Thesis (MScEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa has potential to grow extensively as a country supplying components to the global aerospace industry supply chains, as well as directly to OEMs like Airbus, Boeing and Cessna which are first tier suppliers. The economic crisis had a significant impact on the growth of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), also in aerospace companies. Before the recession, SMEs did not see the necessity to become certified with internationally accredited quality standards, because there were an abundance of business opportunities. In the current restricted business climate SMEs are increasingly realising the importance of certification. The standard that aerospace companies need to comply with, is the AS 9100 standard. Compliance to AS 9100 was previously considered as a competitive advantage (order winner) but has become a necessary prerequisite (order qualifier) to be considered for a contract. In the aerospace industry accountability, traceability, documentation and quality of parts are of critical importance. Quality of products according to specification is crucial as it has a profound effect on safety. The tendency in improving of a company's processes is to scale down on superfluous documentation. In the case of aerospace companies, this is an extremely challenging goal because traceability is of such crucial importance in this sector in terms of aircraft structural system and –operational integrity. For the purpose of this study, a small to medium manufacturer of aircraft and defence system parts was studied and considered to be representative of the aerospace industry in South Africa. The research gap amongst SMEs was investigated by means of a case study at an SME in South Africa where an IT-based AS 9100 quality management system was designed, developed and implemented. The investigation includes the analysis of the research partner's quality documents, the steps in the design and development of the quality management system (QMS) and a description of the implementation thereof. This study aims to provide the focus group (SMEs) with more knowledge when developing their quality management systems for implementation of the AS 9100 requirement to compete in the aerospace industry. It describes the historic background and current use of the AS 9100 standard as background. The objective of the case study will be to determine the generic validity of the method to be able to implement AS 9100 at a small to medium sized aerospace supplier when using the same guidelines which are followed in this specific case. The method's value and success are determined by means of an external audit (certification audit) of the company used in the case study. The method makes specific use of an IT-based infrastructure to facilitate the reduction of unnecessary documentation. Experiences gained by the author in applying AS 9100 to upgrade local manufacturing companies to aerospace suppliers to Volvo Aero Company in Sweden are briefly discussed as well as the validity to make use of these generic steps. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika het die potensiaal om betekenisvol te groei as ʼn land wat komponente lewer aan internasionale lugvaart verskaffersnetwerke. Die ekonomiese krisis het 'n beduidende impak op die groei van klein tot mediumgrootte ondernemings gehad, asook in die lugvaart-industrie. Voor die resessie, het hierdie ondernemings nie die noodsaaklikheid om akkreditasie tot internasionale kwaliteitstandaarde te verkry na waarde geag nie, weens die genoegsame beskikbaarheid van sakegeleenthede. In die huidige ekonomiese klimaat word die belangrikheid van akkreditasie egter toenemend besef. Die standaard waaraan maatskappye in die lugvaartindustrie moet voldoen is die AS 9100 kwaliteitsbeheerstelsel. Voorheen is die akkreditasie tot hierdie standaard gesien as ʼn mededingende voordeel wanneer daar getender is vir ʼn kontrak. Deesdae word dit as ʼn noodsaaklike voorvereiste beskou, voordat die besigheid se aansoek om ʼn kontrak te verkry eers oorweeg sal word. In die lugvaartnywerheid is aanspreeklikheid, naspeurbaarheid en dokumentasie van kardinale belang. Die tendens in die verbetering van 'n maatskappy se prosesse is om af te skaal ten opsigte van onnodige dokumentasie. In die geval van lug- en ruimtevaartmaatskappye, is dit 'n uiters uitdagende doel, omdat naspeurbaarheid gedurende die komponent se leeftyd van deurslaggewende belang is in hierdie sektor. Vir die doel van hierdie studie is 'n klein- tot mediumgrootte vervaardiger van lugvaartkomponente wat dien as navorsingsvennoot, bestudeer. Hulle is beskou as verteenwoordigend van die lugvaartnywerheid in Suid-Afrika vir die doel van die studie. Die navorsingsgaping is geïdentifiseer as die implementering van ʼn gehaltebeheer stelsel wat voldoen aan die AS 9100 kwaliteitsbeheer standaard. Die gevallestudie van hierdie lugvaartvervaardiger sluit die bestudering van die ontwerp, ontwikkeling en implementering van ʼn IT-gebaseerde AS 9100 gehaltestelsel in. In die studie word die navorsingsvennoot se kwaliteitstelsel en dokumente ontleed, en die stappe in die ontwerp en ontwikkeling van die nuwe stelsel verduidelik. Die implementering en die validering van die stelsel deur die outeur, word beskryf en getoets deur middel van ʼn eksterne sertifiseringsliggaam. Hierdie studie poog om as riglyn te dien vir die fokus groep (klein- tot mediumgrootte ondernemings) en hul kennis van die AS 9100 standaard te verbreed. Hierdie kennis dra potensieel by tot die ontwikkeling van hul eie gehaltebestuur stelsels en die implementering van AS 9100 vereistes sodat akkreditasie tot die standaard verkry kan word en hul die lugvaartnywerheid kan betree. Die dokument beskryf die historiese agtergrond en huidige gebruik van die AS 9100 standaard. Die doel van die gevallestudie is om die generiese waarde van die metode vas te stel sodat ander klein tot mediumgrootte ondernemings in staat sal wees om dieselfde metode te volg om AS 9100 te implementeer. Die metode se geldigheid en sukses word bepaal deur middel van 'n eksterne oudit (sertifiseringsoudit) van die navorsingsvennoot in die gevallestudie. Die metode maak gebruik van 'n spesifieke IT-gebaseerde infrastruktuur om die vermindering van onnodige dokumentasie te fasiliteer. Ervarings en bevindings van ʼn soortgelyke studie in Swede, waar die outeur lid van die implementeringspan was, word ook kortliks bespreek om die geldigheid van die generiese stappe te bepaal en te beklemtoon.

In the business sector there is increasing pressure for organisations to embrace Sustainable Development - but what does it really mean for the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Sector? While this concept has received considerable attention in the academic literature, legislation and common language, it has perhaps inevitably lost some of its precision. Within business ventures in the industrialised world, sustainable development has only been applied in a few bigger enterprises. Given that Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) make up the majority of manufacturing capacity in industrial economies it is -worthwhile to examine the concept in order to assess its relevance to the specific needs of SMEs. The author proposes in this research that a very successful way for SMEs to contribute positively towards sustainable development and indeed to survive in a highly competitive environment is to embrace waste minimisation. The author reports that smaller businesses appear to see waste minimisation as peripheral rather than integral to sound and competitive business practice. She argues that waste minimisation can in fact be the key driver for sustainable change within the Small and Medium-Sized sector. The author reports upon her participation in two European Regional Development-funded projects, namely the Environmental Enterprise Project, and the Environmental Mentoring Project, assisting SMEs to establish waste minimisation programmes. These projects served the purpose of gathering raw data for analysis. The projects spanned 3 years and, during that time, a novel -waste minimisation methodology was developed -which generated cost savings and environmental benefits. The principal findings of this research are (i) the waste rninimisation methodology can be effectively used to achieve cultural change within the organisation, (ii) defining waste as "anything that doesn't add value to the customer" enabled the companies to more readily understand waste and thus positively contribute to business improvement.

This study is focused on utilization of programs supporting small a medium-sized enterprises in South Bohemia and its effectivity. This study summarizes those programs. It features European Unions Structural funds but consists national and regional supports as well. It is followed by description of South Bohemia. Ministry of Industry and Trade programs utilization was evaluated questionary research. Addressed enterpreneurs answered question regarding grants utilisation. After that, personal conversations were used for further research. It is obvious, that utilisation of Support and Innovation programs is not used enough. Especially, enterprise awareness in insufficient. To improve that situation, it is necessary to increase awareness of enterprises and develope number of enterprises familiar with Support and Innovation programs. And it is important to build up help from offices and institutions that are responsible of this agenda. It is obvious and positive, that the situation evolves and percentage excercised grants rises.

Atualmente têm-se valorizado o aproveitamento das características das aglomerações, como os arranjos produtivos locais - APLs e a necessidade de cooperação entre as empresas. Neste contexto, a avaliação de desempenho em relação a um referencial externo e a identificação de melhores práticas, como proposto pelo benchmarking, pode ser de grande valia. Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um sistema de informações para benchmarking com acesso via web e sua aplicação piloto. O trabalho de campo contou com a participação de 29 empresas de até médio porte, que fazem parte dos APLs de Ibitinga (confecções de bordados) e de Jaú (calçados femininos). A partir desta aplicação, discute-se a viabilidade operacional de tal sistema, os estímulos e resultados para as empresas usuárias e as relações de tal sistema com os agentes de governança dos APLs. A avaliação do processo de implementação, realizada essencialmente por meio de observações da pesquisadora (de caráter qualitativo), aponta para a necessidade de um mecanismo que possibilite a adesão e participação de um número elevado de empresas em um curto espaço de tempo ou com participação vinculada a outras iniciativas, a fim de que uma base robusta de dados seja criada, eliminando a principal razão para que as empresas percam o estímulo em participar. Outras alternativas de abordagem também são discutidas a fim de melhorar os benefícios deste sistema para empresas e para a governança, como a formação de grupos de empresas (mesmo de setores diferentes) interessados em trocar experiências em uma determinada área ou mesmo a troca de experiência entre instituições de governança. / Nowadays, the clustering approach and the development of joint actions have gained acceptance. In this scenario, performance assessment against an external reference and the identification of best practices, as proposed by benchmarking, can be very useful. This study presents the development of a web-based benchmarking information system and its pilot application. The fieldwork was developed with the participation of 29 small and medium-sized companies from the clusters of Ibitinga (garment for use in the house) and Jaú (female shoes). The objective is to discuss the operational viability of such system, the incentives and results for the users and the relationship of this system with the cluster governing agents. The assessment of the implementation (of qualitative features), points to the need of an organization that enables a high number of companies to participate in a short period of time, like binding the participation to other initiatives, in order to create a strong database, removing the main reason for the incentive missing. Other approaches are discussed aiming to increase the benefits to the companies and to the governing, e.g. experience exchange by groups of firms (even from different industrial sectors) interested in a specific area or by governing institutions.

A literatura especializada em aglomerados de pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) aponta que a realização de ações conjuntas entre empresas pode gerar vantagens competitivas, auxiliar na obtenção de especialistas em competências específicas, além de outros benefícios. Nesse sentido, estudos nessa área têm identificado aspectos importantes envolvendo temas como tipologia, governança, estágios evolutivos, eficiência coletiva, economias externas, cooperação, competição. Esses estudos, no entanto, não realizam uma análise comparativa a respeito da interferência de determinados fatores em um desempenho de sucesso de empresas de aglomerados de PMEs de base tecnológica. Com o objetivo de identificar os principais que podem interferir significativamente no desempenho desse tipo de aglomerado foi realizado um estudo de casos múltiplos envolvendo empresas de três aglomerados de PMEs de base tecnológica brasileiros do interior do Estado de São Paulo, situados em importantes pólos tecnológicos localizados nas cidades de Campinas, São Carlos e São José dos Campos. Inicialmente foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico sobre os fatores que influenciam um desempenho de PMEs em aglomerados de empresas de um modo geral. Com base nesses dados foi elaborado um roteiro de pesquisa para ser aplicado nas entrevistas realizadas nas empresas. Os dados coletados em campo foram analisados com o auxílio do software Qualitative Solutions and Research que possibilita a inserção e análise de dados qualitativos. Com base nos resultados obtidos, identificou-se um grupo de 5 fatores principais que interferem no desempenho das empresas dos aglomerados estudados. Foi analisada também a incidência de cada um desses fatores em cada um desses aglomerados, destacando-se: o perfil, a gestão e o ambiente das empresas dos aglomerados. / The literature specialized in clusters of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shows that, when companies take joint actions, they may gain competitive advantages, besides other benefits. Studies in clusters have identified important aspects involving themes such as typology, governance, evolutionary stages, collective efficiency, external economies, cooperation, and competition. These studies, however, do not carry out a comparative analysis regarding the interference of certain factors in the success of technology-based clusters, considered to be a particular type of companies\' agglomeration. With the objective of identifying the main success factors that can interfere significantly in the development of this kind of cluster, a study of multiple cases was carried out, involving three clusters in the interior of the State of São Paulo, situated in important technology parks located in the cities of Campinas, São Carlos and São José dos Campos. Initially, a bibliographical review on the important success factors of clusters in general was carried out. Based on this data, a research framework was established in order to be applied in the interviews conducted in the companies. The data collected were analyzed with the aid of the software Qualitative Solutions and Research, which enables the insertion and analysis of qualitative data. Based on the results obtained, a group of 5 success factors was identified; the incidence of each of these factors was also analyzed in each of the clusters studied, showing that the factors company profile and management were the most important.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a global concern and has been adopted by many largemultinational corporations. Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the mostcommon type of business in the EU including Sweden, yet most research on CSR has beenfocused on large corporations. As SMEs run in various settings and there have been littleempirical studies on CSR in SMEs, the purpose of this study is to fill a part of the researchgap and provide an in-depth look at CSR in SME to investigate specific barriers and/oropportunities to addressing CSR. This study reviews the relevant literature of CSR in SMEs.Through semi-constructed interviews with two small-sized organic product companies inSweden, this study analyzed CSR from an SME perspective in a Swedish context by CSRtheory and Resource-Based View (RBV). According to the findings, the main barrier for CSRfor the case companies is financial recourse constraints, while the main opportunity is theircapability for communication. This study contributes and motivates CSR in SMEs bydemonstrating how they understand CSR, how they communicate with both internal andexternal stakeholders of their best practices, and providing examples to share the experiencesfor SMEs.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are an underutilised sector to disseminating sustainability within communities. Entrepreneurs are action-oriented individuals who enjoy challenges and act upon environmental feedback, making them ideal change agents. However, there is a lack of tools specifically targeted towards SMEs to help them act strategically towards sustainability. In order to support entrepreneurs and motivate them into becoming catalysts for change towards sustainability the research team identified the need to provide them with a customized tool. The tool will be focused towards entrepreneurs interested in starting up new businesses with a core strategy of sustainable development. If the entrepreneur is able to apply sustainability at the beginning of their business venture, it reduces the need for later corrections. The research examines what is needed in a tool to support entrepreneurs and how to encourage them through the conception of adopting sustainable strategies. / <p>Renee Simard #1066 Amphion St., Victoria, BC V8S 4G3 Rachelle McElroy 637 Cowper St. Victoria, BC V9A 2E8 Itzel Orozco 1138 E 22nd Ave Eugene OR 97403 United States</p>

Abstract The purpose of the present study is to examine theoretically and empirically how entrepreneurs act in pursuit of accelerated internationalisation. The study will facilitate a better understanding of the accelerated internationalisation process in the case of small and medium sized enterprises in high tech context. The theoretical background is based on international entrepreneurship literature and internationalisation process research. The research setting is small high tech firms at the start of the internationalisation process. The firms represent two distinct types of internationalising firms, an international late starter and international new venture. The empirical study is a qualitative longitudinal comparative multiple case study of two case firms. The main data gathering method was interviews and observations supported by secondary data. In this study, the four theory-based determinants of internationalisation were identified; 1) processuality 2) knowledge, 3) networks and 4) opportunity development. These determinants were used as the key elements for exploring accelerated internationalisation as an outcome of interlinked entrepreneurial actions. The active networking and learning undertaken in pursuit of international opportunity development are the intertwined entrepreneurial actions which are likely to create an accelerated internationalisation process. The study provides potentially interesting findings for entrepreneurs and external facilitators. First, the accelerated internationalisation process may be either periodic or cyclical in nature depending on the entrepreneur’s access to the relevant knowledge and networks. However, the relevance of the existing and pursued networks and knowledge is dependent on business context and changes in that business context may change the value of networks and knowledge as they are not inherently stable. Secondly, the networking and learning components mediate international opportunity development which may occur either as a network driven international opportunity development or as a knowledge driven international opportunity development. Thirdly, it is important to be aware of the differences between the temporary and voluntary networks which drive the international opportunity development process. Those network actors with temporary collaborative contracts and in possession of expert knowledge have a mainly instrumental role in knowledge and resource sharing; whereas the voluntarily developed networks not only provide knowledge and resources, but relevant contacts and particularly, facilitate in international business opportunity development. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tarkastella sekä teoreettisesti että empiirisesti, kuinka yrittäjät toimivat pyrkiessään nopeutettuun kansainvälistymiseen. Tutkimus auttaa ymmärtämään syvällisemmin pienten korkean teknologian yritysten nopeutettua kansainvälistymistä. Tutkimuksen teoriatausta on rakennettu kansainvälistä yrittäjyyttä ja kansainvälistymisprosessia käsittelevän kirjallisuuden perusteella. Tutkimuskohteena ovat pienet korkean teknologian yritykset, jotka ovat kansainvälistymisprosessinsa alussa. Tapausyritykset edustavat kahta erityyppistä kansainvälistyvää yritystä: vakaan kansallisen liiketoiminnan jälkeen kansainvälistyvää yritystä ja välittömästi yritystoiminnan aloittamisen jälkeen kansainvälistyvää yritystä. Empiirinen tutkimus on toteutettu laadullisena pitkittäistutkimuksena, jossa vertaillaan kahta yritystä monitapaustutkimuksena. Ensisijaisina aineistonkeruumenetelminä ovat haastattelut ja havainnointi, joita tuetaan tarkentavalla kirjallisella aineistolla. Tutkimuksen lähtökohtana ovat teoriataustan perusteella tunnistetut neljä kansainvälistymisen perustekijää: 1) prosessuaalisuus, 2) tieto, 3) verkostot ja 4) liiketoimintamahdollisuuden luominen, joita hyödynnetään lähtökohtana tarkasteltaessa nopeutettua kansainvälistymistä. Yrittäjän aktiivinen verkostoituminen ja oppiminen kansainvälisen liiketoimintamahdollisuuden luomiseksi nähdään toisiinsa kietoutuneina toimintoina, jotka yhdessä saavat aikaan nopeutetun kansainvälistymisprosessin. Näin ollen nopeutetun kansainvälistymisen nähdään olevan seurausta useista toisiinsa liittyvistä toimista, joita yrittäjä tekee kehittäessään yrityksen kansainvälistä liiketoimintaa. Tutkimus tarjoaa mielenkiintoisia löydöksiä yrittäjille sekä tukitoimintoja tarjoaville organisaatioille: Yrittäjän pääsy merkitykselliseen tietoon ja verkostoihin vaikuttaa nopeutettuun kansainvälistymiseen, joka voi olla tyypiltään joko vaiheittainen tai syklinen prosessi. Huomionarvoista on, että muutokset liiketoimintaympäristössä voivat muuttaa olemassa olevien sekä tavoiteltavien verkostojen ja tiedon arvoa yrittäjän kansainvälistymisprosessissa. Näin ollen tieto ja verkostot tulisi nähdä muuttuvina elementteinä, jotka vaikuttavat kansainvälisen liiketoimintamahdollisuuden luomiseen. Lisäksi kansainvälisen liiketoimintamahdollisuuden luominen voi olla joko verkostolähtöinen tai tietoon perustuva prosessi, jossa tulee huomioida erilaisten verkostotoimijoiden rooli. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että väliaikaiset sopimusperustaiset toimijat ovat tyypillisesti asiantuntijoita, joiden rooli on lähinnä tiedon ja resurssien tarjoaminen, kun taas vapaaehtoisuuteen perustuvat verkostosuhteet tarjoavat tiedon ja resurssien lisäksi hyödyllisiä kontakteja sekä erityisesti auttavat kansainvälisten liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien luomisessa.

Micro, Small and Medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) represent 99.9% of businesses in the UK and they face significant challenges with regards to start-up, survival and growth. Their ability to deal with these challenges is assisted, in some cases, by the provision of business support funded by the public sector. Unfortunately, despite the volume of such businesses, there remains a significant lack of qualitative data into the MSME sector, and their use of university led business support. This thesis examined the business support agenda, the support needs of MSMEs, the role of universities in the provision of business support, and the needs of public funding bodies, with regards to economic sustainability and growth in the West Midlands. The choice to focus on the West Midlands region was largely pragmatic; the researcher has existing relationships with the small business community and University networks within the region allowing for a comparable study of stakeholders with similar environmental, political and economical challenges. Whilst the findings are therefore in relation to the West Midlands region, they have been compared to secondary data and theoretical frameworks in order to propose a contribution, which is applicable to a wider audience. The thesis adopted an exploratory, interpretivist methodology with an emphasis on the practical importance of the research results. Through an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, surveys were used to collect data from MSME business owners, followed by in-depth interviews with university staff in order to produce institutional case studies. The surveys with MSME owners identified a need for support that was free, local, face-to-face and delivered by an organisation with a good reputation for delivering business support. The survey data also indicated confusion amongst MSME owners about the availability of support from universities, as well as questions around the quality of support provided by universities and its impact. The interviews, and case studies, revealed a significant level of interest, and a feeling of responsibility, from universities towards supporting the MSME community. However there were consistent challenges around funding, sustainability, resources, flexibility of delivery, and the longevity of any enterprise strategy. The research makes a useful contribution to knowledge through the development of multiple case studies and the development of a conceptual framework for a sustainable system of university led, MSME business support. The model, and analysis, considers the detailed experiences, challenges and opportunities from the stakeholders and proposed a sustainable support system. This contribution to literature provides a unique perspective for both practical application and for the research community to utilise further.

Due to South Africa's history of apartheid the current regime have implemented the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy to rectify the discrimination against previously disadvantaged groups. The BEE policy gives incentives for companies to hire non-whites in higher positions, like management, and the ambition with this is to create equality. With a qualitative research method and using an abductive approach this study research how South African SMMEs are influenced by the BEE policy when they internationalize. This study concludes that South African SMMEs are differently influenced by the BEE policy when they internationalize. Furthermore, this research shows that the impact is highly dependent on the business owners ethnicity. The influence the BEE policy had on black owned business was predominantly positive. However, the effect the BEE policy had on white owned businesses was more complex. As far as this research shows, the influence the BEE policy had on SMMEs when they internationalize are an extension of how the BEE policy influenced them in the domestic market. The authors recommendation is that the relationship between BEE and internationalization is further investigated and that this study is complemented with a quantitative research.