Perceptions Of Business Owners Research Articles

Perception of Business Owners about the Factors Influencing the Use of social media as a tool of marketing by the Business Community of Bhutan

Social media (SM) has gained popularity in today's business environment. consumers themselves are more engaged in this marketing media. This research aims to identify the perception of business owners about factors influencing the use of social media as a marketing tool by the business community of Phuentsholing- the commercial capital of Bhutan. This study used convenience sampling techniques to determine the sample size. A total of 140 responded data was taken to conduct the study and analyzed. The main purpose of this paper is to know the difference in perception of business owners while using social media as their marketing tool. The findings revealed several factors namely social media adoption, literacy, cultural, technological factor, consumer pressure, and cost by the business community. This study found that two factors influence the use of social media as a marketing tool namely technological factors and social media adoption. The primary level business owners have adopted to use social media as their marketing tool as they think that social media is the best way to promote their business whereas, degree level business owners were found to be more technological based as they have extensive technical knowledge as well as have the ability to quickly learn and apply new information technologies.

Archives in Neighborhood Businesses: A Case Study on Presence and Characteristics

This article discusses the potential role archives play in supporting commercial activity in everyday non-institutional settings. It is based around an exploratory case study of archives’ presence and characteristics in neighborhood bars and restaurants in a large Midwestern city. Using unobtrusive field observations and incorporating concepts and frameworks from the business and marketing psychology fields related to authenticity and nostalgia, the study offers insight into the decision-making processes around the use and value of archives, history, and heritage as a business strategy. The findings, based on observations and data gathering at select business locations, indicate extensive use of archival materials in a wide variety of visually engaging formats. The archival materials contribute to a history-informed aesthetic that gives each subject location a distinctive character. This study lays the groundwork for continued inquiry into business utilization and value of archives and recommends further research into the perceptions of business owners and customers on the role of archives in public commercial spaces.

Apprentice Wage Rates: Extent, Determinants and Implications

This report provides findings from an in-depth survey conducted at 72 local businesses clustered around commercial markets located across Ganta, Gbarnga and Monrovia Cities of Liberia. The aim of the study is to provide a better understanding of wage rate business proprietors pay employees, which are classified in the study as entry level apprentices without soft skills, entry level apprentices with soft skills, entry level employees, and experienced employees. Our study shows that business owners place a very high wage premium on apprentices with soft skill training than with new apprentices without soft skill training with later earning significantly lower wages. The study found entry level employees with the PROSPECTS soft skills training earning significantly higher (Ganta $58, Montserrado $52, Gbarnga $50) than entry level apprentices without PROSPECTS soft skills training (Ganta $37 monthly, Gbarnga $25 monthly, Montserrado $14 monthly). A challenge mentioned by majority of business owners is the prevalence of unskilled and untrained workers within our sampled respondents. The study shows very experienced employees at Montserrado earn a lot higher at $166 when compared to entry level employee wages of $52. Experienced employees at Gbarnga also earn considerably higher at $63 than entry level employee wages of $50.4 Findings from the sampled businesses across the three counties show a few businesses commit funds in addition to PROSPECTS subsidy of $70 towards stipend for apprentices participating in the three months placement. We found a few apprentices on placement supported by businesses with 15$ at Montserrado, Gbarnga apprentices $24, and Ganta apprentices $17 monthly. PROSPECTS apprentices not only receive soft skills treatment but also get work experience after the three months placement, and this prepares the youths towards better employment opportunities. Our study shows that businesses are proliferating at a faster pace since phase 11 PROSPECTS intervention ended mid-2017, with 28.75% of surveyed businesses newly established in the last three years. This has meant an increase in businesses employing workers between 3 and 6 in number in the localities surveyed. Findings also show a poor percentage of businesses at 50% can pay workers on time which likely impacts on work motivation and attitude to work of employees. For over half of business owners, there are difficulties with training employed staff with identified skills gaps, despite business owners commonly stating employees need marketing training to enable higher turnover of goods on sale. Only 5.56% of business employers financially support employees with needed training and skills, with 89% of employers suggesting staff have low business and work-readiness skills. General perception of business owners is that ventures are profitable with 77.78% of the sample with this view and difficulties noted with 63% of businesses not owning business premises where transactions take place. The report concludes by making certain recommendations, some of which are straightforward to implement.

OVERVIEW OF FACTORS IMPACTING TO THE APPLICATION OF ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

The application of accounting standards is a necessary measure to ensure transparency and properly explain the information which is presented on the financial statements. When an enterprise applies accounting standards, that will help the users who use the information on the financial statements to make the right decision. However, the application of accounting standards in practice has met certain difficulties and obstacles. By qualitative research methods such as synthesis, analysis, comparison, interpolation, the authors have provided research results on the factors impacting to the application of accounting standards in the enterprises in Vietnam and on the world such as education level, impact of tax, the level of compliance, the influence of auditing organizations, the perception of business owners, characteristics of enterprises and capital sources, the level of increase Economic growth, political, cultural and legal factors aim to help businesses identify the factors to apply accounting standards easily and effectively to promote the development of economic and society.

Czech Students’ Perceptions of Ethical Behavior in Business and Entrepreneurship

The central notion of business culture and communication with stakeholders consists in the ethical standards regarding the behaviour of corporation owners and managers, which, on the one hand, form an essential element of successful business activities and partnerships, and on the other hand, are complicated in terms of measuring and managing the phenomenon. This study uses agency and stakeholder theories to compare the ethical standards in the behaviour of businessmen and managers. These theories influence freedom of decision-making and behaviour in entrepreneurial activity based on the personal ethical considerations and individuals’ interests, regardless of the size of their share in the business. The article analyzes data regarding differences in perceptions of business owners and managers by Czech students; the differences between ethical standards of behaviour of Czech and American entrepreneurs and managers; gender peculiarities of Czech students’ perception of different business representatives. A methodological tool for the study of ethical perception by youth at the University of the Czech Republic was the Bucar and Hisrich model, and the basis to define the statistical significance of testing the hypothesis ̶ even and odd T-tests. The object of the study contains representatives of small and medium-sized businesses in the Czech Republic, as a country that offers an appealing microcosm for research thanks to the recent transition to a market economy with rapid changes in policy and market activity perceptions. 73% of respondents previously worked in a small business, almost 44% had family members who owned or have a small business and 9.5% owned the business. The sample age structure consisted of 53% of women and 47% of men, on average, under 22 years old, 8% of whom were married. The results of the research revealed that there were no significant differences between the Czech students’ ethical perception of managers and businessmen and the lack of influence on the respondents’ previous experience in doing business. A study of gender-based sampling revealed that Czech female students are more likely to evaluate entrepreneurs less ethically than men do. Keywords: Agency Theory, Czech Republic, Entrepreneurs, Ethics, Managers, Stakeholder Theory.

Perceptions of business owners about ecotourism in Yakushima Island, Japan

Perceptions of business owners about ecotourism in Yakushima Island, Japan

NETWORK, HOW? Perceptions of business people on networking practices

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to contribute to literature on networking from a South African perspective. Literature on networking is mainly concentrated on the European and American contexts with homogeneous groups and traditional divisions. The business landscape of South Africa thus requires more investigation. Problem investigated: Literature regarding networking in an South African context with its dynamic business environment is limited. This article addresses the concerns of how South African business owners and managers perceive networking in their businesses and specifically focus on the South African perspective. Therefore, the focus is on the perceptions of business owners and managers on current networking practices in South Africa. Methodology: A qualitative research design to uncover the rich underlying feelings of business owners and managers was used. The qualitative enquiry consisted of five focus group discussions (n=41 participants) among prominent business owners and managers in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Gauteng Province was selected since it is the economic and innovation hub of South Africa. Findings and implications: The main findings showed the following main themes of networking that emerged from the data, and included (1) networking as a skill versus a natural ability; (2) the motivation behind networking; (3) the loci of networking; (4) the type of relationships that determine the character of the network; and (5) the relationship characteristics of successful networking. The main contribution of this is that there seems to be different networking situations and applications for different circumstances. According to the participants, it seems that networking in the South African landscape appears to be either relationship or business based. Originality and value of the research: The value of these findings lies in the fact that they contribute to networking literature from a South African perspective and that networking skills form an important part of management and entrepreneurship. The conclusion is that this research supports the notion that networking skills are important and should be developed on a wider basis. Formal courses on networking or incorporation in existing management training and development courses need to be implemented on all levels by educational institutions and government.

Bank Loan Officers' Perceptions of Business Owners: The Role of Gender

There is a widely held belief that banks may be discriminating against female business owners. This study was designed to explore the perceptions held by bank loan officers of male and female business owners, using Bourdieu's theory of practice and Kelly's personal construct methodology. The research literature might lead to an expectation that the characteristics of the business owners would be relatively homogenous but that men and women business owners would be construed differently (for example women might be seen to lack drive). However, the results demonstrate heterogeneity in the constructs held by bank loan officers, and a particular concern with the character of the business owner. Significant gender differences were observed in only 20 of the 325 constructs elicited from 35 bank loan officers. Female bank loan officers were as likely as male bank loan officers to draw gender distinctions between business owners. Detailed multivariate analyses confirmed no evidence of systematic gender differences in the constructs held by bank loan officers of business owners.