In light of the major financial crisis in July 1999, Midland China got to realize a fact that it would lead to an unbalanced industrial structure if she kept on nourishing big enterprises, and ignored smaller ones. As a result in beginning of year 1998, she started to concentrate on small and medium size companies by adapting methods like reforming medium, and small size private businesses, improving investment environments, upgrading professional skills, and adapting innovations. Now medium, and small business sectors are new economy forces. The goal of the thesis is to understand China private sectors from different aspects. It seems that China private sectors could properly react to the open market after China joined WTO. How would entrepreneurs from Taiwan face the challenges from these sectors? Medium, and small size companies could take advantage of lower labor costs in China, and sell products to China market or export to foreign counties.

Enterprise systems have been used since the 1970s. They have changed over the time but their main purpose - to automate and streamline the corporate processes, is still the same. However the scope has increased and the enterprise systems became very widespread. They integrate many usefull utilities into one system and have moved from the mainframes to common desktop computers. The abreviation ERP is very well known in today's IT world. It would be really difficult to find a large or midsize company which does not use the enterprise resource planning system. Yet the situation is dramatically different at the small enterpirse market. Due to theirs complexity, ERP systems are expensive. Many small companies are unable to afford heavy investments into the software they are using. Such enterprises can use the lightweight versions of the commercial solutions or not to use ERP systems at all. There is a new business trend - the SaaS business model. It is based on providing the access to the system over the network for regular fees. These fees are smaller than the licence ones so that it is easier for small companies to get up to ERP systems that would be too expensive for them otherwise. Even big software companies (such as SAP) have been getting engaged with the adoption of the SaaS recently. The IT experts say the SaaS business model is to be very prospective. The goals of this dissertation consist of the analysis of providing the ERP system as a service and the description of technical and processionary aspects that are mandatory for succesful adoption of the SaaS business model. A proprietary solution of the ERP system will be provided as a part of this thesis. The solution would be designed and developed especially for purposes of the adoption of the SaaS model.

This research investigates the commercialisation processes of handicraft producers in Sabah, Malaysia, and the factors influencing their development and performance. The Malaysian government encourages handicraft production as a full-time activity in dedicated workshops, but the vast majority of producers stay part-time and home-based. The aim of this research is to understand why so few producers switch to a greater level of commercialisation, despite government support. From the literature review, it is found that a combination of person-related and contextual factors influences small enterprise development and performance, but handicraft producers in a developing country context have different characteristics to the firms usually studied in entrepreneurship, so they may follow different development paths. Therefore, qualitative research was carried out (in-depth interviews with 16 handicraft producers), which aimed to understand deeply from the producers’ point of view how they made choices about their enterprises, and the factors that encouraged or inhibited their move to full-time status or workshop premises. It was found that interviewees perceived part-time domestic production to be convenient and flexible, and workshop production to be a big commitment, although factors such as level of perseverance and social networking were influential to these. In the interviews, a complicated relationship between status, premises and enterprise performance was also found. A face-to-face survey was then conducted of 210 handicraft producers in Sabah region, which aimed to test quantitatively the factors that influence producers’ status, premises and performance, and the relationships between them. Through cluster analysis, three groups of producers were identified: (i) ‘high performance full-timers’, (ii)‘part-time professionals’ and (iii) ‘part-time home workers’. The first group contained both domestic and workshop-based producers, all full-time status, and showed highest levels of sales and profits. It was interesting to find that part-time professionals had lower profit levels than part-time home workers, even though almost all part-time professionals produced in workshops, half of them in government assisted workshops. One way ANOVA tests found significant differences between the clusters on thirteen person-related and contextual factors, including producers’ (i)education level, attendance in craft incubator, previous income activity, (ii)self-confidence, perseverance, (iii)skills relating to production, organising and networking, (iv)income maximisation motivation and (v)access to government supports, financial resources and reliable workers. The evidence from the research shows that handicraft producers in Sabah region see many advantages in domestic production, and profit levels can be higher than in workshops. By identifying the different profiles of handicraft producers in Sabah, and the person-related and contextual factors that influence them, this research may help the Malaysian government to develop effective support policies for different types of handicraft producer, including how to encourage more individuals to become ‘high performing full-timers’.

Thesis (M.M. (Public Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / Increasingly, literature suggests that there is a causal link between the development of the Small, Medium and Micro-enterprise (SMME) sector and economic and social development, especially in developing countries. It is for this reason that many countries are pursuing SMME development policies as part of their growth and social development strategies, including South Africa. To this effect, the South African government has also developed policies and established institutions to support SMME development. However, the development of the SMME sector in South Africa is still lagging behind that of many developing countries and the failure rate of SMME remains very high. Research has predominantly attempted to find reasons for SMME failure by focusing on challenges faced by SMMEs. However, literature now suggests that the problem also lies within the institutions that are meant to provide support to the SMMEs. The purpose of the study was to investigate short-comings in the provision of support services by Seda to SMMEs, particularly training and mentoring. In this regard, the study found that the main challenge faced by Seda is with regards to its poor accessibility. Other challenges include poor quality of trainers and mentors skills; training programmes that fail to respond to SMMEs‟ needs; lack of resources; poor monitoring and evaluation. The study concluded that the challenges faced by Seda have contributed, to some extent, to the slow progress in the development of SMMEs.

This thesis describes the individual aspects of retail entrepreneurship of a small enterprise using the knowledge of large retail entrepreneurs. It introduces the business strategy of a clothing retail shop in Prague with an innovative business model, evaluates the external environment of the enterprise and its influence on the industry, outlines the procedures for managing specific areas of the operation and evaluates the feasibility of the enterprise utilizing a break even analysis and a cash flow forecast based on predefined criteria.

Information Technology (IT) is inevitably influencing the way enterprises operate, compete, and grow. The contemporary disruption has not excluded small companies. Small enterprises play a significant role in the growth of every economy but are hindered by limited skills, time, and money. The attributes of small enterprises influence the strategic and day-to-day operations. Small enterprise owners are often the managers who make the strategic decisions in order to solve specific problems. The decision style of small enterprise owner-managers limits the leveraging of IT. To ensure the sustainability of small enterprises in a contemporary business ecosystem, it is pertinent to strategise IT investment decisions. Enterprise architecture is a well-known approach to business and IT alignment. This study aimsto discover and develop how the complex enterprise architecture principles can strategise the IT decisionmaking process in small enterprises with limited resources and informal structures. The pragmatic philosophic stance was the premise for understanding the decision challenges and the development of a roadmap to intervene the problems the researcher identified. The Vaishnavi and Kuechler design science research methodology guided this study. The qualitative research approach was employed to collect verbal data with eleven small enterprise ownermanagers to understand the processes and the challenges of making IT decision in small enterprises. A thematic analysis of the findings revealed that lack of formalisation, limited information, and lack of IT skill created a critical bottleneck of IT investment decisions in small enterprises. An enterprise architecture-driven framework was developed to overcome the bounded rationality approach to IT choices in small enterprises. The framework holistically assesses organisational business-IT capabilities, constraints, and criteria to guide the decisionmaker's choice. The characteristics of small enterprises limit the successful implementation of the enterprise architecture-driven framework as a theoretical guideline for making optimal IT decisions in small enterprises. This study further developed an online IT decision-assistive tool informed by the framework. The instantiation artefact was demonstrated with six small enterprise owners from Nigeria and South Africa. The findings affirmed the prospect, potential, and relevance of an enterprise architecture-driven artefact as a tool to optimise strategic IT decisions in small manufacturing, service, and retail enterprises. The artefact developed in this study provided a practical intervention to the challenges of IT investment decisions in small enterprises.

Problembeskrivning – Intern kommunikation är identifierat som viktigt för organisationens överlevnad och övergripande resultat, men ändå är det många företag som har kommunikationsproblem och inte tar dessa på allvar. I små företag är det viktigt med den interna kommunikationen då man arbetar nära varandra och har en närhet till ledaren. Det finns få studier enbart fokuserade på interna kommunikationssvårigheter inom mindre företag. Syfte – Denna studie undersöker kommunikationsproblem som kan existera i mindre företag och ger förslag på hur man kan undvika eller arbeta för att motverka problemen. Metod – Studien är baserad på en fallstudie. Genom att ställa strukturerade intervjufrågor till deltagarna och genom observation har den största delen av empiriskt material samlats in. För att stödja resultaten har en litteraturstudie även genomförts. Resultat – Fallföretaget bidrog med indikationer om att en bristfällig intern kommunikation påverkar hela organisationen och ligger som grund till flera av problemen de upplever inom företaget. Slutsats – Studien identifierar typer av kommunikationsproblem som existerar hos fallföretaget samt bidrar med lösningar eller arbetssätt för att minska eller eliminera dessa problem. Studien belyser även hur viktigt kommunikationen är för organisationen och konsekvenserna av en otillräcklig intern kommunikation. / Problem – The internal communication are identified as very important for the organization’s survival and overall performance, but there are many companies that do not take their communication issues seriously. In smaller companies the internal communication is important because the close relationship with coworkers and the entrepreneur. There are limited studies focused only on internal communication within small companies. Purpose – This paper investigates communication problems existing in smaller companies and makes suggestions for improvements to overcome these problems. Method– This paper is based on a single case study. Through asking structured questions and a carried out observation the empirical evidence were collected. In order to support the findings a literature study has been conducted. Findings – The case company provided indications about an inadequate internal communication influences the whole organization and can be the bottom reason for multiple problems experienced within the organization. Conclusion – The study identifies different kinds of communication problems existing within the case company and contributes to finding solutions for the identified problems. The study also highlights the importance of communication for the organization and the consequences of a fallible internal communication.

The thesis implies human resource analysis and human resource management in small enterprises. The theoretical part is about human resource management in general. The analytical part contains an analysis of current human resource management in a small company- Jerry Fabrics s.r.o. Moreover, it introduces a new system of human resource practises in the company.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:53:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ALMIR FERRAZ DE OLIVEIRA.pdf: 528767 bytes, checksum: e72492be795f186c362065de5c4c2e48 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-12-15 / The present paper has as general objective to describe the experience of the Project of Metropolis, fruit of partnership between the Service of Support to the Micron and Small Companies of Goiás - Sebrae and the Goiana Association of the Micron and Small Enterprise - GAMSE. The Sebrae proposed to mediate a contradictory pedagogical process of politics formation and class conscience that create and move citizens sociably, considering, a technique formation of workers in the perspective of labor productivity increase. The hypothesis that comes confirming is that, more than weights the transnational capitalism stratagem presents, more such experience takes position of important space of politics amplification in the perspective of the State and society democratization. The social relevance of the subject meets in the high decimation index of the formal companies, esteemed in fifty percent in the two first years of performance. To understand which existent enterprise educative processes and the contradictions between offer and the entrepreneurs access were object of the present inquiry, that consisted on the following primordial idea: description of entrepreneur concepts of micron and small enterprises, the consequences of the neo-liberal State and the productive reorganization in the small and micron company formation, the Project Metropolis and the Sebrae function, in which the actions of public politics are based on. For getting the subject of this study, a theoretical referential contributions of Enguita (1989), Marx (1975), Montaño (1999), Freire (1977) have been used. As investigation trajectory was adopted the dialect materialism method. According to the point of view of boarding object form the research is qualitative. Bibliographical research was carried through and the study of case was developed. The guideline categories of this paper had been: education, small enterprise, public politics, entrepreneur of micron and small companies. / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo geral descrever a experiência do Projeto Metrópole, fruto da parceria entre o Serviço de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas de Goiás Sebrae e a Associação Goiana da Micro e Pequena Empresa AGPE. O Sebrae se propõe a mediar um processo pedagógico contraditório de formação política de consciência de classe que cria e move sujeitos sociais, propondo, uma formação técnica dos trabalhadores na perspectiva do aumento da produtividade do trabalho. A hipótese que vem se confirmando é a de que, em que pese o ardil do capitalismo transnacional, tal experiência significa um importante espaço de ampliação da política na perspectiva da democratização do Estado e da sociedade. A relevância social do tema encontra-se no alto índice de mortalidade das empresas formais, estimado em cinqüenta por cento nos dois primeiros anos de vida. Compreender quais processos educativos empresariais existem e as contradições entre a oferta e o acesso pelos empreendedores foi objeto da presente investigação, que constou do seguinte: descrição do conceito de empresário de micro e pequena empresa, os reflexos do Estado neoliberal e da reestruturação produtiva na formatação das micro e pequenas empresas, o Projeto Metrópole, o papel do Sebrae e qual política pública fundamenta sua ação. Para o estudo do assunto, foram utilizados como referenciais teóricos as contribuições de Enguita (1989), Marx (1975), Montaño (1999), Freire (1977). Foi adotado como trajetória de investigação o método do materialismo dialético. Do ponto de vista da forma de abordagem do objeto, a pesquisa é qualitativa. Foi realizada pesquisa bibliográfica e desenvolveu-se o estudo de caso. As categorias norteadoras deste trabalho foram: educação, pequeno empreendimento, políticas públicas, empreendedor de micro e pequena empresa.

O objetivo principal da pesquisa foi propor medidas de aperfeiçoamento dos procedimentos de gestão estratégica da informação na pequena empresa, compatíveis com suas especificidades. Para avaliar as dificuldades e possibilidades das pequenas empresas no uso desses procedimentos, foi utilizado o artifício de compará-los aos procedimentos utilizados pela média e grande empresa. A gestão estratégica da informação vem se tornando cada vez mais presente no dia-a-dia das empresas. Porém, nas pequenas empresas isso é realizado de uma maneira peculiar devido às suas especificidades, que apresentam diferenças significativas em sua forma organizacional. Os métodos de pesquisa foram delineados para duas fases: na primeira fase foi quantitativa, tendo como objetivo principal atualizar o mapeamento das empresas hoteleiras da região central do estado de São Paulo, além de compreender as principais características dessas empresas e de seus dirigentes. Na segunda, optou-se pelo emprego do método comparativo de casos e pela pesquisa qualitativa; para a coleta de dados fez-se uso de entrevistas, além da observação livre. Entre os principais resultados, constatou-se que as empresas estudadas se apóiam em fontes de informações informais para tomada de decisão. Foi possível afirmar que no primeiro momento do processo estratégico as informações informais e pessoais são mais valorizadas, mas ao passo em que uma estratégia se estabelece todos os procedimentos da GEI facilitam a continuidade do que foi estabelecido. A GEI foi identificada como consciente e compartilhada nas grandes empresas, enquanto que nas pequenas é inconsciente e centralizada. / This study aimed at proposing measures to improve strategic information management (SIM) procedures at small enterprises, compatible to their specificities. In order to assess the difficulties and possibilities of small enterprises in using these procedures, they were compared to those used by medium and large enterprises. Strategic information management has become an important procedure in the everyday management of enterprises. At small enterprises, however, this is carried out differently due to their particularities, since they present distinctive organizational features. The research method was designed to have two phases: the first one had a quantitative nature, and its goal was to chart the hospitality enterprises in the central region of São Paulo State, Brazil, in addition to understanding their main characteristics and managers. The second phase employed a comparative case method of a qualitative nature: interviews and unstructured observations were used as data collection tools. In general, the results show that all of the enterprises rely on information to make decisions. This study also shows that while informal and personal information is more valued in the beginning of the strategic process, SIM procedures are then used to promote the continuity of the chosen strategic actions. In addition, while SIM is intentional and shared at large enterprises, it seems to be rather instinctive and centralized at small enterprises.