Regional Business Development Research Articles

Model for Digital Skills Training for SMEs

Concerning the level of digitalisation, SMEs are not as well positioned as large companies. Lack of affordable training and ability to obtain needed competences form significant obstacles for the digitalisation of SMEs. The present study discusses these challenges and proposes an experimental model developed in a project implemented in cooperation with a university of applied sciences and regional business development organisations. The project provides the tools necessary for SMEs to develop their digital skills in the South Savo region, Finland. Our research question is: How can SMEs be best supported to develop and grow their digital skills and business models? Earlier research shows that employees working in SMEs need a set of competences enabling them to work and prosper in the ever-changing digital environment. For SMEs, the question is, which set of employee competences is the most relevant for the company's commercial success, because digital competences play a vital role in most SMEs’ future success. The training model presented in the paper is based, firstly, on defining the relevant areas of digital competences and the most significant skills gaps for each SME and, secondly, on tailoring a company-specific syllabus for closing these gaps. There are over 180 SMEs participating in the project. The practical work with each SME starts with digital competence mapping in a meeting between a business advisor and a representative of the SME. Based on the competence mapping, the SME then receives a company-specific action plan, and a syllabus. The project provides participating SMEs with clear learning paths at both basic and advanced levels, longer training paths and coaching. By doing so, the model ensures that participating SMEs only concentrate on relevant issues and get appropriate particulars support for their businesses. The contribution of the study is the development of an efficient training model and testing it with 180 SMEs. Based on our results, the most important digital competences for each SME in developing and growing its business must be defined based on each SME’s specific business needs, grounded in its business model and context, and skills gaps related to these competences.

The marketing strategy of the business complex-case study of Xi Ying Men

In recent years, due to the government's increased supervision on the real estate industry, the growth rate of the commercial real estate market has slowed down, and it is difficult to de inventory in some regions, and the structural contradiction has become increasingly prominent. With the rise and development of e-commerce, traditional integrated commercial entities are facing a severe development situation. Xiyingmen Building Materials and Home Furnishings Plaza was founded in 1997 and headquartered in Shanghai. It specializes in the development, operation and management of urban complex and building materials and furniture plaza projects. Because of its early start and perfect supporting facilities, it also achieved good financial performance in the early stage. However, with the continuous emergence of large commercial complexes, the pattern of new and old business districts has changed significantly, and the competition between commercial complexes has become increasingly fierce. The financial performance of Xiyingmen Building Materials and Home Furnishing Plaza has declined year by year. Therefore, it is urgent to carry out special research, propose feasible measures, summarize effective experience, which is conducive to promoting the sustainable development of the industry, bringing better benefits to the operation of the industry, and can provide theoretical reference for the formulation of marketing strategies for many similar commercial complexes.
 From the perspective of the demand and service of target merchants and consumers, this paper first analyzes the macro environment analysis, regional business development analysis, competitor comparison analysis, project positioning analysis, SWOT analysis and other aspects of Xiyingmen Building Materials and Home Furnishing Plaza, which provides a solid foundation and reference value for the project to formulate marketing strategies.

HUMAN CAPITAL TRANSFORMATION AND BUSINESS POTENTIAL UTILIZATION FACTORS IN THE AUTONOMOUS REPUBLIC OF ADJARA

იამზე სურმანიძე 
 ბათუმის შოთა რუსთაველის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი
 საქართველო
 
 სტატიის მიზანია აჭარის ავტონომიურ რესპუბლიკაში ადამიანისეული კაპი­ტა­ლის განვითარების პოტენციალის და მათი ეკონომიკური აქტივობის დონის შეფასება. სტა­ტიაში ჩამოყალიბებულია რეგიონში ადამიანისეული კაპიტალის ფორმირების თა­ვი­სებურებები, მისი განვითარების აუცილებლობა ბიზნესის პოტენციალის გამოყენების ფა­ქ­ტორებთან ერთად რეგიონის მდგრადი სოციალურ-ეკონომიკური განვითა­რე­ბის­ათ­ვის. 
 სტატიაში გამოკვეთილია ის საშიშროებები და საფრთხეები, რაც ემუქრება ადა­მია­ნი­სეული კაპიტალის და მცირე და საშუალო ბიზნესის სამომავლო განვითარებას აჭა­რა­ში, აღნიშნულია ადეკვატური ღონისძიებების განხორციელების აუცილებლობა. საბო­ლო­ოდ დადგინდა, რომ კონკურენტუნარიანი ადამიანისეული კაპიტალის ფორმირების და ეფექტური გამოყენების სწორი პოლიტიკა, ინოვაციური მეწარმეობის ხელშეწყობა, ად­გილობრივი რესურსული პოტენციალის ოპტიმალური გამოყენების და წარმოების მას­ტიმულირებელი პოლიტიკის განხორციელება არის რეგიონის განვითარების უმნ­იშვ­ნელოვანესი სტრატეგია.
 საკვანძო სიტყვები: ადამიანისეული კაპიტალი, რეგიონული ბიზნესი, ინო­ვა­ცი­უ­რი მეწარმეობა, ბიზნესის პოტენციალი, დემოგრაფიული რესურსი.

ЕКСТЕНСИВНІ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ СТРАТЕГІЧНОГО РОЗВИТКУ ЗАКАРПАТСЬКОЇ ОБЛАСТ

Strategic management is a necessary condition for building a set of competitive advantages in modern economic conditions of regional economic systems. The aim of the article is to define and analyze quantitative indicators of regional economic development as a mirror of strategic management. In the article the characteristics of the main quantitative indicators that characterize the results of strategic management of the economy of the Transcarpathian region are presented.Quantitative factors include those that characterize the size of certain components of economic development. The latter provide a potential assessment through quantitative parameters. Such factors include the number of business entities and gross regional product. Structural shifts in economic phenomena allow us to assess the priorities of strategic management.In the article the dynamics of the gross regional product, the dynamics of the population of economic entities, the structure of enterprises by their size are analyzed. The results of the study indicate an insufficient level of strategic management, as evidenced by the decline of key economic indicators in the region. First, the region lacks a clearly defined strategy for regional business development, but in fact does not achieve leadership positions in competition with other competing regions. Secondly, there is no support for medium-sized businesses that grow from small, and this is an enterprise about regional support for small businesses. Third, there is also a trend of reducing the number of large enterprises, which is a negative marker of the state of strategic management of regional development.It is recommended to form monitoring hubs to intensify strategic management in the region, which will include both representatives of the administration and the business world; soon to the adopted strategy of regional development and obstacles to its practical implementation; pay attention to the competence of managers in the field of strategic management, development in the pro-cess of strategic management of mechanisms that use the nano-level.Keywords: strategic management, economic development, quantitative indicators of deve-lopment, regional economy, competitiveness.

Applying the positioning phase of the digital transformation model in practice for SMEs: toward systematic development of digitalization

Digital transformation (DT) refers to the changes in ways of working and business offering caused by adoption of digital technologies in an organization. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling with this transformation because of their limited resources and know-how. Thus, SMEs need practical grassroots-level help for DT that allows the companies to analyze where they stand in digitalization, and how they should proceed. This article discusses how SMEs can be supported in their DT by utilizing the DT model consisting of four consecutive phases for supporting companies’ systematic development of digitalization. The article focuses on the first phase of the DT model, positioning, where company’s digitalization status is analyzed in detail, and development ideas are identified. The positioning phase was conducted for 19 SMEs in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. The results indicate that the used process and tools were suitable to support SMEs for analyzing their digitalization status and identifying areas for improvement. The DT model and piloted tools have been published as a free-of-charge ApuaDigiin.fi online service to facilitate their widespread use in the future. In this way, public regional business development authors or research organizations can utilize the online service while supporting the digitalization of SMEs.

Methodology for assessing the effectiveness of the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Kazakhstan

The purpose of the article is to reveal the current topics on the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the country and support provided to them from the state. In this article, analytical work is carried out on the branches of small and medium-sized businesses, and several types of methodological guidelines are given. The definitions and concepts expressed by several authors regarding social business were presented, as well as the types of business used in foreign practice. The purpose of the study is to present the research and author's proposals of scientists related to the development and effective functioning of small and medium-sized businesses in accordance with the topic, and to present the results of the analysis and research. Often, business development in regional regions is lagging behind. For its development, it is necessary to solve the issues of informatization on the part of the state and local authorities. Therefore, we believe that this methodological guide and several proposed solutions will be taken into account. We expect that Kazakhstan will develop the informatization base, increase access to various programs and legislative acts related to small and medium-sized businesses. The results of several analyses were presented, examining the support provided by the state to the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Kazakhstan. The assessment of the effectiveness of state support for small and medium-sized businesses is carried out according to the indicators of the economic efficiency of the allocated funds. The increase in the indicator of social efficiency indicates the interest and involvement of small and medium-sized businesses in state support programs in Kazakhstan.

The content analysis of regional entrepreneurship

Subject. The study determines directions for developing the business activity in the Russian regions. Methods. The study is based on the systems approach and methods of statistical, neural network and cluster analysis. Results. I review the current aspects of the regional business development when business rules are changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article scrutinizes the concept of entrepreneurship in terms of historical development and legal status. Having conducted the content analysis of the business activity in a lagging region of the Russian Federation, I found its highest concentration, with small businesses (and microbusinesses) taking the lead and maintaining the employment. Businesses tend to trade in goods of other producers, thus decreasing the average headcount for smaller businesses, including microbusinesses. Studying the hierarchy of economic activity types small businesses engage in by share of investment in the capital stock (in terms of new and imported fixed assets), I note the unprofitable investment n such foreign trade activities, such as Agriculture, forestry, hunting, fisheries and fish farming, and Construction. The dynamism of small businesses drops earlier, longer and deeper if compared to sole proprietors. In a lagging region, smaller business forms can evolve only if they deal with trade. Conclusions and Relevance. The content analysis of the Russian regional business gave an understanding of its development limits from perspectives of a lagging region, which determines the growth rates of business activity in Russia. The content analysis reveals high growth rates of trade in goods that smaller businesses sell, without being their producers. The findings contribute to the knowledge and competence of specialists working for the Russian Ministry of Economic Development to make consistent managerial decisions concerning the distribution and redistribution of investment resources.

Regional entrepreneurial ecosystems: how family firm embeddedness triggers ecosystem development

Regional business development is driven by family firms, which are generally deeply embedded in their region, particularly in rural areas. This study explores how family entrepreneurs’ embeddedness drives an entrepreneurial ecosystem as a regional context for innovation. For this purpose, the study brings together entrepreneurship research on embeddedness and on ecosystems, and develops the entrepreneurial ecosystem embeddedness framework to better understand the connection of entrepreneurs to their local environment along three dimensions. Analyzing qualitative interviews from the hospitality context with a pattern matching approach, we highlight the role of family entrepreneurs’ (1) horizontal embeddedness in the economic and socio-political environment, their (2) vertical embeddedness in industry regimes, in particular the family, and their (3) spatial embeddedness in the region for value creation. Thereby we contribute to a differentiated understanding of how embeddedness as a social fabric relates to entrepreneurial ecosystems. The propositions of this study recommend raising awareness for managing entrepreneurs’ embeddedness along these three dimensions since unilateral engagement and a lack of coordinated embeddedness can restrict value creation.

МЕХАНИЗМ ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЙ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ БИЗНЕСА САРАТОВСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ В УСЛОВИЯХ КОРОНОКРИЗИСА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ И ПУТИ РЕШЕНИЯ

The purpose of the article is to consider the problems faced by regional business in the context of the coronavirus crisis. The main financial indicators of regional business are considered, which reflect the existing problems of entrepreneurship in the Saratov region. The volume of unprofitable organizations by various types of economic activity is presented, representing a tendency of decreasing business efficiency over the last year. The analysis of the indicator of the economic security of regional business is the indicator of the gross profit of business, which has a negative growth compared to the previous year. The main external and internal causes, as well as the problems of regional business in the context of a pandemic, are identified. Among the main problems, the authors highlight the high "Index of Administrative Pressure" on business, as well as "administrative barriers" that have a negative impact on the development and functioning of the business. The authors formulate the concept of "administrative barrier" as applied to the business of the Saratov region. As a result, the necessity of developing a single set of measures was substantiated, which would allow ensuring the economic security of business in the form of a “mechanism of economic security” for regional business. In order to select activities within the framework of ensuring the economic security of business, the authors determine the possible risk coefficient for regional business development in the current period. The calculation of the possible retrospective growth rate of its profitability is carried out in order to implement the necessary measures to improve it.

Management of small business development in the region

Subject. This article discusses the economic relations and institutional and managerial processes in the sphere of State regulation of small business development at the regional level. Objectives. The article aims to develop recommendations on improvement of the management system and strengthening of State influence in the sphere of small business development in the region. Methods. For the study, we used the economic and statistical methods, graphic and expert estimate techniques, and the literature review approach. Results. The article summarizes the experience of small business operations in foreign countries and assesses the developments of Russian economists dealing with small businesses and regional development. It defines the factors constraining the development of small business in the region and shows the main areas of its support by the State. To conduct a comprehensive assessment of small business development in the region, the article offers an original scorecard. Conclusions. Implementing the proposed recommendations will help assess the condition of small business and apply appropriate tools in the system of State management of small business development in regions.

АНАЛИЗ МАРКЕТИНГОВЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ ВОЗМОЖНОСТЕЙ РАЗВИТИЯ БИЗНЕСА В ИМЕРЕТИНСКОМ РЕГИОНЕ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ ПРОДОВОЛЬСТВЕННОЙ ПРОДУКЦИИ, ПРОИЗВОДИМОЙ В ИМЕРЕТИ)


 
 
 The article focuses on the business development in regions and its promotion. Concerning these problems, in the article the results of the survey, conducted in three regions, in particular in Kutaisi, Batumi and Zaporozhye are given, from which it is obvious, that the region has the potential of making its products known and demanded on both, domestic and international markets. The following recommendations are given:• To organize open door day, where the products produced in the Imereti region will be presented, according to the commodity groups and producers of business.• To arrange meetings on the issues related to business subjects and hotel managers' proposals and their requirements.• Promotional leaflets and sheets of each commodity category will be produced for a separate business entity in order to create a competitive environment that will allow users to get acquainted with each category and choose products that are acceptable to them according to useful properties, price and other indicators.Consideration of these recommendations will help business entrepreneurs to get success.
 
 

The Role of Investments in Resolution of Socio-Economic Problems

The article is devoted to the investigation of the current level of investment attractiveness of the regions. Analysis have been conducted to study the investment attractiveness, ensuring the active investment activity and some positive decisions have been made. Conditions of the efficient socio-economic development in the region level has been clarified and analysis of the basis of possible ways of direct investments to the regions, characteristic features of the active investment activity for investment attractiveness and the modern approaches for efficient socio-economic development of regions have been conducted. Efficient ways of focusing the investment opportunities emerged in the country on the socio-economic development of the regions have been investigated and scientific-theoretical problems of the encouragement of the investments to the regions in modern condition have been analyzed. Influence of the non-stable financing, unidentified strategy on implementation of the socio-economic projects funded by the government of Azerbaijan republic has been described, execution of the actions against global political and economic influences, the international currency, traditional competitive environment in business have been analyzed. Socio-economic analysis of these problems plays economic justification for execution of the external and internal investments, the capacity of the budget and grants for resolution of these problems. Besides that development of the tendency of increasement of the amount of the fund required to increase the investment resources needed for socio-economic development of regions and the processes on this direction have been analyzed. The importance of the correctness of the data gained to use given complex and systematic methods and necessity of researching the events focused on implementation of the regional investment projects in Azerbaijan Republic according to the current investment policy has been justified. Some proposals have been given considering the local features, learning the experiences of the other countries in regional perspective, the same time the necessity of elimination of the current problems and the aim of the analyses has been identified. These proposals will help to increase the efficiency of this process for implementation of the promising priority projects. Regional business development, the amendment or improvement of the legislation for application of investments in country being more compromising has been investigated in the analysis.

ANALISIS PENDAPATAN USAHA PETERNAKAN SAPI POTONG BERBASIS SISTEM INTEGRASI DI KABUPATEN SITUBONDO

The research was conducted on farmer-based system that is integrated beef cattle business with agricultural land in Situbondo. Situbondo is an agricultural area that has potential as regional business development effort of cattle with rice fields. This research was conducted in Situbondo on 5 August to 12 September 2014. The choice of location research is done intentionally (purposive) in consideration because the area is one of the fields and the majority of people work as petani.Tujuan of this study was to determine the magnitude household income of cattle on beef cattle business integration system and to determine the household income of paddy farmers' efforts. Samples were observed in this study were 39 respondents, and data analysis using the formula to determine the income analysis-cattle farmers' income, the contribution formula to determine the contribution of farming to income-livestock farmers. The results showed that revenues in the system integration business beef with rice fields Rp. 28,434,100.1. Suggestions in the study should be the ranchers and farmers of system integration in Situbondo increase to the maximum all the factors affecting the production of beef cattle business productivity, thereby automatically breeders and farmers' income will also

ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОГО БИЗНЕСА

ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОГО БИЗНЕСА

Small And Medium-Sized Business Development In Regions: Establishment Of Priority Directions By The Example Of Sverdlovsk Region

The paper presents the research of current small and medium-sized business development in Sverdlovsk region. It includes analysis of enterprise development statistics, Russian and international experience, sociological survey of entrepreneurs’ satisfaction of doing business conditions in Sverdlovsk region. The aim of the research was to develop proposals for business support system development in the long run for inclusion in the SME Development Strategy in Sverdlovsk region up to 2030. As a result, a set of strategic SME development directions was formulated. It includes measures aimed at business problems solving through the development of SME support tools and at addressing institutional problems of business support. The paper includes proposals for improvement of regional support system and implementation the priority SME development direction.

Regional business development in the Western Balkans: roots and causes of failure

The aim of the paper is to extrapolate the patterns and volume of business development within the region of the Western Balkans. The area is a war-torn one with social, cultural, religious and political specificities. Although individual states have demonstrated noticeable institutional and growth developments, nevertheless, regional business links are limited, even non-existent. The state specificities are long standing, thus creating restrictive variations and, effectively, trade distortion conditions. I argue that regional business clusters among different nations, though satisfying specific religious and social characteristics, may be an alternative solution to the issue concerned. Political willingness is the element in demand. Market forces in areas such as the Western Balkans seem to be of secondary importance when assessing regional business cooperation and integration. Accordingly, traditional neo-classical approaches should be enriched to encompass quality variations to capture the complex reality.

Franklin Enterprises: The New Division

Franklin Enterprises, a leading supplier of industry plumbing, heating and cooling equipment, decided to set up an eBusiness division, Franklin Online (FOL), to develop online services for corporate account holders. Cody Lewis, an exemplary inside sales person, was appointed a Regional Business Development Manager (RBDM) for the newly established eBusiness division. With his sales skills, he created a team of sales people in his region that helped increase sales significantly through much quicker market penetration activities. He also worked closely with the other RBDM‟s in order to maximize the success of each territory. The very significant growth of the eBusiness division for corporate accounts led Franklin Enterprises to subsequently extend the service to the non-account consumer market as well.

Regional business development policy in Central and Eastern Europe: a mechanism design perspective

This paper explains one aspect of the challenges faced by regional development policy in Central and Eastern Europe. At issue is a policy for the development and expansion of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The causes and dynamics of difficulties with SME development policies are analyzed in a mechanism design/game theory framework, in which “policy failure” arises as an equilibrium phenomenon. The model results deliver a cautionary note: that indiscriminate application of market criteria may be counterproductive in an environment characterized by severe constraints on material wealth accumulation.

The management of rock festivals as a basis for business dynamics: an example of the growing experience economy

This paper investigates whether rock festival organisations can be drivers of local and/or regional business development. Rock festivals are one representation of the seemingly growing experience economy. The paper discusses the following research questions on the basis of an explorative case study: can rock festivals be the basis for the development of other industries, education, research and other activities in the local community or region and, if so, how? Is there a particular management and organisational style related to rock festivals and, if so, is it imitated by other firms so that they can become more creative? The rock festivals' role as innovators and business incubators has been investigated. One rock festival functions as a business incubator, the other one as the basis for an attempt to create a regional innovation system. It is concluded that they can be a basis for local or regional business development. Even though there is a general interest for the management and organisational style of the rock festivals, it seems that it is not directly imitated by other firms.

The new wave of regional innovation networks: Analysis, characteristics and strategy

Today, the number one priority for competitive advantage is innovation. A new approach to regional business development has been pioneered in Europe and the U.S.A. This involves building a regional innovation infrastructure. Learning through “networking” has proven to be a successful approach in some of Europe's more dynamic regional economics such as Baden-Wurttemberg and Emilia-Romagna. This involves maximising the complete range of regional innovation assets. The state of Pennsylvania and other older industry centres are showing that such an approach is transferable from Europe to the U.S.A. The paper assesses knowledge-transfer at the regional level and outlines the key elements for successful regional innovation networking practices. The major finding(s) are that business networking is an effective way of increasing company turnover; that not-for-profit organizations are excellent for setting up networks because they are trusted, and that innovation networks are perhaps the most difficult, thought-requiring but important of the types of business network conceivable.