Internationalizing small and medium sized enterprises are limited in resources in comparison to larger enterprises. Through digitalization, smaller sales organizations have been presented with tools to enable the sales representatives to use time more effectively and focus on reaching organizational goals. This study aims to determine how digital sales and marketing tools should be implemented into the traditional sales process to increase time effectivity of sales representatives. Based on previous literature on related topics, sales representatives of Scanmast were interviewed and insights specific to the implementation of digital sales and marketing tools into complex B2B sales processes was gathered. The analysis of the responses in congestion with previous research demonstrated that certain ways of leveraging digital sales and marketing tools increase the time effectivity of sales representatives. These results were found to be especially present in regard to the parts of the sales process where customer interaction is considered to be low.

Introduction: Independent stores in small towns have long been at the center of different external factors that have affected them in various ways. For a year now, they have had to endure the problem of surviving in a crisis where people are urged not to stay in shops.  Purpose: The purpose of the study was to analyze how independent small-town shops work with a change strategy for economic survival during the Covid-19 crisis.  Method: The study was conducted with a qualitative research method, through a abductive approach based on semi-structured interviews. A selection was made with five interviews where four respondents were either CEOs or owners of the enterprises and one interview with Karlskrona city association. Answers to the question regarding how they should act for economic survival were sought by studying theories about how SME previously used change strategy in crisis situations combined with the study's empirical material.  Conclusion: The conclusion of the study was that small-town shops have implemented some form of change strategy for economic survival in the crisis, despite the fact that they previously did not have a clear strategy to start from. This is mainly through a focus on cost reductions and adaptation to consumers' wishes in relation to restrictions. The results of the study also show that all companies have absorbed lessons, which makes them more equipped for the future, not only for a potentially new global health crisis but also awareness that consumption behaviors can fluctuate sharply and how to deal with such phenomena.

Små och medelstora företag (SMEs) utgör ungefär 99,9% av alla företag i Sverige och marknaden för business intelligence-verktyg, komponenter och system har växt exponentiellt på grund av lägre kostnader för data mining och datavarulagring. Trender inom BI-verktygen har fått leverantörer att vända sig till detta marknadssegment med nya produkter som open source-mjukvara samt software as a service. I denna studie belyser vi hur SMEs uppfattar och använder BI genom att fokusera hur mogna små och medelstora företag är i deras användning av BI-teknologi. Detta gjordes genom intervjuer med representanter från 4 svenska SMEs. Genom datainsamling och analys med hjälp av Gartner Groups Maturity-modell indikerar denna studie att mer uppmärksamhet måste riktas mot rollen som BI-teknologi kan spela för att stödja affärsprocesser och beslutsfattande. Det är vår slutsats att Business Intelligence system i svenska SMEs används för att bekräfta vad man redan vet, istället för att ge insikter om nya affärer vilket i sin tur hindrar ett mer gynnsamt användande- Det är vår rekommendation att dessa verksamheter bör skifta fokus från tekniska problem. och fokusera på problem som hindrar möjligheter att uppnå gemensamma målsättningar för organisationens användande av BI-teknologi. / Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) make up about 99,9% of all enterprises in Sweden and the market for business intelligence tools, components and systems have grown exponentially due to lower costs for data mining and warehousing options. Trends within BI- tools have turned suppliers towards this great market segment with new products such as open source software and software as a service. In this study we bring to light how SMEs perceive and use BI by focusing how mature small and medium sized enterprises are in their use of BI technology. This was done by conducting interviews with representatives from 4 Swedish SMEs. Through data collection and analysis using the Gartner Group Maturity model, this study indicates that more attention needs to be put on the role BI technology can play in order to support the business processes and decision making. It is our conclusion that Business Intelligence systems in Swedish SMEs are used to confirm what they already know rather than giving insights to new prospectives, which hinders a more prosperous usage. Our recommendation is that these enterprises should shift their focus from the technical problems, and instead focus on problems hindering the possibility to attain common objectives for the organizations use of BI technology.

Sammanfattning Titel: Belöningssystem i Small and Medium- Sized Enterprises (SME) - Hur påverkarbelöningar medarbetarnas motivation? Ämne: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi - inriktning verksamhetsstyrning, 15 HP Författare: Madeleine Gäck & Emma Rijalda Mahmutovic Nyckelord: Motivation, motivationsteorier, SME, Belöning. Problemformulering: Vilken påverkan har belöningar på medarbetarnas motivation i SMEföretag? Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att få en djupare förståelse för hur belöningar används i SME företagför att anställda ska känna motivation i sitt arbete samt undersöka för- och nackdelarna som uppstår när belöningar används för att motivera sina anställda. Vi vill undersöka hur medarbetarna upplever motivation kopplat till belöningarnas utformning och om det är någonskillnad på om belöningarna är finansiella eller icke finansiella. Metod: Studien utgår från en abduktiv forskningsansats och en kvalitativundersökningsmetod genom intervjuer med anställda från tre företag som verkar i olikabranscher, för att skapa en djupare förståelse hur belöning påverkar anställdas motivation. Slutsats: Det som tydligt har framkommit med vår studie är att icke finansiella belöningar ärdet som påverkar anställdas inre motivation på en längre sikt. Det har framkommit attfinansiella belöningar som lön även skulle kunna uppfattas som en icke finansiell belöning,eftersom de anställda upplever lön som ett bevis på uppskattning.

Alla företag har ett juridiskt ansvar att upprätta årsredovisningar och bokföra enligt gällande lagar och regler. Då utformningen av redovisningen varit detsamma under en längre period har de senaste årens digitala utveckling, och inte minst pandemins nedslag, påskyndat företags arbetssätt till ett mer digitalt. Tidigare forskning har lyft att SME-företag har begränsade resurser och att de därmed ofta väljer att outsourca sin redovisning till redovisningsbyråer. Detta skulle kunna innebära att synen på vad en digitaliserad redovisning är och vilka möjligheter och problem som den bidrar med skiljer sig åt mellan företag och redovisningsbyråer. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka varför den kan finnas ett motstånd för svenska SME-företag att vilja digitalisera sin redovisning och om det valet har något med företagets eventuella outsourcing till externa parter att göra. För att kunna undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar valet av en digitaliserad redovisning utförs en kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer för SME-företag både inom redovisningsbyråer men också inom tre olika verksamhetsområden (hotell och restaurang, fastigheter och säkerhet). Intervjuerna analyseras enligt en tematisk analys och presenteras sedan uppdelat på redovisningsbyråer och företagens olika professioner genom återkoppling till tidigare forskning och teorier. Slutsatsen i studien är att både redovisningsbyråerna och företagen ser stora fördelar med en digitaliserad redovisning då den effektiviserar redovisningsprocessen. Dock menar redovisningsbyråerna att det största motståndet till en fullt digitaliserad redovisning är deras kunder och de lagar och den reglering som finns att förhålla sig till. Företagen anser att de är tillräckligt digitaliserade och därmed saknar behov av att implementera den digitala redovisningen fullt ut. Vidare upplever företagen viss osäkerhet för eventuella digitala intrång som kan ske när de väljer att digitalisera redovisningen. Denna skillnad mellan redovisningsbyråer och företag kan förklara varför det finns ett motstånd till att digitalisera redovisningen.

This thesis explores the effects of "peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice" on innovation. These three factors are necessary to protect the property rights in every country, and protecting these rights is one of the fundamental chores for the institutions. However, in developing economies, lack of these institutions or non-functioning institutions can lead to corruption, crime, and tax corruption. The main objective of this thesis is how corruption, crime, and tax corruption are affecting small and medium-sized firms' innovation in developing economies. In order to explore this relationship and analyze the different aspects of it, quantitative econometric analysis is used. The empirical analysis is based on the data from the Enterprise Surveys by the World Bank group, which contains firm-level data regarding business environments from 139 countries. Furthermore, this thesis reports the effect of a variety of factors which influence innovation in developing countries. The results show that corruption and crime in emerging economies are facilitating innovation, while tax corruption is not significantly affecting innovation in small and medium-sized firms.

This paper explored the requirements and subsequent competencies needed for an emerging market SME to operate in the developed markets on design, development and manufacturing projects. This was analysed by first exploring the differences in the requirements of the two markets and then determining what competencies a typical SA company would have to acquire to be competitive in the DM. The case was explored through a study of an SA SME operating in the design and development market, who was in the process of internationalising into the US and European markets. Data was gathered through a desk analysis of specifications from each market as well as in-depth interviews with the firm’s key decision makers and customers from each market. The first outcome was that there was a difference in the requirements of the two markets, namely the level of detail and sophistication of the DM specifications, the greater need for a competitive product in the DMs, both in pricing and functionality, the requirement for socially ethical practices and that EMF products need to overcome the negative COO effects. The final outcome was that EM SME’s needed to improve on their current competency set, namely an adaptation of the development process, sourcing practices and improvement in technical competencies. The firm also developed a method of introducing their product to the DM, such that the COO effect was reduced. This was done through the use of SA OEM’s and DM MNE’s supplying SA. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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Background: The current trend of a decrease in globalization has created a new scenario for SMEs, with increased protectionist measures and delivery issues, acting as an enabler or a disabler for growth. Therefore, understanding how SMEs are affected is vital, as 99.9% of all Swedish companies are SMEs, meaning that they are crucial for regional well-being. Researching the effect on the growth of SMEs could provide important insight into how SMEs could adapt and mitigate the effects of a decrease in globalization. This study investigates how a decrease in globalization affects the growth of SMEs, utilizing the literature on SME growth and the framework of external enablers. Purpose: This study aims to explore how a decrease in globalization affects the growth of SMEs. Method: The study follows an interpretivist approach through multiple case studies, by conducting semi-structured interviews. Further, the research uses an inductive approach. The empirical data was analyzed following the model by Gioia et al. (2013), where aggregated dimensions were identified. Conclusion: The empirical findings suggest that a decrease in globalization affected SMEs' growth directly through extrinsic events, value chain disruptions, and changes in internal strategies, and internal strategies were further affected by external events. The findings further suggest that the effects are dependent on the industry and the owners´ perception. Therefore, whether a decrease in globalization enables SME growth depends on the interactions between external events and the internal strategies of SMEs. This study contributes to the literature on SME growth and extends the external enabler framework to existing organizations.

This study is part of a feasibility study conducted by the Sustainability and Resilience Company (su-re.co), and is identified within this report as the sustainability vetting. This study aims to evaluate the sustainability of the natural indigo-dyeing process at a small medium enterprise (SME) batik dying community, Ciwaringin Batik, located in Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia. Following this, sustainable development strategies (SDS) based on the Circular Economy (CE) RESOLVE Framework will be created for Ciwaringin Batik to further empower the community and provide sustainable business growth initiatives. An iterative qualitative and quantitative data methodology is used when collecting and analyzing production data from Ciwaringin Batik. Data is collected from 9 Ciwaringin Batik craftsmen, who use natural indigo dye during batik production, in Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) format, questionnaires, and through a site-visit to Ciwaringin Batik. Water and indigo consumption data was thoroughly analyzed as it is directly related to a feasibility study conducted by su-re.co and is relevant to their future involvement with Ciwaringin. Current sustainable and “unsustainable” production practices were identified, 10 SDS’s were created following the RESOLVE framework structure, 6 SDS’s were explained and then prioritized regarding implementation feasibility.