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The role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in stimulating economy, promoting employment and enhancing social stability is increasingly recognised, especially in developing countries. Given SMEs' considerable contribution, it is necessary to facilitate their healthy growth. Human resource management (HRM) is highlighted for SMEs as 'people' are the key factors in determining the future of these organisations. Given that the existing HRM literature is largely centred upon western contexts and large-sized enterprises, the main aim of this research is to develop an understanding of how HRM practices function in privately-owned SMEs in the mainland of China by exploring the current situation regarding the adoption of HRM practices, the influential factors in shaping HRM practices, and how HRM practices impact on employee outcomes. A conceptual framework is constructed by drawing on concepts found within existent HRM frameworks and theories. The resulting research framework sheds light on the connections among three types of influential factors, five groups of HRM practices by function, and two HR outcomes at the individual level in the chosen context. This research adopts a mixed methodology approach to answering the set of research questions emerging from the literature review. The data were collected by 227 valid self-completed questionnaires (Cronbach's alpha=0.923) and 48 semi-structured interviews in 24 privately-owned SMEs located in Jiangsu and Shaanxi provinces in China. The research findings reveal a number of similarities and differences in HRM practices in the SME sector in China. More importantly, they suggest that SMEs have tended to adopt increasingly formal HRM practices over time though informalities remain in some aspects, providing a positive indication that SMEs are moving forward in formalising the practices. The findings also reveal that different HRM practices exist in different locations in China, suggesting distinct HRM patterns might exist across or even within provinces in China. The findings further reveal that institutional factors force SMEs to improve the practices in order to better cope with the emerging problems and conflicts embedded in the labour market and the changes in legislation. Given the market orientation of SMEs and the younger generations' characteristics, the impacts of cultural values of respect for hierarchy and seniority appear to have become increasingly weakened in the sector. The examination of relationship between HRM practices and HR outcomes demonstrates that all five groups of HRM practices are predictors for affective commitment, normative commitment and turnover intention, among which training and development and reward management practices have the strongest predictive power. It is noted that continuance commitment is not found applicable to the Chinese sample, indicating the partial transferability of the western three-component model of organisational commitment into the Chinese context. Therefore, theoretically, the findings extend the knowledge in the field of HRM in SMEs by developing the framework of determinants-HRM practices-outcomes and revealing the causality of HRM practices-employee outcomes in the SME sector in China. Practically, the findings are likely to be helpful to SME owners and practitioners in formulating effective HRM policies and practices to achieve desirable outcomes. The findings in relation to the impacts of institutional factors offer a potential contribution to national policy development for the purpose of assisting the growth of SMEs.

<p>The purpose of this study is to investigate and describe the internationalization process of SMEs which choose strategic alliances as entry mode. Understanding the internationalization of small firms is important to enhance knowledge of how they develop their business activities in international markets. Moreover, a strategic alliance perspective gives a critical insight of firms’ strategy to challenge in global competition. </p><p>The qualitative approach is chosen to carry out the research question and achieve the purpose of this study. A case study is therefore used to generate advanced knowledge and understanding. Anoto group AB, a small Swedish company is picked as a sample due to the criteria fitting. I collected both secondary and primary data through various sources. </p><p> </p><p>The findings reveal that internal factors and external factors strongly influence the small company’s strategy. The advantage and core values of using strategic alliances motivate the small firm to go abroad. Due to the limited resources and knowledge, the small firm could not go globally alone. Using a strategic alliance can enable the firm to gain resources, gain market power and leverage competencies. Therefore, the small company can accomplish the goal in short time and be successful in international markets through managing alliances.</p>

<p>Question: What different factors affect the SMEs to choose a specific bank?</p><p>Purpose: The purpose with this research is to find out how SMEs perceive the value and brand of the bank they are using for the financial services of their business. We will strive to find out how they perceive their banks and what underlying factors that affected their choice of bank the most. </p><p>Method: We have used a quantitative method and a deductive approach for this thesis. Hypotheses were created with theory as a base and tested on a sample population containing micro companies in the community of Halmstad, Sweden. The data were compared with mean, standard deviation and variance using SPSS. Cronbach’s alpha and Pearson’s correlation were used to improve reliability and test the correlation between statements used in the study.</p><p>Theoretical framework: The theory is based on Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) and their research and theories about branding, surrounded by findings done by other researchers within the subject. The factors circling the brand phenomenon are explained; awareness, association, attitude, loyalty and activity. The bank industry and SMEs will be introduced to the reader, why branding becomes so important when dealing with services and the bank sector. </p><p>Empirical framework: The empirical findings contain the data collected from the survey handed out to the sample population. The findings are explained in tables and diagrams and are further used to compare with previous research and come up with a conclusion.</p><p>Conclusion: The most significant finding in the study is the importance of a personal contact at the bank, the micro company’s personal relation with one or more employees on the bank. Banks are not at all seen as unique in their supply of services, so the personal connection is an important factor which leads to loyalty. The respondents are satisfied with the performance of their banks, the supply of services covers their need. The micro companies do want the best possible solution to their specific situation, however, they do not seek for that optimal solution actively.</p>

The purpose of this study is to investigate and describe the internationalization process of SMEs which choose strategic alliances as entry mode. Understanding the internationalization of small firms is important to enhance knowledge of how they develop their business activities in international markets. Moreover, a strategic alliance perspective gives a critical insight of firms’ strategy to challenge in global competition. The qualitative approach is chosen to carry out the research question and achieve the purpose of this study. A case study is therefore used to generate advanced knowledge and understanding. Anoto group AB, a small Swedish company is picked as a sample due to the criteria fitting. I collected both secondary and primary data through various sources. The findings reveal that internal factors and external factors strongly influence the small company’s strategy. The advantage and core values of using strategic alliances motivate the small firm to go abroad. Due to the limited resources and knowledge, the small firm could not go globally alone. Using a strategic alliance can enable the firm to gain resources, gain market power and leverage competencies. Therefore, the small company can accomplish the goal in short time and be successful in international markets through managing alliances.

Question: What different factors affect the SMEs to choose a specific bank? Purpose: The purpose with this research is to find out how SMEs perceive the value and brand of the bank they are using for the financial services of their business. We will strive to find out how they perceive their banks and what underlying factors that affected their choice of bank the most. Method:We have used a quantitative method and a deductive approach for this thesis. Hypotheses were created with theory as a base and tested on a sample population containing micro companies in the community of Halmstad, Sweden. The data were compared with mean, standard deviation and variance using SPSS. Cronbach’s alpha and Pearson’s correlation were used to improve reliability and test the correlation between statements used in the study. Theoretical framework: The theory is based on Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) and their research and theories about branding, surrounded by findings done by other researchers within the subject. The factors circling the brand phenomenon are explained; awareness, association, attitude, loyalty and activity. The bank industry and SMEs will be introduced to the reader, why branding becomes so important when dealing with services and the bank sector. Empirical framework: The empirical findings contain the data collected from the survey handed out to the sample population. The findings are explained in tables and diagrams and are further used to compare with previous research and come up with a conclusion. Conclusion: The most significant finding in the study is the importance of a personal contact at the bank, the micro company’s personal relation with one or more employees on the bank. Banks are not at all seen as unique in their supply of services, so the personal connection is an important factor which leads to loyalty. The respondents are satisfied with the performance of their banks, the supply of services covers their need. The micro companies do want the best possible solution to their specific situation, however, they do not seek for that optimal solution actively.

Små och medelstora företag (SME) utgjorde 2010 en andel på 99,8% av alla företag i Sverige och bankerna är en viktig källa till finansiering för SMEs. På grund av bankernas betydelseskapade Baselkommittén för banktillsyn 1988 internationella regelverk som medförde ett kapitaltäckningskrav på 8% till banker. Kapitaltäckningskravet skulle kunna täcka oförutsägbara förluster vid en finanskris, vilket bidrar till att banksektorn är en av de mest reglerade branscherna i världen. 2006 skapades Basel II vilket för banker medförde svårigheter att bedöma kredit till och risker med SMEs. Basel II skapade en oro att kostnaderna skulle öka för kredit till SMEs och oron finns fortfarande kvar vid införandet av Basel III, vilket i sin tur kan försämra kreditvillkoren till SMEs. Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva bankernas arbetssätt med kreditbedömning av SMEs i nuläget, analysera och tolka hur Basel III kan påverka bankernas arbetssätt med kreditbedömning av SMEs, ge förståelse för hur Basel III kan påverka bankernas attityd till kreditbedömning av SMEs, på grund av ökade kapitaltäckningskrav. För att kunna genomföra studien användes en kvantitativ metod där en webbenkät skickades ut till 790 respondenter på tre av de största nationella bankerna i Sverige på villkor om anonymitet. Av 790 respondenter var det 150 som svarade fullständigt på webbenkäten, vilket medför en svarsfrekvens på 19%. Resultatet visar att Basel III kommer att fullgöra syftet att skapa finansiell stabilitet i banksektorn men kommer att försvåra möjligheten för SMEs att få gynnsamma krediter. / In 2010, small and medium sized enterprises (SME) represented a share of 99,8 percent of all firms in Sweden. For these SMEs, banks are an important source of financing. Because of the significance of the banks, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision created international regulations in 1988, which resulted in a capital adequacy of 8% for banks. The Capital adequacy should cover unforeseen losses in a financial crisis, which make the banking sector to be one of the most regulated industries in the world. In 2006, Basel II was created, which made it difficult to evaluate the credit and risk with SMEs. Basel II created a fear that costs for credit to SMEs would increase, and the worry is still there present, even at the introduction of Basel III, which implies the possibility of weakened credit conditions for SMEs. The purpose of this thesis is to describe banks’ operation of credit appraisals to SMEs today, analyze and interpret how Basel III may affect banks’ operation of credit appraisals to SMEs, and to understand how Basel III may affect banks’ attitude towards credit appraisals to SMEs, due to increasing capital requirements. To perform this thesis, a quantitative method is used by using a web survey, which was sent to 790 respondents in three of the major national banks in Sweden on condition of anonymity. Of the 790 respondents there were 150 who returned a complete survey response. This gives a response rate of 19%. The result shows that Basel III will fulfill the purpose of creating financial stability in the banking sector but will complicate the ability of SMEs to obtain favorable credit.

Due to the fast development of new technologies, the Business Intelligence market is changing rapidly, forcing vendors to adapt their offerings to the customers’ needs. As the amount of data available to companies has been substantially increasing in the past years, the need of suitable software tools that perform the right analyses became essential, even in the small and medium sized business' environment. The previous literature,focused on big firms and traditional implementation of Business Intelligence solutions, highlighted the importance of understanding the key factors in successful projects. In the past few years, a new delivery model for Business Intelligence software is taking place: the cloud computing. To date, key factors for adopting cloud Business Intelligence in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have not been systematically investigated. Existing studies have rarely considered these arguments and we lack of a proven framework. This paper is aimed to fill this gap and the structure of the article is subordinated to this objective. Firstly, the thesis offers an overview of the subject and the terminology used in it with the purpose of facilitating the understanding of a rather complex argument. Therefore, it starts with a short historical overview of the Business Intelligence sector, it defines the term Business Intelligence, and it explains both the characteristics of the Business Intelligence systems (cloud vs on-premise) and the importance of having a business intelligence solution for SME. Subsequently, the theoretical framework of this study is defined, combining the prior theories and empirical data collected through the interviews with four Business Intelligence vendors and customers. Initially, the existing Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of IT and BI projects proposed by different authors in the literature are reviewed. Afterwards, the evaluation criteria for the cloud software are taken into consideration. By integrating insights drawn from these studies, as well as adding new factors coming from the interviews, a framework has been created and utilized as a basis for the further questionnaire development. The choice of pursuing both the quantitative and qualitative approaches is aimed at improving the study’s reliability. Empirical data are mainly primary data, collected during a survey and four interviews, supported by secondary data such as general companies' reports, market and trends analysis from trustworthy sources. Based on the findings, the author of this thesis has ranked the key aspects of a cloud BI adoption in SMEs. It is revealed the most important key adoption factors that SMEs evaluate when purchasing a cloud BI solution are the level of software functionalities, the ubiquitous access to data, the responsive answers to customer support requests, the ability to handle big amount of data and the implementation cost. Regarding the managerial implications, the study’s practical relevance consists in offering to BI suppliers' managers, executives and decision-makers interesting areas of discussion for improving the knowledge of SMEs' needs. Moreover, the results of this investigation can be used by Business Intelligence newcomers as a guidance for evaluating solutions available in the market.

This study is about to find out whether and how strategic management is employed in the Chinese manufacturing SMEs, as well as to explore the main characteristics of the strategic management process in these SMEs. It aims to work as a reference for the senior managers in these firms to better improve and utilize the strategic management tools for their future growth.

In the late of 80s¡Athe usual investment environment of Taiwan could not maintain anymore¡GNTD depreciated¡Blabor wages increased¡Benvironment protection and labor management problems arose¡Athe producing costs increased much more than the third-world countries¡Afor example Mainland China and South East Asia countries¡Afor those reasons Taiwan lost his price competence in the world market¡CIn such cases¡Amany Taiwan SMEs went abroad to the SE-Asia¡CAt First¡AThailand and Malaysia were preferred¡Athen Vietnam had the most investments for Taiwan SMEs¡C When we observe the direct investment behaviors of these SMEs¡Awe found the internationalization of each industries can be analogize from each industry ecology¡CFor example textile industry can be divided to the upper stream and downstream¡AThe former ones internationalize for opportunities ¡Aand the latter went to Vietnam for survive¡CThere are total four styles of SMEs internationalization¡Aand each one has very close relationships for their own industry ecology¡C Based on their characters of industries ecology environment¡Bcompetitive members relationships and the affects from outside Institutional Environment¡Awe find different ecology environment factors cause different internationalization behaviors for SMEs¡Athat is¡Athe same behaviors of internationalization of SMEs-direct investments in South-East Asia or Mainland China¡Aderive from different reasons connecting with affects from many other outcomes¡CAnd the causes can divide to two major kinds-being survival or taking the first-mover advantages¡C