Date                   May 28, 2009 Level                  Bachelor thesis in Business Administration/Information Technology Authors             Jennie Andersson, Niklas Fridell, Visar Hoxha Tutor                  Marie Mörndal Department    HST Title                    ERP-solutions in small to medium sized enterprises – possibilities and problems Summary          ERP-solutions have penetrated the market for SME: s, offering the same advantages larger enterprises have enjoyed for years. For a significantly cheaper price, SME: s can nowadays acquire ERP-solutions and become more effective and increase their profit.  The authors have examined five SME: s in both the production and service company segment and have come to the conclusion that an ERP-solution would indeed benefit these companies in many levels but also induce certain obstacles the examined companies must overcome, both financial and organizational. Purpose            The purpose of this thesis is to examine if and how SME: s can become more efficient and developed and increase their profit by implementing an ERP-solution. Further, the purpose is to discuss which conditions that exists for the examined SME: s in order to implement an ERP-solution. Method            The thesis consists of a qualitative research where the authors have interviewed either the owner or employees at management level by using semi-structured interviews. The results from the interviews have been analyzed based on the theoretical framework. Result                Several improvement areas have been identified, most typically the processes are lacking efficiency in some areas even if the SME already had an ERP-solution (or similar) or did not have one at all. Most SME: s did lack the financial resources required for an ERP-solution deployment. Conclusion      The findings show that there are development possibilities within the examined SME:s. The biggest revenue improvement would be decreased manual labor and improved processes. An ERP-solution would help the SME: s achieve that since it automates many tasks and are designed with “best practices” in mind. Despite most of the SME:s lacking financial resources for an ERP-solution, there were some exceptions which contradicted the theoretical framework, mainly because they were SME: s but acted under a larger owner/franchise chain.

Business background. Legislation. Government, civil servants and administration. Finances. Taxes. Definition, function and specificity of small and medium firms. Business background of CR and GB - comparison. Business background of Czech Republic - investigation.

The aim of the thesis is to analyze the situation on Czech information system market, to predict future trends and to define specific solutions from the SME point of view especially.

Profit and growth are the pillars of all business enterprises. The Swedish wood industry has historically been characterized by pressured margins and marginal growth, and in particular SME's have had many challenges in regard to long-term success. It is thus interesting and essential to understand more specifically how SMEs in the Swedish wood industry can navigate the challenges in the industry, and thus generate profitability and growth. Against this background, this study aimed to describe and analyze what strategies and associated key activities SMEs in the wood industry can work with to generate profitable growth.  In order to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts of growth and profitability, a literature study was first conducted to establish influencing factors for these. With a clear basis for strategy and market influence as main drivers, a theoretical basis for strategic positioning and growth strategies were then identified, strengthened by research showing how industry factors affect the context and how SMEs specifically are affected. For strategic positioning, cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies were examined. Furthermore, the growth strategies were divided into organic and non-organic. Market penetration, market development, product development and diversification were investigated for organic growth strategies. The non-organic strategies dealt with two different types of acquisitions: consolidating acquisitions and diversifying acquisitions. These types of acquisitions were then supplemented with further studies on resource and synergy perspectives in acquisitions.  Based on these theoretical areas, an analytical model was created with associated research questions to enable answers to the purpose of the study. In order to nuance the theoretical perspective, qualitative interviews were conducted with company executives with backgrounds in different parts of the wood industry. A variable-based cross-sectional analysis of collected empirical data was conducted to compare the different interview subjects' perspectives on the established theoretical concepts, in order to put these growth strategies in context with SME's in the Swedish wood industry.  The study showed that the theoretical frameworks were not fully applicable in the wood industry, which resulted in an updated framework that considers the specific conditions of the wood industry. The study shows that it is essential that SMEs work with clear niches as a foundation and as a target for strategic positioning. This position is usually achieved through customer engagement, value adding and market knowledge. The study shows that it is essential, especially from a long-term perspective, that SMEs have clear organic growth strategies. In addition, companies can supplement the organic operations with non-organic strategies, which aim to strengthen the strategic position and create better conditions for future organic growth.  Organic growth strategies fall into two categories for the wood industry: sales-oriented and value adding-oriented, where value adding strategies are the leading strategies for successful SMEs today. Sales-oriented strategies place requirements in the categories of raw material supply, market segmentation, and the correct use of sales channels. Value adding strategies place demands on customer engagement, ensuring raw material quality and establishing refined products in new markets.  Non-organic strategies, both consolidating and diversifying, are well-used and potentially successful for SMEs in the wood industry. Furthermore, it is clear that diversification and consolidation through acquisitions are not necessarily separate, but should instead be encouraged to be carried out in symbiosis. Acquisition strategies have specific activities linked to the establishment of acquisition strategy, target search, analysis of identified targets and ensuring key personnel.

The state of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is a key determinant of economic development globally. These enterprises account for almost 90% of firms in both developed and emerging markets. They are the engines of the economy that drives employment creation, poverty alleviation, tax provision, export income and better the lives of citizens. Despite the hype and investment in SME development, the world's vulnerable locations have not benefited from such development, amongst them are South African township SMEs who continue to face a multitude of challenges that hinder them from developing into sustainable business enterprises with a meaningful contribution to the economy. Amongst them, women owned SMEs face supplementary challenges, which are mostly gender based in nature. The study explored the challenges facing township SMEs in the Western Cape province and how the gender dynamics have played out in the face of SME stagnation. After identifying the challenges and gender dynamics, policy gaps were explored, and bridging strategies implored. To this end, the study employed a qualitative research approach covering a sample of 14 participants from three townships of Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Langa using a semi-structured questionnaire for in-depth interviews. The primary interviews were analysed using the six-step thematic approach. The study found lack of funding to be the most prominent challenge, resulting in inadequate operational resources such as equipment, SME owner upskilling and product marketing. The study also found crime and corruption, limited opportunities and market access, human resources as well as lack of financial and business administration skills to be the cause of stagnation of township SMEs. Apart from the umbrella challenges facing SMEs, the study found women SME owners to be facing additional challenges of gender-based discrimination, family responsibility, sexual harassment and crime. Government initiatives were found to be ineffective in addressing township SME challenges, SME owners have limited knowledge about the workings of these initiatives. They were found to be lacking fairness and transparency due to corruption.

Open innovation opens up organizational boundaries so that a company can use and combine internal and external knowledge to develop and commercialize its own innovations, and can take its internal knowledge to market through external channels to generate additional value. There are many studies on large companies that use open innovation in order to develop their products, and keep up with rapid economic changes which affect their businesses. However there are not many studies on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in terms of open innovation. SMEs are crucially important in global economy and innovation. They account for a large proportion in the global economy and create a large number of employment opportunities. They are more innovative than larger companies due to their flexibility and ability to quickly and efficiently integrate inventions created by their development activities. Nonetheless they lack of resources and appropriate structures. Accordingly innovation processes and strategies used for product development by large companies may not be appropriate for them. This study examines if SMEs should adopt open innovation activities for their product development and suggests that SMEs should adopt open innovation activities as complementary approaches to their internal R&D for their product development.

Using publicly available data from three South African Development Finance Institutions (DFI's), this study examines the risk appetite of Business Partners (BP), the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA). This study analyses data between 2011 and 2015 to determine the DFI's risk appetite and to identify key determinants of risk appetite with regard to funding SMEs, specifically startups. The study's findings reveal that South African DFI's have a high to extremely high-risk appetite level and that state-owned DFI's, NEF and SEFA have a higher risk appetite for funding SMEs specifically startup related loan products than private DFI BP. The study's findings also illustrates that South African DFI's risk appetites have a weaker negative relationship with shorter-term financial products than longer-term financial products indicating a higher risk appetite for funding shorter-term financial products.

Forty percent of women in the Niger Delta states in Nigeria were unemployed in 2015. Guided by acquired needs theory, this multiple case study was conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of how women in the Niger Delta states can acquire the requisite entrepreneurial knowledge to make decisions about becoming self-employed. Twenty women entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta states who had knowledge and experience of entrepreneurship were selected to participate in providing data through a semistructured interview, field notes, and document review. Through Yin's 5-step data analysis process, member checking, and triangulation, the following key themes emerged: creativity and innovation, promoting learning and development on entrepreneurship, developing a business mindset, information technology, financial and economic literacy, mentoring the mentees, financial freedom, flexibility of time, adequate control, lack of adequate entrepreneurial training, unsupportive business environment, educational barriers, and shortage of funds and resources. The study findings may create awareness of how women entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta states can obtain knowledge and experience of entrepreneurship. This awareness may promote positive social change by supporting efforts to prepare women for employment, thereby reducing unemployment, improving the standard of living, and reducing poverty among women in Nigeria.

Yes / Against a background of the low engagement of SMEs in e-business this paper investigates the emergence of, and potential for, critical e-applications defined as `an e-business application, promoted by a trusted third party, which engages a significant number of SMEs by addressing an important shared business concern within an aggregation.¿ By a review of secondary data and empirical investigation with service providers and other intermediaries the research shows that such applications can facilitate the e-business engagement of SMEs. There are three key findings, namely: the emergence of aggregation specific e-business applications; the emergence of collaboratively based `one to many¿ business models; and the importance of trusted third parties in the adoption of higher complexity e-business applications by SMEs. Significantly this work takes a deliberately provider perspective and complements the already considerable literature on SME IT adoption from a user and network perspective. In terms of future research the importance of a better conceptual understanding of the impact of complexity on the adoption of IT by SMEs is highlighted.

Yes / This study investigates bank financing to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and evaluates whether the difficulties of SMEs in accessing bank financing during a period of financial crisis are due to a reduction in the supply of credit, or to a decrease in the demand for credit. The results show that the macroeconomic setting matters: demand effects are unlikely to drive the decline in the stock of bank loans, while the supply of credit causes SMEs difficulties in accessing bank credit. During a crisis period, in particular, an increase in the risk of lenders leads to the reduced supply of credit and credit rationing (i.e. the bank lending channel). In a post-crisis period, SMEs with increased risk and decreased profits have great difficulties in securing bank loans (i.e. the borrower balance sheet channel). Taken together, these results suggest that supply effects initially emerge through the bank-lending channel and then shift to the borrower balance sheet channel over a period of financial crisis.