This study examines the digital transformation landscape for Japanese SMEs (Small Medium-size Enterprises) in 2023 and the challenges faced in digitalization. Key obstacles faced in adopting digital technologies include limited digital literacy, budgetary constraints, and a risk-averse culture, which hinder widespread digitalization among SMEs. Despite these challenges, the study highlights the importance of digital transformation for sustainable growth and competitiveness. The study emphasizes the value of enhancing digital skills, addressing industry-specific challenges, fostering collaboration, and prioritizing data security and privacy. Recommendations include investing in employee training, improving access to financing, developing industry-specific strategies, facilitating collaboration and ecosystem development, promoting customer-centric approaches, and evaluating digital strategies regularly. By implementing these recommendations, Japanese SMEs can enhance their innovation, productivity, and customer satisfaction. Collaboration among governments, industry associations, universities, and SMEs is essential to create an environment conducive to digital transformation. / Denna studie undersöker det digitala transformationslandskapet för japanska små och medelstora företag år 2023 och de utmaningar som digitaliseringen står inför. Viktiga hinder för att ta till sig digital teknik inkluderar begränsad digital kompetens, budgetrestriktioner och en riskvillig kultur, vilket hindrar en utbredd digitalisering bland små och medelstora företag. Trots dessa utmaningar belyser studien vikten av digital transformation för hållbar tillväxt och konkurrenskraft. Studien betonar värdet av att förbättra digital kompetens, ta itu med branschspecifika utmaningar, främja samarbete och prioritera datasäkerhet och integritet. Rekommendationer inkluderar att investera i personalutbildning, förbättra tillgången till finansiering, utveckla branschspecifika strategier, underlätta samarbete och ekosystemutveckling, främja kundcentrerade tillvägagångssätt och utvärdera digitala strategier regelbundet. Genom att implementera dessa rekommendationer kan japanska små och medelstora företag förbättra sin innovation, produktivitet och kundnöjdhet. Samarbeten mellan regeringar, branschorganisationer, universitet och små och medelstora företag är avgörande för att skapa en miljö som främjar digital transformation.

Yes / This article examines the mediating mechanism of the relationship between institutional voids (IVs) and inter-firm cooperation and the moderating role of economic adversity in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based in emerging markets. The hypotheses are tested using time-lagged survey data from 214 SMEs from Ghana. The findings provide support for the hypotheses by showing that (1) IVs positively influence the use of government research and development (R&D) support, (2) the use of government R&D support mediates the relationship between IVs and inter-firm cooperation, and (3) economic adversity positively moderates the relationship between IVs and the use of government R&D support. The findings contribute to understanding the role of IVs in inter-firm cooperation. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

This paper examines how internal communication strategies in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) during COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on employee intrinsic motivation. By analyzing experiences of managers and employees in Sweden, it identifies effective communication methods that enhance morale and engagement. It also explores how these strategies align with Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and provides practical recommendations for crisis management communication. Through analysis of communication channels, frequency, and styles, it offers insights for organizational communication and crises management. This qualitative study employs thematic analysis of interviews with managers and employees in Swedish SMEs during COVID-19. It evaluates internal communication strategies such as channels, frequency, and styles, and their impact on employee motivation, aligning findings with SDT. To conlcude, this thesis illuminates the interplay between internal communication strategies and employee motivation within Swedish SMEs during COVID-19 pandemic. Through qualitative analysis, the study underlines the importance of flexible communication approaches, digital channels, and transparent styles in fostering resilience and engagement. The findings suggest that aligning communication strategies with SDT princibles can enhance organizational effectiveness during crises. Practical recommendations are provided to empower leaders in cultivating supportive work environments and promoting employee well-being.

Cybersecurity is a critical concern for all organisations in today’s digital landscape, butespecially for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This thesis investigates the maincyber threats currently relevant for small to medium sized companies as well as whatchallenges these types of companies face in implementing effective cybersecurity measures.Another aim was to identify strategies to help SMEs overcome these challenges and enhancetheir protection against cyberthreats.The data collection method chosen for this thesis was semi-structured interviews based on acomprehensive literature review and with a total of six knowledgeable people in the field. Theresults showed that social engineering and phishing, web-based attacks, malware, maliciousinsiders as well as denial-of-service attacks were the most common cyberthreats faced bySMEs in the last few years. Challenges SMEs face was related to a tendency to underestimatethe risk by management and personnel as well as a general lack of knowledge and awarenessat the companies. Other challenges were resource and technological issues. To protect theirbusiness, most interview participants recommended following a standard like the ones fromthe ISO/IEC 27000 family or an alternative like the SSF 1101. Inventory and risk assessment isrecommended as the first step to take along with hiring employees specifically qualified incybersecurity or taking help from consultants.

Businesses' demand for information technology-(IT) capacity and IT solutions are growing daily. As available services and products expand, users require more convenience, cost savings, user-friendliness and reliability. Manufacturers of mobile devices have always been motivated to develop mobile devices which are more flexible and reliable. As a consequence of the above mentioned, the importance of business in the modern technological environment was greatly overestimated as a result of development in mobile technology. Mobile technology breaks the limitations of mobility in businesses which provides innovative possibilities Mobile distance-based services have attracted much attention because of the growing potential that it offers. Businesses need mobile options that deal with specific needs. A mobile accounting system will provide adaptability and flexibility to an entity, which at this stage has not been possible. An improved adaptability and flexibility of enterprises will have a positive impact on productivity and innovation as a result. The rapid growth and development of mobile technology creates the opportunity for the development of many innovative mobile applications. From the above it is clear that there is an existing trend that companies want to implement more mobility in their business. From an accounting perspective, small-to medium-sized businesses have simpler rules and regulations that must be obeyed (IFRS for SMEs). Thus, the point of entrance of this study will focus on the feasibility of a mobile accounting system for small to medium sized entities (SME). On a global scale, should the importance of small-to medium-sized entities (SMEs) not be overlooked. SMEs are the mainstay of most national economies and represent between 30 to 60 percent of the economy's gross domestic product. A mobile accounting system will provide managers and business owners the option to have “anytime anywhere” access to the entity's financial information. This will also allow businesses to be more mobile. Thus, invoices can be issued, receivables added, payments entered (creditors and so on) and all this can be done without physically being on the business premises. The mobile system will therefore communicate in real time with the database on the business premises which is stored electronically and so information for everyone who uses it will be updated and correct. / MCom (Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Businesses' demand for information technology-(IT) capacity and IT solutions are growing daily. As available services and products expand, users require more convenience, cost savings, user-friendliness and reliability. Manufacturers of mobile devices have always been motivated to develop mobile devices which are more flexible and reliable. As a consequence of the above mentioned, the importance of business in the modern technological environment was greatly overestimated as a result of development in mobile technology. Mobile technology breaks the limitations of mobility in businesses which provides innovative possibilities Mobile distance-based services have attracted much attention because of the growing potential that it offers. Businesses need mobile options that deal with specific needs. A mobile accounting system will provide adaptability and flexibility to an entity, which at this stage has not been possible. An improved adaptability and flexibility of enterprises will have a positive impact on productivity and innovation as a result. The rapid growth and development of mobile technology creates the opportunity for the development of many innovative mobile applications. From the above it is clear that there is an existing trend that companies want to implement more mobility in their business. From an accounting perspective, small-to medium-sized businesses have simpler rules and regulations that must be obeyed (IFRS for SMEs). Thus, the point of entrance of this study will focus on the feasibility of a mobile accounting system for small to medium sized entities (SME). On a global scale, should the importance of small-to medium-sized entities (SMEs) not be overlooked. SMEs are the mainstay of most national economies and represent between 30 to 60 percent of the economy's gross domestic product. A mobile accounting system will provide managers and business owners the option to have “anytime anywhere” access to the entity's financial information. This will also allow businesses to be more mobile. Thus, invoices can be issued, receivables added, payments entered (creditors and so on) and all this can be done without physically being on the business premises. The mobile system will therefore communicate in real time with the database on the business premises which is stored electronically and so information for everyone who uses it will be updated and correct. / MCom (Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Dagens konkurrensutsatta marknad ställer stora krav på organisationer och deras användning av hjälpmedel för att överleva och skapa konkurrensfördelar. Business intelligence är en samlingsteknik som för varje dag får allt större uppmärksamhet och som för många organisationer blivit ett måste för överleva. Tyvärr är implementationen av BI-tekniker problematisk och över 50 % av alla BI-initiativ misslyckas. Därför har en del studier forskat kring de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna för implementation av BI, som anses som en nyckel för att lyckas med implementationen. I den stora majoriteten av studierna utgår de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna dock från stora företag. De har andra förutsättningar än små och medelstora företag (SMF) som 99.9% av alla företag i Sverige består av. Studien har därför skapat en ram med kritiska faktorer speciellt uttagna för SMF med frågeställningen: Vilka är de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna för implementation av ett business intelligence system i SMF? Ramen skapades med litteraturstudie i kombination med expertintervjuer. Studiens ram visar att faktorerna inte skiljer sig nämnvärt efter företagsstorleken, utan efter projektets storlek. Nyckelord: Business intelligence, Kritiska framgångsfaktorer, Implementation, Små och medelstora företag / Today’s competitive market places great demands on organisations and their use of means to survive and gain competitive advantages. Business intelligence (BI) is an umbrella term of technologies that has become necessary for many organisations to survive the competitive market, and it gets more attention for every passing day. Unfortunately, the implementation of BI technologies is problematic and statistics show that more than 50% of all BI-initiatives fail. Therefore, some studies have identified critical success factors (CSFs), crucial for the implementation of BI, which is considered as a key for the success of a BI-project. However, the majority of the CSFs are based on large, international enterprises. Which differ from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which 99.9% of all Swedish companies consist of. Thus are the identification of relevant CSFs for SMEs crucial. The study has therefore with the research question: Which are the CSFs for implementation of BI-systems in SMEs created a framework with CSFs specially designed for SMEs, based on a literature review combined with expert interviews. The analysis and result of the study shows that the CSFs do not differ in terms of the organisation size, rather it differs depending on the size of the project. However, the study has also identified previously unidentified critical success factors crucial for the implementation of BI-systems. Keywords: Business intelligence, Critical Success factors, Implementation, Small and medium-sized enterprises

I dagsläget är det svårt för företag att behålla en stark marknadsposition och utmaningen ligger dels i att regelbundet presentera nya produkter på marknaden och ständigt skapa nya innovationer. Genom att använda sig av Lean Product Development i produktutvecklingsprocessen kan företagen anta utmaningen. Det kan dock vara svårare för små och medelstora företag då de kan ha begränsade resurser. Syftet med denna studie var därför att ta fram en projektmodell för produktutvecklingsprojekt i små och medelstora företag. Studien bygger på kvalitativa forskningsmetoder där sekundärdata samlades in genom både bibliotekskatalogen vid Mittuniversitetet och sökningar i forskningsdatabaser på Internet. Därefter samlades primärdata in via intervjuer för att göra en fallstudie och ett teoretiskt applicerbarhetstest. Resultatet som genererades visade att det som karakteriserar produktutvecklingen i små och medelstora företag var främst att chefen eller ägaren ofta påverkar produktutvecklingen och nyckelfaktorerna för en framgångsrik produktutveckling är processer, resurser, strategier och en god kommunikation. Den slutgiltiga projektmodellen baseras i stora drag på den generella projektmodellen och genomgick inga större förändringar efter det att det teoretiska applicerbarhetstestet hade genomförts. Projektmodellen består av fem stycken faser: förstudie, planering, genomförande, avslut och effekthemtagning. Samtliga presenterade projektmodeller skulle kunna fungera för att skapa processer, resurser, strategier och en god kommunikation. De nämnda projektmodellerna skiljer sig något i utformning och fokuserar på olika saker. Det som skiljer projektmodellerna åt är både roller och ansvarsbeskrivningar, beslutspunkter samt projektmodellernas olika faser. Det nyhetsvärde som denna studie har bidragit med är hur små och medelstora företag kan arbeta med projekt inom produktutveckling, och en fråga som har väckts är hur denna projektmodell skulle kunna se ut för att främja hela organisationen och inte endast produktutvecklingsavdelningen. / Today it is hard for companies to keep a strong market position and one part of the challenge is to regularly present new products on the market and constantly create new innovations.  The companies can accept that challenge by using Lean Product Development in the product development process. It can however be more difficult for small and medium sized enterprises as they may have limited resources. The purpose with this study was therefore to develop a project model for product development in small and medium sized enterprises. The study was built on qualitative research methodologies, first secondary data was collected through both the Mid Sweden University’s library catalog and searches in research databases on the Internet. Then, the primary data was collected through interviews to create a case study and a theoretical applicability test. The generated result showed that it characterizes the product development in small and medium sized enterprises primarily was that the manager or owner often affect the product development and the key factors for a successful product development was processes, resources, strategies and a good communication. The final project model are in general based on the general project model and did not underwent any major changes after the theoretical applicability test had been carried out. The project model consists of five phases: feasibility study, planning, implementation, closing and effect transfer. All of the presented project models could work to create processes, resources, strategies and a good communication. The mention project models differ slightly in the design and they are focusing on different areas. The differences in the models are the roles and responsibilities descriptions, decision points and the models different phases. The newsworthy this study has contribute with is how small and medium sized enterprises can work on projects in product, and one question that has been raised is how this project model could look like to promote the whole organization not only the product development departure.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, particularly In the information and communications technology (lCT) sector, are faced with an increasingly volatile environment. The Malaysian business scene has opened up their markets to the world where smaller businesses find themselves competing with newly launched multinational subsidiary and subdivision companies, along with the large local firms. The Malaysian Government has launched several campaigns and support for smaller local businesses to be more competitive and to continuously compete at par with these larger companies. This research project supports the Malaysian Government's objective of instilling a more structured approach towards a more competitive SME by focusing on the management of competitive information related to these companies. In recognising the rising need for competitive support, management and executives are increasingly relying on a concept called Competitive Intelligence (Cl), a systematic and ethical process for gathering, analysing, and managing information that can affect a company's plans, decisions, and operation. In managing competitive information, several companies have emerged especially to develop online tools and software that would enhance the Cl process and the value competitive intelligence brings to organisations. The success of these Cl software tools depends, however, on the sophistication of an organisation's understanding of the Cl process and scope of usage. Different companies derive different values from different approaches to competitive intelligence, and therefore require a flexible tool that is very specific to the company's needs. Therefore, this research investigated the structures and contexts of Malaysian Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (SMEs) based on competitive intelligence (Cl) concepts to derive a more customised approach to the use of Cl for SMEs in the ICT sector, as well as in the selection of appropriate Cl software. Mintzberg's approaches to analysing organisational structures and contexts, Bouthillier and Shearer's Intelligence Cycle, Herring's Key Intelligence Topics, and Davis' concept of effectiveness were used in two main stages. The first stage involved identifying the nature and range of SMEs, which exist under Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor, a government benchmarking body for local businesses. This gives an account, on the basis of cluster analysis, of a taxonomy of SME categories consisted of ten clusters. The relationships between the categories were also examined in the first stage of the research. The relationships and clusters found in the first part of the research offered the basis for the second part of the research, which constructs the criteria for evaluating online tools and software for competitive intelligence. The evaluation criteria are then used to evaluate eight Cl-ready software packages in finding suitable tools for the different categories of SMEs. Finally, the research concludes with a study of the prospective users' perceptions of effectiveness in SMEs drawn from the identified clusters. This 'multiple constituency' approach to understanding effectiveness evaluates both Davis' concept of effectiveness (usefulness), as well as the differential evaluations of perceived effectiveness. The research findings provide evidence of a range of SME structures in a variety of contexts. Levels of importance placed on different levels in the Cl process are identified, as well as aspects that need support, automation and/or augmentation. The software evaluation in the second part of the research provided ten recommendations of suitable software package(s) for each SME cluster. However, an initial review by SME managers of perceived effectiveness mostly did not reveal results that were parallel to the findings from the software evaluation study. All in all, the research confirms that SMEs can be analysed by clusters but further research would be necessary to confirm the effectiveness of using the recommended Cl software over a longer period of time.

<p>Predmet istraživanja ovog rada je ambijent ekonomije znanja i<br />poslovanje malih i srednjih preduzeća u tom ambijentu. Problem<br />istraživanja je analiza faktora koji utiču na uspešnost malih i<br />srednjih preduzeća. Cilj istraživanja je da se utvrde ključni faktori<br />uspešnosti malih i srednjih preduzeća u Srbiji kako bi se<br />definisale mere za povećanje konkurentnosti ovog sektora i razvio<br />model upravljanja malim i srednjim preduzećima u ekonomiji znanja na<br />bazi ključnih faktora uspešnosti. Vrednost dobijenih rezultata<br />proističe iz cilja istraživanja u okviru ove disertacije, koji u širem<br />smislu podrazumeva pružanje informacija naučnoj i stručnoj javnosti<br />koje mogu doprineti daljem razvoju sektora MSP i boljem upravljanju<br />na bazi ključnih faktora uspešnosti.</p> / <p>The subject of this work is the environment of the knowledge economy and<br />the business of small and medium enterprises in this environment. The<br />problem of this research is to analyze the factors affecting the performance<br />of small and medium-sized enterprises. The aim of the research is to identify<br />the key success factors of small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia in<br />order to define measures to increase the competitiveness of the sector and<br />developed a model of management of small and medium enterprises in the<br />knowledge economy based on the key factors of success. The value of the<br />results of this study arises from the research objectives within the framework<br />of this thesis, which in a broader sense means providing information to the<br />scientific and professional community that can contribute to the further<br />development of the SME sector and better management of SMEs on the<br />basis of the key success factors</p>