Magister Legum - LLM / This mini-thesis aims to contribute to the debate around the legislative process by summarizing and analysing it comprehensively. It will, without being exhaustive, seek to identify the most important legal requirements that the future Statute needs to meet in order to facilitate cross-border business of small and medium-sized businesses. It seeks to systematise and comment on the most important legal Key Issues and therefore clarify and enrich the debate. / South Africa

Bakgrund: Att flytta hem tidigare outsourcad produktion har blivit allt mer förekommande bland svenska företag. Insourcing har även anammats av små och medelstora företag vilket ter sig särskilt förvånande då de bland annat besitter begränsade resurser, både finansiella och kunskapsmässiga. Varför denna form av strategiska förändring har skett i denna typ av företag är fortfarande relativt outforskat. I denna studie kommer därför de motiv som finns till insourcingbeslut men även vilka beslutsunderlag som ligger till grund för beslutet i SMEs att identifieras. Genom detta skapas en ökad förståelse för vilka grunder ett insourcingbeslut tas i SMEs. Syfte: Studien syftar till att identifiera vilka motiv som ligger till grund för insourcingbeslut i SMEs samt att förklara varför motiven har uppkommit. Vidare syftar studien till att beskriva vilka beslutsunderlag som används vid ett insourcingbeslut i SMEs samt huruvida de identifierade motiven påverkar beslutsunderlagens innehåll. Metod: Metodvalet för studien är en kvalitativ intervjustudie på fem svenska företag inom SME-definitionen som verkar i olika branscher. Slutsats: I studien har ett antal olika motiv till insourcingbeslut i SMEs identifierats där även en förklaring kring motivens uppkomst har gjorts. Två nya insourcingmotiv har identifierats: bredda sin kompetens och reducera lagerkostnader. Det som även var utmärkande gällande insourcingmotiv i SMEs är att de mest förekommande motiven går att relatera till att företagen vill genomföra någon form av strategisk förändring i verksamheten. Vi har även konstaterat att resursanalyser i form av totalkostnad samt kompetens- och investeringsbehov som det viktigaste underlaget som SMEs använder sig av vid ett insourcingbeslut. Det kan även konstateras att SMEs prioriterar beslutsunderlag som kan kopplas till de motiv som beslutet har tagits på, varför vi genom denna studie har kunnat identifiera ett nytt underlag: beslutsunderlag relaterade till specifika motiv. Motivbilden väger även tyngre än de ekonomiska analyserna vid ett beslut i SMEs. / Background: It has become more frequent among Swedish companies to transfer back previously outsourced production. Insourcing has also been accommodated in small and medium sized enterprises. This can seem surprising since they possess limited resources, both financially and logically. Why this strategic transformation has occurred in this kind of company is still relatively unexplored. This thesis will identify not only the incentives for insourcing, but also what kind of decision making constitutes the basis for insourcing in SMEs. By doing this, an increased level of knowledge for insourcing decisions in SMEs will be achieved. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify the incentives for insourcing in SMEs and to explain why they occurred. Further, the purpose of the thesis is to describe the decision making that creates the basis for insourcing in SMEs, and whether the incentives of insourcing effects the basis for decision making. Method: The method of the thesis is a qualitative interview study of five Swedish companies in different lines of business. Conclusion: Several different incentives for insourcing in SMEs have been identified and a description regarding the origin of the incentives is presented. We have identified two new incentives for insourcing: broaden their knowledge and reduce warehousing cost. Regarding insourcing incentives, it was found that the most frequent incentives are related to the fact that the companies want to implement some kind of strategic change within their organization. We have also identified resource analysis in terms of total cost and requirement of skills, to be the most important basis of decision making used by SMEs. It can also be noted that SMEs prioritize the basis of decision making that can be connected to the incentives. When making the insourcing decision in SMEs, the incentives for insourcing are of higher importance than the financial analysis. Method: The method of the thesis is a qualitative interview study of five Swedish companies in different lines of business.

The thesis deals with the quality of business environment of the Czech Republic, nevertheless, the main goal of the thesis is to evaluate the current system of the export support. Firstly, the opening chapter attempts to define the term business environment theoretically, after that it puts forward the possibilities of quantifying the quality of this indicator and then summarizes its evolution specifically in the Czech Republic. The second chapter is particularly devoted to the system of economic diplomacy in the Czech Republic and concentrates primarily on the support of export as a part of national business support programs. In this context, the thesis analyses in full detail the Export Strategy of the Czech Republic for the period 2012-2020, its updated version of 2016 and also how defined goals are met on an ongoing basis. The final part provides the export survey carried out within small and medium-sized enterprises. This survey evaluates whether the system of the state export support is generally known and used within this segment.

Small and Medium-sized enterprises represent the backbone of the economy and they play a crucial role in the development of regions. Promoting position of SMEs within the economy may be done through their financial support. The aim of this work is to depict the current SME environment in the European Union and to determine different levels where the companies may acquire funding. The European level process is analysed on two different real projects with the EU funding.

Introduktion: Studien behandlar små och medelstora företag (SMFs) inom fordonsindustrin. Kontexten berörs med hänsyn till att forskningsfronten saknar empiriska exempel avseende relationen mellan olika inbound open innovation aktiviteter och företagens innovationsprestation. Fenomenet inbound open innovation innebär att företag genom olika samverkansaktiviteter utnyttjar externa flöden av kunskap och teknologi, för att främja framkomsten av nya produkter och processer. Följaktligen utreder studien relationen mellan företagens innovationsprestation och aktiviteterna; (1) teknologisk rekognosering, (2) vertikal teknologisk kollaboration, (3) horisontell teknologisk kollaboration, (4) teknologisk anskaffning.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka relationen mellan fyra former av inbound open innovation aktiviteter och innovationsprestation i små och medelstora företag, inom fordonsindustrin. Insikterna från studien ämnar stärka de små och medelstora företagens konkurrenskraft på en globaliserad marknad. Studien ämnar även främja helhetsbilden av vilken effekt olika inbound open innovation aktiviteter har i praktiken.     Teori: Studien baseras på tidigare forskning och teorier avseende inbound open innovation i små och medelstora företag (SMFs).      Metod: Studien bedrivs via en kvantitativ metodansats. Ett själv-administrerat frågeformulär har distribuerats ut via mail till 370 stycken VD:s. Insamlad data har bearbetats i SPSS genom flertalet statistiska tester, vilket utmynnade i att studiens fyra hypoteser testades och utreddes.   Slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar att SMFs inom fordonsindustrin kan förbättra sin innovationsprestation genom att bedriva aktiviteterna teknologisk rekognosering, vertikal teknologisk kollaboration samt horisontell teknologisk kollaboration. Aktiviteten teknologisk anskaffning befanns inte ha någon signifikant inverkan på innovationsprestationen. Studiens insikter kan stärka de små och medelstora företagens konkurrenskraft på en globaliserad marknad. Insikterna främjar även helhetsbilden avseende vilken effekt olika inbound open innovation aktiviteter har i praktiken. / Introduction: The study concerns small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the automotive industry. The context is touched because the research front lacks empirical examples of the relationship between different inbound open innovation activities and innovation performance. The phenomenon of inbound open innovation means that companies, through different collaborative activities, exploit external flows of knowledge and technology to promote the emergence of new products and processes. Consequently the study investigates the relationship between innovation performance and the activities; (1) technological scouting, (2) vertical technological collaboration, (3) horizontal technological collaboration, (4) technological acquisition.   Purpose: The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between four forms of inbound open innovation activities and innovation performance in small and medium-sized enterprises, in the automotive industry. The insights from the study aims to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs in a globalized market. The study also aims to promote the overall picture of the impact of different inbound open innovation activities in practice.   Theory: The study is based on previous research and theories regarding inbound open innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).   Method: The study is conducted through a quantitative methodology. A self-administered questionnaire has been distributed by mail to 370 CEOs. The collected data has been processed in SPSS through different statistical tests, which resulted in the study's four hypotheses being tested and investigated.   Conclusion: The studies result shows that SMEs in the automotive industry can improve their innovation performance by conducting the activities of technological scouting, vertical technological collaboration and horizontal technological collaboration. Technological acquisition was found to have no significant impact on innovation performance. The findings can promote the competitiveness of SMEs in a globalized market. The insights also promote the overall picture of the impact of different inbound open innovation activities in practice.

El objetivo principal del presente trabajo de investigación es el desarrollo de un modelo de mejora para el ciclo de vida del desarrollo de software de la empresa de estudio HOLINSYS, la cual pretende certificarse en la norma internacional ISO/IEC 29110. Siendo esta ISO, la primera orientada a mejorar la calidad de los proyectos de desarrollo de software de las pequeñas y medianas empresas, presentando los perfiles del ciclo de vida del desarrollo de software. / Trabajo de investigación

I decided to describe Operational Programme Industry and Enterprise 2004--2006 as the basic document for the policy of economic and social cohesion (ESC) in the Czech productive and business sector. Operational Programme Industry and Enterprise elaborated a specific part of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2004 -- 2006 aimed at the economic development. Especially I described the programme aim which helped launch business plan of the natural persons and firms entering business for the first time or after a long period through provision of soft loan.

Theoretical part provides with basic term about enterprises, special programs handled by Czech government and introduce providers of these programs. Theoretical part describes how to settle a business plan. Knowledge taken from theoretical part is used for settlement proposal of business plan and for application of one of special programs handled by Czech government.

The main objective of my diploma thesis is to reach the significance of small and medium-sized enterprises and make a statistical analysis of the specific program supporting small and medium-sized enterprises provided by the Czech Moravian Guarantee Bank with the emphasis on the labour market. The analysis indicated that small and medium-sized enterprises are significant players not only in the Czech economy, but also in other states in the world. Small and medium-sized enterprises make 99,23% of the whole business sector in the Czech Republic. They dominate in sectors such as trade, services, fishing, manufacturing and other labour-intensive industries. No less important role small and medium-sized enterprises play in providing jobs, for 59,9% of work force employed in the Czech Republic. Most of empirical studies claim that small and medium-sized enterprises are significant in job creation as well as in job destruction. The certain of jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises are really poor in comparison with the large companies. There are lots of supportive programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises which are concentrated on regional level as well as blanket character. Evaluation of the program supporting small and medium-sized enterprises provided by the Czech Moravian Guarantee Bank confirmed their significance role in job creation and also indicated their small part in job destruction.

The topic of this diploma thesis is "Critical success factors of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises" Firstly, the terms enterprise resource planning system, small and medium sized enterprise and critical factor are defined. Part of this thesis is also dedicated to the importance of those systems in small and medium sized enterprises and the supply of products on the market is described as well. The importance of enterprise resource planning systems for this segment of customers is still growing and the number of products offered is quite wide. Customers have unambiguously preferred Czech solutions. Next part of the thesis contains critical factors literature search -- analysis of two studies. Conceptual model of critical factors is made on the basis of findings and comparison of those two studies. The relevance of this model is verified by the analysis of case studies of enterprise resource planning system implementations in small and medium sized enterprises. These case studies were downloaded from websites of system vendors. On the basis of new findings, new model was designed. Each critical factor is described in each part of the thesis to help understand under which circumstances it was used. Finally, the model is assessed.