AI-powered analytics offers substantial prospects for small and medium-sized enterprises.

PROPOSAL FOR THE CREATION OF CARBON CREDIT MINI-MARKETS CONSIDERING ORGANIZATIONS’ SUPPLY CHAINS

Discussions about reducing carbon emissions typically focus on large emitters while small and medium-sized organizations are outside this scope. The aim of this work is to propose the creation of mini-markets for carbon credits in chains of organizations to include small and medium-sized organizations, integrating urban and rural areas in the same region, offering an important contribution to smart and sustainable cities. The research took the meat and dairy chains as a reference and conducted a brief case study in two organizations. The result is a governance model that includes small and medium-sized organizations in the context of reducing emissions and generating benefits. This research can be extended to other chains and allows for compensation between companies in the same segment. A segment can be a production chain or a group of urban and rural organizations in the same region. The proposed principle is that initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by region contribute to better overall governance of such initiatives, as the materialization of projects and results becomes more agile and effective.

Open Soar

SOAR solutions are designed to integrate multiple security components, often from different vendors. A stack of compatible security tools enables companies to collect data about attacks and respond to them without human intervention. SOAR tool’s primary target is to increase the effectiveness of security operations. SOAR tools’ main mechanisms are security orchestration, automation, and response. To build and automate numerous security tools to function as Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) that will help small and medium-sized organizations automate security processes, particularly incident response, by collecting threat data from multiple sources. It can also respond to low-level incidents without human intervention. The user experience is paramount. Both end users and administrators are best served by SOAR that enables maximum productivity.

Adoption of Business Intelligence Among Iraqi SMEs Culture: Impact of Technology Acceptance Model, Information Quality, And Organizational Readiness

Effective use of business intelligence has become essential for small and medium-sized organizations (SMEs) in the era of digitalization due to the introduction of new technologies. Therefore, this study aims to measure the influence of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and other factors, for example, the quality of information, organization readiness and technology infrastructure, on business intelligence. A quantitative research methodology was used, with a sample size of 281 participants who were owners, managers and information system staff in Iraqi SMEs who had experience using business intelligence. The findings of this study indicated that the quality of information has a significant impact on perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU). Similarly, PU, PEOU, organization readiness and technology infrastructure positively and significantly impact business intelligence adoption. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the crucial aspects that contribute to the successful deployment of business intelligence, thereby influencing the outcomes of SMEs. The results of this study will help entrepreneurs, SME owners managers, and academics develop a business intelligence system that can enhance overall organizational efficiency in a dynamic economic setting. Putting in place a good business intelligence system will help managers make better decisions, boost economic growth for businesses, support new ideas in businesses, and improve their overall performance and output.

Operational risk management in managerial accounting: a comprehensive examination of strategies and implementation in medium size organizations

Operational risk management in managerial accounting: a comprehensive examination of strategies and implementation in medium size organizations

Employees’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility in a selected manufacturing enterprise in South Africa

Despite small and medium enterprises (SMEs) being the backbone of any economy, their performance is not satisfactory. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is frequently utilised to improve business sustainability and meet stakeholder responsibilities. However, literature focuses on CSR practices in larger corporations, neglecting the practice in SMEs. On the other hand, CSR research usually overlooks internal stakeholders such as employees. In order to bridge this gap, the researcher investigated internal stakeholders’ perceptions of CSR in a South African medium-sized organization located in the eThekwini municipal area, as this perspective is critical in developing a comprehensive CSR strategy. Data for this research was gathered through interviews and focus group discussions with managers and employees of the selected organization. Thematic content analysis was the primary method utilised for analysing the collected data, which was aided by NVivo 12 software for complete data processing and organization. The findings revealed that employees view CSR as a viable practice that encourages dedication and motivation to improve work performance. CSR implementation within the organization is seen as an effective motivational tool, resulting in greater output, increased staff dedication, decreased absenteeism, and increased employee turnover. The researcher argues that CSR can increase employee performance and emphasizes the necessity for SME managers to incorporate social, environmental and employee-related CSR projects into their business strategy to improve overall performance.

Semantic-enabled architecture for auditable privacy-preserving data analysis

Small and medium-sized organisations face challenges in acquiring, storing and analysing personal data, particularly sensitive data (e.g., data of medical nature), due to data protection regulations, such as the GDPR in the EU, which stipulates high standards in data protection. Consequently, these organisations often refrain from collecting data centrally, which means losing the potential of data analytics and learning from aggregated user data. To enable organisations to leverage the full-potential of the collected personal data, two main technical challenges need to be addressed: (i) organisations must preserve the privacy of individual users and honour their consent, while (ii) being able to provide data and algorithmic governance, e.g., in the form of audit trails, to increase trust in the result and support reproducibility of the data analysis tasks performed on the collected data. Such an auditable, privacy-preserving data analysis is currently challenging to achieve, as existing methods and tools only offer partial solutions to this problem, e.g., data representation of audit trails and user consent, automatic checking of usage policies or data anonymisation. To the best of our knowledge, there exists no approach providing an integrated architecture for auditable, privacy-preserving data analysis. To address these gaps, as the main contribution of this paper, we propose the WellFort approach, a semantic-enabled architecture for auditable, privacy-preserving data analysis which provides secure storage for users’ sensitive data with explicit consent, and delivers a trusted, auditable analysis environment for executing data analytic processes in a privacy-preserving manner. Additional contributions include the adaptation of Semantic Web technologies as an integral part of the WellFort architecture, and the demonstration of the approach through a feasibility study with a prototype supporting use cases from the medical domain. Our evaluation shows that WellFort enables privacy preserving analysis of data, and collects sufficient information in an automated way to support its auditability at the same time.

Board leadership in global ventures: A bibliometric analysis

Board leadership in global ventures: A bibliometric analysis

The relationship between coaching behaviors by situational leaders and new employee engagement

PurposeResearch suggests that leaders influence employee engagement and their connection to the organization, their manager and their team. However, the influence of leadership behaviors on new employees requires further investigation.Design/methodology/approachThis nonexperimental, cross-sectional, quantitative, exploratory study examined Situational Leadership II (SLII) behaviors, specifically the Coaching (S2) style and new employee engagement. New employees that had worked with medium-sized organizations (100 to 999 employees) for less than a year were surveyed using the Leadership Action Profile II (LAPII; The Ken Blanchard Co., 1979) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9 (UWES-9; Schaufeli and Baker, 2003). Regression analysis was used to determine the degree to which the SLII leaders’ behaviors explained new employee engagement. The research question and hypotheses explored the gap between SLII behaviors and new employee engagement.FindingsThe findings of this research indicated a positive relationship between the SLII leadership style of Coaching (S2) and new employee engagement. It is important to engage new hires in order to reduce turnover.Originality/valueThe SLII leadership style of Coaching (SW) was studied and in relation to new employee engagement. New hire engagement (those working for an organization for less than a year) is not an area that has been studied in relation to coaching in medium sized organizations and this article contributes to the literature.

Untangling the cumulative impact of big data analytics, green lean six sigma and sustainable supply chain management on the economic performance of manufacturing organisations

Big data analytics provides up-to-date information to facilitate organisational decision-making and boost economic performance. However, an organisation’s big data analytical capability must be investigated to determine its importance in driving economic performance through continuous improvement and sustainability-related tools such as green lean six sigma and sustainable supply chain management. We conducted an empirical study and obtained 443 effective responses from managerial staff working in small and medium-sized organisations in Pakistan. Using structural equation modelling and artificial neural networks, we investigate the effects of big data analytics, green lean six sigma and sustainable supply chain management on economic performance. Our result shows that green lean six sigma and sustainable supply chain management partially mediate the relationship between big data analytics and economic performance. Although the implementation of sustainable supply chain management is identified, it is supported by technological but not cultural compatibility in the current operating environments of the organisations. As a theoretical contribution, this study enriches the literature on digitisation by relating it to the dynamic capability theory. As per practical contribution, this study reveals that the amalgamation of big data analytics, green lean six sigma, and sustainable supply chain management strengthen the organisation’s economic performance.

An Identification of Trends in the Functioning of Organisations in the Context of Their Impact on the Level of Employment in Ukraine

Unique knowledge, reinforced by organisational experience and combined with resources and technologies, forms the competence of organisations, thereby determining the possibility of market success. The need to ensure it in the context of influencing the employment level of a population shifts attention from external factors to the internal properties of organisations as a prerequisite for achieving high performance levels. The status of organisations of different business groups in terms of their impact on employment in Ukraine is defined in the following pages of this article. The inexpediency of considering the indicators of the number of organisations in Ukraine and the intensity of their creation as a factor of employment growth was substantiated, since, despite the absolute quantitative advantage of small organisations (95.2%), it is medium-sized organisations that occupy the leading positions in providing employment in Ukraine (47%). It is noted that the higher level of profitability of large and medium-sized organisations, as an indicator of financial success, can be associated with a wider list of available competencies, in particular, those that are part of the synergistic component of an organisation’s competence and which provide advantages that are almost unreproducible by competitors, and thus, market leadership positions. The complexity of the development of such competencies among small businesses, which should focus on the competencies of a key component, is substantiated. Using the component will open access to new knowledge, experience, methods of managing resources, and business processes. The logical conclusion manifest itself in the importance of developing competent organisations capable of: achieving high financial results; creating jobs with a competitive level of pay; and contributing to the balance of the labour market. The identified disparities in labour supply and demand indicators exacerbate the problem of their balance along with ensuring productive employment, which is often caused by the professional and qualification mismatch of employees with employers’ current requirements and their incompetence in certain areas of activity. This is the reason for directing research to find ways to develop competent organisations capable of attracting employees with a wide range of knowledge, a willingness to learn, and who are able to adapt to changes in exchange for decent remuneration. A distinctive feature of this study is the consideration of the trends of the functioning of organisations not only from the standpoint of influence on the level of employment in Ukraine, but also as evidence of the manifestation of a certain level of competence, which will become the basis for the development of its components in order to ensure the effective operation of organisations on the market.

Leadership Styles and Organisational Performance: Case of Small Businesses in Cameroon Size Businesses in Buea Municipality

This study assesses the relationship between leadership styles and organisational performance for small and medium size organisations in Cameroon. Specifically, it examines the effect of authoritarian leadership style on organisational performance, the effect of democratic leadership style on organisational performance and the effect of transformational leadership style on organiational performance. Using a causal research design, the research selected 100 employees in small and medium size organisations through purposive sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used through SPSS version 25 to analyse data. Findings reveal that there is a positive and significant relationship between leadership styles and organizational performance in small businesses studied. Results further reveal that democratic leadership styles do not have a positive effect on organizational performance while authoritarian and transformational leadership style has a positive and significant impact on organisational performance. It was recommended that managers in small and medium size organisations use authoritarian and transformational leadership styles in order to increase performance.

Human Service Organizations’ Participation in the Paycheck Protection Program: A Cross-Sector Comparison

ABSTRACT The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was passed during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist small and medium-sized organizations. However, only a fraction of eligible nonprofits applied for and received loans. Using a contract failure lens, we posit that nonprofits are more likely to have higher per-employee loan amounts and use funds for payroll than for-profits. Analyzing a sample of 174,496 first-draw loans across human service sub-fields, results suggest differences by size, particularly among single-employee organizations, and by nonprofit and for-profit recipients. Single-employee organizations represent nearly half of HSO recipients, suggesting an unintended consequence of prioritizing short processing times over more scrutiny.

Zerial Education

Learning outcomes After reading and analyzing the case study, the students would be able to understand the complexities of leadership and decision-making in a diverse workplace, specifically when promoting differently abled employees; explore the importance of fostering an inclusive environment, addressing biases and developing empathy in the context of leadership and diversity; explore the challenges and considerations involved in managing a team with diverse backgrounds and abilities; and evaluate the potential impact of promoting employees with disabilities on the morale and retention of other team members. Case overview/synopsis This case study is about a hearing-impaired individual, Jessica, who was recently hired by a medium-sized organization, Zerial Education. She was the organization’s first hire with a disability, and some of her colleagues were skeptical about how she would fit in. There was a clear bias against her because of her disability, and she faced many challenges while proving herself and earning the respect of her colleagues. Despite the initial skepticism and bias, she quickly proved herself to be a valuable member of the team. As the appraisal period arrived, Stan Logan, her reporting manager, faced a tough decision. He wanted to be fair and avoid to seem to be biased, yet he was also committed to fostering diversity and inclusion. If he promoted Jessica, it would affirm the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity, and it would also validate Jessica’s impressive year of work. However, this might come at the cost of creating tensions among the other top performers who were also deserving of the promotion and potentially complicating client interactions owing to Jessica’s hearing impairment. Logan had to navigate these complexities and make a decision that aligned with both the company’s values and operational needs, while also considering the potential consequences on team morale and client relationships. Complexity academic level The case is suitable for use by students at an MBA level. Human resource management: In this course, students might learn about the legal and ethical issues surrounding disability in the workplace, as well as strategies for recruiting and retaining employees with disabilities. Organizational behavior: In this course, students might learn about the psychological and social factors that influence how individuals with disabilities are perceived and treated in organizations, as well as how to promote diversity and inclusion within a company. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: Human resource management

Factors affecting Quality 4.0 implementation in Czech, Slovak and Polish organizations: Preliminary research

With the proliferation of the Industry 4.0 paradigm, the inadequacy of conventional quality management tools has become increasingly apparent. The preliminary investigation presented in this paper focuses on the identification of the Quality 4.0 readiness level of organizations operating in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia, as well as affecting factors. The study is based on the review of relevant literature. The web-based questionnaire enabling organizations' representatives through Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) to take part in the study was used. Data from 298 completed responses were subjected to comprehensive analysis. Descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing were applied to analyse the data. Small and medium-sized organizations achieve low levels of Quality 4.0 readiness. Large organizations are better prepared. The study confirmed the dependence between the Quality 4.0 readiness level and whether the organization operates in automotive, while automotive organizations achieved a higher level of Quality 4.0 readiness than other organizations. The significant relationship between the Quality 4.0 readiness level and whether the organization has a certified management system was also confirmed. Received data also enabled the identification of the main barriers and benefits of Quality 4.0 implementation perceived by the organizations. The research findings identify the challenges that enterprises face regarding the Quality 4.0 implementation and the necessary support that organizations require. These findings can be a foundation for developing novel research initiatives and implementation programs. The research results contribute to the existing body of knowledge and bring new information and insights into the field of quality digitalization.

FEATURES OF ADAPTATION AND COOPERATION OF SMALL ENTERPFEATURES OF ADAPTATION AND COOPERATION OF SMALL ENTERPRISES OF THE ALTAI TERRITORY IN THE SANCTIONED ECONRISES OF THE ALTAI TERRITORY IN THE SANCTIONED ECONOMY: THE EXPERIENCE OF COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The article presents the results of a study of the situation, adaptive behavior and dynamics of enterprises cooperative relations in the production sector of the Altai Territory of various sizes in the context of sanctions deployment.
 The specificity of the author's approach lies in the fact that the adaptation and cooperation of small enterprises of the region have been studied and characterized not «by themselves», but against the background of large and medium-sized organizations, which made it possible to identify their inherent features.
 The structure of the article is represented by two blocks. In the first of them, the dynamics of small business development in 2010–2020s is characterized. The second main part of the article reveals the features of the situation and adaptive behavior of small enterprises in comparison with large and medium-sized ones.
 Reasoned conclusions are made about the reduction in the analyzed period of the number of small businesses in the Altai Territory with the simultaneous growth of their economic potential and contribution to the economy of the region.
 It is proved that small enterprises in the production sector of the region, compared with large and mediumsized ones, have experienced less sanctions pressure. The risks typical for small business have been identified.
 The features of the scale, intensity and nature of cooperative relations of small enterprises in comparison with large and medium-sized enterprises of the region are characterized.

МЕТОДИКА ОПРЕДЕЛЕНИЯ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИХ ПОКАЗАТЕЛЕЙ ПРОЕКТА ПРИ AGILE СТРУКТУРЕ КОМАНДЫ

The article considers a combination of Time Driven Activity Based Costing techniques, coupled with a Commitment point strategy in conditions of a high degree of uncertainty, to objectify the assessment of aspects of project activity. The description and formalized structuring of the hybrid strategy in the context of small and medium-sized organizations is formulated. The article analyzes modern practices in determining the methodological models of project evaluation, related strategies and the possibility of practical application for the effective economic activity of organizations.

Organizational factors fostering employee green behavior in the workplace: Study on the leather industry

This study investigates the influencing factors that foster green employee behavior in the workplace. The objective of this study is to measure the impact of environmental concern, green human resources practices, environmental knowledge, and green organizational culture on green employee behavior at the workplace. As the potential sample, the study only considered working employees of various medium-sized organizations of the leather industry in Bangladesh. The survey questionnaire was developed on Google Forms using a five-point Likert scale. 300 online questionnaires were sent to the respondents, and 215 responses were deemed valid, showing a response rate of 71%. Moreover, a 5% significance level and SPSS software were used to analyze the data regarding the research purpose of this study. Cronbach’s alpha (α) and factor loading values were used for the reliability and validity of the variables. OLS regression was used to test the hypotheses. This study results find that employees’ concern for the environment, organizational green HRM, necessary information about the environment, green culture, and leadership style are critical for fostering green behavioral outcomes at the workplace. These four factors explained 48.6% of variations on the dependent variable. It is also found that environmental concern (β = 0.274, p < 0.05**) has the highest impact on employee behavior, and green HR practices (β = 0.145, p < 0.05**) have the lowest impact on employee behavior.

Transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behavior: new mediating roles for trustworthiness and trust in team leaders

This study investigates the pivotal role of trust in bridging the effects of transformational leadership on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The study was conducted using a multilevel longitudinal approach with 276 employees in 71 teams from private medium-sized organizations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Transformational leadership was found to be positively related to: (1) three facets of trustworthiness (ability, benevolence, and integrity); (2) trust in the leader; and (3) OCB. All three facets of trustworthiness mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and trust in leaders. In addition, trust in the leader mediated only the relationship between the benevolence facet of trustworthiness and OCB. As OCB is inherently benevolent, these findings not only are consistent with the principle of compatibility, but they also contribute to theorizing about ‘how’ trust plays an important role in the influence of transformational leadership on employees.

Effect of On-the-Job Training Techniques on Performance of SMES in Mombasa County

Organizations rely largely on their employees to deliver high-quality production and performance. This means that staff needs to be skilled and knowledgeable, which can only be achieved through learning and development. Most small and medium-sized (SMEs) organizations hardly train their staff, and as such, performance is affected. This can be seen in the poor performance of some SMEs. To change this trend, it is thought that improving the competence and capacity of the employees can improve their performance. Training, especially on-the-job training, will give the SME in the construction sector hands-on experience. The main objective of the study was to investigate the effect of on-the-job training techniques on the performance of SMEs. The specific objectives covered employee coaching and apprenticeships. The study was anchored on social learning theory and human capital theory. The study employed a descriptive research design. The target population was stratified as per the position held in the organization. Primary data was collected through the use of structured questionnaires, which were self-administered to the respondents. The data was analyzed using SPPS, where descriptive analysis was done to obtain means, standard deviations, and inferential statistics. Pearson Moment of Correlation analysis was conducted to test the strength of the variables, and regression analysis was done to check the relationship between the study variables. The study established that employee coaching and apprenticeship all had a significant and positive effect on the performance of SME. The study concludes that on-the-job training techniques have a significant effect on organizational performance. The study recommends that training is very significant in improving the performance of SMEs, hence it should be embraced in the construction sector. As such, there should be more investment in enhancing training programs so as to drive organizational performance.