[pt] Em pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs), que sofrem de falta de recursos para busca de informações e sua análise, as decisões de internacionalização se encontram, muitas vezes, concentradas em um único decisor – o gerente de exportação, que, com frequência, sofre de restrição de acesso a informações. Este estudo investiga se as características pessoais deste decisor – em particular, sua idade, seu capital humano (formação educacional, domínio de língua estrangeira e experiência internacional) e seu capital social (relacionamentos pessoais e profissionais que lhe permitem ter acesso a fontes de informação e a outros recursos) – afetam as decisões de exportação de PMEs, especificamente, a precocidade do início da atividade de exportação, a velocidade de crescimento das vendas internacionais, o número de países atendidos e a intensidade das vendas internacionais. São investigados efeitos diretos das características do gestor, bem como efeitos mediados pela sua propensão a risco e sua percepção de risco (da exportação). A literatura apresenta argumentos e resultados empíricos parcialmente contraditórios acerca do impacto das características gerenciais sobre a trajetória de internacionalização das PMEs. Os dados deste estudo foram coletados por meio de uma survey online, enviada para mais de 6.000 exportadores, cujos e-mails foram obtidos da base da Brazil4export (http://www.brazil4export.com/), disponibilizada pela CNI (Confederação Nacional da Indústria). De um total de 241 questionários respondidos, foram desconsiderados 118 (por corresponderem a empresas (grandes) ou respondentes (não gestores de exportação) não elegíveis para o estudo ou a questionários com mais de 15 por cento de dados ausentes), tendo restado 123 casos; destes, apenas 71 correspondem a empresas cujo gestor de exportação que respondeu ao questionário já trabalhava na empresa há pelo menos três anos quando a empresa iniciou suas exportações. O modelo foi estimado com a técnica PLS (Partial Least Squares), que é robusta a amostras pequenas, e foram utilizadas três variáveis de controle – indústria, tamanho da empresa e do grau de satisfação com o desempenho das operações domésticas. Os resultados do estudo sugerem que idade tem impacto negativo (como esperado) e estatisticamente significativo sobre a velocidade de internacionalização, mas não significativo sobre a propensão a risco e o grau de internacionalização. O conjunto dos componentes do capital humano tem impacto positivo (como esperado), porém, estatisticamente não significativo sobre a propensão ao risco, o grau de internacionalização e a velocidade de internacionalização. Com relação aos componentes do capital social, os relacionamentos apresentaram efeito estatisticamente significativo sobre a propensão ao risco (como esperado), porém, não significativo sobre a percepção de risco ou sobre a velocidade de internacionalização e o grau de internacionalização. Por seu turno, propensão a risco e percepção de risco não se mostraram significativamente associados à velocidade de internacionalização e nem no grau de internacionalização. O pequeno tamanho da amostra, no entanto, torna baixo o poder do teste, ou seja, a probabilidade de se rejeitar uma hipótese nula, caso ela seja de fato falsa. O software G (asterisco) Power indicou que, para o modelo explicativo deste estudo e este tamanho de amostra (71 casos), o poder do teste seria de apenas 71 por cento para se detectarem efeitos médios (f2 maior, igual 0,15) ao nível de 10 por cento. / [en] In small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which suffer from lack of resources to search for and to analyze information, internationalization decisions are often concentrated in a single decision maker – the export manager, who often has limited access to information. This study investigates whether the personal characteristics of the decision maker – in particular his/her age, human capital (educational background, foreign language expertise and international experience) and his/her social capital (personal and professional relationships that facilitate his/her access to information sources and other resources) – affect the export decisions of SMEs, specifically regarding earliness of export activity, growth rate of international sales, number of countries served and intensity of international sales. This study examines both the direct effects of the manager s characteristics and the mediated effects through risk propensity and risk perception (about exports). The literature presents arguments and empirical results about the impact of the manager s characteristics on the path of internationalization of SMEs that are partially contradictory. Data were collected through an online survey sent to more than 6,000 exporters, whose e-mails were obtained from the Brazil4export (http://www.brazil4export.com/) database, provided by CNI (National Confederation of Industry). A total of 241 questionnaires were responded, of which 118 were discarded (because they corresponded to companies (large) or respondents (not export managers) not eligible for the study or the questionnaire had more than 15 per cent missing data) and there remained 123 cases; of these, only 71 corresponded to companies whose export manager who answered the questionnaire had been working at the company for at least three years when the company started exporting. The model was estimated with the PLS (Partial Least Squares) technique, which is robust to small samples; three control variables were used - industry, company size and degree of satisfaction with the performance of domestic operations. The results of the study suggest that age have negative impact (as expected) and statistically significant about the speed of globalization, but not significant on the propensity to risk and the degree of intrancionalização. All the components of human capital has positive impact (as expected), but statistically not significant on the propensity to risk, the degree of internationalization and the speed of internationalization. With respect to the components of the social capital, only relationships (but not information sources) showed statistically significant effect on the share capital and this showed significant positive effect on the propensity to risk (as expected) but not significant on the perception of risk or about the speed of internationalization and the degree of internationalization. Propensity to risk and risk perception were not significantly associated with internationalization speed and also with the degree of internationalization. The small sample size implies a reduced statistical power, that is, the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis if it is in fact false. The G (asterisk) Power software indicated that for the explanatory model of this study and this sample size (71 cases), the power of the test was only 71 per cent to detect medium effects (f2 large, equal 0.15) at the 10 per cent significance level.

In the business sector there is increasing pressure for organisations to embrace Sustainable Development - but what does it really mean for the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Sector? While this concept has received considerable attention in the academic literature, legislation and common language, it has perhaps inevitably lost some of its precision. Within business ventures in the industrialised world, sustainable development has only been applied in a few bigger enterprises. Given that Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) make up the majority of manufacturing capacity in industrial economies it is -worthwhile to examine the concept in order to assess its relevance to the specific needs of SMEs. The author proposes in this research that a very successful way for SMEs to contribute positively towards sustainable development and indeed to survive in a highly competitive environment is to embrace waste minimisation. The author reports that smaller businesses appear to see waste minimisation as peripheral rather than integral to sound and competitive business practice. She argues that waste minimisation can in fact be the key driver for sustainable change within the Small and Medium-Sized sector. The author reports upon her participation in two European Regional Development-funded projects, namely the Environmental Enterprise Project, and the Environmental Mentoring Project, assisting SMEs to establish waste minimisation programmes. These projects served the purpose of gathering raw data for analysis. The projects spanned 3 years and, during that time, a novel -waste minimisation methodology was developed -which generated cost savings and environmental benefits. The principal findings of this research are (i) the waste rninimisation methodology can be effectively used to achieve cultural change within the organisation, (ii) defining waste as "anything that doesn't add value to the customer" enabled the companies to more readily understand waste and thus positively contribute to business improvement.

L’objectif de la recherche est l’interprétation de l’agir des dirigeants de PME face au développement durable. Alors, l’interprétation est considérée par cette recherche comme un processus dialectique entre l’explication et la compréhension. Pour expliquer l’agir, nous avons choisi la théorie des représentations sociale et pour le comprendre, nous avons opté pour la théorie de l’économie des grandeurs. La problématique de la recherche tâche d’analyser les liens entre représentations, agir et justifications du développement durable chez les dirigeants de riads maison d’hôtes à Marrakech. Les résultats obtenus montrent l’existence d’une cité écologique et confirment les difficultés du développement durable à se présenter comme ordre de justification de l’action. / The objective of the research is the interpretation of the action of SME managers in the face of sustainable development. Then, interpretation is considered by this research as a dialectical process between explanation and comprehension. To explain the action, we chose the theory of social representations and to understand it, we opted for the theory of the economy of quantities. The research problematic seeks to analyze the links between representation, action and the justification of sustainable development among the riads' leaders in Marrakech. The results obtained show the existence of an ecological city and confirms the difficulties of sustainable development to present itself as an order of justification of the action.

A internacionalização de pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) de software é crescente em diversas regiões do globo, mas as teorias e modelos de internacionalização têm mostrado limitações em explicar o sucesso destes tipos de PMEs em mercados internacionais. A grande maioria dos estudos sobre internacionalização está focada em corporações multinacionais, o que motiva o aprofundamento da investigação sobre internacionalização de PMEs de produtos e/ou serviços inovativos ou de alta tecnologia, denominada de internacionalização ativa. O objetivo central deste trabalho é pesquisar quais são os fatores que contribuem para que PMEs de software entrem e mantenham-se no mercado internacional. Para alcançar este objetivo foi proposto um modelo com as variáveis que influenciam a internacionalização ativa e foram coletados dados junto ao setor de software do Brasil, como país em desenvolvimento, ou não-central, e da França enquanto um país central tecnologicamente. A pesquisa foi conduzida pelo método de estudo de casos, com três empresas de cada país. A internacionalização é tratada como entrada ou acesso a mercados internacionais, desde que "ativa", e independentemente da estratégia adotada para acesso. A análise dos diferentes modelos e teorias contemporâneos, juntamente com os resultados obtidos na pesquisa empírica, permite concluir que para as empresas estudadas serem bem sucedidas em seus processos de internacionalização, elas devem ter: capacidade de inovação; dirigentes com um alto nível de empreendedorismo; com capacidade para inserir-se em networks; e ter conhecimentos do mercado externo com especificidades diferentes em função do avanço das ações internacionais. Embora não seja possível generalizar as conclusões a partir do estudo de casos, elas poderão fornecer subsídios para projetos tanto em software como em inúmeros setores inovativos e de alta tecnologia. Além disso, embora a motivação esteja no setor brasileiro, o modelo e a análise realizada possibilitam que a pesquisa venha a contribuir para o setor de software de maneira mais ampla. / The internationalization of small and medium-sized software enterprises (SMEs) is growing in many parts of the world, yet the theories and models of internationalization have proven unable to fully explain the success of this type of SME in international markets. Most studies on internationalization are focused on multinational corporations, what motivates further studies on the internationalization of SMEs specializing in innovative or high technology products and services, denominated active internationalization. The central aim of this thesis is to identify which factors contribute towards entering and maintaining software SMEs in the international market. A model with variables that influence the active internationalization has been proposed and data were collected from the software industry in Brazil, as a developing or non-central country, and also in France, as a technologically central country. The research was conducted by case study method with three companies from each country. The internationalization is treated as entry or access to international markets, provided it is "active" and regardless the strategy adopted for its access. The analyses of different contemporary models and theories added to the results obtained from the empiric research allow us to conclude that for the studied companies to be successful in their internationalization processes they must have a capacity for innovation, highly entrepreneurial directors with capacity to participate in networks and knowledge of foreign market with different specificities depending on the progress of the international actions. Although it is not possible to generalize the findings from the case study, they can provide support to projects in the software sector as well as to many innovative and high technology sectors. Moreover, although the motivation is in the Brazilian sector, the model and the analyses accomplished enable the research to contribute to the software sector in a broader way.

As micro, pequenas e médias empresas geram cerca de 20% do PIB brasileiro. Estima-se que, atualmente, 60% dos postos de trabalho e cerca de 85% dos novos empregos no Brasil são gerados por micro, pequenas e médias empresas. Nesse sentido, a implementação de políticas públicas destinadas as micro, pequenas e médias empresas possuem a dupla dimensão de favorecer tanto o crescimento econômico como a melhoria de indicadores sociais como a distribuição desigual da renda ou a desigualdade regional. Entretanto, um importante debate amadurece no país a respeito da efetividade e dos retornos gerados pelas concessões de incentivos fiscais. Alinhados a este cenário, o objetivo do presente estudo é analisar o impacto dos incentivos fiscais do setor têxtil das pequenas e médias empresas da região serrana do estado do Rio de Janeiro através da visão de seus gestores e dos indicadores econômicos. Foi realizado um estudo de campo no qual os gestores das PME do setor têxtil da região serrana do estado do Rio de Janeiro responderam um questionário composto por dezoito perguntas. As respostas foram comparadas a um cálculo de estimativa de renuncia entre o Lucro Presumido e o SIMPLES Nacional. Como resultados verificou-se a não efetividade dos incentivos fiscais no seu principal papel de geração de emprego e renda e uma sensação de insuficiência, desconhecimento e, consequentemente, falta de transparência em relação aos incentivos fiscais disponíveis e concedidos especificamente para o setor ou região, na percepção dos gestores das PME. / Micro, small and medium-sized companies generate about 20% of Brazilian GDP. It is estimated that currently 60% of employment and about 85% of new jobs in Brazil are generated by micro, small and medium enterprises. In this sense, the implementation of public policies for micro, small and medium enterprises have dual dimension of promoting both economic growth and the improvement of social indicators such as the unequal distribution of income and regional inequality. However, an important debate matures in the country about the effectiveness and the returns generated by the concessions of tax incentives. Aligned to this scenario, the objective of this study is to analyze the impact of tax incentives in the textile sector of small and medium enterprises in the mountainous region of the state of Rio de Janeiro through the vision of its managers and economic indicators. A field study in which managers of SMEs in the textile sector in the mountainous region of the state of Rio de Janeiro answered a questionnaire consisting of eighteen questions was conducted. Responses were compared to a calculation of estimated resigns from Presumed Income and National SIMPLE. As a result there was not the effectiveness of tax incentives in its primary role of generating employment and income and a sense of failure, ignorance and hence lack of transparency with respect to tax incentives available and specifically allocated to the sector or region, perceptions of SME managers

The main aim of the research work presented in this thesis, is the development of a novel framework with the capability of assessing the impact of implementing lean manufacturing within small-to-medium sized manufacturing firms (SMEs). By assessing the impact of lean implementation, SMEs can make informed decisions on the viability of lean adoption at the conceptual implementation stage. Companies are also able determine their status in terms of lean manufacturing affordability. Thus, in order to achieve the above-stated aim, the following were the main set research objectives; (1) identifying the key drivers for implementing lean manufacturing within SMEs, (2) investigating the operational activities of SMEs in order to understand their manufacturing issues, (3) exploring the current level of lean manufacturing usage within SMEs so as to categorise users based on their levels of involvement, (4) identifying factors that determine the assessment of lean manufacturing, (5) developing an impact assessment framework for justifying lean manufacturing within SMEs, (6) developing a knowledge based advisory system and (7) validating the impact assessment framework and the developed knowledge based advisory system through real-life case studies, workshops, and expert opinions. A combination of research methodology approaches have been employed in this research study. This comprises literature review, observation of companies' practices and personal interview. The data collection process involved ten SMEs that provided consistent information throughout the research project life. Additionally, visitations to three large size manufacturing firms were also conducted. Hence, the framework and system development process passed through several stages. Firstly, the data were collected from companies who had successfully implemented lean manufacturing within their premise. The second development stage included the analysis and validation of the dataset through company practitioners. An impact assessment framework was thus developed with the aid of regression analysis as a predictive model. However, it was realised that there were few correlations between the dataset generated and analysis. The reasons for this were unclear. ,a knowledge based advisory system was adopted to conceptualise, enhance the robustness of the impact assessment framework and address the problem of the imprecise data in the impact assessment process. Three major factors of impact assessment were considered in the framework and the system development process, namely relative cost of lean implementation, a company lean readiness status and the level of value-added to be achieved (impact/benefits). Three knowledge based advisory sub-systems that consisted of the abovementioned factors were built. Results obtained from them were then fed into the final system. The three sub-systems were validated with the original set of data from companies. This enabled the assignment of a number of input variables whose membership functions aided the definition of the fuzzy expert system language (linguistic variables) used. The final system yielded heuristic rules that enable the postulation of scenarios of lean implementation. Results were sought and tested on a number of firms based within the UK, for the purposes validation. These also included expert opinions both in academic and industrial settings. A major contribution of the developed system is its ability to aid decision-making processes for lean implementation at the early implementation stage. The visualisation facility of the developed system is also useful in enabling potential lean users to make forecasts on the relative cost of lean projects upfront, anticipate lean benefits, and realise one' degree of lean readiness.

A internacionalização de pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) de software é crescente em diversas regiões do globo, mas as teorias e modelos de internacionalização têm mostrado limitações em explicar o sucesso destes tipos de PMEs em mercados internacionais. A grande maioria dos estudos sobre internacionalização está focada em corporações multinacionais, o que motiva o aprofundamento da investigação sobre internacionalização de PMEs de produtos e/ou serviços inovativos ou de alta tecnologia, denominada de internacionalização ativa. O objetivo central deste trabalho é pesquisar quais são os fatores que contribuem para que PMEs de software entrem e mantenham-se no mercado internacional. Para alcançar este objetivo foi proposto um modelo com as variáveis que influenciam a internacionalização ativa e foram coletados dados junto ao setor de software do Brasil, como país em desenvolvimento, ou não-central, e da França enquanto um país central tecnologicamente. A pesquisa foi conduzida pelo método de estudo de casos, com três empresas de cada país. A internacionalização é tratada como entrada ou acesso a mercados internacionais, desde que "ativa", e independentemente da estratégia adotada para acesso. A análise dos diferentes modelos e teorias contemporâneos, juntamente com os resultados obtidos na pesquisa empírica, permite concluir que para as empresas estudadas serem bem sucedidas em seus processos de internacionalização, elas devem ter: capacidade de inovação; dirigentes com um alto nível de empreendedorismo; com capacidade para inserir-se em networks; e ter conhecimentos do mercado externo com especificidades diferentes em função do avanço das ações internacionais. Embora não seja possível generalizar as conclusões a partir do estudo de casos, elas poderão fornecer subsídios para projetos tanto em software como em inúmeros setores inovativos e de alta tecnologia. Além disso, embora a motivação esteja no setor brasileiro, o modelo e a análise realizada possibilitam que a pesquisa venha a contribuir para o setor de software de maneira mais ampla. / The internationalization of small and medium-sized software enterprises (SMEs) is growing in many parts of the world, yet the theories and models of internationalization have proven unable to fully explain the success of this type of SME in international markets. Most studies on internationalization are focused on multinational corporations, what motivates further studies on the internationalization of SMEs specializing in innovative or high technology products and services, denominated active internationalization. The central aim of this thesis is to identify which factors contribute towards entering and maintaining software SMEs in the international market. A model with variables that influence the active internationalization has been proposed and data were collected from the software industry in Brazil, as a developing or non-central country, and also in France, as a technologically central country. The research was conducted by case study method with three companies from each country. The internationalization is treated as entry or access to international markets, provided it is "active" and regardless the strategy adopted for its access. The analyses of different contemporary models and theories added to the results obtained from the empiric research allow us to conclude that for the studied companies to be successful in their internationalization processes they must have a capacity for innovation, highly entrepreneurial directors with capacity to participate in networks and knowledge of foreign market with different specificities depending on the progress of the international actions. Although it is not possible to generalize the findings from the case study, they can provide support to projects in the software sector as well as to many innovative and high technology sectors. Moreover, although the motivation is in the Brazilian sector, the model and the analyses accomplished enable the research to contribute to the software sector in a broader way.

Abstract   Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to show how the firm-specific resources interact with the institutional context of an emerging country in the case of E-business micro firms. This is done by identifying the factors and investigating the outcomes of those factors which give these firms economic performance from the perspective of the entry, as well as growth. This study aims at extending the knowledge on the entry and strategies of E-business micro firms entering into China. The goal of the study is to answer the research question, “How can firm-specific resources, paired with country-specific institutional context influence the successful entering into China for micro e-businesses?”, and to provide entrepreneurs which desire to internationalize on the Chinese market with a frame of reference and good practices in E-business.   Frame of references: Literature on SMEs and their associated entry modes, institutional context, firm resources and performance was used to develop a theoretical basis for the paper. The research gap was found in the corroboration of these terms in the context of the emerging Chinese E-business market.   Method: This study has adopted an inductive approach and was exploratory in nature. Qualitative case studies were employed to collect and analyze data with regards to micro E-businesses currently active on the Chinese market. The firms found are all foreign to China but active on Chinese soil. To collect primary data, we have used semi-structured interviews. For secondary data, we have used financial data, websites, and firms’ power point presentations. Following, the data was categorized, coded and analyzed according to professional research methods. Because the study is inductive, the literature was linked and discussed in relation to the findings.   Findings: The findings are numerous, stemming from both the analysis of the data, as well as from the coupling of the initial firm-resource findings with the institutional context findings. The discussion and conclusion hold all the findings. Due to their amount, they cannot be presented here in their entirety. However, the two major findings and criteria to be considered in the case of our research questions are: Proposition 1: For micro B2C E-businesses, the tangible resource is less important than the intangible resource. The capability of applying the Chinese market knowledge and experience to the institutional context, and bringing the results into the entry strategy is more important than the tangible resources Proposition 2: In a matured E-business institutional context, a partnership entry mode which requires lower investment is preferable for foreign micro E-businesses and can lead to a higher possibility for success.

Det studien har identifierat är en avsaknad av sammanställda risker och fördelar för den vanligaste organisationstypen i många länder; SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). Det existerar inga sammanfattade hjälpmedel för utveckling och implementation för IoT (Internet of Things) som understöd åt beslutsstödsystem (ERP_DSS) för målgruppen SMEs. Det studien presenterar är ett ramverk med fördelar som rekommenderas att följas och risker som rekommenderas att undvikas, vid utveckling och implementation av IoT som understöd åt beslutsstödsystem. Studien har också praktiskt prövat användbarheten av ramverket genom design science, där prototyper utvecklats. Ramverkets användbarhet kan efter lyckad utveckling av protyper och ytterligare identifierade risker, presentera ett fungerande och sammanställt hjälpmedel för målgruppen SMEs.

SMEs make up a large part of the global economy. Only in Sweden, for example, SMEs account for 61,3% of value added and employment (European Commision, 2016, p. 2). With such impressive presence, these firms exert a large impact on society and the environment. In an increasingly demanding and competitive landscape, organizations do not only have an economic responsibility to shareholders’ wealth, but also bear responsibilities towards society and the environment. With this shift, corporate social responsibility has become of significant importance and reshaped the way firms act and should act. Parallel to that, the evolving CSR paradigm has highlighted the need of stakeholder engagement in strategic decisions, as the growing importance of stakeholders is said to be the single most important element in the age of sustainability. Stakeholders affect and are affected by organizations and corporate decisions should thus take into consideration their needs and expectations. Opposing the “business of business is doing business” line of thought that dominated the business logic in the past decades, firms are now recognizing the significant importance of establishing and maintaining good relationships with stakeholders. With that, stakeholder engagement is argued to be one of the key aspects for an improved decision-making since it allows firms to integrate knowledge, generate mutual collaboration and mitigate risks, which in turn can lead to CSR strategies that are more aligned with stakeholders’ expectations and wishes and support responsible growth. Although CSR and stakeholder theory are two vastly studied academic fields, few studies have explored the reality of CSR among SMEs and stakeholder engagement on an individual group of stakeholders such as employees. While vital for any company’s survival, employees exert an even more unique role in SMEs. Given the identified research gaps, the purpose of this study is to shed light on both CSR and stakeholder engagement focused on employees among SMEs. In order to gain a better understanding of the realities of both topics, we formulated the research question: How do Swedish SMEs engage employees in the CSR strategy-making from a management perspective? With an inductive approach, a qualitative exploratory research study was chosen. From a mix of purposive and snowball sampling, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted among SMEs’ managers and CEO’s from firms in Umeå, Sweden. Our findings indicate that SMEs often have the willingness to engage employees in CSR decisions, but sometimes lack the knowledge and/or resources to promote this engagement. The most widely adopted means to foster employee engagement with CSR strategy-making is through informal discussions and talks during coffee breaks. Some companies also use more developed methods, such as town hall meetings, instant feedback mechanisms, anonymous notes and weekly employee surveys for this purpose. Our study contributes to the growing literature on CSR among smaller firms and broadens the understanding of stakeholder engagement focused on one particular stakeholder group. This research also presents managerial implications into how SMEs’ can promote a more inclusive governance around strategy. We also expect to have contributed by promoting a further debate and reflection around CSR.