The focus of this study is to examine the factors that lead to growth in small firms in a Least Developed Country (LDC). The research is based on the manufacturing sector in Ghana. The main objectives of the research are to identify the key variables that lead to small firms' growth and to ascertain the critical barriers that impede growth. A research model which is developed out of an initial exploratory research and existing literature focuses on how the characteristics of the owner/manager, the characteristics of the firm and the business strategy variables interact to affect growth in employment. In addition factors that are perceived to have constrained the growth of the small firms during the study period are ascertained and discussed. To properly test the hypotheses developed a face to face interview survey involving 122 owner/managers of small manufacturing firms is conducted. This resulted in a range of variables that allowed for the construction of a comprehensive multivariate model of small firm growth. A resulting regression model provides about 68 percent of the explanation for the growth of the small firms sampled. It also indicates that the owner/manager characteristics variables offer the most powerful explanation to small firm growth. We find that the owner/manager's growth aspiration is the most influential factor in achieving growth. The other owner/manager characteristics variables that have positive influence on growth are level of education, prior industry experience and entrepreneurial family background. Owner/managers with local experience and/or with other business interests are less likely to achieve faster growth. Foreign owned/managed firms grow faster. Younger and smaller firms appear to grow faster. While firms with multiple ownerships tend to grow at a slower rate than firms owned and managed by one person. Business planning, marketing and export have positive and significant impacts on growth. Other business strategies such as innovations and staff training also have direct relationships with growth but not significant. Some of the main constraining factors to growth are cost of borrowing, lack of access to credit, high cost of inputs, lack of trust within the business community, high bureaucracy, late payments and lack of efficient support system. While the external environment plays important role in small firm growth and development, the behaviours, response and strategies pursued by individual owner/manager are significant factors that determine the rate at which a firm will grow. / Ghana Leasing Company Limited

Due to the fuzzy policy, the industry of cyber café in Taiwan has significantly presented to an atrophied situation since 2004. The industry rises and falls a slope which presents a dissimilarity result to that in the neighborhood nations, such as China, Japan or Korea. What is exactly the struggle in this industry in Taiwan? How to transform it? The thesis searches for the overall environment, the battle for Taiwan¡¦s cyber café, and the transformation strategy for the operators in the cyber café. This research adopted case study method in order to submit an entire analysis via a certain chain of Internet Café and the environment this industry has faced. It is the fact that the most competitive predominance is the ability of creativity and development in this case study recommended two suggestions. One is to adopt the Product Expansion Strategy for short-term, referring to expand a wide variety of products and augment the service. The other is to select a Market Development Strategy for long-term, taking advantage of the cyber café core system and its business model experience to expend the market of Southeast Asia. In competition, it is to use the Differentiation Strategy that makes its service be distinguished from the others and suggest the case study integrate its six new typical entertainments, Digital game, Digital Video, Digital Carol, E-learning, Digital Archives and Digital Read, into multiple services contributing to explore more consumers. It is expected that the Digital Content Entertainment Learning Center, transformed by the case study, combining the strength of its technical integration and its chain with the Digital Content the government promotes, is not only to enhance the positive value of cyber café in our society, but also to assist others cyber café to revise a business management so as to build up a blueprint for cyber café industry.

ABSTRACT Drawing on the upper-echelons (UE) theory and strategic human resources management (SHRM) framework, this study aims to study the effects of top management team (TMT) characteristics on business strategy, strategic HR system relationship, and TMT behavioral integration as a moderating variable among the relationships. This research used both a survey and company data of 122 publicly listed firms in Taiwan to tested an integrated theoretical model relating to TMT characteristics (i.e., TMT demographic heterogeneity and TMT perception towards HR value), business strategies (i.e., differentiation strategy), strategic HR system (i.e., high performance work system ¡VHPWS) and TMT behavioral integration. The findings of this study included: (1) the direct positive relationship between the differentiation strategy and HPWS; (2) the significant relationship between the TMT demographic heterogeneity (i.e. TMT functionality heterogeneity and TMT educational background heterogeneity) and TMT perception towards HR value, and differentiation strategy; (3) the significant relationships between TMT perception towards HR value and differentiation strategy as well as its relationship with HPWS; and (4) a full moderation effect of TMT behavioral integration in the relationship between TMT perception towards HR value and HPWS. This study demonstrates significant associations between TMT, business strategy and HPWS. Reported results support some of the previously established relationships. Implications for future research are discussed.

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 This thesis aims at investigating how the supply chain management (SCM) practices of large enterprises (LEs) are utilized on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This has been argued by many authors as a gap in previous literature. Take the view from SMEs, the research questions are: Is it possible to increase the performance of SMEs in the supply chain of LEs? and How does the supply chain strategy of LEs and business strategy of SMEs match? They are all answered by an explorative case study research. A mature supplier in production services for its large customers is used as case in this exploratory case study. Semi-structured interview was carried out as the main way to collect necessary data, besides documentation and observation. The study presents the existing interaction and problems with the SME, encountered how it formulates business strategy and the lessons that can be learned. The research shows that communication is a key tool ensuring the efficiency of supply chain cooperation as perceived seriously by the SME. Besides, group communication is becoming more popular and efficient for partners in the supply chain due to the participation of multiple staffs in the projects and the issues need to be discussed and agreed among them. Although LEs have good impacts on SME’s performance, for example in delivery proportion and technical ability, the deeper kinds of interaction such as exchange of personnel, committed resources investment was not found in the cooperation. Generally, the SME perceives that the usual difficulties they confront are less bargaining power, barriers to satisfy new demands from customers and the changing in customers’ decisions. By carefully analyzing the characteristics of the SME, we suggest possible solutions such as being more active in deeper kinds of interaction with LEs, increase negotiation skills, constructing a separated unit responsible for SCM and establishing a long-term business strategy to ease these difficulties. Taking business strategy of SMEs as an object of the research, we found main parameters the company cares about to formulate its business strategy. Comparing with literature, we suggest the company paying attention in activities of competitive market as well as the ways to take advantage of supply chain management strategies of LEs when SMEs building their business strategy.

Engineering and Construction Services is a traditional manufacturing industry, provides factory or facility construction service for petrochemical, electrical power, steel manufacturer, storage and transfer system, environmental protection, technology, energy and public construction project. Most of domestic small and medium sized engineering and construction companies lack of resources for working capital, technical manpower, project management and design capability, such that they are not able to take part in the bidding for a large turnkey project. They can only contract for a smaller construction or be a subcontractor for a larger engineering and construction company, beside that, their profit will be very negligible due to lower entry barrier of this industry. In recent years, more and more companies of petrochemical industry move to foreign countries as well as global economic downturn, case number of domestic construction projects is trending down. Most of medium and small engineering and construction companies are in the face of business distress because of the tough competition, and that will limit the growth of business. In the mature and competitive industry, the most import strategy for medium and small companies is to build up core ability, build competitive advantage, and improve competitiveness. After that, the companies will have adequate resources and abilities to become a larger company which can enlarge the scale of operation, move to overseas market, and maximize the stockholders¡¦ value. To become a large company is very import for medium and small construction companies. All of these are the vision of small and medium sized engineering and construction companies and are the most important mission of the administrator of the companies. In this thesis, qualitative research method was used to study C Company by using PEST, Porter 5-force, value chain and SWOT analysis. The purpose of this work is to build up the strategy of competitive advantage for medium and small companies, and to find out proper business strategy for C Company. Some advices will be given to break through the business bottleneck, to enhance core competitiveness, and to enlarge the business scale and scope of C Company. We wish to share our experiences of competitive advantage building up and company renovation.

Per Gary S. Becker, nowadays a primary determinant of a country¡¦s standard of living is how well it succeeds in utilizing the skills, knowledge and health of its people. Human capital is one of the most precious assets of an enterprise. In a competitive environment, how efficient manage human capital which is important event. Recently, China is becoming more popular market. Using case studies, this research targeted four firms, which were sampled purposely to conduct an in-depth interview to explore the human capital strategy in China. And the results appears as follows: 1. Different business strategy will result in different human capital requirement and human capital strategy. 2. Human capital strategies of multinational have much internationalization and the globalized concepts. 3. In a competitive environment, reviewing human capital strategy is needed. 4. Develop the career management service, emphasize on job training and design a systematic characteristic and usable education program for employee.

Nowadays, world-wide enterprises have a new situation after the financial crisis in 2008. Environment faced by the enterprises is so sinister that a small mistake may bring fatal collapse. Business strategy becomes an important issue. The business strategy is used to guide the organization and people to the business vision and goals. It makes shareholders, customers, and members know why the enterprise exists, for what and whom they are fighting. Therefore, the first step of the ¡§business strategy management¡¨ is to construct the ¡§business strategy architecture. Business strategy architecture integrates multiple views of an enterprise to achieve the business strategy synergy. Strategy map uses text, graphics, and process-oriented languages to describe the business strategy. However, using these languages to express the business strategy will result in great difficulties of strategy implementation and resources distribution. Because the strategy map is a process-oriented model, it cares more on the organization behavior view and can not integrate with the organization structure view. In this study, we develop an Architecture-Oriented Research & Development Laboratory Business Strategy Model (AORDLBSM) which is based on the six fundamental diagrams of Structure-Behavior Coalescence (SBC) Architecture. AORDLBSM improves the strategy map model in integrating the structure and behavior views. The results of the study show that AORDLBSM is a macro to the micro, from whole to part of the strategy thinking. AORDLBSM integrates organization structure and organization behavior so tightly that it is able to transform implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge. We conclude that AORDLBSM is a description tool that can transform the abstract concept into a real system that enables the organization and people accomplish strategies successfully.

The amount of the loss of the global panel factory in 2011 a record high, the global economy since the financial tsunami hit in 2008, Europe and the United States credit crisis, 311 Japan earthquake, China's economic slowdown and factors that impact the end consumer market. The panel makers around the world must face the predicament of oversupply and lower prices. Especially in Europe and the United States government in the name of ¡§antitrust", so that each panel plant to become the ATM of the local government under a huge amount of fine, really bite the bullet and make every effort inside and outside the attack. The thrust of this case study is to explore the business strategy of the global pane makers to small and medium-size panel. First, analysis of the future trends of the global panel industry. Then in-depth analysis of the competitive advantage of the global panel factory, the object of study is a case company as the main target customers in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and other places, including Japan's Sharp, Japan Display, South Korea Samsung Display, LG Display, Taiwan's Chi Mei Optoelectronics, AU Optronics wins China and China's BOE, Tianma company history, vision, mission, strategic positioning, competitive advantage, critical success factors, resource management capabilities. Finally, according to the findings, to develop the company's business strategy of the case. The results of this study are summarized as follows: First, strategic innovation; to change the trend of industrial competition, re-defines the rules of the game with the new industrial competition law, business and the basis of competitive differentiation and advantage. Winning strategy ; turning point in the arrival of the corporate strategy when the environment changes, the enterprise will make good use of the corporate strategy ambitions and their own resources, "pondering" process to identify the unique and winning strategy. Execution¡A the success of the business strategy depends on execution; Great ideas require concrete actions to achieve. Effective supervision and control of operating performance, to fulfill our corporate social responsibility, fair treatment of business stakeholders, business continuity to survive opponents

In this highly competitive environment, innovation seems to be the inevitable challenge to every company. The employees within the companies have become the key point for the companies to be innovative. So how do these companies use human resource management practices to promote innovation capabilities? In this thesis, the study will explore the relationship between human resource management practices and innovation capabilities and as well as the relationship between innovation capabilities and organizational performance. In addition, the business strategy as the moderator is also discussed. This thesis is conducted through opinion survey. This study gathered 86 valid questionnaires replied by the directors of research and development department in each company and the findings of this thesis can be summarized as follows: 1.Training and teamwork impact the exploratory innovation positively. 2.Recruitment, career system and employee participation impact the exploratory innovation positively. 3.Performance reward impacts the exploitative innovation positively. Performance appraisal does not have evident impact on exploitative innovation. 4.Recruitment, career system and employee participation impact the exploitative innovation positively. 5.Exploratory and exploitative innovations impact the organizational performance positively. 6.Business strategy does not have evident moderating effect.