The thesis deals with small and medium enterprises and sources of financing. The theoretical part contains definition and characteristic of small and medium enterprises, national and international business support and various financial resources. The practical part analyzes financial situation of concrete small enterprise, sources of its financing and gives some recommendations for the financing of future.

This thesis deals with the possibilities of using methods of Competitive Intelligence for Small and Medium Enterprises. The main objective is to analyze how a particular business entity can apply the Competitive Intelligence methods. Sub-targets were set to achieve the primary goal of this diploma, among which belong describing theoretical aspects of Competitive Intelligence, characteristics of business environment in the selected segment, analyzing possibilities of using methods of Competitive Intelligence in the segment and designing applicable methodology of its usage for particular entity. The benefits of this work are mainly the mapping of external environment and its influences on the organization and subsequent proposal of how to use information resources for the specific needs of the company and its leadership in the decision-making process to maximize the company's market potential and resistance to adverse influences.

Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to explore aspects that affect inter-organizational knowledge transfer (KT), at the organizational level, from different sized companies such as small and medium enterprise (SME) and large or multinational company (LC/MNC), separately, to their partners.Design/methodology/approach - This thesis conducted a qualitative study with a deductive approach, using two companies in Sweden that belong to the hospitality industry and health sector, one SME, and one LC/MNC in order to explore the aspects that affect inter-organizational knowledge transfer by applying a theoretical framework based on existing literature. Thus, the thesis adopts an exploratory case study approach as a research strategy, to which the theoretical framework is applied to. Findings – The theoretical framework regarding SMEs and LC/MNCs engaging in inter-organizationalKT with partners found that the following aspects are affected differently in the companies: (1) Howformal and informal Knowledge governance mechanisms are applied in the different sized firms (e.g.,LC/MNC aim to reduce cost and improve profitability with formal, while SMEs focus on growth andexpansion with informal) (2) Formal trust agreements are used to establish Trust with partners for bothsized firms (e.g., by None-disclosure agreements), (3) In Cultural distance, SMEs focus onunderstanding the decision-making process and motivation of their international partners, (4)Geographical distance/proximity is prevalent to establish trust-based relationship between partners, (5)In Disseminative capacity SMEs as a source feel less motivated to exchange knowledge with differentpartners, e.g., a LC/MNC due to their rigid processes and inflexibility , (6) The LC/MNC prefer formalSocial ties with partners, while SMEs prefer informal ones, however the SME often ends up adaptingto their larger partners preferences, (7) Both the SME and LC/MNC attempt to establish Motivation viathe job deception for the employees and the employees were motivated by this rather than being offeringintrinsic or extrinsic motivation, (8) The SME’s Absorptive capacity as a recipient of knowledge, limitsthe KT due to their organizational limitations and (9) The perspective of LC/MNC regarding Knowledgecharacteristics, when the maturity level and experience of the partner organization (e.g., a SME) isdeemed low, this affects the KT negatively as it increases ambiguity and tacitness of the knowledge,while complexity was found to be of low concern due to the smaller organizational needs. Managerial implications - This thesis brings practical implications to senior managers of companies at the strategic level. First, the findings provide an understanding of aspects that affect inter-organizational knowledge transfer where one organization can prioritize aspects that belong to different sized partners and shape accordingly a strategy on collaboration and interaction with external partners of different sizes. Therefore, when top managers are aware of aspects that affect knowledge exchange between partners, they can identify various risks of success and failure in KT processes according to the list provided and prioritize actions and opportunities that can arise due to engagement in that partnership: cultural, geographical, motivation, partner’s capabilities, ambiguity, complexity, etc. Secondly, to draw a holistic snapshot of various aspects in the findings that affect KT activities from the inter-organizational perspective for different firm sizes in terms of similarities and differences of KT activities for LC/MNCs and SMEs, managers can establish specific strategies to analyze their own knowledge transfer activities to adjust accordingly when participate in inter-organizational knowledge transfer with partners depending on the size. Originality/value - This research adds value to inter-organizational KT aspects for SMEs and LC/MNCs in terms of differences and similarities, in the sense of how KT aspects affect the different organizations, as the aspects are prioritized, impacted, and treated differently based on the size of the organization. Thus, this thesis integrates aspects that affect inter-organizational KT from different bodies of the literature and demonstrate theoretically and empirically the perspective of different company size(LC/MNC and SME). Keywords - Knowledge transfer, Inter-organizational, Organizational level, LC/MNC, Large company, Multinational company, SME, Small and medium enterprise.Paper – Master thesis.

Thesis is focused on analysis of current state of selected company and its environment. Using strategic analysis, the competitive advantage and place on market is determined. Strategic goals of company and its vision are designed in accordance with its development and it encompasses individual functional strategies together with schedule of implementation.

The aim of the thesis is to draw up a business plan for a small cafe. Thesis begins with thorough analysis of general and field business environment and uncovering strengths and weaknesses of a new beginning company. Then a target customer group is identified. Based on those analyses, a comprehensive business plan for establishing a cafe is created along with marketing plan, financial plan and risk analysis.

Nowadays, Cloud Technologies are commonly used for a lot of large organizations to aid knowledge sharing.  This brings some benefits to the organization by reducing the cost of the charges, improve security, enhance content accessibility, improve efficiency etc. On the other hand, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) tend to manage their information in more informal way by not using the specific language or terminology of KM. Moreover, Small and Medium enterprises do not trust the adoption of cloud-based techniques for managing information for many reasons that discussed later. This thesis tries to provide the benefits and drawbacks of cloud-based Knowledge Management techniques in Greek SMEs and also to find how knowledge processes are used in Greek SMEs according to cloud-based Knowledge Management techniques. Also, through this work I will come up with the benefits and drawbacks of applying cloud-based techniques for managing information-knowledge in SMEs. To accomplish this, I derived with a methodology that is based on qualitative approach. More specifically, I provide an exhaustive literature review and then I contacted with five SMEs in Greece to explore, using different techniques, if these SMEs can benefit from the cloud-based Knowledge Management techniques and how indent are for adopting cloud-based Knowledge Management techniques in their organization. I realized that three of the SMEs are using cloud-based techniques for Knowledge Management, where the two of them does not. To be more specific one of these two SMEs does not manage its knowledge at all. However, all of the five organizations showed a great interest to adopt cloud-based and information system technologies for Knowledge Management. At the end, this work comes up with the following important findings and insights, as well: Cloud-based Knowledge Management techniques can bring a lot of benefits in terms of cost savings and performance. However, this suits the right and efficiently use of cloud-based techniques. The lack of using efficiently cloud-based Knowledge Management techniques may lead to some drawbacks, such as reduction on the performance of the organization and reduction on the savings.   This thesis also discusses some points for future direction such as the analysis of a larger space of organizations, the investigation of quantitative analysis and also the combination of both (qualitative and quantitative).

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to generate a broader understanding of how and why SMEs works with CSR activities. Method – The methodological choice for this thesis is based on a qualitative research approach. A case study is conducted at one Swedish SME, and the data is primarily collected through an interview with two respondents from the case company who have active roles within the CSR plan. A document study was used as a complement source of data to strengthen the data collected from the interview. Findings – The findings indicated that it can be preferable that an SME’s owner-manager champions the implementation of CSR activities. It is also evident that the reasons behind CSR engagement are dependent on the owner-manager ability to see the organizational benefits generated through the implementation of CSR activities. The research also finds that SMEs tend to lack a clear strategy when it comes to CSR implementation, which is performed on a more ad hoc basis as SMEs typically do not have the resources for deliberate ’strategizing’. Limitations – The research has investigated how a manufacturing SME works with CSR beyond requirements from law and regulations, as well as receive a better understanding of what motivates them to implement CSR activities. Moreover, this research project has not included participant observations as the circumstances made them impossible to perform. Keywords - Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Small- to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), CSR Activities, Managerial Values, Manufacturing, CSR Engagement.

With growing concern around the fashion industry’s socio-environmental impact, the industry has come under intense scrutiny by researchers as well as stakeholders. Research on the industry’s negative impact has focused largely on large, international enterprises, failing to recognize the role of small and medium enterprises. This thesis explores drivers and barriers to the commitment to sustainability initiatives among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Swedish fashion industry. To achieve the aim of the study, semi-structured interviews with SME owner-managers from 11 Swedish small fashion brands were conducted. The data was analyzed using an extended theory of planned behaviour framework.  The study findings identified the influence of customer expectations and market opportunities as drivers while highlighting the role of pro-sustainability ethical values as the most prevalent driver to commitment to sustainability initiatives. Important barriers included lack of resources, supply chain challenges and the challenges of overcoming the dominance of fast fashion consumer behaviours. Despite these barriers, the importance of pro-sustainability ethics was underscored in its potential to overcome many of these barriers.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / Entrepreneurship has been regarded as a solution to various developmental challenges such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty, which are inherent among the marginalised populations. However, the high rate of failure of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) remain an impediment to the use of entrepreneurship as a means to ameliorate the challenges. This is especially the case among young entrepreneurs. In addition, given the imperativeness of financial literacy in the success of SMEs, this study determines the influences of financial literacy on entrepreneurial success within the marginalised communities. It also explores and identifies the reasons why failure rates are high among young entrepreneurs in the economically disadvantaged community of Khayelitsha, Cape Town. This study employs a concurrent mixed methods design, making use of both quantitative and qualitative data. A survey is conducted in Khayelitsha using the snowballing sampling technique due to difficulty in accessing young entrepreneurs. The quantitative data from the survey provides demographic and socioeconomic information on young entrepreneurs

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