The essence of the first part of this work (chapters 1, 2 and 3) lies in the brief introduction to the support for small and medium sized enterprises. After that follows presentation of key institutions (ministries, agencies, etc.) helpful during the process of obtaining support from national programmes. Except of basic services performed by given institutions, useful web links are also included. In the same way, particular European support programmes are presented. In the framework of second part (chapters 4, 5 and 6), backward bases are exemplified on the practical example of the company Strojírny Podzimek, Ltd. and their experiences. That case shows, what does the making use of the national support programmes mean practically. Likewise, business support from EU funds is described, namely on the case of company Frýdlantské strojírny Rasl a syn, Inc. Third part of this thesis (chapters 7 and 8) is making us familiar with resuming statistics about the amount of subsidies drawn from national programmes and from the EU funds. In both cases, brief forecasts of future development and approximate amounts of unused funds are stated.

Dissertation thesis deals with development and implementation of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) in the Czech Republic. This thesis represents climax of author's up to now effort that has been put into completing a methodological model for development of this kind of applications for SMEs using self-owned skills and minimum of external resources and costs. This thesis can be divided into five major parts. First part that describes used technologies is divided into two chapters. First chapter describes contemporary state of Business Intelligence concept and it also contains original taxonomy of Business Intelligence solutions. Second chapter describes two Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) techniques that were used for building those BI solutions that are introduced in case studies. Second part describes the area of Czech SMEs, which is an environment where the thesis was written and which it is meant to contribute to. This environment is represented by one chapter that defines the differences of SMEs against large corporations. Furthermore, there are author's reasons why he is personally focusing on this area explained. Third major part introduces the results of survey that was conducted among Czech SMEs with support of Department of Information Technologies of Faculty of Informatics and Statistics of University of Economics in Prague. This survey had three objectives. First one was to map the readiness of Czech SMEs for BI solutions development and deployment. Second was to determine major problems and consequent decisions of Czech SMEs that could be supported by BI solutions and the third objective was to determine top factors preventing SMEs from developing and deploying BI solutions. Fourth part of the thesis is also the core one. In two chapters there is the original Methodology for development and deployment of BI solutions by SMEs described as well as other methodologies that were studied. Original methodology is partly based on famous CRISP-DM methodology. Finally, last part describes particular company that has become a testing ground for author's theories and that supports his research. In further chapters it introduces case-studies of development and deployment of those BI solutions in this company, that were build using contemporary BI and KDD techniques with respect to original methodology. In that sense, these case-studies verified theoretical methodology in real use.

The aim of the dissertation thesis is to evaluate the concept of corporate social responsibility in management and economics of surveyed small and medium sized enterprises. In the same time, to assess whether corporate social responsibility in current business environment represents benefit by analysing the relationship between the level of corporate social responsibility and the surveyed enterprises' financial situation within. The present dissertation thesis characterizes current social responsibility practice of surveyed small and medium sized enterprises with the help of the created composite indicator of corporate social responsibility level evaluation consisting of 14 selected indicators. The essential results represent statistical analysis of the causal effect of corporate social responsibility level on the financial health of surveyed companies. As the summary of the processed analyses and overall results, there was created model covering the key elements of social responsibility with ties to the management and economics of surveyed small and medium sized enterprises.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:51:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 145223.pdf.jpg: 16843 bytes, checksum: 216c21cdf184c9a6b45b5950edfdc082 (MD5) 145223.pdf: 915572 bytes, checksum: 0fc450607544c4b6126f1847c19d1c84 (MD5) 145223.pdf.txt: 224142 bytes, checksum: 451c52926486aef6d451bc7fbb54e232 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-06-29T00:00:00Z / The process of globalization of markets has inserted small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) into the international competitive environment, previously almost totally restricted to big companies. However, the way Brazilian SMEs get involved with international markets is still poorly known, due to the small volume of empirical research done on this topic. The present study reports on, and discusses, central characteristics of the process of international expansion of Brazilian SMEs. The analysis centers on critical factors that characterize this process, in particular on strategic decisions made, on the main problems faced, and on the practices adopted by entrepreneurs or managers of the companies that seek the international market. To investigate these aspects, a questionnaire was sent by mail and electronic means to 226 Brazilian SMEs with some degree of internationalization, and 52 companies returned usable filled questionnaires. Analysis of the collected data points to a set of important effects in the sample: (1) the influence of the firm’s network of relationships on its internationalization process; (2) the lack of a single theory capable of explaining all aspects of the internationalization process; and (3) a paradigmatic shift, in recent years, of the companies’ profile and behavior as compared with Brazilian SMEs investigated in the early national studies of the topic. In particular, the companies in the present sample show more proactivity and international vision. / O processo de globalização dos mercados inseriu as pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) no ambiente competitivo internacional, antes quase inteiramente restrito às grandes empresas. No entanto, o modo como as PMEs brasileiras se envolvem com o mercado internacional é ainda pouco conhecido, devido ao pequeno número de pesquisas empíricas realizadas neste campo. O presente estudo relata e discute características centrais do processo de expansão internacional das PMEs brasileiras. A análise concentra-se nos fatores críticos que caracterizam esse processo, particularmente nas decisões estratégicas tomadas, nos principais problemas enfrentados e nas práticas utilizadas pelos empreendedores ou dirigentes das empresas que buscam o mercado internacional. Para a investigação desses aspectos, um questionário foi enviado por via postal e por meio eletrônico para 226 PMEs brasileiras com algum grau de internacionalização. Destas, 52 empresas devolveram questionários aproveitáveis para a pesquisa. A análise dos dados obtidos nos questionários aponta um conjunto importante de efeitos na amostra: (1) a influência da rede de relacionamentos da empresa no seu processo de internacionalização; (2) a inexistência de uma única teoria capaz de explicar a totalidade do processo de internacionalização; e (3) uma transformação paradigmática, em anos recentes, do perfil e do comportamento dessas empresas, em comparação com as PMEs exportadoras brasileiras pesquisadas nos primeiros estudos nacionais sobre o tema. Em particular, as empresas da amostra atual demonstram mais pró-atividade e visão internacional.

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Abstract This study aims to clarify the early development stages of technology intensive companies. The current literature does not offer an extensive review of stage perspectives for company growth – the overall picture of the field is somewhat vague. The evolution of this field remains unclear as well as the current state. Further, recent empirical stage models focusing on technology intensive companies have not been delineated. As companies move through their early stages, they face events which contribute to or detract from their aim. A study focusing on these events may provide fresh viewpoints for understanding the management processes. This study seeks to clarify how the literature describes the early stages of technology intensive companies, and what viewpoints are highlighted by the management as a company progresses through these sequences. This retrospective multiple case study clarifies the topic with two meta-analyses and a sequential incident study carried out in ten young technology intensive companies in Finland and Thailand. First, well covered areas, trends, and ideas for fresh approaches are studied through a meta-analysis of the past 60 years of literature focusing on stages of development. Based on recent empirical studies, a sequential self assessment framework is formed. Second, it is studied whether the case study methodology could be utilised to further clarify the early stages of technology intensive companies. Third, the experiences of ten case companies are reflected through the framework in order to test the framework, and to study what viewpoints these cases reveal about the early stages of technology intensive companies. This study provided an extensive review of the research focusing on the stages of development. A four-stage framework was found applicable for a self-assessment of the early stages in technology intensive companies, while ten case studies and cross case analysis provided partial support for the framework. In addition, this study provided many potential fresh viewpoints for a theory related to the early stages of technology intensive companies. These viewpoints are considered here as starting points for further research, which is expected to provide sufficient evidence for further modification of the framework. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selkeyttää teknologiaintensiivisten yritysten varhaisia kehitysvaiheita. Kirjallisuus ei tarjoa kattavaa katsausta yrityksen kehitysvaiheita käsittelevästä tutkimuksesta – kokonaiskuva aiheesta jää jokseenkin epämääräiseksi samoin kuin alan kehitys ja nykytila. Lisäksi viimeaikaisten empiiristä aineistoa sisältävien vaihemallien tuloksia ei ole koottu yhteen. Varhaisissa kehitysvaiheissaan yritykset kohtaavat sekä tavoitteitaan edistäviä että estäviä tapahtumia. Tapahtumia tutkimalla on mahdollista nostaa esille tuoreita näkökulmia varhaisiin vaiheisiin liittyviin johtamisprosesseihin. Tämä tutkimus pyrkii selvittämään, kuinka teknologiayrityksen varhaiset kehitysvaiheet on kuvattu kirjallisuudessa ja mitä näkökulmia varhaisen kehityksen läpi käyneiden yritysten johto korostaa. Tämä takautuva monitapaustutkimus analysoi aihetta kahden meta-analyysin ja vaiheittain toteutetun kriittiset tapahtumat -menetelmän avulla. Tapaustutkimus suoritettiin kymmenessä suomalaisessa ja thaimaalaisessa yrityksessä. Ensiksi 60 edeltävää vuotta käsittävässä meta-analyysissä analysoitiin vaihemallien historia ja nykytila, trendit ja potentiaaliset ideat uusille lähestymistavoille. Viimeaikaisten empiiristen tutkimusten perusteella muodostettiin synteesi varhaisten kehitysvaiheiden itsearviointikehykseksi. Toiseksi tutkittiin voidaanko tapaustutkimusta hyödyntämällä edelleen selventää teknologiaintensiivisten yritysten varhaisia kehitysvaiheita. Kolmanneksi kymmenen tapausyrityksen kokemuksia peilattiin itsearviointikehykseen tarkoituksena testata kehystä ja analysoida mitä näkökulmia tapaukset paljastavat teknologiaintensiivisten yritysten varhaisista vaiheista. Tutkimus tarjosi laajan katsauksen yrityksen kehitysvaiheisiin keskittyvään tutkimuskenttään. Nelivaiheinen kehys todettiin soveltuvaksi varhaisten kehitysvaiheiden itsearviointiin teknologiaintensiivisissä yrityksissä – kymmenen tapausta ja näiden vertailu antoi osittaisen tuen tälle. Lisäksi tutkimus tarjosi useita uusia näkökulmia teknologiaintensiivisten yritysten varhaisia kehitysvaiheita käsittelevään teoriaan. Nämä näkökulmat toimivat lähtökohtana jatkotutkimuksille, joiden oletetaan tuovan riittävästi todistusaineistoa itsearviointikehyksen edelleenkehittämiseksi.

This thesis is aimed at business plan of further development of the company XY, s.r.o. The theoretical basis for the work include basic concepts related to the focusing on the main idea of the company´s development plan. The analysis section deals with the evaluation of the current problém and includes the identification of key factors in the wider context of the environment, the summary of which is then followed by a suitable strategy for the implementation of future development. In this part, analyzes of External and internal factors are used. The proposals are based on a performer SWOT analysis. This section lists appropriate measures to eliminate risks in the field.

This mini-dissertation reviews present literature to define ICT and SMEs and determine the current situation in South Africa with regard to the use of ICT by SMEs, including possible benefits to SMEs as well as stumbling blocks to adopting ICT. The research consists of collecting data from ten SMEs in Gauteng in South Africa using questionnaires and interviews, to determine how SMEs can use ICT to become more competitive. The mini-dissertation will have a number of chapters: the first chapter will give an overview of the subject. The second chapter will explain the research motivation and methodology while the third chapter will be the literature review, which will explore the topic of ICT and SMEs in depth, with a focus on South Africa. Chapter four will deal with data collection and analysis; the main source of data will be interviews based on structured questions. The fifth chapter will be the discussion and recommendations based on the results of the analysis and the literature review. Chapter Six will be the conclusion. / Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Informatics / unrestricted

In der Dissertation werden die Effekte von Offshoring auf dem Arbeitsmarkt eines Hochlohnlandes untersucht. Sie beinhaltet 3 voneinander unabhängige Studien am Beispiel Deutschland. Im 1. Kapitel werden die Lohneffekte von Offshoring untersucht. Dabei wird Arbeit nach der Komplexität seines Aufgabenspektrums unterschieden und Offshoring je nach Lohnniveau des Ziellandes eingeteilt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Offshoring nach Westeuropa zu relativen Lohngewinnen für weniger komplexe Jobs in Deutschland führt, während der Lohn komplexer Jobs negativ beeinflusst wird. Offshoring nach Osteuropa hat entgegengesetzte Lohneffekte. Zudem zeichnet sich ab, dass Offshoring nach Westeuropa mit einer arbeits- und nach Osteuropa mit einer kapitalintensiveren Produktion einhergeht. Das 2. Kapitel untersucht ausländischen Direktinvestitionen (FDI) deutscher multinationale Unternehmen (MNE) in Tschechien. Es wird analysiert wie sich die Beschäftigung verändert, wenn MNE Zugang zu “Niedriglohnarbeit” erhalten. Bei Verwendung des Coarsened Exact Matching und eines Event-Study-Ansatzes ergibt sich, dass das inländische Beschäftigungswachstum von MNE im Vergleich zu nicht-MNE abnimmt. Das betrifft im verarbeitenden Gewerbe vor allem Beschäftigte mit niedrigem oder mittlerem Bildungsabschluss und im Dienstleistungssektor Beschäftigte mit mittlerem oder hohem Bildungsniveau. Das 3. Kapitel basiert auf dem gleichen Daten, um die Auswirkungen von FDI auf die Nachfrage von bestimmten Tätigkeiten zu schätzen. Eine neue Methode schätzt Propensity Scores für FDI-Entscheidungen mithilfe von Lasso-Logit-Regressionen. Dabei wird gezeigt, dass Unternehmen mit viel juristischen oder organisatorischen Aufgaben eher zu FDI neigen. Nach einem Matching-Verfahren, werden in einem Diff-in-Diff-Ansatz die heimischen Nachfrageverschiebungen bestimmter Aufgaben untersucht, nachdem FDI getätigt wurde. MNE erhöhen typische Aktivitäten eines Unternehmenssitz, wie managen, analysieren oder verhandeln. Im verarbeitenden Gewerbe reduzieren sie zudem typische Aufgaben der Produktion wie das Überwachen von Maschinen, Herstellen oder Messen. Im Servicesektor werden hingegen typische Servicetätigkeiten reduziert, wie das Beraten/Informieren, Reparieren sowie medizinische Tätigkeiten. / This dissertation comprises 3 chapters that each contain an independent study on the labor market effects of offshoring from a high-wage source country, namely Germany. Chapter 1 includes an estimation of the onshore wage effects of offshoring to either low-wage Eastern Europe or high-wage Western Europe. Using a Mincer-type wage equation, the study shows that offshoring has substantially different wage effects with respect to the destination region of the offshoring activity and with respect to the complexity of task profiles of the affected jobs. While offshoring to the West puts pressure on the wages of complex jobs and increases the wages of simple jobs, offshoring to the East entails the opposite effect. Chapter 2 explores the onshore employment effects of German firms that conduct foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Czech Republic, a country with substantially lower average wages. Applying coarsened exact matching and an event-study design, the results exhibit that the onshore employment growth of multinational enterprises (MNEs) decreases relative to that of non-MNEs and that the worst affected are those with low or medium educational attainment in the manufacturing sector and with medium or high educational attainment in the service sector. The study in Chapter 3 uses the same dataset and adds detailed task information to the workers' occupations (such as managing, producing, or legal tasks). It is therefore able to provide insights into the changed task demand of German MNEs after their FDI in the Czech Republic. Methodologically, an enhanced matching procedure exploits lasso logit regressions to estimate the firms' propensity of FDI. It thereby shows that high task intensities of managing, administration, and labor legislation play a major role in firms engaging in international expansions in the near future. After matching, a difference-in-differences approach reveals the onshore demand changes of specific tasks after the FDI. Relative to non-MNEs, MNEs increase their intensities of typical headquarter activities such as managing, analyzing, and negotiating. In manufacturing MNEs, the estimates further reveal a reduction in typical production tasks such as monitoring, producing, and measuring, while service MNEs reduce typical service tasks such as informing, medical tasks, and repairing.

The thesis includes business intention of construction company in the form of a feasibility study. Planned company deals with the realization of timber-framed buildings that are built by hand directly on the construction site. The introductory part describes basic knowledge of the investment projects planning. One subchapter shortly describes the timber construction system. Parts of the business intention are oriented on corporate strategy, marketing, production technology, manpower, economic a financial analysis and risk management. In conclusion is an overall assessment of the project feasibility.