Thesis (M.Com. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The primary objective of the study was to examine the effect of values (biospheric values, altruistic values, egoistic values and openness to change values) on voluntary pro-environmental behaviour of employees of SMMEs.In addition, the study investigated the moderating effect of demographic variables (gender, age and level of education) in the relationship between values and pro-environmental behaviour. The quantitative approach was utilised and the cross-sectional survey method was used to collect data from the respondents that were conveniently sampled. The Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure reliability and the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS SEM) was utilised to analyse data. The findings of the study indicated that biospheric values has a negative relationship with employees’ voluntary proenvironmental behaviour. Three values (altruistic, egoistic and openness to change values) have significant positive relationships with voluntary pro-environmental behaviour of employees. The moderating effects of gender, age and level of education are insignificant. Recommendations on how to use values to improve the voluntary pro-environmental behaviour of employees of SMMEs are outlined.

[pt] A resiliência reflete a capacidade de lidar com eventos adversos por meio da adaptação e flexibilidade. A crise do Covid-19 afetou a vida dos indivíduos, o que refletiu também na economia de diversos países. Em um contexto de pandemia diversos negócios precisaram interromper suas atividades presenciais, bem como se adaptar ao novo normal. Os pequenos negócios, em geral, são flexíveis, porém tendem a sofrer com falta de recursos, e os pequenos negócios de comunidades pobres carecem também de recursos institucionais, dentre eles recursos de saúde o que os torna mais vulneráveis numa pandemia. Em vista disso, a presente pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar como os pequenos negócios de comunidades pobres foram impactados pela crise do Covid-19, quais foram suas respostas à crise e como ocorreu o processo de construção de resiliência nos empreendedores desses negócios. Com base em 38 entrevistas em profundidade, esta pesquisa qualitativa, que utilizou o método de estudo de múltiplos casos, explora o papel do capital humano, social e o contexto no processo de construção das capacidades de resiliência. Os resultados do estudo mostram que o contexto e o capital humano influenciam diretamente nas respostas dos pequenos negócios. Aqueles que mais desenvolveram respostas à crise foram os que mais sofreram com os impactos, principalmente em termos de faturamento. Contudo poucos desenvolveram capacidades de resiliência para se adaptar / aprender e se preparar para eventos futuros. Com base nos achados foram elaboradas contribuições acadêmicas, gerenciais e sugestões para pesquisas fututras. / [en] Resilience reflects the ability to deal with adverse events through adaptation and flexibility. The Covid-19 crisis affected the lives of individuals, which also reflected in the economy of several countries. In a pandemic context, several businesses had to interrupt their face-to-face activities, as well as adapt to the new normal. Small businesses, in general, are flexible, but tend to suffer from a lack of resources, and small businesses from poor communities also lack institutional resources, including health resources, which makes them more vulnerable in a pandemic. In view of this, this research aims to investigate how small businesses in poor communities were impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, what were their responses to the crisis and how the process of building resilience among entrepreneurs in these businesses occurred. Based on 38 in-depth interviews, this qualitative research, which used the multiple case study method, explores the role of human, social capital and the context in the process of building resilience capacities. The results of the study show that the context and human capital directly influence the responses of small businesses. Those who developed the most responses to the crisis were the ones who suffered most from the impacts, especially in terms of revenue. However few have developed resilience skills to adapt / learn and prepare for future events. Based on the findings, academic and managerial contributions and suggestions for future research were elaborated.

Although the development of small businesses is generally considered important for income generation and job creation, there has been relatively little research in developing countries such as Ghana on understanding why some small firms succeed and grow rapidly while others do not in. This thesis investigates the influences on small firm growth rates in Ghana using data from a random sample of 252 manufacturing and services firms from the database of the Association of Ghana Industries. The general hypothesis is that, growth is a function of the characteristics of the entrepreneur; characteristics of the firm; strategic factors; environmental factors; and cultural factors. Consequently, the research tests 36 hypotheses drawn from the five main categories of variables using the turnover and the employment growth measures. It also uses logistic regression analysis to isolate significant factors differentiating rapid-growth firms from slow-growth firms. Overall, the research finds strong evidence which suggests that, perception of a market opportunity; university education; multiple founders; entrepreneurs with marketing skills; workforce training; new product development; presence of a clear vision and mission statement; majority non-family members in management and membership of professional or business associations were associated with rapid-growth firms. iv Factors which were significant in discriminating between rapid-growth and slow-growth firms but were more likely to be associated with slow-growth firms included threat of unemployment or actual unemployment as a motivation for starting a business; production skills; legal form (limited liability companies); access to external equity (post-formation); exporting; access to public or external aid; unionization and frequent management meetings.

The research is devoted to the review of practical and theoretical aspects of the international expansion marketing strategy development for the small healthcare setting. The development of international links among the companies of healthcare field and foreign enterprises and states is an important factor in receiving a recognition and taking the rightful place on the market. Increasingly greater number of the small and medium-size healthcare enterprises bethink of the breaking into external markets as it stands. However, here they face the challenges. On the one hand, Russian healthcare enterprises have the lack of business internationalization experience. On the other hand, the issue of international expansion is not explored enough theoretically and methodologically. The thesis determines the role of marketing strategy in business activities, its place in the company’s strategy structure. Besides, the study distinguishes the factors affecting decision-making process on company’s international expansion, elaborates an algorithm of a gradual marketing strategy development, makes guidelines on the strategy’s performance evaluation and particularly introduces the process of development and performance evaluation of company’s international expansion marketing strategy under current conditions evidence from Llc. «Stavko medical Centre». / В работе рассматриваются теоретические и практические аспекты разработки маркетинговой стратегии выхода на зарубежный рынок для малого медицинского предприятия. Для компаний, работающих в сфере медицинских услуг, развитие международных связей между предприятиями и странами является важным условием для получения признания и занятия достойного места на рынке. В современных условиях все большее число малых и средних частных медицинских фирм рассматривают возможность выхода на зарубежный рынок. Однако, с одной стороны, отсутствует опыт интернационализации бизнеса у российских медицинских организаций, с другой – данная проблема недостаточно теоретически и методологически разработана. В работе определена роль маркетинговой стратегии в предпринимательской деятельности, ее места в структуре стратегий предприятия, рассмотрены и классифицированы факторы, влияющие на процесс принятия решения о выходе предприятия на зарубежный рынок, разработан алгоритм поэтапного формирования маркетинговой стратегии предприятия, методические рекомендации по оценке ее эффективности, представлен процесс разработки и оценки эффективности маркетинговой стратегии выхода на зарубежный рынок в современных условиях на примере ООО «Клиника Ставко».

In modern conditions, from the point of view of the reform of control and supervisory activities, a comprehensive assessment of the control and supervisory measures impact on the functioning of small and medium-sized businesses becomes increasingly important. The purpose of the master's thesis is to develop a methodological approach to assessing the impact of the state control and Supervisory activities on the functioning of small and medium-sized businesses. The analysis was based on the study of scientific and periodic literature, the study of existing approaches to assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of control and supervisory activities of public authorities. Scientific and methodological publications on the research topic, normative legal acts, data of official statistics on the research subject were used as sources of information. In the course of writing a master's thesis was proposed methodological approach, involving three ways to assess the control and supervisory activities’ impact of the state on business. First, it is an analysis of the dynamics of the complex economic indicator. Secondly, the statistical study of the correlation between the indicators of control and supervisory activities and the performance of small and medium-sized businesses, the dynamics of which can be determined by the activity of control and supervisory bodies. Third, a sociological study of small and medium-sized businesses in order to obtain subjective assessments of the control and supervisory activities’ impact on their functioning. As a result of testing the proposed methodological approach, objective (economic and statistical) and subjective (sociological) assessments of the impact of state control and supervision on small and medium-sized businesses were obtained. / В современных условиях с точки зрения реформы контрольно-надзорной деятельности всю большую значимость приобретает всесторонняя оценка влияния контрольно-надзорных мероприятий на функционирования субъектов малого и среднего бизнеса. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка методического подхода к оценке влияния контрольно-надзорной деятельности государства на функционирование малого и среднего бизнеса. Анализ основывался на изучении научно-периодической литературы, изучении существующих подходов к оценки эффективности и результативности контрольно-надзорной деятельности органов государственной власти. В качестве источников информации использовались научные и методические публикации по теме исследования, нормативно-правовые акты, данные официальной статистики по тематике исследования. В ходе написания магистерской диссертации был предложен методический подход, предполагающий три способа оценки влияния контрольно-надзорной деятельности государства на бизнес. Во-первых, это анализ динамики комплексного экономического индикатора. Во-вторых, статистическое изучение корреляционной взаимосвязи показателей контрольно-надзорной деятельности и показателей функционирования малого и среднего бизнеса, динамика которых может быть детерминирована активностью контрольно-надзорных органов. В-третьих, социологическое исследование субъектов малого и среднего бизнеса с целью получения субъективных оценок влияния контрольно-надзорной деятельности на их функционирование. В результате апробации предложенного методического подхода были получены объективные (экономико-статистические) и субъективные (социологические) оценки влияния контрольно-надзорной деятельности государства на малый и средний бизнес.

В работе были проанализированы основные подходы, применяемые для оценки кредитоспособности в сфере малого и среднего бизнеса, даны рекомендации по ее совершенствованию. / The paper analyzes the main approaches used to assess the creditworthiness in the sphere of small and medium-sized businesses, gives recommendations for its improvement.

Маркетинг является важнейшим направлением в деятельности любого современного предприятия. В целях совершенствования маркетинговой деятельности и повышения конкурентоспособности, предприятиям необходимо регулярно осуществлять оценку эффективности маркетинга. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка научно-методических рекомендаций по совершенствованию оценки эффективности маркетинговой деятельности на предприятиях малого и среднего бизнеса. В работе рассматривается подходы и методы к оценке эффективности маркетинговой деятельности на предприятиях малого и среднего бизнеса. В качестве источников использовалась учебно-методическая и научно-исследовательская литература, результаты эмпирических исследований автора и данные корпоративной статистики. В магистерской диссертации был разработан алгоритм оценки эффективности маркетинговой деятельности на предприятиях малого и среднего бизнеса, который основан на интегральной оценке как финансовых, так и нефинансовых показателей эффективности маркетинговой деятельности, что позволяет выделить проблемные места и наметить зоны роста, как отдельного мероприятия, так и всей маркетинговой деятельности компании. / Marketing is the most important direction in the activities of any modern enterprise. In order to improve marketing activities and increase competitiveness, enterprises need to regularly assess the effectiveness of marketing. The aim of the master's thesis is to develop scientific and methodological recommendations to improve the assessment of the effectiveness of marketing activities at small and medium-sized businesses. The paper discusses approaches and methods to assess the effectiveness of marketing activities at small and medium-sized businesses. The sources used were educational, methodological and research literature, the results of the author's empirical research and corporate statistics. In the master's thesis, an algorithm was developed for assessing the effectiveness of marketing activities in small and medium-sized businesses, which is based on an integral assessment of both financial and non-financial indicators of the effectiveness of marketing activities, which allows you to highlight problem areas and outline growth areas, both for an individual event and for the whole marketing activities of the company.

No description available.

[pt] Este trabalho fundamentou-se na teoria da visão baseada em recursos (RBV) e nas cinco forças competitivas de mercado para identificar e analisar os fatores determinantes para o desempenho operacional de pequenos negócios prestadores de serviços, evidenciando os facilitadores e barreiras para o desempenho dos mesmos. Utilizou-se como métodos de pesquisa a revisão sistemática da literatura (RSL) para identificar os principais determinantes e o estudo de caso para explorar como os pequenos negócios abordam esses determinantes em seu desempenho operacional. Neste contexto, este estudo foi realizado junto a quatro pequenos negócios prestadores de serviços do setor de petróleo e gás, parceiras do Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas no Estado do Rio de Janeiro (SEBRAE/RJ). Como resultados da RSL, identificou-se a inovação e a orientação ao mercado como os principais determinantes frequentemente relacionados ao desempenho de pequenos negócios em serviços. Os principais facilitadores identificados foram qualidade, capital humano e inovação de produto/serviço, enquanto que recursos limitados e funcionários desqualificados foram identificados como as principais barreiras. Assim, na análise dos resultados dos estudos de caso observou-se que a competitividade e o crescimento no mercado são as forças que direcionam as atividades de inovação, logo, a orientação ao mercado se torna necessária paras as empresas direcionarem suas ações de maneira estrategicamente assertiva e, com a inovação, as organizações visam melhorar seus desempenhos, gerando vantagens competitivas ao oferecer novos serviços. / [en] This work was grounded on the theory of the resource-based view (RBV) and the five competitive market forces to identify and analyze the determining factors for the operational performance of small service providers, showing the facilitators and barriers to an improved performance. The systematic literature review (SLR) was used as a research method to identify the main determinants and a case study to explore how small businesses address these determinants in their operational performance. In this context, this study was carried out with four small oil and gas service providers, which work in partnership with the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service in the State of Rio de Janeiro (SEBRAE/RJ). As SLR results, innovation and market orientation were identified as the main determinants often related to the performance of small businesses in services. The key facilitators identified were quality, human capital, and product/service innovation while limited resources and disqualified employees were identified as the main barriers. Thus, in the analysis of the results of the case studies, it was observed that competitiveness and market growth are the driving forces for innovation activities, so market orientation becomes necessary for companies to target their actions in a strategically assertive way and, with innovation, organizations aim to improve their performance generating competitive advantages by offering new services.

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att identifiera vad som påverkar privatpersoners risktolerans och vilka informationskällor som används i samband med aktieinvesteringar. Studien ska även undersöka vilken syn privatpersoner har på ägarstruktur i börsnoterade bolag och huruvida ägarstrukturen påverkar investeringsbeslutet. Utifrån detta vill författarna skapa teoretisk och empirisk kunskap. Metod: Studien genomfördes med hjälp av flermetodsforskning. Detta skedde genom att både kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod användes för att samla in empiri. Den kvalitativa metoden användes för att samla in empiri genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med analytiker, privatrådgivare och aktiemäklare. Den kvantitativa metoden användes för att samla in empiri, detta gjordes med hjälp av en enkätstudie med slutna frågor som besvarades av privatpersoner som har intresse för aktiehandel. Författarna valde att göra en flermetodsforskning då en kombination ibland föreslås med anledning av att metoderna kan fungera som stöd eller komplement till varandra. Även slutsatserna kan få stöd genom att metodernas svagheter och styrkor kan komplettera varandra (Jacobsen, 2002). Uppsatsens undersökningsdesign var fallstudie och författarnas valda fall var privatpersoners aktieinvesteringar. Slutsats: Författarna av denna studie har kommit fram till att ålder och kön är två variabler som påverkar privatpersoners risktolerans. Resultatet visar att män tar mer risker än kvinnor i samband med aktiehandel och med åldern ökar riskbenägenheten. Detta överensstämmer med tidigare forskares resultat. Resultatet tyder på att aktieforum är den informationskälla som används i högst grad bland privatpersoner medan privatrådgivare var det alternativ som fick lägst antal svar. Resultaten tyder även på att de flesta personer som deltagit i denna studie beaktar ägarstrukturen när de står inför ett investeringsbeslut. Författarna kan dra slutsatsen att ägarstrukturen till viss del påverkar hur privatpersoner tar sina beslut. Liknande resultat framkom gällande om ett företag är familjeägt. Resultaten visar också att en stor del privatpersoner ser positivt på koncentrerat ägande. De tre ord som flest privatpersoner kännetecknar med familjeföretag är engagerade, hårt arbetande och ansvarfulla. Resultatet av studien visade även att majoriteten av respondenterna ansåg att familjeföretag varken är bättre eller sämre än icke familjeägda bolag. / Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify factors influencing individual risk attitude as well as evaluating data collection methods utilized by individuals in connection with stock investments. Additionally, this study examines individual perception of differences in ownership structure in Swedish listed companies and its impact on the investment decision. Method: In this study both qualitative and quantitative methods are utilized. The qualitative data was collected by performing semi-structured interviews with analysts, advisors and stock brokers. Quantitative data was collected using a closed question survey answered by individual investors. The reason for the use of a multi-method experimental design is based on the fact that the two different methods can serve as support separately, as well as complementation to each other. Although the findings can be supported by the methods' weaknesses and strengths and complement each other (Jacobsen, 2002). The study is based on a case study with focus on individuals sharing investments. Conclusion: This study concludes age and gender to be two variables affecting how likely individuals are to take risks in relation to investment decisions. Empirical result implies that men takes more risks than women when trading stocks. Additionally, the inclination for risk increases with age. These findings are also supported by previous studies. The results indicate that financial internet forums are the most frequently used method among individuals to collect financial information. Financial advisors were on the other hand the least used source of information. The majority of participants in this study takes the ownership structure of a company into account when facing an investment decision. The authors concluded that ownership partially influences how individuals make their decisions. The results also shown that a large portion of individuals welcomes a concentrated ownership structure, i.e. family business. Three words that most individuals characterizes the family business with are dedicated, hardworking and responsible. The results of the study also revealed that the majority of respondents felt that the family business is neither better nor worse than non-family businesses.