Small And Medium Enterprises Owner-managers Research Articles

Financial Strategies for Sustainability of Enterprises in Nigeria: The Manufacturing and Trading Sector Outlook

Although small and medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute significantly to Nigeria’s socioeconomic and political development, most of the country’s SMEs no longer operate by their fifth anniversary. Many owners lack knowledge of the financial strategies required for the long- term performance and growth of their enterprise. The aim of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain an in-depth understanding of financial strategies that SMEs owner-managers can adopt to enhance the sustainability of their business operations in Nigeria. This study was grounded in entrepreneurship theory and Porter’s model of competitive strategy. Qualitative data were collected from semi structured interviews, observational field notes, and reflections. The participants were six SME owner-managers who employ between 10-99 employees within the manufacturing and trading sectors. Thematic analysis of data produced (a) using available financing options, (b) entrenching strategic financial practices, (c) adopting effective long-term financial planning, (d) embracing entrepreneurial resilience, and (e) taking advantage of technology. The findings revealed the need for SME owner-managers to be dynamic in their financial strategy practices. By doing so, SME owner-managers may be able to sustain their businesses, which may promote positive social change through job creation, wealth distribution, technological innovation, grassroots development, and enhancement of gross domestic product.

Forensic Accounting and Fraud Prevention in Owner-Managed Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study examined forensic accounting at fraud prevention in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with emphasis on owner – managed entities. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design, a type of observational study designed with questionnaire administered on administered on selected 165 respondents (middle and senior level staff of Accounting, Finance, Logistics, and Human Resources) in 26 selected small and medium enterprises managed by the owners/family members in Abeokuta metropolis of Ogun State, Nigeria. Simple percentage and frequency tables were used to analyse the distribution of responses and data analysed through descriptive statistics and One Sample T-Test using IBM’s SPSS Statistics 22 to test for the hypothesis formulated in the study. The findings revealed that the application of forensic accounting, with appreciable progress in the developed world, but limited appreciation and usage in emerging economies will prevent fraud in Nigeria SMEs. The understanding of entrepreneurs’ owner-managers and their adoption of forensic accounting practices beyond the traditional auditing and investigation come to the fore. The study thus concluded that the adoption and application of forensic accounting by SMEs will greatly assist in the prevention and detection of fraud in this engine of economic growth. It therefore recommended that right attitude of SMEs owner managers, well defined business processes, controls and enhanced training on forensic accounting by academic, professional bodies and organizations is highly essential in preventing fraud not only in SMEs but in the private with no exception of the public sector.

Financial Support, Indispensable for Smes Growth in Mozambique

Universally it is recognized that support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) at their birth and during growth is essential to nurture them in order to avoid premature deaths. Without formidable support to SMEs, youths would remain unemployed and result in all sorts of economic ills such as increase in crime and youth immigration from rural areas to urban areas, or from Mozambique to the republic of South Africa. Support to SMEs can come in many forms; including support from financial institutions, from government agencies, large firms and non-governmental organizations (NGO)s to mention a few. What has not been confirmed especially in Mozambique is the fact that out of all types of support that can be rendered to SMEs, financial support is the most important and indispensable for SMEs survivability. The objective of the study was therefore to provide evidence that financial support supersedes all other support that can be made available to this important sector of the Mozambican economy. A sample of 485 SMEs was drawn from the population of SMEs in Greater Maputo representing Mozambique as a whole, using stratified random sampling methods. Greater Maputo, the capital of Mozambique was chosen as the nucleus of the study, because Maputo is the main centre of economic activities of the country. A face to face interview was conducted using structured, close-ended questionnaires to collect the primary data. Data was processed using multiple regression analysis, in order to isolate the one single variable, financial support, whist keeping the other support variables constant. The study found that of all supporting variables available for SMEs at start-up and during growth, financial support was critical and obligatory in Mozambique. It was recommended that financial institutions should be restructured to be more proactive to support SMEs in Mozambique, especially aiming at the most disadvantaged SMEs owner-managers.

A complexity perspective of dynamic capabilities in enterprise project organizations

Driven by the inherent tensions that exist within the ‘sense’, ‘seize’, ‘shift’, and ‘liaise’ paradigm of dynamic capabilities, we set out in this study to explore the interstices that exist between two key theoretical traditions—‘Complexity’ and ‘Dynamic capabilities’. We frame the study in the context of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), particularly Micro Enterprises operating in the UK construction industry. Emergent themes were gleaned from the interview of 21 construction enterprise owner-managers based in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Findings suggest not only that SME owner-managers operating within the construction sector interpret their own role as pivotal to the success of the firm and that they assumed responsibility for identifying opportunities and operational threats to the business, but also that aspects of complexity were at play in the thinking and action implied by owner-managers when dealing with both internal and external tensions. Our main contribution is to propose a capabilities framework framed within a complexity lens that enhances the explanatory power of dynamic capabilities.

Marketing competency, marketing innovation and sustainable competitive advantage of small and medium enterprises (SMEs): a mixed-method analysis

PurposeThe purpose of the current research is to investigate the relationship between marketing capabilities and marketing innovation toward the sustainable competitive advantage of small and medium enterprises in the Philippines. The research study aims to improve the prior conducted literature by concentrating on the precursors of innovation in marketing and its impact on building a sustainable competitive market. The paper intends to address this by examining the following variables using a mixed-method approach.Design/methodology/approachThe researcher employed the mixed methods particularly the sequential explanatory design to explain and interpret the quantitative data collected from 89 business owners/managers using Jamovi Software while the qualitative data were collected through an in-depth interview conducted with 10 SME owner-managers of new and established businesses in Angeles City, Pampanga using Taxonomic Coding Scheme. The sequential explanatory design was used to explain and interpret quantitative results by collecting and analyzing follow-up qualitative data.FindingsThis study investigates the relationship between marketing capabilities and marketing innovation towards sustainable competitive advantage of micro-small and medium enterprises in the Philippines through mixed method approach. For quantitative result, the study found that marketing competency significantly influenced marketing innovation. The result shows that all SMEs have enough people in place who are capable of implementing marketing innovation activities and use new technology like the use of information technology. The paper also found that marketing innovation, significantly predicted sustainable competitive advantage. MSMEs exhibit this innovation such as product, price, place, and promotion can create a distinctive position in the market towards sustainable competitive advantage. The paper also tested the mediation effect of marketing innovation that influences the relationship between marketing competence and sustainable competitive advantage. Most of the hypotheses posited were supported. For qualitative data, it was revealed that these SMEs through their key informants and key leaders are open to innovations thus, willing to learn by establishing networks with customers and other managers/business owners to expand and improve their business. The food business in Pampanga is highly competitive, and most of the SMEs are engaged with it. In order to survive the saturated market, continuous improvement is important in the identified areas for growth and innovation. Mixed method analysis supported quantitative and qualitative findings. Hence, it indicated that marketing competency significantly influences sustainable competitive advantage, which can be achieved through marketing innovation. In this study, the researcher analyzed the influence between marketing competence and marketing innovation to achieve a sustainable and competitive market.Research limitations/implicationsThere were certain limitations of this research study. First, the lack of panel data limits the investigation of causality that is instrumental in substantiating the findings. Second, the proposed conceptual framework offers a deeper understanding of innovation performance, examining how integrating activities of the R&D department, human resource department, and marketing department affect innovation commercialization will likely provide more meaningful insights. Moreover, finally, future studies may go beyond the scope of our study to examine (1) food and meat processing, (2) agriculture, hunting, and forestry, (3) hotels and restaurants, (4) mining and quarrying, (5) wholesale and retail trade, (6) transport, storage communication.Practical implicationsTo remain relevant in this extraordinary time, this paper suggests a support instrument to offer vital data on different categories of innovation to the foodservice sector SMEs in Angeles City to embrace and implement new innovative methods in their practices. The key practical implication of this research, therefore, is the requirement for small and medium business owner-managers to improve their technical capability to realize the full benefits, particularly in terms of more responsive and user-centered, data-driven marketing personnel.Social implicationsThese findings may influence positive social change by contributing to more effective and efficient marketing practices in small and medium firms that can lead to better financial performance, higher survival rates, and a healthier economic system. This study demonstrates that SME owner-managers require new skillsets to overcome the barriers to adopting technology for marketing. This primary capability is a prerequisite to the competitive advantage of the business, yielding to brand equity, business growth, and marketing dominance.Originality/valueThis study used a sequential explanatory mixed-methods strategy to determine the significant variables. This paper addresses an interesting and practical issue related to the impact of marketing capabilities and marketing innovation towards sustainable competitive advantage of micro-small and medium enterprises in the Philippines using mixed method approach.

Performance of small businesses in Tangier: the perceptual role of location

PurposeThis study seeks to investigate perceptions of the role of location on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tangier, as understood by local owner-managers.Design/methodology/approachTo explore perceptions of the performance/location relationship for SMEs in Tangier, 20 in-depth online semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected owner-managers of SMEs. The judgement sample was selected to explore their experiences, beliefs and attitudes with respect to their performance and location.FindingsFindings of the study revealed that “location” is a salient factor that, in the minds of respondents, materially influences the performance of SMEs in Tangier. Location was mentioned extensively in the interviews, in relation to the “free zones”. Findings showed that firms located within the free zones enjoyed favourable economic conditions, in particular those related to taxation and competition, compared to their counterparts located outside the free zones, which were excluded from these benefits. Furthermore, perceived unfair competition (financial and fiscal incentives in the free zones) damages the performance of the SMEs in Tangier. These findings suggest that the placement of the business in relation to the free zones and in respondents' perception thus became an important financial and emotionally significant perspective on equality in relation to success.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the study could encourage the government to adopt policies that will assist indigenous firms to benefit from advantages that are comparable to those that are available to those in the free zones. Greater attention to the perceptual effects of location would be advantageous. However, the exploratory nature of the study means that results cannot necessarily be generalised beyond the setting in which the data were collected. Future research should examine the impact of location for SMEs in a broader sample of countries.Originality/valueThis study is among those few studies located in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region that explore the performance of SMEs from the perceptions of owner-managers themselves and not based on aggregate or economic data. It supports previous findings of several studies and contributes additional evidence that suggests the significance of levelling the playing field and its impact on SME performance in the contemporary African business context.

Rewards and Innovation Performance in Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

The study investigated types of rewards SMEs offered to intrapreneurs and how these (rewards) contribute to innovation performance (IP). A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 300 SME owner-managers from the industrial spatial distribution areas of Kwa-Zulu Natal province in South Africa. Results show that besides a regular salary offered by 99.5% of the SMEs, fewer than 37.1% of them paid other forms of rewards. The empirical findings show that rewards had an influence on innovation performance. From the 17 rewards awarded to intrapreneurs by SMEs, only “promotion within organisation” and “monetary bonus rewards” had a positive and significant influence on innovation performance. Four other rewards had a significant but negative influence on IP. Rewards are an important tool to encourage crowdsourcing intrapreneurial contribution to IP. Rewards should therefore be strategically selected given the limited financial resources in SMEs. The importance of this study is its focus on SMEs, which are characterised by limited information on the effect of rewards on innovation performance, as well as the efficiency driven economic setting, normally not characterised by “innovation performance”. The study also shows how IP can be crowdsourced through appropriate rewards.

Antecedents and enablers of supply chain value creation: An analysis of trust and competences

ABSTRACT The study investigated how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) create value in local supply chains. Specifically, the study focused on two initiators of value creation: entrepreneurial competences and supply chain trust. The authors analyse a cross-sectional survey of 294 SMEs in Uganda operating in the construction, furniture and fitting, food processing and agricultural sectors to test a number of hypotheses, using factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Results show that building value-driven supply chains requires SME owner-managers to build an optimal level of trust. Although trust is identified as a key factor in facilitating trade within local communities, different entrepreneurs’ perspectives alter how SME-owner managers assess trusted partners, determining different strategies and behaviours in building trust in customer, as opposed to suppliers’ relationships. In addition, findings show how operational cost is not a key value driver, indicating why SME-owners managers should instead focus on building trust.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PRACTICES AND ORIENTATIONS OF ROMANIAN SMES – CASE STUDY IN BIHOR COUNTY

This paper investigates the forms, areas and orientations of social responsibility (SR) within small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bihor County, Romania. Acknowledging the particularities of SMEs involvement in social and environmental actions, we investigate both the practices and orientations of these firms from our region in SR. Our study, based on the responses of 52 owner-managers of SMEs, reveals interest towards SR practices, yet a limited visibility of such actions. The orientations towards SR can be grouped, based on strategic orientation scale, on three distinct directions: one related to primary stakeholders (law included), one to sustainability issues and one regarding to society. The impact of these orientations on practices still need to be investigated on larger samples.

Proširivanje UTAUT modela kako bi se razumele prepreke digitalizaciji MSP

Digitalization has been identified as a core growth driver for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in this digital era. This study investigates the drivers and barriers aligned with the tendency of owner-managers of SMEs to adopt digitalization. A conceptual framework is developed that extends the unified theory of acceptance and technology (UTAUT) with an anxiety-digitalized environment as a moderating factor of SME owner-managers' intention to adopt digitalization. A quantitative methodology is used to gauge responses from 89 respondents (owner-managers). Additionally, the variance-based structural equation modelling approach (PLS-SEM) is used to analyse and validate the proposed model. Results show that attitude positively mediates the relationship between performance expectancy and intention to adopt digitalization. However, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions were found to negatively influence attitude and intention to adopt digitalization. On the contrary, the results obtained did not confirm the significance of an anxiety-digitalized environment in moderation analyses. Consequently, the overall structural model accounted for 51.1% of the variance in the intention to adopt digitalization among SMEs. This study has theoretically and practically contributed to understanding owner-managers' intent to adopt digitalization of SMEs in the Czech Republic.

Organizational learning, entrepreneurial orientation and personal values towards SMEs’ growth in Indonesia

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of organizational learning (OL), entrepreneurial orientation (EO), personal value toward the firm performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in North Sumatera, Indonesia.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a quantitative methodology using Smart partial least squares of the structural equation model. A survey is done by distributing the questionnaires to the respondents (owner-managers) of SMEs across sectors. Using a convenient sampling technique, 128 respondents are selected. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 11 hypotheses are tested.FindingsIt is found that the innovativeness of EO and personal value both have a significant relationship with firm growth. While OL is significantly related to the innovativeness of EO, risk-taking of EO and proactiveness of EO. Then, both innovativeness of EO and proactiveness of EO significantly mediate the relationship of OL and firm growth. However, OL, proactiveness of EO and risk-taking of EO are insignificantly related to firm growth, while risk-taking of EO also insignificantly mediates the relationship of OL and firm growth.Originality/valueEO (innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness) is deemed a crucial factor in running businesses by SMEs, while OL and personal value play a significant role in creating a competitive advantage that is needed for growth.

Entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge management, dynamic capabilities towards e-commerce adoption of SMEs in Indonesia

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), knowledge management process (KMP) and dynamic capability (DC) toward the adoption of electronic commerce (e-commerce) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in North Sumatera.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a quantitative methodology using Smart PLS of structural equation model. A survey is done by distributing the questionnaires to the respondents (owner-managers) of SMEs across sectors. Using a convenient sampling technique, 131 respondents were selected. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 11 hypotheses were tested.FindingsIt is found that both innovativeness and proactiveness of EO have a significant relationship with e-commerce adoption (EA), while the risk-taking of EO is found as insignificant. Both risk-taking and proactiveness of EO are significantly related to KMP, but innovation of EO is found to be insignificant. Moreover, KMP significantly mediates the relationship between risk-taking and proactiveness of EO and EA, while KMP insignificantly mediates the relationship between innovativeness of EO and EA. Finally, it is found that DC has a significant relationship in EA.Originality/valueBy using the resource based-theory, the study on the decision of EA by SMEs is conducted which focuses on a number of internal and external factors influencing the adoption decision. This differs from other studies using theories of the technological, organizational and environmental, theory of acceptance and use of technology, theory of planned behavior, theory of reasoned action and others which emphasized on the implementation and usage of EA.

Do public governance and patriotism matter? Sales tax compliance among small and medium enterprises in developing countries: Jordanian evidence

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to better understand the issues on tax compliance. This study aims to examine the influence of patriotism and public governance on the sales tax compliance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to examine the interaction between patriotism and public governance on sales tax compliance.Design/methodology/approachThis study was carried out by soliciting the opinions of owner-managers of SMEs in Jordan through a survey that was distributed by self-administered. This paper uses partial least squares structural equation modelling to investigate the influence of patriotism, public governance and the interaction of these two mechanisms on sales tax compliance for a sample of 385 SMEs.FindingsThis paper finds that patriotism and the public governance increase and improve the level of sales tax compliance. The findings also supported the interaction effect of patriotism on the relationship between public governance with sales tax compliance. Thus, all the hypothesised relationships were supported.Practical implicationsTax authorities and policymakers in developing majority societies in developing countries and in other Arab countries, especially in Jordan, may use the results to focus their interest on the formulation of policies founded on the outcomes of the study to strengthen the compliance of eligible SMEs to further boost their sales collections.Originality/valueVery few studies have examined the determinants of sales tax compliance, and there has been an absence of work that examines the influence of the patriotism and public governance on sales tax compliance. This paper, therefore, fills a gap in the literature by providing the first empirical evidence about the influence of patriotism and public governance on sales tax compliance of SMEs in developing countries. This study is the initial paper to examine the interaction between patriotism and public governance on sales tax compliance among SMEs in developing countries

The Investigation of E-Marketplace Adoption by Small Medium Enterprises Using Individual-Technology- Organization-Environment (ITOE) Framework: A Case Study in Yogyakarta Province Indonesia

Abstract Background: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia have been encouraged by the Indonesian government to adopt e-marketplace platforms. However, the rate of e-marketplace adoption is shown to be low. In an effort to address the underlying issues this paper reports on the application of a modified form of the Technology-Environment-Organization framework that includes attributes of individual SME owner-managers. The application of the Individual- Technology-Organization-Environment (ITOE) framework is considered necessary given the overwhelming number of micro-SMEs that have one owner-manager and employ less than ten employees. The study takes a case study approach by studying e-marketplace adoption of SMEs in the province of Yogyakarta, a major city of Indonesia. Method: Using a survey instrument, data were collected using randomized sampling from SMEs in Yogyakarta and analyzed using the partial least squares method. Results: The results confirm the validity of the ITOE framework to this study context. The results also indicate that the Individual construct positively affects the organization construct in predicting e-marketplace adoption. The suitability of the ITOE framework for further application to other locations in Indonesia when investigating e-marketplace adoption by SMEs is validated. Conclusion: This study validates use of the ITOE framework in investigating e- marketplace adoption by SMEs in Indonesia. The ITOE framework can be operationalized for e-marketplace adoption, particularly when the research context has relevant factors to the individual context namely, where a predominance of micro-SMEs exists. Future research is to conduct a full-scale study of e- marketplace adoption in Indonesia. Recommended Citation Budiono, Fahrizal; Lau, S.; and Tibben, William J. (2020) "The Investigation of E-Marketplace Adoption by Small Medium Enterprises Using Individual-Technology- Organization-Environment (ITOE) Framework: A Case Study in Yogyakarta Province Indonesia," Pacific Asia Journal of the Association for Information Systems: Vol. 12: Iss. 4, Article 3. DOI: 10.17705/1pais.12403 Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol12/iss4/3

The Investigation of E-Marketplace Adoption by Small Medium Enterprises Using Individual-Technology- Organization-Environment (ITOE) Framework: A Case Study in Yogyakarta Province Indonesia

Abstract Background: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia have been encouraged by the Indonesian government to adopt e-marketplace platforms. However, the rate of e-marketplace adoption is shown to be low. In an effort to address the underlying issues this paper reports on the application of a modified form of the Technology-Environment-Organization framework that includes attributes of individual SME owner-managers. The application of the Individual- Technology-Organization-Environment (ITOE) framework is considered necessary given the overwhelming number of micro-SMEs that have one owner-manager and employ less than ten employees. The study takes a case study approach by studying e-marketplace adoption of SMEs in the province of Yogyakarta, a major city of Indonesia. Method: Using a survey instrument, data were collected using randomized sampling from SMEs in Yogyakarta and analyzed using the partial least squares method. Results: The results confirm the validity of the ITOE framework to this study context. The results also indicate that the Individual construct positively affects the organization construct in predicting e-marketplace adoption. The suitability of the ITOE framework for further application to other locations in Indonesia when investigating e-marketplace adoption by SMEs is validated. Conclusion: This study validates use of the ITOE framework in investigating e- marketplace adoption by SMEs in Indonesia. The ITOE framework can be operationalized for e-marketplace adoption, particularly when the research context has relevant factors to the individual context namely, where a predominance of micro-SMEs exists. Future research is to conduct a full-scale study of e- marketplace adoption in Indonesia.

The Mediating Role of Individual Perception between Individual Orientation and Intention towards Sustainable Entrepreneurship

The negative effects of entrepreneurial activities on the environment should not be disregarded. Sustainable entrepreneurship has been recognized as a strategy in rectifying environmental issues through entrepreneurial activities. However, developing sustainable entrepreneurs is still in its infancy stage in Malaysia. Most of Malaysia’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) still regard it as a new practice and not many of them have actually embarked on it. As such, this study investigated the formation process of intention towards sustainable entrepreneurship through individual orientation and individual perception. This study surveyed 404 SMEs owner-managers in Malaysia through self-administered questionnaires. The results indicated that individual orientation positively and significantly related to intention towards sustainable entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, the results also showed a significant partially mediating the role of individual perception between individual orientation and intention towards sustainable entrepreneurship. This study contributed to the literature by confirming that the formation process of intention towards sustainable entrepreneurship was successfully influenced by two important determinants, namely individual orientation, and individual perception. Practically, it highlighted some crucial factors in promoting sustainable entrepreneurship among SMEs in Malaysia.
 Keywords: Entrepreneurship, intention, orientation, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), sustainability

THE INFLUENCE OF ATTITUDINAL FACTORS OF SME OWNER-MANAGERS ON ADOPTION OF FINANCIAL PRODUCTS

Given the key role of owner managers in the decision making process, understanding socio-psychological factors of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) financial behavior has often been prescribed as an important research direction. In accordance with the above, present study in context of Pakistan investigated the attitudinal factors of SMEs owner-managers’ towards adoption of financial products. The attitudinal factors are depicted as perceived relative advantage, perceived compatibility and perceived complexity. The proposed model has been adapted, which is composed of decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB) and decomposed attitudinal factors of SMEs owner-manager to investigate their intention to adopt financial products in Pakistan. Relying on a survey research design, and following stratified sampling method, after screening process 285 owner-managers responses have been considered for further analysis. The findings revealed that perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility possess significant positive relationships with owner-manager attitude towards adoption of financial product which further significantly predicts behavioral intention. Moreover, perceived complexity has negative but significant relationship with SMEs owner-manager attitude towards adoption of financial products. SMEs owner-managers exhibit serious concern towards formal financial products adoption, the policy makers are suggested to focus on creating specialized products which are useful, compatible and easy to understand for SMEs owner-manager in Pakistan.

The Impact of ICT Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises in Harare, Zimbabwe

The discussion of information technology has been a major concern in SMEs businesses over recent decades. There tend to be a considerable information technology (ICT) knowledge base which exists in Zimbabwean SMEs though there have been no comprehensive studies on ICT which has been conducted. ICT has become a strategic issue in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the transport sector in Harare. However, ICT practices by SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe are currently unknown. It is against this background that this study investigated ICT practices in small to medium enterprises in Harare, Zimbabwe. This study sought to establish the meaning attached to ICT by SMEs in the transport sector in Harare, Zimbabwe, establish the factors that influence the adoption of ICT in SMEs, establish the extent to which SMEs in the transport sector in the transport sector are using ICTs in their businesses or to enhance the sustainability of their business operation and to examine the challenges by SMEs in the transport sector in adopting ICT practices by SMEs in the transport sector in Harare, Zimbabwe. The literature on ICT showed that the following areas have not been explored: the meaning attached to ICT by SMEs in the transport sector in Harare, Zimbabwe is currently unknown, the impact of ICT on SMEs in the transport sector in Harare, Zimbabwe is currently unknown. Data for this study was collected through 220 questionnaires and six semi-structured and open-ended interviews with owner-managers of SMEs in the Harare Region of Zimbabwe. The systematic random sampling method was adopted to select respondents for quantitative research while the purposive method was used to select respondents for qualitative research. The SPSS version 21.0 was adopted to analyze quantitative data while the reduction method was adopted for qualitative data. Findings reveal that there is no standard meaning for ICT in Harare, Zimbabwe. SMEs in Harare consider ICT as having no quantifiable benefits. Legal, economic and ethical factors motivate SMEs in the transport sector in Harare to engage in ICT. SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe engage in legal, economic and ethical ICT activities. Money, weak legislation and managerial attitudes are major barriers to ICT practice by SMEs in the transport sector in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The Effect of Peer Influence on Sales Tax Compliance Among Jordanian SMEs

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of peer influence on sales tax compliance of Jordanian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). While the impact of peer influence on income tax compliance has been examined by prior research, the effect of peer influence on sales tax compliance of SMEs has been neglected. Therefore, this study is the first to examine this relationship among Jordanian SMEs. A questionnaire has been used to collect data from the study sample, which consisted of 212 owner-managers of SMEs. The research hypothesis was then tested using PLS-SEM software. This study provides the first evidence that peer influence has an insignificant impact on sales tax compliance among Jordanian SMEs. According to the finding, the implications of the study as well as suggestions for future studies are also discussed.

Determinants of Small and Medium Enterprises Performance in Nigeria: The Role of Government Support Policy

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a significant social and economic role in both developed and developing nations. Despite the relevance and important of SMEs, the literature indicates there are very few studies that attempted to investigate the factors that influence the performance of SMEs in Nigeria, particularly the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), contemporary marketing (CM) and government support policyand the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The study used structured questionnaires; data was collected from 240 SMEs in northeast Nigeria. The findings of the study indicate a significant positive relationship between EO and CM on the Performance of SMEs. In addition, the results of the study validate that government support policy moderates the relationship between EO and CM on the performance of SMEs in Nigeria. The study implications for policy makers, government, regulators and SMEs owner-managers is to look at government support policy as it affects SMEs performance by providing conducive environment for business operation.