Our study aims to establish facts not fictions regarding micro and macro factors affectingthe sustainable growth of small and medium size enterprises that are owned by Gambiansin the Gambia. The life cycle of a business demonstrates how entrepreneurs turn ideas intostartups that go through a survival stage which they later transform into a rapid growthstage until they reach the maturity stage where they can either diversify or start whole newventures. Growing up in the Gambia, we have seen how so many Gambians will start asmall or medium size business and within a short period of time mostly, (one or twoyears) will have their business ventures running at a loss and quit operations. Only ahandful of Gambian entrepreneurs have established SMEs that have gone through all thedifferent stages of a successful business life cycle and stayed in business for over twodecades. On the contrary, the Gambian business environment is seen as a perfectopportunity to exploit for so many non-Gambian entrepreneurs who originate from theneighbouring countries like Senegal, Guinea, Mali, and Nigeria. These non-Gambianentrepreneurs usually invest in SMEs and within a few years of their operations, theirventures become highly profitable, attain growth, and sustainably maintain their grip onthe Gambian market. Previous research is filled with general issues that affect thesustainable growth of SMEs in the Gambia and does not distinguish between Gambianand non-Gambians SMEs. There is limited research to show specifically why non-Gambian SMEs are performing better than Gambian SMEs. To make sense of all theseissues, we embarked on this research to find answers that can trigger the beginning ofunderstanding why Gambian-owned SMEs struggle to attain sustainable growth.With the application of qualitative research techniques and well-planned researchapproach, we were able to include some Gambian SMEs industry players in our studiesand collected data that led us to attain some level of understanding why Gambian ownedSMEs struggle to attain sustainable growth. In our findings, we realized that 80% of ourrespondents do not have the required level of skills and knowledge needed for anentrepreneur to succeed in business. This as a result has made necessity-basedentrepreneurship the prevailing approach to business for a large majority of our researchparticipants. In addition, the low level of skills makes it very cumbersome for theseentrepreneurs to withstand other challenges they face in the macro environment, thus theirinability to sustain their ventures.

Digitaliseringen är ett ämne vars omfattning och betydelse växer sig starkare för varje år. Genom den nuvarande covid-19 pandemin har tillämpningen och betydelsen av digitaliseringen ökat ytterligare och så även för banker. Tidigare studier visar att en kreditgivningsform kallad relationsbaserad kreditgivning spelar en extra viktig roll för bankers kreditbedömning till små och medelstora företag (SMEs). Vidare får även denna kreditgivningsform därför även en stor betydelse för SMEs chanser att få beviljad kreditgivning. Utifrån denna bakgrund finns det studier vilka tyder på att digitaliseringen kan minska denna kreditgivningsform. Från denna bakgrund ställer vi oss därför frågan vilken påverkan digitaliseringen får avseende bankernas representanters (företagsrådgivare) handlingsutrymme. Handlingsutrymmet mäts utifrån företagsrådgivarnas autonomi över beslutsfattandet samt val av underlag under kreditgivningsprocessen. För att besvara vår fråga har vi gjort en kvalitativ studie där vi genom semistrukturerade intervjuer intervjuat 12 företagsrådgivare från olika banker och städer. Utifrån dikotomin mellan induktiv och deduktiv studie innehåller vår studie båda delar och är därför en abduktiv studie. Vårt resultat visar att storleken på företagen inom SME-spannet, har en stor betydelse avseende vilken påverkan digitaliseringen får för företagsrådgivarnas handlingsutrymme. För de företagsrådgivare vilka riktar sig mot mindre SMEs bidrar digitaliseringen till en minskad autonomi både avseende beslutsfattandet samt val av underlag. Utifrån detta samband minskar alltså digitalisering dessa företagsrådgivares handlingsutrymme. För de företagsrådgivare vilka riktar sig mot större SMEs bidrar digitaliseringen i stället till en ökad autonomi avseende val av underlag samt en bibehållen autonomi vad gäller beslutsfattandet. Utifrån digitaliseringens nettoeffekt ökar därför handlingsutrymmet för företagsrådgivare vilka riktar sig mot dessa företag. Utifrån de ovanstående direkta effekterna digitaliseringen bidrar med ser vi även indirekta effekter. En av dessa indirekta effekter berör synergieffekter mellan regelverken och digitaliseringen. Då många av respondenterna upplever att de är väldigt styrda av regelverken får därför digitaliseringen en stor indirekt påverkan oberoende vilken storlek på företagen företagsrådgivarna riktar sig mot.

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Background: SMEs directly influence the economic growth of the countries, however these companies are facing several challenging problems, among others, an increasingly competitive environment and financial limitations. Therefore, improving knowledge on the relation between the SMEs growth and different investments is of importance for SMEs decision makers and strategy developers.    Objectives: In this work the goal is to examine the relation between the SMEs growth and investments in tangible and intangible assets. The focus of the study is on Swedish SMEs from the industrial sector with the aim of examining the six hypotheses on the relation between different investment and growth parameters.  Methodology: 57 Swedish publicly listed SMEs are selected, and their financial data related to firm’s growth, i.e. KPIs such as Revenue and EBITDA growth, and investments, i.e. investments in tangible and intangible assets. Lastly, moderating variables, i.e. firm’s size and employee growth index, are collected from three well-known and precise databases. The secondary data is analyzed employing both fundamental and regression analyses.  Results: Analyses indicate that growth KPIs are in a positive relationship with the total investments in tangible and intangible assets. In particular, a clear relationship between the investments in tangible assets and Revenue growth is obtained while a strong relationship between the investments in intangible assets and EBITDA growth is achieved. The firm's age is found to be an important moderating parameter impacting the relationship between the growth and investment parameters, but the influence of the employee growth index is mainly reflected upon increased robustness, reliability and validity of the model, seen by improvement of the regression fitting.  Conclusions: Results suggest that statistically there is a positive relationship between the firm's growth and targeted investments, however the amount of investments and the division of investments between tangible and intangible assets cannot be easily based on the statistical analysis. Although much in line with the statistical analysis, some deviating trends of both independent and dependent variables could be identified through the fundamental analysis, making it a good complement to the regression analysis. With our results and answers to the research questions being in hand, it is our belief that investment decisions should be more carefully evaluated focusing on the firm's strategies, life cycle and growth stage, capacity, type, age and the organizational structure of the specific firm that stakeholders are managing.  Recommendations for future research: A suggestion for the future research is to expand the present analysis on data from more firms, including several other growth KPIs in the statistical analysis and include other categories of investments compared to that of the present study such as M&As and partnership investments. This will strengthen the arguments and conclusions presented in this study and contribute to future research within the field.

<p>Validerat; 20110819 (cani)</p>

No / The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and extent of management development and training in Palestinian telecommunication organizations using a basic trichotomous (three-stage) model: needs assessment, training development, and evaluation. A survey questionnaires supported by semi-structured interviews was conducted to capture and corroborate the issues raised by middle and senior managers. Subsequently, the valid data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and was tabulated for the purpose of interpretation and comparison with the findings available from literature. Despite the systematic approach to training and development, the findings revealed inadequacy deriving from heavy emphasis on conventional methods throughout the three stages particularly the formal in-house training; the current system does not offer a holistic approach to meet the challenging needs for management development. The study adopts an exploratory in depth empirical investigation in Palestinian telecommunication organizations, it provides insight into management training and development in the private sector in Palestine. It has profound theoretical and practical implications for the increased effectiveness of management in the region and beyond. The use of trichotomous approach explores the entire process, rather than implementation alone, thus the findings will have practical implications for the researcher and practitioners to design, implement, and systematically appraise the effectiveness of training development initiatives. This paper offers both professionals and academics a fresh perspective on training and development in Palestinian telecommunication organizations; it highlights the importance of such activity, and stresses on the need for the design of programmes that can adequately incorporate the individual and corporate needs for development.

<p dir="ltr">Circularity or circular economy (CE) offers an approach to creating a closed-loop system toward minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency. Such a solution is vital in construction as it is known for its substantial resource consumption and waste generation. Despite the growing adoption of this framework in the construction industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lag behind their larger counterparts. This study examines the barriers to implementing circularity practices within SMEs in the United States (U.S.). Through a comprehensive investigation involving case studies comprised of company data and semi-structured interviews with industry professionals from three varying-sized construction firms, the research elucidates client preferences, financial constraints, supply chain fragmentation, and a prevalent skills gap as significant obstacles to the adoption of circularity in construction SMEs. Large enterprises with more resources exhibit a distinct set of challenges, particularly in aligning their established practices with the emerging paradigms of CE. Despite the hurdles, circularity's potential economic, environmental, and societal benefits motivate SMEs and large enterprises alike. The research contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable construction by identifying strategic, operational, and market-based factors stymieing CE adoption. It recommends financial incentives, regulatory support, and increased stakeholder collaboration to overcome identified barriers. The study also underscores the need for continued research to advance the understanding and practical application of circularity principles within the construction industry.</p>

Yes / Against a background of the low engagement of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in e-business this paper investigates the significance of hosted services and firm aggregations. Based on qualitative case studies of aggregations of SMEs the research shows how e-business based innovation can occur, and identifies the extent to which the aggregation factor contributes to this innovation. The research confirms existing understanding of the importance of network based aggregations but adds to this with further detail and examples, including the `outsourcing¿ of innovation to the application service providers (ASPs).

No / This paper investigates the international entrepreneurial behaviour of Mittelstand firms (German small and medium sized enterprises). Analysis of a survey of the international marketing strategies of Mittelstand firms revealed three clusters of firms, two that had below and one above average international activities. None of the clusters displayed born global type of internationalisation processes. However, this does not mean that they adopt passive approaches to internationalisation. The results suggest that Mittelstand firms engage in entrepreneurial behaviour that is proactive and innovative but which is cautious, sequential, and risk adverse. The implications of this analysis for future research in the area of international entrepreneurship are considered.

No / This article describes the development and validation of a measure of a firm's organizational learning orientation and considers the relationships between this and firm performance. The measure assesses owner-managers¿ perceptions of their organizations¿ orientation to learning in terms of higherorder (active) and lower-order (passive) levels of learning. Its development is a response to the criticisms that organizational learning research is beset by a paucity of valid and reliable measures to assess the ways in which organizations engage in learning at the collective level (Tsang, 1997). Data are presented from a number of samples of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the UK that indicate that the organizational learning orientation measure exhibits acceptable reliability and validity. Furthermore, a number of relationships between organizational learning and financial and non-financial performance were observed. The implications of the findings for research, policy and the management of learning within organizations are discussed.