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Evidence from national surveys conducted in 1995, 2002 and 2006 shows that, despite a variety of specific Government training initiatives, the UK automotive supply sector lags behind international competition and suffers from severe skills shortages. Long term recovery from this position will require improvements in education, careers guidance, recruitment and work related training. The aim of this research has been to design a model of work related training for the sector to help ensure that the learning involved delivers sustained changes in behaviour and skills. A series of case studies have been reviewed to provide a context of work related training in the sector. Separate surveys were used · to benchmark training performance in a World Class manufacturer to understand realistic norms of training output, to sample the sustainability of learning amongst SMEs engaged on similar training programmes and to determine the range of training needs across the automotive supply sector. In total data was obtained from 833 individuals in 389 companies. The initial conclusions that defined the requirements for the model were that The outcomes of training across SMEs in the automotive supply sector were mostly unknown, unmeasured and often unpredictable. For reference, even in large organisations it is estimated that 60% of training budgets lack quantifiable targets. Learners themselves are unpredictable, Training initiatives, deriving from recommendations of the Leitch report and which are „employer led‟ focus on “World Class Manufacturing” which, coming largely from the perspective of Automotive OEMs, means Lean Manufacturing. For smaller SMEs a constrained training offer can be an impediment to growth. Their needs are the more diverse. The model was synthesised from the survey results and its concept tested and refined by a further survey of sixteen predominately automotive companies. Tamkin‟s IES model from Human Resources was also used as a reference comparator. On the input side the new model stresses company readiness and relevance of training. On the output side it adds organisational impact to the accepted but often overlooked measurable outputs. Beneath each of the ten elements of the model there are quantifiable indicators for use with diagnostic tools in either a company‟s HR plan, a training provider‟s delivery planning or a funding agency‟s grant criteria. The companies most likely to meet these quantifiable criteria will be the competitive and innovative companies that operate as learning organisations. It is argued that training targeted on these companies will be cost effective to implement, provide measurable performance benefits and deliver sustainable learning.

The UK micro/SME (known here as SME) retail sector is very important to the economic well being of the country. Its ability to generate jobs as well as income makes it a key part of the drive towards economic growth, and as such it is supported by government through a variety of initiatives. One initiative in 2003 aimed to energise and invigorate practitioners into using internet based technologies more fully in their business practices. This supported the widely held belief that the internet can and does enhance and improve business efficiency. It also suggests that SMEs were not fully engaging with the technology and that the government felt that it was not at the desirable level. This thesis looks at the issues surrounding technology acceptance for the SME and in particular internet adoption in the retail sector. This work explains technology acceptance and the main determinants and moderators connected with this in an organisational setting providing the practitioner with insight into why some technologies are embraced and others underutilised, or not adopted at all. Previous academic work in this area has tended to focus on the larger organisation. This thesis uses the technology acceptance literature to explore the situation of the SME. Through qualitative and quantitative research the specifics of the SME situation relating to technology acceptance are explored with the determinants and moderators being evaluated and changes made where appropriate. The specific internet based technology of online procurement is used to measure levels of acceptance and the issues relating to it. The result is an adapted model that better reflects the technology acceptance situation of the SME retail organisation. In the model three of the original constructs remain, however the moderators have been changed to reflect the SME and the relationships the constructs have with the moderators are also developed. As a new addition to the field it can be seen from the developed model that the frequency of re-ordering is an important determinant not only of online procurement but technology acceptance in general. This work will benefit practitioners in SME retail and also the wider SME field when it comes to evaluating whether or not to accept a new technology and how this is best achieved.

Competitive pressure and desire for success drive enterprises in general to involve in knowledge acquisition and dissemination activities that are becoming increasingly significant in the rapid changing and globalising economic world. In addition, with the increased mobility of information and the global labour force, knowledge and experience can be transferred instantaneously around the globe; thus, any advantage gained by one company can be eliminated by comparative improvements overnight. Therefore, the only comparative advantage a particular company will face will be its process of innovation – combining market and technology know-how with the resourceful talents of knowledgeable labour to solve a constant stream of competitive problems- and its ability to derive value from information. In this context, internal and external knowledge acquisition, intra-firm knowledge dissemination and management decisions taken in response to the significant information generated and subsequently filtered became the key factors of entrepreneurial success. This thesis explores how market orientation, learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation systematically contribute to and are sources of competitive advantage in growth-oriented SMEs. The objective of this study was to investigate the likelihood of a growth-oriented enterprise established in Atlantic Canada to be involved in knowledge acquisition and dissemination activities and to succeed conditional on numerous internal and external factors. A ‘mixed-methods’ research approach was used in this study, comprised of: 1) a web-based questionnaire to study the knowledge management process and other aspects of entrepreneurial success and 2) ‘semi-structured’ interviews with a sample of the responding entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that knowledge management practices: external acquisition, intra-firm dissemination and responsiveness, do vary across the levels of entrepreneurial performance among the Atlantic Canadian SMEs investigated in the study. Having a market orientation and investing in human resources of the firm were found to be critical drivers of innovation leading to potential competitive advantage.

On-line programming of industrial robots is time consuming and requires experience in robot programming. Due to this fact, small and medium sized enterprises are reserved about the implementation of robots in production. Ongoing research in the field is focused on finding more intuitive interfaces and methods for programming to make the interaction with robots more natural and intuitive. This master thesis presents a method for manipulation of industrial robots utilizing an external device other than the traditional teach pendant. The base of the method is a PC application which handles the program logic and the communication between an external device and an ABB robot. The program logic is designed to be modular in order to allow customization of the method, both in terms of its functions and the type of external device that is used for the method. Since gestures are one of the most common forms of communication between humans, it is interesting to investigate gestures for the purpose to make manipulation of industrial robots more intuitive. Therefore, a Leap Motion controller is presented as an example of an external device which could be used as an alternative to the teach pendant. The Leap Motion controller is specialised on hand and finger position tracking with both good absolute accuracy and precision. Further, its associated Software Development Kit (SDK) has the capabilities which are required to enable implementation of a teach pendants most fundamental functionalities. Results obtained by a user test show that the developed application is both easy and fast to use but has poor robustness.

Då IAS-förordningen togs i bruk för noterade koncerner inom EU ökadeharmoniseringen mellan dessa företag. På senare tid har ävenredovisningsreglerna för mindre företag uppmärksammats avorganisationerna Bokföringsnämnden (BFN) och International AccountingStandards Board (IASB). De har sett att mindre företag oftast har andrabehov vad gäller redovisningsregler. BFN arbetar därför med att ta framsamlade regelverk som avser fyra kategorier. En av kategorierna är K2 somär ett förenklingsprojekt för mindre företag. Målsättningen med projektet äratt minska antalet regler samt förenkla och förtydliga regelverket för dennatyp av företag. På liknande sätt arbetar även IASB med ett projekt för småoch medelstora företag (SME-företag) som går ut på att ta framskräddarsydda standards för att kunna möta de behov som denna typ avföretag har.Syftet med uppsatsen var att jämföra BFN: s och IASB: s nya regelverk förmindre företag samt SME-företag och vilka likheter och skillnader somföreligger i de två förslagen vad gäller materiella anläggningstillgångar.Eftersom harmoniseringstrenden går mot en fortsatt harmonisering ellert.o.m. en utökad var syftet också att undersöka vad svenska aktörer anser talaför och emot ett ev. införande av SME-projektet i Sverige.Vi har i uppsatsen arbetat utifrån ett hermeneutiskt synsätt. Vi har gjort tvåkvalitativa undersökningar var av den ena utgör den jämförande studienprojekten emellan samt den andra som avser intervjuer med olika aktörer.Våra slutsatser kring den jämförande studien är dragna utifrån ett induktivtangreppssätt medan slutsatserna kring intervjuerna är dragna utifrån ett merabduktivt angreppssätt.Det som framkom av undersökningen var att IASB frekvent uppmanar attföretagen minst en gång per räkenskapsår skall undersöka om derastillgångar behöver omvärderas, vilket visar IASB: s avsikt att företagensfinansiella rapporter ska ge en rättvis bild av företagets situation. BFN har istörre grad satsat på att ta fram förenklingsregler istället och därmed valt attha överseende med att de mindre företagens finansiella rapporter inte ger enhelt rättvis bild.4Något som talar för en implementering av SME-projektet i Sverige är attföretag som växer snabbt och satsar på en framtida notering får en lättareövergång om de använder SME-projektets regler först. Det som talar emotatt IASB: s projekt skall kunna införas i Sverige är att SME-projektet ansesha för avancerade regler för exempelvis de allra minsta företagen. Det är intespeciellt relevant för dem att kunna bli jämförda med liknande företag iandra länder. / Uppsatsnivå: D

In recent years, the service industry has been made aware of the advantages of risk sharing and inter-firm collaborations. In the current turbulent business environment, a large proportion of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) firms rely on collaboration and partnering with other businesses. The value of such collaboration is highly enhanced by pooling resources to help exploit complementarities between the collaborating businesses and significantly increasing performance and management. Many studies have been conducted on the determinants of collaboration success or failures. However, authors have suggested further research to provide a framework to cover the factors responsible for enhanced value within collaborative working. In particular, the susceptibility of SMEs to successfully collaborate is significantly less than that of large organisations. Hence this was the focus of the current study. The research was focused on establishing the value enhancement of collaborative working within ServQ's, the sponsoring organisation's, collaborative environment. The main aim of this research project is 'To investigate the potential of Value-Enhanced Collaborative Working (VECW) in an SME management advisory firm'. The aim was achieved with the help of the development of a VECW framework based on the issues faced by ServQ's collaborative environment. To achieve this aim, an inductive research approach was adopted; this was facilitated by literature reviews and research methods such as semi-structured interviews, focus groups and scenario planning. This was to ensure that the project was an applied research based on the sound foundations of available theories on collaborative working. The research was initiated with a preliminary case study of the sponsoring organisation to better understand it. This period of initial investigation entailed learning more about the organisation's management and working culture. Parallel to the initial case study, a literature review helped establish a definition of Value Enhanced Collaborative Working (VECW) as well as a conceptual VECW framework. Three key factors were identified in the conceptual VECW framework; these were considered as three separate but equally important branches that together will create a sustainable longterm collaborative working environment. The first factor identified was the People factor; the main output from this was the development of a Collaboration Charter. The Process factor developed a business process model for ServQ while the Tools factor was established through scenario planning. The output of this research was a development of a VECW framework. The research work progressed chronologically by first developing a conceptual VECW framework followed by the development of each of the People, Process and Tool factors in further detail with the help of mechanisms such as Collaboration Charter and business process models. Eventually the framework recommended how all these three factors together enhance the value of collaboration in ServQ. These outputs established the mechanisms to balance all the three factors within ServQ resulting in development of a sustainable collaboration environment. The research has contributed to knowledge by providing a VECW framework in an industrial setting that can be replicated in similar organisations with required changes. In addition, it complements the wide array of literature pertaining to Collaborative Working, SMEs, services organisations and Value.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have a significant role in most emerging and developing economies. To increase the probability of survival of their SMEs and achieve sustainable growth, some SME leaders expand their business operations beyond national borders by implementing internationalization strategies. Internationalization is crucial to SME survival. The conceptual framework of this study consisted of a multitheory model including stage model, network theory, and new venture theory. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies that Turkish information communication technology (ICT) SME leaders used to internationalize their business operations. Ten SME leaders, who led a variety of high-tech service SMEs operating in the ICT service sector in Turkey, served as participants for this study. The company documents, reports, and government documents were used to triangulate the interview data. Yin's 5-step method to data analysis resulted in the development of 5 themes: Turkish SME leaders have an active role in internationalization, geographical distance and culture are the 2 main factors of consideration when developing internationalization strategies, managerial attitude supports internationalization, Turkish SME leaders choose low commitment entry methods when entering foreign markets, and relationships is the main source the SME leaders rely on when internationalizing. The findings of this study may help SME leaders to implement successful internationalization strategies to their business operations and achieve sustainable growth of their SMEs, which may contribute to social change by improving both local and host country economies and the well-being of their citizens.

This research investigates the ways in which firms in the cluster approach the process of internationalization through exploring the influence of business clustering and how it benefits firms in entering foreign markets. The purpose was to understand this process to enable firms to develop successful international strategies to expand in foreign markets. The focus of the study is on the Yarra Valley Wine Industry Cluster, the oldest wine growing region in Victoria, Australia. This research examined of Australian wineries to join together in order to achieve greater competitiveness in collaboration when entering foreign markets due to ever increasing global competition. This paper was an exploratory study that used qualitative information gathered from the case study firms to provide practical framework for the execution of the research using a multiple-case study design. The findings show the following: first, some of the wineries gain their perceptions of the foreign markets from their relationships with, as well as, by the input and suggestions of the distributors, agents, and partners in a particular market, while others seem to distance themselves from their international environments and only focus on serving domestic/local markets exclusively. Second, personal networks play an important role when it comes to the internationalization process of the wineries because they provide access to market knowledge. Third, cooperation among cluster firms plays a very limited role in assisting wineries in foreign market expansion; it has only been of benefit when it came to dealing with local issues. The cluster has played only a minor role, if any, when it comes to the internationalization of the cluster firms. Clustering has been identified as a place where wineries exchange knowledge, and techniques, in regards to wine production, or come together in a joint effort to sort out local issues. However, the cluster does not provide assistance to individual wineries entering international marketplaces. In conclusion there was a distinctive lack of active support and organization from the cluster with regard to the international expansion due to the lack of leadership and joint direction among cluster members. This is where local government could take more proactive role to facilitate better usage of geographical clusters. The findings could improve the company decision-making process. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of clustering as a means for the future international expansion can be useful in helping to develop international strategies for firms. This would be of great significance to business practitioners because this may have a crucial impact on the competitive advantage of firms in foreign markets. In addition to having significant implications for practice, the investigation has implications for international business research because it provides a better understanding of the role of a cluster in the internationalization.

Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how branding is exercised in a SME and to develop a model for how SMEs can implement branding. This means that we will especially focus on aspects that are important for a SME when building and strengthening a brand.   Background When looking at the concept of brand management, the wide range of literature gives examples of corporations such as Nike, Coca-Cola, and Apple who have been successful in the field. It rarely talks about how SMEs deal with branding, if at all. Brand management in SMEs has been widely overlooked, despite that a vast majority of the companies are SMEs. There are as mentioned obstacles when working with brand management in SMEs, but the existing literature is mainly focusing on how larger organizations should implement brand management and the benefits of doing so. We argue that there is lack of existing literature on how SMEs should implement branding.   Method To fulfill the purpose, a qualitative method was chosen. The study was done within a SME, Triumf Glass, where eight people were interviewed in a semi-structured way. This was done to investigate how branding is excercised in a SME. Conclusion The outcome of the study is a model that describes the process we believe to be necessary for a SME to go through when building and strengthening its brand. The model consists of the phases brand essence, brand reflection and brand strategy which result in brand equity.