The main objectives of this thesis are to examine and estimate the determinants of domestic investment (public and private) in the Libyan manufacturing sector, and to investigate the impact of domestic investment on the Libyan economy. It adds to the growing literature on the issue of economic growth and econometrics by drawing attention to several issues hitherto little considered in the existing literature. In particular, the thesis blends various aspects of economic growth with models of investment to explain and define the main factors which affect domestic investment, and how domestic investment drives economic growth in the Libyan economy. It is important to recognise that economic growth has become an important aim for all countries in the world; especially less developed countries, which require greater economic efforts to be able to deal with the current international economic climate and the challenges of globalisation: domestic investment is an exemplary element to stimulate economic growth to achieve this target. The main objective of the Libyan government has been the industrialization of Libya, principally through import substitution. Various import restrictions in the form of licensing, quotas and tariffs have provided several sub-sectors of manufacturing with a high level of protection from foreign competition. The government benefits from high levels of financial return in terms of oil revenues, and the consequent easy availability of imported raw materials and capital goods. Despite government support for investment designed to encourage import substitution and export-oriented production, Libya has continued to experience low levels of investment in the domestic manufacturing sector. The stimulus to undertake this study was a desire to explore the most important determinants of fixed investment in Libya's manufacturing sector. This study aims to identify determinants of domestic investment in both the public and private manufacturing sectors in the Libyan economy during the period 1962-2008. Furthermore, this study aimed to identify the impact of domestic investment as a determinant of growth in the Libyan economy during the period 1962-2008. Cobb- Douglas Function was used to analyze the relationship between real per-capita GDP and its most important determinants. Properties of time series of the model variables have been analyzed by using several tests for determining the integration level of each time series separately. By using the Johansen-Juselius cointegration method, the results showed that private investment is strongly and adversely affected in the longer term by changes that take place in domestic public investment in the manufacturing sector, which shows the competition factor between the private and public sectors. The results of these tests revealed an equilibrium relationship between domestic investment in the private manufacturing sector and its determinants in the long and short-run. Also, the results showed the significance of the impact of annual appropriations for the manufacturing sector and imports of machinery & capital goods on domestic investment in the public manufacturing sector, the results of these tests revealed an equilibrium relationship between domestic investment in the public manufacturing sector and its determinants in the long and short-run. Moreover, the results showed the significance of the impact of investment on per-capita GDP; the results of tests revealed an equilibrium relationship between per-capita GDP and its determinants in the long and short-run. The study concludes that the elasticity of per capita GDP to changes in domestic investment is greater than the elasticity of the labour force, which appeared inelastic in the short and long-term. According to the information available, the study and approach adopted have never been undertaken before for Libya, and therefore might contribute toward advancing knowledge and enhancing investment policy, and its implementation by government and private manufacturing enterprises in Libya and other developing countries.

Customer loyalty is considered to be critically important to growth, profitability and sustainability. It has received much attention by practitioner and managers. However, some important variables about the different types of loyalty have remained unclear. While businesses look towards adopting various strategies to help them grow and succeed in the marketplace, a number of key business orientations have emerged. Each of these orientations has claimed to increase both profitability and customer loyalty for an organization. This research has examined both of these factors, as well as their inter-relationships. The research was conducted in a two part study, based on a sequential triangulation approach. The first study focused on finding out the differences between two of the highest types of loyalties, attitudinal and emotional. The study, based on 40 interviews with customers from three different companies, across two cultural settings (Asian and European), has led to the emergence of key differentiating factors. The second study focused on the relationships between business orientations and customer loyalty. This study was based on six case studies of best practice firms. The study found a positive link between business orientations and loyalty. Moreover, a set of critical success factors were identified that would enable companies to implement effective loyalty management systems. Based on both of these two studies, a loyalty management model has been presented. The model helps to improve our understanding of loyalty, and would be of use to managers who would want to develop and manage customer loyalty in an organisation.

<p>The purpose is to gain an understanding of the marketing knowledge and tools single person businesses have and use within the service sector in southern Sweden.</p><p>Previous research on single person businesses in Sweden and their marketing knowledge and usage of marketing tools is very scarce. Many small firms suffer from resource poverty and this is often a reason for why they market their firms in certain ways. By asking single person business owners why, how and what they do to market their firms the authors will find a general pattern and a deeper understanding. During a pre-study conducted to capture the essence of the issue before starting the research, it was found that there existed several marketing knowledge gaps. It is therefore of interest to study the marketing knowledge among single person business owners in Sweden.</p><p>To meet the purpose a qualitative research approach was chosen. The qualitative data was collected through six in-depth interviews with single person business owners. The answers from the interviews generated a picture of the usage of marketing knowledge and tools among single person business owners in Sweden.</p><p>The result of this study showed that all of the single person business owners thought that since their firms were small businesses, well developed marketing strategies was more of a luxury than a necessity. It was clear that they instead used effectual reasoning when marketing their firms. Concerning knowledge, the results showed that a mixture of education and work experience is the optimal combination. It was also clear that service firms usually find difficulties with intangibility and all of the interviewees knew that they have to use a special approach when marketing services. Through the authors’ findings, it is hard to tell if there is an optimal marketing strategy since most of the interviewees do not perform any follow-ups and therefore do not know what works and what does not.</p>

<p>PROBLEM DISCUSSION: Vaggeryd is a small municipality Småland. In addition to its</p><p>strategic position along the main traffic route E4, Vaggeryd is very interesting also because</p><p>of its advanced view on growing of the business sector, in both short and long-term per-</p><p>spective.</p><p>To meet that goal the municipality of Vaggeryd started to invest in “Egenföretagareutbildningen”</p><p>EFU in cooperation with Jönköping International Business School (JIBS). The</p><p>main idea is that students attend the courses that are held by JIBS and during their studies start their own business in a local business incubator called Fenix.</p><p>PURPOSE: To host such education requires a huge amount of energy and resources from</p><p>the municipality, which consequently would like to get answers to questions like “Is it worth investing in the education?” or “What are the results of such education?”</p><p>The aim of this paper is to give the answers to those crucial questions though I believe that</p><p>the time that has passed from the beginning of the education is too short and that the</p><p>number of the students was not large enough to get definitive answers.</p><p>This paper concentrates on a narrow part of the qualitative research methods – an inter-</p><p>view. It is divided into two parts, a theoretical part and the empirical findings.</p><p>FINDINGS: The research showed that six students out of a total of ten from generation 2005 started a new venture, three will take over a family business, and one has not decided</p><p>to start a business yet. Of six students in generation 2003 four have started a business and one of them finished in bankruptcy, one plans to start a business in the future and one does not have a good business idea.</p><p>RECOMMENDATIONS: Answers that the interviews returned gave interesting sugges-</p><p>tions to both the municipality of Vaggeryd and JIBS about how to improve EFU. I would</p><p>emphasise two, I believe, the most important recommendations. First municipality has to</p><p>attract neighbouring municipalities in the EFU project. In addition, a greater effort should be made to help students build a spider’s web of business contacts.</p>

Many rural areas are undergoing structural changes as jobs in forestry, fishing, mining, agricultural and other natural resource-based industries decline. These communities, often based around these industries, are generally small and located some distance from urban areas. They are faced with decreasing population as residents and their families leave for jobs elsewhere. As a result, the communities and residents are looking for alternative ways to create employment and sustain themselves. Given the nature of these rural locations, many small businesses based there face challenges that are not generally experienced by enterprises in urban areas. Some communities are not accessible by paved road while others are not accessible by road at all, relying instead on water and air transportation. The business people in these areas often operate without standard business infrastructure, which can include telephone lines, broadband Internet, banking services and other items, and can have difficulty accessing supplies, customers, employees and other required materials. However, there has been relatively little research on the challenges facing rural businesses and the specific methods by which these owners mitigate these challenges. Understanding and addressing the challenges faced by these businesses becomes important in order to support and encourage economic growth and development in these rural communities. Building on this context, this research looks to answer the following questions: • Why do people start businesses in rural locations? • What type of businesses do they start? • What challenges do these rural businesses face? • How do owners respond to these challenges? Vancouver Island and the surrounding smaller islands in British Columbia, Canada serve as the research site. Given the exploratory nature of this research, an inductive approach has been selected with the use of case studies, interviews and grounded theory analysis. Purposeful sampling is used with the sample businesses meeting specific criteria, based on location, business size and definition of success. These businesses are interviewed at their locations to allow the researcher to experience the challenges associated with accessing the particular rural community. The interview topics are focused on the above research questions. There are several common characteristics among the sample owners and their businesses. The owners tend to be in-migrants who moved to the rural area for lifestyle reasons. They have started their business to provide an income, take advantage of a business opportunity, or both. Family members, particularly spouses, are actively involved in the business. In many cases, participants supplement their business income with other income sources to ensure business viability. Success is measured generally by personal and lifestyle goals, rather than financial criteria. The businesses face common challenges in terms of a limited local population base which impacts on market size and labour pool, rural location and access to urban centres, gaps in business and social services infrastructure and heavy time demands. The owners respond to these challenges in a variety of ways which includes the involvement of family, core business diversification, alternative income sources, long hours invested in the business and involvement with the community. To meet these challenges and devise their responses, the owners draw upon four key resources – their own skills and attitudes, their family, business and community. The resulting conceptual framework draws together these key resources and suggests that all four must be present to ensure success within a rural context. Each resource is comprised of several components which contribute to business success. The framework also integrates several resource-based theories, which consider the key resources either separately or in pairs, to create a holistic model. The conclusions focus on several key areas. This research contributes to the knowledge base on rural small businesses by creating a framework that draws directly from the experience of these owners and their objectives and motivations for their businesses. It reflects their internal focus and a concentration of the four resources that they access easily from within their domain. This research also suggests some possible roles for government which focus on its role in shaping the larger environment, particularly at the infrastructure level and human capital development. Finally, future research directions are recommended. This study considers a relatively unexplored topic and suggests ways for rural small businesses to address the challenges which they face. With this knowledge, individuals, businesses, communities and other interested organizations can work to achieve their economic development goals.

A total of 425 questionnaire-based interviews and 15 in-depth interviews with FSWs in Nepal including non-participant observation in the field were conducted in 2006. The age range of the FSWs participated was 15-46 years.  FSWs (30.8%) reported having had STI symptoms in presences 12 month.  The quantitative findings suggested that many reported having used condoms during their last sexual intercourse, but in-depth interviews suggested the opposite.  One fifth (21%) had never visited health facilities.  Of those who visited, 149 (50.3%) turned to a private clinic and pharmacy; 181 (61.1%) used Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) clinics, 79 (26.6%) resorted to care in hospital and 30 (10.1%) treated themselves.  The remainder 85 (28.7%) were found to seek help from primary health care centre, health posts, family planning clinic or other health institutions for treatment.  The behaviour theories and models used in this study (i.e. health belief model, theory of reasoned action and planned behaviour) partly explain the decisions of FSW on use and non-use of available health services.  The study identified that lack of confidentiality and privacy created distrust among FSWs and stopped them from accessing health services.  Embarrassment, disregard by health care providers and poor communication with them, long waiting time and fear of exposure as a sex worker were major barriers to seeking health services. It is therefore necessary to provide specific training to service providers in all types of health care institutions in order to promote confidential and quality health services.

Tech. (Logistics, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / The focus of this study was to examine the relationship between information sharing, information quality, strategic partnership and internal lean practices among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in South Africa. It is essential to understand practitioners’ and entrepreneurs’ current knowledge towards the topic at hand in order to determine what interventions would be most beneficial in helping to curb the problem of the lack of knowledge in this area and to understand the underlying causes behind the problem, while creating awareness and giving new insight to those who are already aware of this topic. Data was collected from a sample of 350 Small to Medium Enterprises and the measurement items in the measuring instrument were measured using a 5-point likert scale. Thereafter the collected data was coded and analysed by means of structural equation modelling using the AMOS 21 software package. The results indicate that supplier information sharing and information quality have a strong influence on strategic partnership and in turn strategic partnership has a strong influence on internal lean practices among Small to Medium Enterprises. This indicates that the level and quality of information shared between Small to Medium Enterprises and their suppliers has a positive effect on the strength of their partnerships as well as on the internal practices of each Small to Medium Enterprise. Based on these results, conclusions were drawn and recommendations were put forward on how internal lean practices in Small to Medium Enterprises can be improved by means of information sharing, information quality and strategic partnerships.

Employability is a field of research and a concept that has developed considerably over the past century. Today, employability contributes to discussions in higher education, psychology and even labour market politics. What influences employability is thus of great importance to a number of stakeholders. Since employability consists of assets that make an individual employable, the employer’s perception of employability is essential. An area within organisational strategy called ambidexterity discusses the competitive advantage that can be obtained by hiring staff with certain characteristics, indicating that there could be a relation between ambidexterity and employability.   The purpose of this study is to explain how organisational ambidexterity influences employers’ preference in regards of employability. To do so, a conceptual model was developed from theoretical research. The model included: education, experience and personal characteristics. A questionnaire was used to collect data in order to explain the relation between ambidexterity and employability.   The findings of the study did not show that organisational ambidexterity influences employer preferences regarding employability considerably even though indications that a relation exists were found. Moreover, the study findings indicated that other factors such as gender and age of recruiter might have an influence on employer preferences instead.

Studien syftar till att upptäcka svårigheter vid implementering av kvalitetsledningssystemet ISO 9001:2015 på små företag. För att uppnå studiens syfte samlades teorier om kvalitetsledningssystemet ISO 9001 och dess implementerings- och certifieringsprocess in. En fallstudie genomfördes på två analysenheter för att sedan jämföras mot det teoretiska ramverket och erhålla ett resultat. De mest bidragande faktorerna till icke-certifiering av ISO 9001 hos små företag visade sig vara tidsbrist, resursbrist samt kompetensbrist.

Small retailers are searching for a basis of competitive advantage to compete against larger retailers. The independent sales representative (rep) may represent such a basis. Little is known about how the role of reps and their performance is perceived by suppliers and retailers. We do not know what is expected from reps, if the reps' performance meets suppliers and retailers expectations, or whether met expectations lead to a basis of competitive advantage. Primarily, the study was designed to identify the role and contributions reps in the interactions between the supplier and retailer in the channel of distribution.