Small Companies Research Articles

The mutual influence between entrepreneurial marketing and causal and effectual entrepreneurship: an empirical study in an emerging and developing economy

PurposeEntrepreneurial marketing (EM) literature has evolved recently, but more understanding is needed on how the seven dimensions of EM impact causal and effectual entrepreneurial behavior and, similarly, how entrepreneurial behavior influences the results of all dimensions of the EM construct. This study investigates the association and mutual influence between EM and entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a qualitative strategy, addressing gaps due to its low incidence and employs theoretical replication, which is practically unexplored. It investigates two cases in Brazil: small companies (eight cases selected by literal replication) and a structured network of companies (one case selected by theoretical replication), predicting a positive influence of EM in the first case and a negative or neutral influence in the second.FindingsThe influence of EM on entrepreneurship is context-dependent and varies according to the empirical object. In turn, the impact of entrepreneurship on the results of the EM dimensions is more stable, primarily causal and varies slightly between structures.Originality/valueFirst, by studying how the dimensions of EM impact causal/effectual behavior, this study broadens the understanding of the area, which was previously focused on only a few dimensions. Second, by investigating the impact of entrepreneurship on EM outcomes, this study sheds light on the influence of and differences in causal/effectual behavior in each of the seven dimensions. Finally, it extends the understanding of EM and entrepreneurship in small businesses and a structured network by identifying similarities and distinctions hitherto unexplored.

Promotion included in prevention (PIP)

Abstract Issue/problem Every year in Europe more than 20 million visits are carried out on workers. The opportunity to integrate health promotion into prevention is now under the attention of large companies, according to the American model known as Total Worker Health©. Description of the problem The main critical points of this strategy are the correct balance between promotion and prevention efforts and the extension of the projects to small companies. Furthermore, coordination is necessary between all the figures who promote health, particularly in the national health service. Results Occupational risk prevention activities, mandatory in all European countries, have been integrated with health promotion campaigns, addressing health topics chosen in a participatory way. The costs of designing the campaign, information material for employees and data processing are borne by the university, which covers the costs with research funds. No costs are borne by workers or companies. During their medical check-up in the workplace, workers are invited to fill in a questionnaire regarding the project topic, its outcome, and some related factors. Workers receive advice on how to improve their lifestyles and are referred to the National Health Service for any necessary tests or treatments. In the last 15 years, as many annual campaigns have been conducted. Projects have dealt with: Eating behavior disorders; Post-COVID syndrome; Syncope and presyncope; Headache; Musculoskeletal disorders; Work engagement; Sleep health promotion; Aging; Violence at work; Work organization; Indoor air quality; Mediterranean Diet; Hand skin disorders; Teleworking; Work Ability. More than 30,000 workers from 38 companies participated. Lessons The participatory character of the projects, their simplicity and cost-effectiveness, the integration between occupational medicine and basic medicine demonstrate that PIP projects are economical, sustainable, and effective. Key messages • Health promotion can be integrated into the prevention of occupational risks, without additional costs. • The creation of a network of occupational physicians who are involved in PIP projects respects corporate and professional independence and improves the work culture, health, and safety of workers.

Manual Madness: Challenges of Contract Renewal in Campus Vending Machine Business

The vending machine industry has evolved from conventional to connected machines. Vending machines are currently in wide use and typically involve a remote machine holding a plurality of products or items to be dispensed after receiving money from a purchaser. The industry has gone beyond just delivering snacks and is developing new and sophisticated retail solutions for both large and small companies. In this study, a qualitative inquiry was conducted in one of the branch universities of the largest public universities in Malaysia. A total of three vending machine entrepreneurs were qualitatively interviewed individually. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed to find a common theme. As a result, three challenges were identified: using a lot of paper, being time-consuming, and having no alert process. Contract renewal is significant and should not be taken for granted and it is a far-sighted move for a business manager to use the most efficient process from start to end. The respondent agreed that the current renewal process is redundant and time-consuming. Therefore, the researchers proposed to all the parties to reduce the hassle of renewing the contract. Based on this research, the authority department in public or private universities can develop an innovation in monitoring systems to improve the process. The results can provide suitable coping strategies for business owners to have the best practices for a contract renewal mechanism.

Focus Group Interview: University-Industrial Collaboration

Business innovations can introduce novel and imaginative concepts, particularly within digitalization. Innovations have the potential to stimulate the advancement of enterprises, fostering market expansion, enhancing competitiveness, and optimizing profitability. Nevertheless, the implementation of innovation may be achievable in collaboration. Collaborations and interactions between academia and industrial entities may yield improved outcomes. Nevertheless, the presence of obstacles between academia and industries could harm the long-term viability of commercial innovation. The concerns and challenges faced by local institutions and enterprises in Malaysia are examined within the framework of a case study. Data was obtained from a random sample of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) across several industries. A focus group was conducted with 15 representatives from Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) companies and one moderator to lead the discussion. The findings from the focus group have been transcribed and analyzed based on their sharing. The rationale for focusing on CEOs was their role as critical decision-makers responsible for driving corporate innovations. The collection of perspectives from academia and industries was facilitated through face-to-face interviews. The study provided suggestions for potential avenues of future investigation.

Prototype to mitigate risks for the closure of a company with the support of Information Technologies

The problems of business closures (SMEs) are constant in the world and in Ecuador due to the lack of application of appropriate management models that allow the conversion of strategies. The deductive method was used for exploratory research of the information related to the research topic. The objective is to design a prototype to mitigate risks and prevent threats to avoid the closure of this type of companies. The result was a conceptual model to minimize risks, a risk control prototype, a prototype flow chart, a simulation of processes with five scenarios, determination of the formula to detect the probability of closure as an SME and risk analysis and evaluation. It was concluded that the proposed prototype to detect threats and vulnerabilities provides an optimal security model for small and medium-sized companies; as a result of the simulations, a security percentage of 77.92% was established, which means that the greater the number of risks and threats, the greater the probability that a small and medium-sized company will close.

O REGISTRO DE MARCA COMO VANTAGEM COMPETITIVA: UM PANORAMA DO SERTÃO SERGIPANO NO ANO DE 2021

The study explores the importance of registering trademarks as a tool for protection and competitive advantage for companies in the Sergipano Hinterland. It highlights how registered trademarks differentiate themselves in the market, creating identity and avoiding legal conflicts. The research identifies the risks that small and medium-sized companies face when operating without registration, such as losing their name and rebranding costs. Despite the increase in trademark registration in Brazil, many businesses in the region have yet to register their trademarks, which makes them vulnerable. The objectives include identifying the benefits of registration, assessing the risks of not registering and understanding the reasons for the low number of registrations. The methodology involves a bibliographic and documentary survey. The results show that the lack of registration compromises competitiveness and the need to raise awareness of its importance.

The impact of visionary leadership on product quality from the perspective of quality assurance managers in small and medium-sized companies: the mediating role of continual improvement

PurposeA review of relevant literature supported the need to examine the nature of the relationships (if any) between visionary leadership, continual improvement and product quality. This study examined the relationship between visionary leadership and product quality and investigated the mediating role of continual improvement in the relationship between visionary leadership and product quality.Design/methodology/approachVisionary leadership, continual improvement and product quality were measured through a questionnaire developed based on a theoretical framework derived from the literature and distributed to quality assurance managers in small and medium-sized companies in the engineering, electrical and information technology sectors in Jordan.FindingsThe results indicated that the levels of visionary leadership, continual improvement and product quality are good and more from the perspective of quality assurance managers in these companies. The results also indicated that there is a positive, statistically significant relationship between visionary leadership and continual improvement and between continual improvement and product quality. Moreover, the results indicated that the relationship between visionary leadership and product quality is partially mediated by continual improvement. This indicates that there is a direct, positive and statistically significant relationship between visionary leadership and product quality.Originality/valueTo the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that examined the relationship between visionary leadership, continual improvement and product quality and investigated the mediating role of continual improvement in the relationship between visionary leadership and product quality. This study concluded that visionary leadership is the driver of all improvement initiatives and activities, which in turn improve the final products. The study contributes to the literature by revealing that visionary leadership leads to continual improvement and thus product quality, supporting the sequential relationship between them. Accordingly, the study provides useful theoretical insights and practical implications.

Sufficiency-related Strategies and Activities of Small Finnish Clothing Companies

AbstractThe current textile industry is characterised by unsustainable business models. There is a need to transform the industry towards sufficiency – that is a textile industry where consumption is decreased to a level that is adequate and within planetary boundaries. Through a literature review and interviews with small Finnish textile companies, our research synthesizes previous research and provides new information about business practices that companies can employ to advance sufficiency as part of their everyday business. We found that companies have various activities that can enable, promote or inspire decreased consumption and sufficiency. Activities relate to six categories: (1) valuing quality over quantity, (2) enabling multiple product lives, (3) provision of support services, (4) encouraging and enabling doing-it-yourself, (5) ethics-motivated communication and interaction and (6) embracing locality. The activities connected to each strategy are manifold and context specific including, for example, permanent collections, not having discounts, repair service, quality and curated second-hand products and interaction with users during the use phase. It is important to note, however, that the studied sufficiency strategies come with rebound risks and companies should identify the best activities that fit their context and measure their impact. Changing the paradigm from fast fashion to sufficiency will not be an easy task and will require efforts from consumer citizens, decision makers and companies alike.

Phytochemical screening and antioxidant evaluation of Agave angustifolia and Agave sisalana

Background: Agave angustifolia (AA) and Agave sisalana (AS) are used by local communities for medicinal purposes to treat skin conditions. Small companies add Agave leaf extracts to their cosmetic products, claiming calming and skin-rejuvenating qualities.Aim: The study aimed to assess the phytochemical profiles and antioxidant activities of AA and AS verifying the traditional therapeutic claims about the species and accordingly establishing the assertions of cottage industries.Setting: The AA leaves were collected from the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, while AS leaves were sourced from the iLembe district municipality.Methods: The phytochemical extracts were obtained by gradient solvent maceration of the leaves. Qualitative phytochemical screening established the presence of bioactive phytochemicals in the extract. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and the ferric reducing and/or antioxidant power (FRAP) methods measured the bioactive phytochemicals’ antioxidant activity.Results: Qualitative phytochemical evaluation confirmed the presence of secondary metabolites in both plants. AS extracts also contained alkaloids. The DPPH antioxidant activity indicated that Agave extracts had 20% to 80% scavenging activity. AS methanol extract had the maximum antioxidant activity among all the extracts. AA methanol and AS hexane extracts had no antioxidant activity. AA ethyl acetate extract had higher antioxidant activity (64%) than AS (52%). AA hexane extract had 70% activity while AS hexane extract had 30%.Conclusion: The detected phytochemicals indicate potential use for emulsifying, antioxidant, anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory, and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities.Contribution: This study contributes to the existing knowledge of the therapeutic properties of AA and AS plants.

A IMPORTÂNCIA DA GOVERNANÇA CORPORATIVA PARA A GESTÃO FINANCEIRA DAS ORGANIZAÇÕES EMPRESARIAIS: UMA IDEIA REVOLUCIONÁRIA PARA ALCANÇAR O SUCESSO

This study analyzed the relationship between Financial Management and Corporate Governance of Micro and Small Companies and their financial performance. To know the reasons that lead a micro and small company to close. By not carrying out an investment plan, spending more than what is actually invoiced and the difficulty of controlling accounts is something that many entrepreneurs suffer. With the world economy and international trade increasingly integrated and diffuse. Micro and small companies are in a competitive rivalry between competitors, and having good quantitative and qualitative methods for analyzing decisions are some performance indicators (KPIs). From small organizations to large multinationals in the world, they continually seek a predictable and profitable future scenario. So that they can control or anticipate any eventualities through financial governance. In the financial market, there is a growing search by organizations for more information and data to assist in their decision-making arrangements. Financial Management has been increasing its area of expertise in terms of needs: cash; planning; capital expenditure research and decisions. Financial management as a refined tool becomes a privilege in the organization's decision making, envisioning future scenarios, which if used correctly leverages profits.

Analysis Of Staffing Strategies In Startup Companies: A Qualitative Study In Startup Companies In Jakarta, Indonesia

The purpose of this research is to understand the planning, implementation, and evaluation of staffing strategies by startup companies to ensure their success. This study employs a qualitative approach using a case study method. Research data were obtained through observation at one small startup company, namely Investify, and in-depth interviews with 16 informants, including HR staff, HR Managers, and one CEO of a startup company. Data were coded using NVivo 12 software. The research findings reveal that staffing strategies involve several stages, including selecting job posting channels, candidate screening, and offering incentives to potential employees. The limitations lie in the research scope, focused only on startups in Jakarta, and potential bias in data interpretation. Using these research findings, practitioners can enhance workforce management effectiveness by reinforcing the company's brand through cultural communication, exploring diverse recruitment channels, and improving employee selection methods. The originality and value of this research lie in exploring workforce strategies in Jakarta's startup companies, providing insights into recruitment and selection processes that can enhance staffing strategies in startup companies.

Fertigungsprozessanalyse eines mittels Innenhochdruck-Umformung hergestellten Bauteils

Abstract Series manufacturers in the field of hydroforming do not always have the necessary database for predictive maintenance, especially for the production of complex hydroformed components. Small and medium-sized companies in particular often lack the resources to acquire, process and profitably utilize these data sets under production conditions. The IHU processes that occur in practice are usually highly complex, both in terms of geometry and against the background of additional process steps (punching, plunging). This results in large amounts of data and complex data analyses, which are reflected in the data processing costs. A data analysis is to be carried out on the basis of a complex hydroforming process and its additional benefit for quality management and predictive maintenance is to be explained.

Deep learning-based anomaly detection using one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D CNN) in machine centers (MCT) and computer numerical control (CNC) machines

Computer numerical control (CNC) and machine center (MCT) machines are mechanical devices that manipulate different tools using computer programming as inputs. Predicting failures in CNC and MCT machines before their actual failure time is crucial to reduce maintenance costs and increase productivity. This study is centered around a novel deep learning-based model using a 1D convolutional neural network (CNN) for early fault detection in MCT machines. We collected sensor-based data from CNC/MCT machines and applied various preprocessing techniques to prepare the dataset. Our experimental results demonstrate that the 1D-CNN model achieves a higher accuracy of 91.57% compared to traditional machine learning classifiers and other deep learning models, including Random Forest (RF) at 89.71%, multi-layer perceptron (MLP) at 87.45%, XGBoost at 89.67%, logistic regression (LR) at 75.93%, support vector machine (SVM) at 75.96%, K-nearest neighbors (KNN) at 82.93%, decision tree at 88.36%, naïve Bayes at 68.31%, long short-term memory (LSTM) at 90.80%, and a hybrid 1D CNN + LSTM model at 88.51%. Moreover, our proposed 1D CNN model outperformed all other mentioned models in precision, recall, and F-1 scores, with 91.87%, 91.57%, and 91.63%, respectively. These findings highlight the efficacy of the 1D CNN model in providing optimal performance with an MCT machine’s dataset, making it particularly suitable for small manufacturing companies seeking to automate early fault detection and classification in CNC and MCT machines. This approach enhances productivity and aids in proactive maintenance and safety measures, demonstrating its potential to revolutionize the manufacturing industry.

Does the Imbalance of ESG Activities Affect Company Performance? -- Evidence from Chinese A-share Listed Companies from 2018-2022

In recent years, the concept of sustainable development has progressively gained traction among the populace, with the performance of enterprises in environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) aspects attracting widespread attention from various sectors of society. The weighting of E, S, and G components varies across domestic and international ESG rating agencies, often resulting in significantly divergent weighted ESG scores. Leveraging the theory of organizational ambidexterity, this paper empirically investigates the impact of discrepancies between institutional ESG scores and equally weighted ESG scores on company performance, utilizing a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies spanning the years 2018 to 2022. Our findings reveal that equally weighted ESG scores exhibit a correlation with company performance, and a higher positive percentage difference between a company's rating agency ESG scores and its equally weighted ESG scores is associated with lower performance. This suggests that the rating agency weighting method may inadvertently encourage companies to engage in "greenwashing." This conclusion remains consistent after conducting robustness tests. Heterogeneity analysis further indicates that the negative impact of this difference on company performance is more pronounced among non-state-owned companies, manufacturing companies, and small companies. The mechanism of action test reveals that this difference negatively affects company performance by exacerbating financing constraints and reducing operating efficiency.

Entrepreneurial potential in digital transformation: scale development using item response theory

PurposeThis study aims to develop a scale using item response theory (IRT) to assess the entrepreneurial potential for digital transformation in Brazilian companies.Design/methodology/approachIRT was used to develop a scale for entrepreneurial potential in digital transformation. This scale was constructed from a questionnaire, covering the domains: (1) data-driven culture, (2) openness to knowledge and adaptation to change, (3) connectivity and (4) creativity and innovation. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 216 entrepreneurs from small business enterprise (SBE) and startups in Brazil.FindingsA questionnaire was developed and validated to assess the latent trait of entrepreneurial potential within the context of digital transformation. Additionally, a three-level scale of entrepreneurial potential was established: low (level I), intermediate (level II) and high (level III). The interpretation of this scale provides valuable information on which domains, such as data-driven culture, innovation, among others, can be enhanced to improve the potential of entrepreneur for digital transformation.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was limited to small Brazilian companies and startups, which may restrict the applicability of the results to other business or geographic contexts. Additionally, the items evaluated in the scale may not fully capture all nuances of entrepreneurial potential for digital transformation. Future research should consider including new items that cover a broader range of entrepreneurial characteristics.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study have significant practical implications for the Brazilian entrepreneurial ecosystem, the entrepreneurs themselves, public policy makers and entrepreneurship support institutions. These results can guide digital transformation strategies, adjustments in public policies and investments, thereby promoting economic development and innovation in the country.Originality/valueThis study stands out for using IRT as a robust methodology to develop an interpretative scale to assess entrepreneurial potential in the digital transformation era. By focusing on Brazilian SBEs and startups, the study offers an original contribution on how these companies are handling the challenges of digitalization and identifying areas for improvement to further promote digital transformation among entrepreneurs.

Improving reuse during the development process for web systems

Software reuse has emerged as a crucial practice in the software industry, offering significant benefits in time-to-market, and resources management. This is particularly pertinent in web systems development, where the integration of diverse technologies and the varied backgrounds of technical teams pose substantial challenges. The rapid expansion of web systems underscores the urgent need to adopt best practices and methodologies for web system reuse to streamline the development process, reducing effort, cost, and time. This paper aims to identify the key challenges of web system reuse in the context of small and medium-sized software companies in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Using qualitative research methods, including interviews, focus groups, and participant observations, an empirical study was conducted to examine current reuse practices and understand the root causes of common challenges. Based on the results of the empirical study, a systematic approach was developed to enhance web system reuse during the development process in the context of small and medium-sized software companies in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The proposed approach addresses critical gaps in current practices, offering practical guidelines to improve efficiency, reduce development time, and enhance overall software quality. This research contributes to the broader discourse on software reuse by providing context-specific insights and adaptable solutions that are relevant to similar markets worldwide.

Assessing the extent to which small enterprises, inclusive of emerging black businesses engage in service dominant logic practices

This study is aims to assess the extent to which small enterprises engage in service dominant logic practices. In this study, data was quantitatively collected from 144 service providers of the game and nature reserves in Mpumalanga. The findings revealed a strong positive relationship between the effectiveness of using ICT and the extent to which small enterprises engage in service dominant logic practices. These findings suggest that the use of ICT technologies has a positive effect on the extent to which small businesses engage in service dominant logic practices. The limitation is that this current study is only limited to the tourism industry, in that sense it cannot be generalized to other industries.This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by assessing the extent to which small enterprises engage in service dominant logic practices. Through the co-creation of value, these small businesses can be sustained. Collaborative relationships between small businesses and dominant firms can enhance the small part that black entrepreneurs now play in the country's tourism industry. By means of value co-creation, major corporations have the ability to offer small and medium-sized companies (SMMEs) both entrepreneurial experience and skill training

FSECAM: A contextual thematic approach for linking feature to multi-level software architectural components

Linking software features to code components is commonly performed during software development and maintenance, including to implement a feature, document code, design test cases, trace requirements, track changes, and support inspection of safety–critical software by government and other third parties. However, manually mapping features to code is error-prone and time consuming, even for developers familiar with a system. To overcome these challenges several studies proposed automated techniques to reduce human intervention when linking features to code components. Nonetheless, three challenges remain: (i) accuracy, (ii) cost, and (iii) explainability. Linking of irrelevant code snippets causes an extra burden of analyses. If the approach lacks explainability, then a tool is less useful for many crucial systems such as safety–critical software. Moreover, heavyweight techniques such as those that require generating execution traces of every scenario or require training deep-learning models are costly and limit small companies from integrating them into their development process.We propose a contextual thematic approach that extracts the most relevant theme properties of the feature/requirement to address the aforementioned challenges. Our experiments with two proprietary projects reveal significant enhancement of performance (precision and F1 scores are more than 50% in ideal cases) in linking features to three abstractions of code components, i.e., modules, classes, and methods. Our approach is also capable of linking commits to issues in a promising way. Contextual theme extraction enhances the subjective explainability which has not yet been solved with existing approaches. Moreover, we extract several critical characteristics of the feature documents and code structures that are important to consider in both manual and automated techniques. Finally, we present the FSECAM tool for linking features to code components, which can be immediately deployed within the development process and used without much effort and cost in linking code components and commits.Editor’s note: Open Science material was validated by the Journal of Systems and Software Open Science Board.

Barriers and opportunities of the circular economy in small and medium enterprises: a systematic review of the literature

This study aimed to present a portrait of studies on Circular Economy (CE) in Small and Medium-sized Companies (SMEs), from 2011 to 2021, referring to articles published in Scopus database journals. To this end, a systematic literature review (RSL) was developed, which collected a sample of 141 articles, which, after being evaluated, resulted in a total of 25 studies to be investigated, falling within the scope of this proposal. The main results show that the connections between the subjects are increasing, confirming that the implementation of CE aimed at SMEs has become a relevant issue that requires scientific deepening. There is a greater incidence of economic and political barriers, emphasizing the lack of financial resources combined with the lack of incentives for industries. The research contributes by exploring the concept of CE, taking into account current discussions on the subject. It is important that the barriers that inhibit the application of CE are overcome, that a model is properly designed and joint and strategic actions are implemented. The suggestion for future research involves the creation of a theoretical framework that articulates the identified elements and serves as a basis for SMEs, translating the transition as a path of sustainable organizational growth.

The impact of minimum wage on automotive companies' performance

This paper aims to verify the relationship between minimum wage growth and the financial indicators of automotive companies. As a hi-tech sector, the automotive industry is usually not expected to be affected by minimum wage policies. The introduction of the minimum wage in Germany and the dynamic development of the minimum wage in Eastern European countries make it possible to assess this relationship. German, Czech, Polish, and Slovak automotive company data was obtained from the Orbis database. Panel regression models were applied to test for dependencies. The paper detects the association between the growth of the minimum wage and the increase in personnel cost, which is next to the associations with several financial indicators at the company level. The identified impact is specific to small and medium-sized companies.