Dans les pays en développement, les liens sont étroits et multiformes entre ledéveloppement urbain et les économies rurales. Dans les régions de montagnes, notamment enAfrique de l’Est, les espaces sont fortement interdépendants à travers les relations commerciales,les déplacements de personnes, les flux de productions, selon des échelles géographiques ettemporelles variables. Des logiques de continuum, de gradient, voire de rupture, sont à l’oeuvre.Dans ce contexte, le rôle joué par les Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (PME) reste encorelargement à démontrer, notamment leur place dans la structuration des flux de produits et depersonnes (exemple des petits entrepreneurs commerçants, des transporteurs faisant la navetteentre zones de production, de commercialisation et de consommation, etc.). La place des petitesvilles dans ce processus d’intégration territoriale est importante, car elles jouent souvent le rôlede premier relais et d’interface préférentiel entre les économies urbaines et rurales.L’approche par les PME permet d’appréhender le rôle de l’initiative individuelle et collective(voire communautaire) dans la dynamique de développement territoriale, mais égalementd’analyser les actions mises en place (ou non) pour favoriser l’entrepreneuriat, par les autoritéspubliques et les organisations non gouvernementales (accès au microcrédit, etc.).Le terrain choisi est la province du Central Kenya, région du Mont Kenya et des Aberdares, avecles petites villes de Sagana et Karatina comme zone d’étude privilégiée. C’est une zone de fortesdensités de peuplement, à l’économie rurale voire agricole bien structurée mais en reconversion(économie post-Café) et qui dispose d’un réseau urbain hiérarchisé (petites villes d’étude, villemoyenne de Nyeri, proximité relative de la métropole de Nairobi).Les principaux résultats témoignent du rôle dissymétrique joué par les petits entrepreneurs, et àtravers eux par les petites villes, dans les relations villes-Campagnes. Si leur rôle est crucial dansles flux entrants (approvisionnement des consommateurs urbains et ruraux desservis), il estrelativement faible dans les flux sortants, ce qui témoigne des logiques de concurrence exercéspar des opérateurs extérieurs (relations directes entre grossistes urbains et producteurs ruraux)mais aussi par des intermédiaires locaux (coopératives, grossistes, etc.). / Abstract: Small and Micro-Enterprises (SMEs) are known to form significant nodes inrural-Urban linkages. Consequently, these SMEs serve as strong nodes which link thesurrounding rural areas to Local, National and Regional Markets through forward andbackward linkages. By strengthening and opening up opportunities for SMEs ‘virtuous’circles of rural-Urban economic linkages are created.The study of the rural-Urban linkages activities is still in development. This thesistherefore seeks to add to the literature by generating and documenting information onthe role of SMEs in small towns in rural-Urban linkages. Kenya is an agricultural-Ledeconomy, hence the need to focus on small mountainous towns. The towns aresurrounded by rich agricultural areas and are highly populated, making them busy hubsof mobility and exchange. Therefore, Mt. Kenya region is the chosen area of study withSMEs in Sagana and Karatina towns chosen as centres representing small towns.Based on the study results, SMEs were found to play an relatively small role in forwardlinkages. Only 12% of goods and services coming to the small towns from the ruralareas were forwarded by the SMEs, and only 25% of these goods found their way toother markets. The study established that some factors such as to the marketing chaincreated by the Famers Sacco’s, the use of Information and CommunicationTechnologies and contracting farming could be contributing to the poor show of SMEs inforward linkages.The rural functions in urban SMEs were found to be real and instrumental inentrepreneurship development. They were not only vital in business survival in lowseasons but were also found have positive correlations with large capital base, highmonthly turnover, increased access to loan facilities, and large size of the enterprise.Previous studies have shown that the rural-Urban trade to be more than urban-Ruraltrade. However, the current study shows the latter is almost three times more. Theresults could be said to differ in case where the point of focus is the small trader in thesmall town as opposed to a general urban-Rural trade approach. Also the nature of thefarmers markets could determine the flow pattern between urban and rural supplies.Karatina and Sagana markets behaved more of international markets, where most of thetraded goods and supplies were not from the local catchments. This meant ruralpopulace depended on the towns not only for manufactured goods and professionalservices but also for agricultural produce.

Today, security strategy has a crucial role in society, which does not imply only to large companies, but also and especially to Small Medium Enterprises (SME’s). The intention of this thesis is to provide instructions and help enterprises that need assistance in applying proper security strategy. This thesis comprises the most crucial areas of security within an enterprise. Its aim is to study more deeply the situation of the current security strategy, of a telecom and a software development enterprise, by which the enterprise can extract enough information to provide a proper system. The purpose is to study, analyze, explore and bring some conclusions with new ideas on how to improve and propose a new security strategy that can fit and that can be appropriate for this enterprise. Regarding the exploration and research for the enterprise, “fragile assets” are the target to be taken in consideration such as “software”, “databases” and “important data”. The method which is used in this thesis, is the case study method, which has best suited the purpose of this thesis by covering the logic of design, data collection techniques and data analysis. As a theory the OCTAVE-sm approach was applied. This approach has three phases which each contains its own processes. These processes were followed and used for the evaluation of the current state in one Small Medium Enterprise (SME) called InterAdria. The use of OCTAVE-sm approach in this thesis can be a guide to all other Small Medium Enterprises (SME’s) that struggle with their security strategy same as the enterprise mentioned above. The conclusion was based on the entire data gathering that was done by following the steps of the Octave-sm approach.

The first differentiated tax policies for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa were introduced in 2001. Several relief measures have followed, the most recent being the introduction in the 2008/9 budget of a presumptive turnover tax system and venture capital incentives for investments in high-growth and high-tech SMEs. The present study uses a qualitative systematic literature review to assess the effectiveness of using differentiated tax policies to address the constraints that have been imposed on South African SMEs. It draws on international experiences in the use of differentiated tax policies to address constraints imposed on SMEs. Thereafter it focuses on differentiated tax policies in South Africa and considers the effectiveness of using differentiated tax policies to address constraints that have been imposed on SMEs. Research in other countries indicates that when differentiated tax policies are used in isolation, they are not very successful in bringing about changes in the level of entrepreneurial activity. However, these policies can assist in creating an environment that is conducive to the growth of SMEs and can alleviate the constraints faced by SMEs. The effectiveness of differentiated tax policies in the alleviation of the constraints imposed on small and medium enterprises can be improved by means of various non-tax policy measures. The National Treasury has used differentiated tax policies to target two specific constraints for SMEs, namely access to equity finance and easing of the tax compliance burden. This study concludes that the current differentiated tax policies for small and medium enterprises that are articulated in tax legislation do not address the constraints identified by the National Treasury effectively. The findings of this study cast doubt on the ability of the differentiated tax policies in South Africa to alleviate the constraints that SMEs face in this country. Furthermore, it poses the question whether the main objective of the policies is not to collect more revenue by broadening the tax base. The study focuses on the differentiated tax policies that came into effect before August 2008. The effectiveness of the differentiated tax policies that were proposed in the 2008/2009 budget (venture capital incentives and presumptive turnover tax) will depend on the details of the tax legislation that is promulgated. Future research could determine the effectiveness of these differentiated tax policies in addressing the constraints with which SMEs are faced. Copyright / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Taxation / unrestricted

Depuis le rapport Brutland (1987) le nombre de labels et de normes ayant trait à la RSE se multiplie. Bien qu’historiquement les premiers travaux et outils relatifs à la RSE soient tournés vers les grandes entreprises, les PME sont de plus en plus concernées par cette thématique. Ce projet de thèse a pour ambition d’explorer comment les organisations s’approprient un outil de gestion qui participe à l’institutionnalisation de la RSE. Pour ce faire, nous étudions le cas particulier d’un contexte d’inter-clusters de PME du numérique disposant d’un label RSE sectoriel. Cette étude comprend 44 entretiens et des phases d’observations auprès de 28 entreprises des clusters, des instances de gouvernances des clusters et des porteurs du dispositif.Les apports de ce projet de thèse sont à un niveau managérial d’apporter des éléments facilitant la valorisation de ce type de dispositif par les entreprises concernées et par les porteurs de ces dernières. À un niveau académique, l’originalité de notre terrain d’étude ouvre des contributions théoriques sur l’intégration de la RSE dans les PME, sur les relations inter-clusters et sur la gestion d’un outil dans le cadre d’un projet d’institutionnalisation. / Since the Brundtland report (1987) the number of labels and standards related to CSR have multiplied. Although historically the first works and tools related to CSR were mainly targeting large enterprises, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly concerned by this topic. This thesis aims at exploring how organizations assimilate a management tool, which, in turns, contributes to CSR institutionalization.In order to do this, we develop a particular case study in a context of SME digital inter-clusters with a sectorial CSR label. This study includes 44 interviews and observation phases within 28 businesses embedded in clusters, cluster governance authorities and system holders/creators.The contributions of this thesis project are at a managerial level to provide elements that facilitate the appreciation/valorization of this type of device by both the relevant undertakings and the device holders. At an academic level, the originality of our research field lies in its potential to open up theoretical contributions on the integration of CSR in SMEs, inter-cluster relations and management of a tool to achieve institutionalization.

The goal of the diploma thesis "Financing of small and medium-sized enterprises" is to systematically analyze and review the financing options for SMEs in the Czech Republic. In the introductory part there is a definition of small and medium enterprises with its social contribution and meaning, I describe the needs and potential barriers for further development. The thesis proceeds with specification of various financial resources, there are mentioned own, external and alternative financial resources as well as trade finance possibilities. The last chapter of the theoretical part focuses on the support devoted to SME. In the practical part there is a business and financial analysis of the selected company on the market with artificial sweeteners.

Innovation is a critical factor of the economical development as it is the key source of a competitive advantage and brings an addend value of a concerete company (Zhang, 2O13); Technological innovation could be defined as an endogenous factor responding to economic challenges (McKenzie, 2OO8). Research and development provides innovations, whereas the production of research and development brings externalities. Externalities reduce the private return on investment as such, therefore research and development is an object of public support. Public support can be provided ether by direct or indirect form that includes primarily tax incentives. Small and medium-size enterprises play a key role in the innovation process, however they dispose limited resources for investments to research and development and also for administrative activities connected to tax incentive applications. Thus small and medium-size enterprises are more sensitive to associated administrative tasks. The objective of the thesis was set as follows: to contribute to the existing knowledge in the application of tax incentives and desing an appropriate tool for managerial support of tax incentives reporting in small and medium-size enterprises. This objective has been divided into the following sub-objectives: (1) identify issues related to the application of tax incentives for research and development in terms of small and medium-size enterprises and to compare them with reference research, carried out by Chittenden & Derregia (2O1O); (2) design a system to improve reporting of tax incentives in small and medium-size enterprises. A reference framework was provided to address the objective, the key findings are as follows: precise recognition of research and development activities and associated costs are crucial for an effective implementation of tax incentives (Billings et al., 2OO1); cost allocation in research and development activities is rather a complicated issue (Švejda et al., 2OO7, Godfrey & Hamilton, 2OO5), therefore a comprehensive reporting system shall be provided (Chittenden & Derregia, 2O1O) and these reporting systems should include accounting elements Bhiman (2OO6) and enable project division into phases (Jorgensen 2O1O). In accordance with the recommendation of Chittenden & Derregia (2O1O), Bourgeois and Eisenhardt (1988), Koners and Goffin (2OO7), Workman (1993) Singleton and Straits (2OO5), Morandi (2O11), Yin (2OO3) qualitative research based on structured questionnaires was chosen for exploring the first objective and case study for the second objective. The key findings of qualitative research based on structured questionnaires are: only top management and accountants were involved in the administration of tax incetives. Middle management and researchers were omitted, wherease in reporting of grant projects (realized with the direct support), they were fully involved. The case study research approved that a formalized system of management and reporting of research and development activities supports identification of a research project. Representative of a case company confirm that the formalized system of management and reporting supports decision making process and innovation performance, that corresponds to Bossink (2OO2). The main limitation of the research is the chosen method. The questionnaire survey was conducted in a selected sample of small and medium-size enterprises case study was carried out in a concrere company. The conclusions therefore can not be generalized. Further research can provide a more extensive survey that can be statistically generalize. Other possibity is the evaluation of a social impact as Galal & Wiener (2OO3) also suggest or description of differences in reporting research and development project realized without public support as Lokshin & Mohnen (2O12) recommend.

A graduation thesis is focused on problems of small and medium enterprises. It is focused on SME position within state economic and its delimitation. Next it considers possibilities of SME support, from programs of EU and also at the national, regional and local level. The thesis recognizes contributions which rise for the regions thanks to SME. The second part is focused on concrete situation in chosen region -- NUTS IV Pelhřimov. It characterizes NUTS IV Pelhřimov and monitors corporate environment, especially SME situation in the region. I also used questionnaire survey, which is focused on problems of municipality attitudes to SME. It investigates its relation to SME and the ways of support, which are provided by municipality towards to SME.

Theoretical part of this final year thesis is focused on the small and medium enterprises area and possibilities of state support. Furthermore there are described particular parts of business plan and their functions indeed. The aim of this thesis was to compile functional strategic business plan for management of concrete enterprise KOVO Děčín. There were identified strengths and weaknesses of mentioned enterprise, evaluated current position on the market and proposed further steps.

The thesis specifics advantages and disadvanteges of small and medium enterprises, logistic processes, stock processes of the bakery company and suggests the steps for optimalizaton of the processes.

Diploma Thesis deals with analysis of Ruko, s. r. o. in regards to management, marketing and financial position. Based on the results of the analysis there are possible strategical and tactical recommendations developed which ought to lead to increases in financial and market share based targets.