The author analyzed three different perspectives of the development of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) from the resource-based view. The first article discusses how the resource base impacts the internationalization behavior of German NTBFs. Some companies go international early, some internationalize only after a few years. We argued that the resource base is a substantial factor determining if a NTBF will internationalize or not. In the second article, we analyze how the resource base impacts the survival of German NTBFs. We argued that a lack of sufficient resources can lead to early business failure. We further state that the different resources are necessary to fulfill the requirements within the development phases of the NTBF. To broaden our perspective we combined the resource-based view with the market view. In the third article, we analyzed how the resource base impacts the business model innovation of NTBFs. The business model for NTBFs must often be tailored to fulfill the requirements of potential customers or to further grow the business. A sufficient resource base is necessary to be able to change the business model and buffer the transition phase.

The purpose of this mixed-methods research is to determine the effectiveness of the Kingdom Marketing (KM) intervention for improving Israeli SME marketing knowledge among managers and employees of Israeli small and medium-sized business. The secondary objective of the study was to portray the process of change in participating organisations. The newly developed KM intervention programme was designed to enhance Israeli SMEs’ marketing knowledge and marketing strategy, imparting new marketing skills and allowing SMEs to operate with better marketing knowledge. The intervention uses a metaphoric story-line approach to teach participants in mediator-led sessions to understand and use important marketing concepts, such as the difference between sales and marketing. Although the intervention has been used in business settings, it has not yet been empirically validated using rigorous methods. This study was conducted using a mixed methods paradigm with an embedded experimental design. Five Israeli based SMEs were recruited to take part in the training programme. The research consisted of three phases. In Phase 1, I administered a preintervention evaluation to measure five variables: awareness of marketing processes, mistaken marketing attitudes, incorrect marketing process beliefs, organisational marketing skills, and marketing need awareness. Participants were also interviewed during Phase 1. In Phase 2, I administered the KM intervention and collected qualitative data in the form of daily open-ended feedback and a researcher diary. In Phase 3, I administered a postintervention evaluation to assess change in the five quantitative variables, and I conducted a second round of interviews. The findings indicated that the KM intervention programme (a) increased awareness of marketing processes, (b) reduced mistaken marketing attitudes, (c) reduced incorrect marketing process believes, and (d) increased marketing need awareness. However, the intervention had no significant effect on organisational marketing skills. Qualitative analysis confirmed that, although the KM intervention empowered participants with marketing knowledge and skills, it did not result in broad organisational changes. I conclude that the KM intervention programme is valid and worthy of wider use for promoting the survival of SME businesses through marketing knowledge and skill improvement. However, the intervention should be used in conjunction with internal efforts to translate increased knowledge into lasting organisational change.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:53:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LuizRI.pdf: 979603 bytes, checksum: ece7ab6a98dedcb9af5fd5c9ef6d8944 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-11 / The principal purpose of this research was to investigate discriminant factors of survival and failure of micro and small businesses, and the impacts of these factors in the public politics for entrepreneurship in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The data were ceded by SEBRAE/RN and the Commercial Committee of the Rio Grande do Norte State and it included the businesses that were registered in 2000, 2001 and 2002. According to the theoretical framework 3 groups of factors were defined Business Financial Structure, Entrepreneurial Preparation and Entrepreneurial Behavior , and the factors were studied in order to determine whether they are discriminant or not of the survival and business failure. A quantitative research was applied and advanced statistical techniques were used multivariate data analysis , beginning with the factorial analysis and after using the discriminant analysis. As a result, canonical discriminant functions were found and they partially explained the survival and business failure in terms of the factors and groups of factors. The analysis also permitted the evaluation of the public politics for entrepreneurship and it was verified, according to the view of the entrepreneurs, that these politics were weakly effective to avoid business failure. Some changes in the referred politics were suggested based on the most significant factors found. / O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar fatores discriminantes da sobreviv?ncia e mortalidade de micro e pequenos neg?cios, e os impactos destes fatores nas pol?ticas p?blicas pr?-empreendedorismo no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Os dados foram cedidos pelo SEBRAE/RN e a Junta Comercial do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte JUCERN e inclui empreendimentos registrados em 2000, 2001 e 2002. De acordo com o arcabou?o te?rico, foram definidos 3 grupos de fatores Estrutura Financeira Empresarial, Prepara??o para Empreender e Forma de Empreender , e os fatores foram estudados para se determinar se s?o discriminantes ou n?o para a sobreviv?ncia e mortalidade de empresas. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa quantitativa que se serviu de t?cnicas estat?sticas avan?adas de an?lise multivariada de dados e empregou-se, primeiramente, a an?lise fatorial e depois, a an?lise discriminante. Como resultado, chegou-se a determinar fun??es can?nicas discriminantes que explicam parcialmente a sobreviv?ncia e mortalidade em fun??o dos fatores e grupos de fatores. A an?lise permitiu, tamb?m, a avalia??o das pol?ticas p?blicas pr?-empreendedorismo e verificou-se, segundo a ?tica dos empres?rios, que estas pol?ticas se mostraram pouco efetivas para evitar a mortalidade de empresas. A partir dos fatores mais significativos encontrados, foram sugeridas mudan?as nas referidas pol?ticas.

The goal of this thesis is defined factors that influenced procces of business, especially start-up phases. Activity of concrete enterpriser is on example of most frequent mistakes and deficiencies. At the same time there are specified facts, when an enterpriser underestimates incurred situations and ignores them. That can be cause of business activity abortion.

The author analyzed three different perspectives of the development of new technology-based firms (NTBFs) from the resource-based view. The first article discusses how the resource base impacts the internationalization behavior of German NTBFs. Some companies go international early, some internationalize only after a few years. We argued that the resource base is a substantial factor determining if a NTBF will internationalize or not. In the second article, we analyze how the resource base impacts the survival of German NTBFs. We argued that a lack of sufficient resources can lead to early business failure. We further state that the different resources are necessary to fulfill the requirements within the development phases of the NTBF. To broaden our perspective we combined the resource-based view with the market view. In the third article, we analyzed how the resource base impacts the business model innovation of NTBFs. The business model for NTBFs must often be tailored to fulfill the requirements of potential customers or to further grow the business. A sufficient resource base is necessary to be able to change the business model and buffer the transition phase.:1 Introduction 2 Research gap 3 Different themes on NTBF research 4 The resource-based perspective 5 Corresponding research project 6 Scientific contribution for the doctoral thesis 7 Further academic and practical contributions 8 Acknowledgement 9 Literature 10 Declaration of authorship 11 Appendix

Small businesses owned by women cease operations 11% more often than businesses owned by men. Women, who own over 37% of all businesses in the United States, contribute significantly to the 50% small business failure rate. The purpose of this multiple-case study was to explore strategies 5 women who own small businesses use to succeed in business beyond 5 years on Bainbridge Island, Washington. The theory of constraints was the conceptual framework. Data were collected through semistructured face-to-face interviews, websites, company documents, and archival records. Transcript review of interview response data was used to strengthen the credibility of the interview data. Three themes emerged: customer and employee relations, leadership, and strategic management. Customer and employee relations were the most important theme, and strategic management was the second most important. Strategic management was one of the main sources of growth in all the 5 participant's businesses. Participants discussed skills in managerial decisions and strategies to manage the day-to-day business operations that played an active role in entrepreneurship. Female small business owners identified strategies used to eliminate constraints that may have prohibited the business operation to succeed. The findings may inspire entrepreneurs to enhance their leadership skills, increase capacity to expand their small businesses, start new businesses, and explore entrepreneurial options. Social implications include the potential to serve as a guide that encourages female entrepreneurs to enhance their professional practices and to adopt new business strategies to make better strategic decisions.

Problem: I dagens Sverige har det blivit tämligen enkelt att starta upp ett eget aktiebolag och till följd av detta har antalet konkurser ökat. Konkursprediktion med hjälp av finansiella nyckeltal är ett beforskat område och sträcker sig tillbaka till början av 1960-talet. Altmans Z- scoremodeller är de mest tillämpade modellerna att förutspå en konkurs. Problematiken är att Z-scoremodellerna inte genererar lika hög träffsäkerhet i Sverige då modellerna är konstruerade i USA som härstammar från en annan redovisningstradition och tillämpar ett annat regelverk. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att testa Altmans Z ́-scoremodell utifrån den kontinentala redovisningstraditionen på 2000-talet. Vidare är syftet att modifiera Z ́-scoremodellen genom att utveckla modellen i enlighet med svensk redovisning. Metod: Studien bygger på en kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv forskningsansats och utifrån ett positivistiskt perspektiv. Analysen utgår från Altmans Z ́-scoremodell och en multipel diskriminantanalys. Slutsats: Studien visar att de finansiella nyckeltalen kan förutspå en konkurs på ett tillförlitligt sätt med hjälp av studiens egenutvecklade modell ZPP-scoremodellen. Modellen har en träffsäkerhet på 88 procent ett år före konkurs på svenska tillverkande företag. Emellertid visar studien att Altmans Z ́-scoremodell inte är tillförlitlig utan måste modifieras i enlighet med svensk redovisning för att kunna erhålla en välfungerande och tillförlitlig modell. / Problem: Today in Sweden it has become equally easy to start up a private limited company and as a result of this, the number of bankruptcies increased. Bankruptcy prediction using financial ratios is a well-researched area and extends back to the early 1960s. The most used models are Altman's Z-scoremodels. The problem is that the Z-scoremodels do not generate as high precision in Sweden because the models are designed in the United States, which is originating from a different accounting tradition and applies a different set of regulations.Purpose: The study aims to test the Altman Z'-score model on the continental accounting tradition in the 2000s. Furthermore, it intends to modify the Z'-score model by developing the model in accordance with Swedish accounting.Method: This paper is based on a quantitative method with a deductive research approach and from a positivistic perspective. The analysis is based on the Altman Z' –scoremodel and multiple discriminant analysis.Conclusion: This paper shows that financial ratios can predict a bankruptcy reliably using the papers developed model ZPP -scoremodel. The model has a precision of 88 percent a year before the bankruptcy of Swedish manufacturing companies. However, the paper shows that Altman Z' -scoremodel is not reliable without being modified in accordance with Swedish accounting in order to obtain an efficient and reliable model.

The overall purpose of this study is to establish whether auditors in South Africa also fail to issue the appropriate audit opinion on the going concern assumption underlying financial statements the reasons for auditors' failure to issue the appropriate audit opinion on the going concern assumption The hypotheses of this study are tested by examining professional auditing standards and secondary data on the going concern assumption conducting an empirical study of listed industrial compames whose listings were terminated because of financial failure This study provides evidence that auditors in South Africa fail to Issue the appropriate audit opinion on the going concern assumption advances specific reasons for this failure / Auditing / M. Comm. (Auditing)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: “The business format, franchising, can be defined as the granting of a license for a predetermined financial return by a franchising company (franchisor) to its franchisees. The grant entitles them to make use of a complete business package, including training, support and the corporate name which include all branding and logos. Through this enabling the franchisees to operate their own businesses to the same standards and format as the other outlets in the franchise chain” (Maree, 2007, p. iii). Franchising has grown in popularity for entrepreneurs and business people to start a business, a professional career and a way of creating employment. It is seen as a proven business system that is sold to a franchisee as “best practices knowledge” by the franchisor (Maree, 2007). Although the “best practices” approach is at the core of franchising very little research was found to exist that investigates the factors that influence the success or failure of franchisees. The lack of formal research in this regard gave rise to the research question as to what the factors are that will contribute to the failure and subsequent liquidation of franchise businesses in the Western Cape. Current franchise owners and entrepreneurs considering to enter into the franchising sphere need to ensure that they not only understand what factors will influence the success of their businesses, but possibly more importantly, they need to comprehend which are the factors that could potentially lead to the failure of the franchise business. Based on the theoretical research and the data gained from the questionnaire analysis, one can conclude that the majority of the factors discussed in this report contribute towards the failure of franchisee businesses in the Western Cape. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die besigheidsvormbekend as ‘n eksklusieweagentskap of konsessie (“franchise”) kanomskryf word as die verlening van ‘n lisensie of reg teen ‘n voorafbepaaldefinansieletariefdeur die konsessiegewer (“franchisor”) aansykonsessiehouers. Hierdie vergunningmaakdie konsessiehouersgeregtig op die gebruik van ‘n volledigebesigheidsmodelwatopleiding, ondersteuning en die maatskappynaam, sowel as allehandelsmerke en logos, insluit. Hierdeur word die konsessiehouers in staatgestelomhuleiebesighedevolgensdieselfdestandaarde en formaat as die anderafsetpunte in die konsessiegroeptebedryf (Maree, 2007) Die verskaffing van eksklusieweverkoopsregaan entrepreneurs en sakemensewathuleiebesighedewil begin, ‘n professioneleloopbaanwilbeoefen en werksgeleenthedewil skep, het in die jongstetyd al gewildergeword. Dit word as ‘n bewesebesigheidskonsepbeskou en word deur die konsessiegeweraan die konsessiehouer as “bestegebruikskennis” verhandel (vertaaluitMaree, 2007).Alhoewel die “bestegebruik”-benadering die kern van ‘n konsessie is, is slegskarigenavorsingmet betrekking tot die faktorewat die sukses of mislukking van konsessiesondersoek, tans beskikbaar. Die gebrekaanformelenavorsing in hierdie verband het aanleidinggegee tot die navorsingsvraagoorwatterfaktorebydraendkanwees tot die mislukking en gevolglikelikwidasie van konsessies in die Wes-Kaap. Huidigekonsessiehouers, asook entrepreneurs watditoorweegom die terrein van eksklusieweagentskappetebetree, moetnie net die faktorewat die sukses van hulbesighedesalbeinvloedverstaannie maar, stellig van groterbelang, die faktorewatmoontlik tot die mislukking van die besigheidkan lei, identifiseer en begryp. Na aanleiding van die teoretiesenavorsingwatgedoen is, asook die inligtingwat van die vraelys-ontledingsbekom is, kan tot die slotsomgekom word dat die meerderheidfaktorewat in hierdie werkstukbespreek is, tot die mislukking van eksklusieweagentskappe in die Wes-Kaap bydra.

In creative industries such as the gaming industry, the failure rate is typically higher in relation to many other industries. This is usually due to the constant need of innovation and the extreme competition in the industry of gaming. Firms in this industry take on multiple innovation projects, which inherently have a high rate of failure. Literature has previously stressed and focused on the importance of failure and how it can enhance learning that can be a crucial asset for any organization. However, failure brings along negative emotions that can slow down or block the learning process of an individual or an organization at large. In an industry where failure is common, it is important for the management to tackle this issue. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the approach the management of small gaming firms take in order to normalize failure. In this study, the data has been collected qualitatively while using a thematic analysis to recognize consistent themes and patterns, which arise from the primary data that was collected. By conducting four semi-structured interviews with two different companies (2 interviews each), we found that both companies have a similar attitude regarding project failure. Both companies either expect failure to happen or even encourage it. One of our key findings was that both companies emphasize failing fast, which allows them to save time, money and resources as well as helps some members of the organization to react less emotionally to the termination of a project. Empirical results were then discussed and analyzed by judging whether the actions these companies took can be classified as a way of normalizing failure. We concluded that there was evidence for management employing various methods of action that would eventually lead to normalization of failure. Some of these actions included the fail fast attitude, failure supportive slogans and the thought of planning for failure beforehand.