nÃo hà / This study aims to investigate the long-term relationship between the exclusion of the board of trade companies of Cearà (JUCEC) and the exclusion of same in the Integrated Payment of Taxes and Contributions of Micro and Small Enterprises (SIMPLE). The study is conducted in the period 1997 to 2011 with monthly data obtained from the competent bodies (JUCEC and Ministry of Finance through the IRS). The econometric approach used was the cointegration test of Engle-Granger (EG). The results show that before starting the National SIMPLE which entered into force in July 2007, the relationship between variables was stable. Only after that period the relationship became ascendant indicating non-stationarity of both series. / O presente trabalho teve como objetivo investigar a relaÃÃo de longo prazo entre a exclusÃo de empresas na junta comercial do Cearà (JUCEC) e a inclusÃo da mesma no Sistema Integrado de Pagamento de Impostos e ContribuiÃÃes das Microempresas e Empresas de Pequeno Porte (SIMPLES). O estudo foi realizado no perÃodo de 1997 a 2011 com dados mensais obtidos junto aos ÃrgÃos competentes (JUCEC e MinistÃrio da Fazenda atravÃs da Receita Federal). A abordagem economÃtrica utilizada foi o teste de cointegraÃÃo de Engle- Granger (EG). Os resultados mostraram que antes de iniciar o SIMPLES Nacional que entrou em vigor em julho de 2007, a relaÃÃo entre as variÃveis era estÃvel. Somente apÃs tal perÃodo a relaÃÃo passou a ser ascendente indicando a nÃo estacionariedade de ambas as series.

In the United States, over 50% of restaurants fail within the first 5 years of operations resulting in approximately $2.1 billion annually in lost national sales revenue. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies used by owners of nonfranchise, casual dining restaurants to ensure sustainability longer than 5 years. The study was grounded in Porter's 5 forces framework as a lens for identifying effective strategies that promote restaurant sustainability. The data collection process comprised gathering data and information via semistructured interviews with 3 owners of nonfranchise, casual dining restaurants in the mid-Atlantic region who sustained their restaurants for longer than 5 years. Also, a review of archival records, including restaurant websites, newspaper advertisements, social media, and promotional documentation ensued. Member checking ensured the accuracy of participant responses in the data analysis process, and methodological triangulation was used to increase understanding and validity of data. Three themes emerged from data analysis: offering quality food and exceptional service, respecting and encouraging employees, and participating in day-to-day operations. The findings of this study promote positive social change by supporting local farmers, providing nutritious food to consumers, developing positive community relationships, and providing a safe place to socialize and meet friends.

In Nigeria, many small businesses fail before their 5th anniversary. Small businesses make up a major percentage of the businesses in Nigeria and provide jobs for 50% of the populace. The purpose of this qualitative multi-unit case study was to explore the factors required by small businesses in Nigeria to sustain operations beyond the first 5 years. The conceptual framework grounding this study was general systems theory. A review of the literature focused on small business failure and factors required to sustain a business longer than 5 years. Data collection occurred through semistructured interviews of a purposeful sample of 3 successful business owners in Port Harcourt, who described their experiences. Data analysis strategies consisted of using qualitative software, key words, phrases, and codes, which contributed to identifying the following themes: (a) effective strategizing, (b) flexible financial capital management, (c) human capital development, (d) market positioning and sales, and (e) stable power supply. The findings indicated that these 3 small business owners were passionate about starting up their businesses and had the necessary skills to strategize effectively and manage capital, thus sustaining their business beyond 5 years. Information derived from this study may assist small business owners in starting successful companies, that support employees, other companies, communities, and families, contributing to the development of the Nigerian economy.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute to the stability and growth of economies by creating employment in rural and urban areas. More than 60% of SMEs do not survive for longer than 5 years; a lack of leadership skills is among the key problems. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the leadership skills owners-managers used to sustain their businesses for longer than 5 years. Research participants were 4 owners-managers of SMEs from the manufacturing industry in Trinidad and Tobago that sustained their businesses for at least 5 years. The contingency leadership model and the skill-based leadership model formed the conceptual lens for this study. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and direct observations. Data were analyzed using Miles and Huberman's analytical strategies and Morse's cognitive process of coding, pattern matching, interpreting, and summarizing the data. Five themes emerged from the data analysis: leadership skills, leadership values, development of leadership skills, leadership challenges, and improvement in leadership skills. The findings from this study could influence positive social change by providing insights on leadership skills SME leaders could use to sustain their operations for the longer term, resulting in reduced failure of SMEs. A decrease in the failure rate of SMEs might contribute to improved economic conditions, leading to the reduction of poverty in families and communities.

Empresas em um mercado globalizado adotaram, desde a última metade do século XX, diversas iniciativas para compor estratégias competitivas que garantissem sua sobrevivência de longo prazo. Um conjunto dessas inciativas podem ser agrupadas em projetos de inteligência competitiva, que apesar dos diversos termos que comumente são usados, se resumem na busca e compreensão de informações do ambiente externo da empresa, a fim de formar um cenário situacional, e de auxiliar a tomada de decisão e a elaboração da estratégia corporativa. Iniciativas de inteligência competitiva também consomem recursos organizacionais e, mesmo com o potencial benefício esperado com seus resultados, muitos são abandonados ainda em fase de planejamento. Outros são abortados após o início das atividades, ou até após algum tempo de funcionamento, uma vez verificado que não estão satisfazendo os objetivos organizacionais. O objetivo desse trabalho é identificar quais fatores levam a organização a abandonar iniciativas de inteligência competitiva, e como esses fatores surgem e se desenvolvem dentro das organizações, tomando-se por base fatores já previamente levantados por autores que estudaram fracassos de projetos de implantação de sistemas de informação. Foi desenvolvido um modelo de pesquisa, englobando também fatores operacionais desejáveis na execução das atividades de inteligência. O estudo investigou em profundidade três casos de abandono de projetos de inteligência, em empresas de grande porte, que possuíam atividades de inteligência desenvolvidas sobre estrutura, modo de funcionamento e níveis de maturidade distintos. Como resultado do trabalho, foi identificado que a perenidade das atividades de inteligência possui uma grande dependência do apoio da alta administração, de uma cultura voltada à utilização e compartilhamento de informações e de um pleno entendimento dos conceitos e objetivos pretendidos. Questões relativas a deficiências operacionais das atividades não foram identificadas como capazes de influenciar a decisão de abandono, representando um grande conhecimento do assunto por parte desses profissionais. Conclusões gerais do trabalho, considerações sobre as limitações e dificuldades para a realização da pesquisa e sugestões para futuros estudos são trazidos. / Companies in a globalized market adopts, since the last half of the 20th century, many initiatives to build competitive strategies that garantees the long term survival. Some of this initiatives may be seen as competitive intelligence projects that, although many terms they are known, can be resumed in the search and compreension of external information if the environment of the company, to form a situational scenario, and to assist decision-making and the development of corporate strategy. Competitive intelligence initiatives also consume organizational resources and, even with the potential benefit with its expected results, many are left still in the planning stages. Others are aborted after the start of activities, or even after some time of operation, once verified that are not meeting organizational objectives.The aim of this study is to identify which factors lead the organization to abandon competitive intelligence initiatives, and how these factors arise and develop within organizations, taking as base factors previously raised by authors who have studied the failures of information systems implementation projects. It was developed a research model, encompassing operational factors also desirable in carrying out intelligence activities. The study investigated, in a deep way, three cases of abandonment of intelligence projects in large companies, who possessed intelligence activities disposed in deferent structures, modes of operation and different levels of maturity. As a result of the work, it was identified that the perpetuity of the intelligence activities has a large dependence on the support of sênior management, a culture dedicated to the use and sharing of information and a full understanding of the concepts and objectives intended. Questions regarding the operational deficiencies of the activities were not identified as capable of influencing the decision to drop, representing a wide knowledge of the subject by these professionals. General conclusions of the work, considerations about the limitations and difficulties for the research and suggestions for future studies are brought.

Ever since the creation of Web 2.0, there has been a seismic shift in how businesses advertise and promote their brands. Social media has birthed a new platform for people and organizations to interact with each other to pass information and opinions or accounts of experiences with products or services. As more consumers gravitate towards social media, firms are leveraging this sensation to engage and forge relationships with individuals which in most cases positively influence consumers’ purchase decisions. However, when some customers are dissatisfied with services or products, they engage in social media negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) which could impact a brand’s reputation, the consumer’s purchase intention and ultimately the firm’s bottom line. In the first study, 118 undergraduate students were surveyed, and empirical evidence was found to support mediating effects of brand reputation on the relationship between social media and purchase intention and moderating effects of brand engagement on the relationship between social media NWOM and brand reputation. In the second study, scenarios were presented to undergraduate students to investigate the impact of social media NWOM on small/local businesses vs. large chain businesses, the difficulty of recovery for small/local businesses, the NWOM correlation of switching behavior after product/service failure, and responses from a firm after a product/service failure. The third study replicated the findings from study two using a more diverse sample instead of students. The study expanded and explored why trust and recovery levels differ in large chain versus small/local businesses. Results indicated that small businesses suffered more from the failure in service/product but made a larger surge in trust than large chain businesses. Keywords: Negative-word-of-mouth, social media, brand engagement, business failure recovery, brand trust, switching behavior / Business Administration/Marketing

In Southeast Asia, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fail each year; in 2010, SME failure rate exceeded 50%. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that some SME business leaders use to decrease the failure rate of SMEs in Southeast Asia. The target population consisted of 5 SME business leaders in Southeast Asia who demonstrated success in using strategies to decrease the failure rate of SMEs. The conceptual framework for this study was the Ulrich model, which supports the notion that a human resource manager needs to be involved in overall organizational decision making as a strategic partner, administrative assistant, employee champion, and a change agent for business continuity and sustainability. Data collection sources included semistructured interviews and analysis of company documents. Using Yin's 5-step data analysis approach resulted in 3 themes: governance, marketing and branding, and integration of information technology. The governance theme included employee engagement and leadership strategies, which could help business leaders to create an agile work environment and work commitment to decrease business failure. The marketing and branding theme included social media and networking strategies that could promote the brand and enhance company image. The implication for social change is that business continuation could lead to economic development, employment opportunities, and tax revenue for local governments, leading to an improved standard of living and overall prosperity of local communities.

Small business owners struggle to sustain their businesses over time. According to U.S. Census data in 2014, only half of all small businesses survived beyond the first 5 years of operation, and only a third survived longer than 10 years. Grounded with the strategic contingency theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies small service business owners used to succeed beyond the first 5 years of operation. The target population consisted of 4 owners of small service and retail businesses in Arlington, VA, with fewer than 50 employees who have succeeded in business longer than 5 years. Through a process of methodological triangulation, data collected from financial documents, publicly available records, and external sources supplemented semistructured interview data. Using thematic analysis by coding narrative segments, 3 themes emerged including developing a unique marketing strategy, developing strategic leadership skills, and required business skills for sustainability. Successful unique marketing strategies emerged from understanding customer needs. The results from this study could benefit business owners by improving business success rates, which would have a positive economic effect on local community, including job creation, and sustainable economic stability. The implications for positive social change might include the reversal of small business failure trends through the application of successful business strategies.

A failure of a small business has a negative impact on the economic health of the community where the small business operates. Small businesses are significant entities in economies around the world, but small businesses have a high failure rate. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore what financial strategies small business manufacturing leaders use to increase productivity and profitability to sustain the business for longer than 5 years. The population for this study was three small manufacturing business owners in Pennsylvania who have been in business over 5 years and have used financial strategies to increase productivity and profitability. The theory of planned behavior was the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and direct observation. Methodological triangulation was used to analyze the data. Four themes emerged after the data was coded in NVivo: the importance of company data, planning for a sustainable future using capital expenditures, cash flow management, and owner/employee collaboration in decision-making. The potential for positive social change includes increasing the survival rates of small businesses. The increase in small business survivals may potentially contribute to increases in employment rates in the community of small manufacturing businesses, leading to increased family incomes and improved overall economic health of the community.

In Angola, 96.7% of established small businesses fail. Thus, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies retail grocery store owners in Angola use to succeed beyond 5 years. The population of the study consisted of 5 retail grocery storeowners who sustained their businesses longer than 5 years in Angola. The conceptual framework for this study was the resource-based view. Face-to-face, semistructured interviews and company documentation review were used to collect data. Yin's 5-phase cycle, which includes (a) compiling, (b) disassembling, (c) reassembling, (d) interpreting, and (e) concluding, was used to find patterns, themes, and categories from the data. Member checking and methodological triangulation were used to ensure credibility. Through thematic analysis, 5 themes emerged: control and monitoring, dedication of the owner, quality staff, regular offer and quality products, and social capital. These themes reflect a common set of strategies that retail grocery storeowners in Angola use to succeed beyond 5 years. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve the performance of small businesses and reduce business failure rates and unemployment in Angola. Additionally, by sustaining their profitability, small businesses offer a basis for increasing tax revenues, contributing to economic growth of the local economy, and improving people's living standards.