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Titel: Affärssystem i praktiken – Möjligheter och utmaningar Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Jenny Högström & Elin Visuri Handledare: Tomas Källquist & Stig Sörling Datum: 2015 – juni Syfte: Tidigare forskning om affärssystem har fokuserat på implementering och inte på den praktiska användningen när affärssystemet väl finns integrerat i ett företag. Syftet med vår studie är att belysa användningen av affärssystem i praktiken och dess utmaningar och möjligheter med avseende på verksamhetsstyrningen i SMEs. Metod: Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ design med hjälp av en fallstudie och ett abduktivt synsätt. Studien utgår från hermeneutiken som forskningsansats och socialkonstruktivismens synsätt. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts för att samla in det empiriska materialet. Analysen bygger på att vi ställer empirin mot teorin för att påträffa likheter och skillnader mellan de två delarna. Resultat & slutsats: Studien har svarat upp till syftet genom att belysa den praktiska användningen av affärssystem i SMEs och dess möjligheter och utmaningar. Studien pekar på att det kan finnas olika möjligheter och utmaningar i praktiken för SMEs än vad tidigare forskning har uppvisat. Utmaningar som enligt teorin är vanligt vid användningen av affärssystem, fann vi i denna studie ej stämma då det förekom en mer positiva inställning till användandet av affärssystem än vad teorin tidigare visat. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: I denna studie har två SMEs med väl inarbetade affärssystem studerats. Förslagsvis vore det intressant med en jämförande studie som belyser användningen av affärssystem i större företag där förutsättningarna är annorlunda i jämförelse med SMEs. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien bidrar med att belysa användningen av affärssystem och vilka möjligheter och utmaningar som kan finnas. Vidare bidrar studien med en ökad förståelse att personalens syn på affärssystem är en nyckelfaktor för ett effektivt användande.

This thesis aims to understand how owner-managers of SMEs in a developing country manage their organizations in a turbulent environment, and how they seek to create resilience in their organizations in this context. Specifically, this thesis investigates the major factors influencing the management strategies of infrastructure construction sector SMEs in North Cyprus. The primary data for the research was collected from owner-managers of infrastructure construction SMEs in North Cyprus that held a Class-1 classification in the sector, allowing them to participate in infrastructure projects in North Cyprus. Twelve SMEs with Class-1 classification are identified in the Building Construction Association of North Cyprus (CT-BCA), of which nine out of twelve consented to participate in the research. A qualitative research approach was adopted, with primary data gathered through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with these owner-managers; the collected data was then subjected to thematic analysis. The research found that the most influential factors influencing the management strategies of SMEs in North Cyprus were the macro characteristics of the socio-political environment, the individual characteristics of the owner-managers, and the characteristics of the infrastructure construction sector itself. These factors, which are linked in deep and nuanced ways, were discovered to impact the perceptions of the owner-managers and to affect their approaches towards the management of their SMEs. By evaluating the interaction between these factors, this research identified that infrastructure construction SMEs in North Cyprus operate in a complex system, where the approach to their management is identified as dissipative. Overall, the findings indicate that SMEs in North Cyprus take a reactive approach to management within this complex system, an approach that is itself related to ever-changing relationships between the key individual and environmental factors mitigating owner-managers' personal, sectorial and wider country circumstances. In this complex context, these SMEs cannot follow a systematic approach to management. Therefore, the resilience of these SMEs is found to lie in the adaptation of management strategies of SME owner-managers in the presence of disturbances, by experimenting and adjusting themselves in the existence of disturbances throughout their history.

As the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) increased in the last decade, more enterprises, encouraged by governments, are promoting CSR practice. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the conceptualisation of CSR in regions with different cultures, histories, socio-cultural practices and religions. This study was based on a social constructionism approach and the research questions were answered through reviewing the theoretical basis established according to the collection of existing studies, as well as analysing empirical findings obtained from multiple case studies of Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) CSR champions, extensive interviews with international organisations (IOs) and Korean governmental agencies, and documents provided by the case companies, IOs and governmental agencies. This research found different characteristics of CSR between SMEs and multinational corporations regarding language and a necessity for differentiation strategy for development across firm size, industry and governance. Moreover, SMEs' global, national and organisational factors affected their learning and practice of CSR, resulting in different outcomes and peculiar characteristics. These findings could generate the new integrated model to understand CSR by combining two Social Capital Theory perspectives (Coleman, 1988; Fukuyama, 1995). This model facilitated in-depth analysis of the role of CSR in SMEs' development, building social capital on the process of SMEs' CSR practice by establishing virtuous cycles from trustful relationships internally and externally. Finally, it was shown that the CSR territory is expanding from the major Western developed countries to the emerging markets, especially in East Asia. Also, case study of the Korean CSR champions among SME sector could contribute to identifying characteristics of exemplary CSR cases to achieve social and economic responsibilities. Further, this research could provide about their conceptualisation and relationships with other education factors. Therefore, this study provides directions how other ordinary SMEs adopt CSR within their organisational settings, how policy makers set up their governmental support and how academics research about SMEs' CSR.

This thesis seeks to develop insights into the nature of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are effective in competing internationally, over the longer term. It therefore aims to provide a better understanding of the behaviour that engenders this capability. Its contributory value lies in the development of the new perspectives which emerged from inductive theory development grounded in longitudinal data collected between1996-1999. Traditionally explanations for the success of SMEs in export markets, it is suggested, have been sought in the marketing mix paradigm rooted in exchange theory. This thesis draws from a range of literature in seeking an understanding of the behaviours observed. In developing a substantive theory to explain the dynamic nature of firms that sustain their competitive effectiveness on international markets this thesis then seeks explanations from the organisational learning paradigm. This study follows the tradition of the naturalistic paradigm and as such the research was a phenomenological study of an exploratory and qualitative nature. The naturalistic paradigm recognises the importance of the subjective experiences of individuals and groups. In the verstehen tradition this study stresses the importance of the informant as the primary source of information. The aim of the inquiry was to develop an ideographic body of knowledge, the emphasis being on explanation and understanding rather than the identification of general and universal laws. The epistemological stance taken required an inductive approach to theory building. Examining the firms longitudinally was the means by which the author was able to take an holistic view of the international activities of the firms studied and focus on the change processes and challenges faced in the study period. The central proposition of this thesis is that the firms that compete effectively on international markets exhibit a positive marketing orientation, and have a strong core purpose on which is generated a clear internationally based strategic direction. It is further proposed that over a period of time, through an iterative process of strategy development, firms build a sustainable competitive advantage in their international markets and develop the ability to maintain this advantage, even when faced with hostile challenges in their international markets. Firms, it is suggested through their relationships, build a virtual structure to their international markets, which provide the means through which a knowledge of their markets is acquired, and an input is made to the strategy development process by external partners. However, it is through the dynamic processes of organisational learning that SMEs develop these capabilities and so enhance their ability to sustain a competitive advantage over a period of time.

Les ERP sont un atout qui modifie les pratiques du travail à travers la circulation rapide de l'information, la coordination de l'action, l'élaboration de nouvelles façons de faire et l'ouverture de nouveaux services. Cela se traduit par la formalisation et par la rationalisation du mode d'organisation de l'entreprise. La compréhension de l'interaction entre la technologie et l'organisation est une démarche complexe. La théorie de la structuration de Giddens (1987) offre un cadre d'analyse pertinent puisqu'elle reconnaît l'interaction réciproque entre les acteurs humains et les caractéristiques structurelles de l'organisation auxquelles la technologie participe. L'originalité de notre démarche tient dans l'utilisation d'une lecture culturaliste, en nous appuyant notamment sur les travaux de D'Iribarne. Nous proposons un modèle conceptuel qui met en relation les spécificités culturelles des PME marocaines avec les différentes logiques d'adoption d'un ERP. La méthodologie retenue est de nature qualitative et longitudinale, avec une triangulation des données. Elle vise à retracer les trajectoires d'adoption des ERP en PME. Les 40 entretiens ont fait l'objet d'une analyse à partir du logiciel Nvivo. Les résultats permettent de retracer trois logiques d'adoption d'un ERP (PME traditionnelle, PME autoritaire et PME moderne). / ERPs are an important asset that modifies work practices through the rapid flow of information, the coordination of actions, developing new ways and opening new services. This results in the formalization and rationalization of the organizational businessThe understanding of the interaction between technology and organization is a complex process. Giddens (1987) Structuration Theory provides a relevant framework for analysis because it recognizes the reciprocal interaction between human actors and structural characteristics of the organization to which the technology involved. The originality of our research lies in the use of a cultural interpretation based on the works of D'Iribarne. We propose a framework model that relates cultural identities of the Moroccan SMEs with different logics of ERP adoptionThe methodology is qualitative and longitudinal, with a triangulation of data. It aims to trace the trajectories of ERP adoption in SMEs. The 40 interviews were analyzed using the software Nvivo. The results allow to trace three logics of ERP adoption (SMEs traditional, SMEs modern and SMEs authoritarian).

Information technology provides organisations with effective system that facilitates their work which every enterprise is in need of. Large enterprises have always been a candidate for the market but now the market for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is growing and they are able to be competitive in their area of expertise. IT service companies who wants to work with SMEs must be aware of the conditions of IT implementation and IT adoption to be able to provide SMEs with the needed services. However, there is not enough research about the conditions for SMEs in Sweden which makes this an interesting area to study. This thesis tries to create a better understanding of what the conditions are for IT implementation and IT adoption in Swedish SMEs. A case study was conducted on one of the biggest IT service companies in Sweden and three semi-structured interviews were performed with employees. The employees had different roles but they all had experience about working with SMEs. The interviews combined with the related research made it possible to define some of the conditions of IT implementation and IT adoption. Forinstance, SMEs are in need of fast and cheap solutions because of their lack of long term planning. The size of SMEs and their lack of financial funds can prevent them from buying IT services if the IT service companies do not create solutions based on the conditions of SMEs.

SME exporters constitute a critical economic force that contributes significantly to national productivity and job creation in the Canadian economy. However, the academic literature suggests that female-owned SMEs are less likely to export. With lower export propensity, the potential of female-owned SMEs for organic growth, economic self-sufficiency and wealth creation could be comprised. This paper applies logistic regression to study factors that influence SME owners’ export propensity with particular reference to the moderating effect of gender in the context of the Ajzen and Fishbein ’s (2005) theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior. We improve the methodology of prevailing research by redefining “gender” in a more appropriate way and by computing gender interaction effects more accurately. Based on this analysis, we found that, although male- and female-owned SMEs show different likelihoods of exporting, gender does not have a direct residual impact. Instead, systemic gender differences account for most differences in the export propensity between male-owned and female-owned SMEs. Specifically, female-owned SMEs may be systemically disadvantaged because their firms are smaller, more limited in management capacity with younger and less-experienced managers. The lack of resources and market knowledge become constraining factors for them with respect to becoming “export-ready”. Additionally, female SME owners show a higher perception of risk and financing difficulty (although they do not encounter higher rejection rates of financing applications). Their subjective perceptions of potential barriers may contribute to their reluctance to export.

The aim of my thesis is to analyze the current status of SMEs, estimate their future development with a focus on international business activities and subsequently demonstrate their importance and significant position in the domestic and international markets.