This thesis is focused on the issue of ensuring sustainable development through ICT, especially focusing on the subsequent use of the theoretical knowledge in the implementation of Green ICT practices in small and medium-sized companies in the Czech Republic (SME). This work aims to achieve five specific side objectives, which are: Theoretical anchoring the Green ICT in relation to SME, the analysis of the potential impact of ICT on environmental sustainability, analysis of the available methodologies and ways of implementation of Green ICT and principles of sustainability, rating of Green ICT steps from different perspectives in order to select appropriate steps for the implementation and subsequent determination of methodical progress with implementing the most Green ICT steps into practice. Reaching these milestones is subsequently indicated achieve the main objective of the paper, which is a specification of a methodological framework for the selection and evaluation of appropriate Green ICT steps and a procedure for its subsequent implementation in practice. The primary tool for achieving the objectives of this paper is analysis of available and adequate current information resources focusing on the Green ICT and sustainable development, which is complemented by the author's expert reviews of Green ICT steps. This paper is possible to divide into two parts. The first part is contents of thoroughly analysis of information sources and based on them is subsequently implemented theoretical grasp of Green ICT. The second part is then specified own benefit of the paper through analysis and evaluation of Green ICT steps, accompanied by their methodology implementation.

This thesis aims to describe the activities of CzechInvest, the Investment and Business Development Agency, during the last six years with focus on the ongoing Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation. CzechInvest has participated in administration of this operational programme for the last six years. This thesis is dedicated to the enterprise and enterprise promotion in the Czech republic. It describes the programme support from Structural funds (EU) and concentrates on the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation. The analysis is aimed at the programme, sectoral and regional structure of the projects mediated by CzechInvest. It evaluates the size of the support and the programme structure of the support from the Operational programme, that was provided for the small and medium-sized enterprises.

The master's thesis "Role of technical standardization in international trade" focuses on the role of technical standardization in international trade, and what benefits standards may have for companies trading with the foreign countries. The aim of the thesis is to map the present role of the technical standardization in international trade with an emphasis on quality management systems standards, environment systems standards and health and safety at work systems standards. The other objective of this thesis is to carry out a comparison of present standardization in the European Union and outside the EU and the results of the theoretical part verify by questionnaire survey of selected companies and its results interpret and draw conclusions. The primary objective of the survey is to determine the role of the standard's use in trade with foreign countries. Contribution of the author consists of presentation a coherent overview of the current process of standardization in the world and the impact of standards on international trade. Structure of the thesis is divided into two main chapters, the first chapter deals with the basic theoretical framework of the topic and the second chapter is devoted to the practical part, i. e. questionnaire survey. Both chapters are further divided into their respective subchapters.

This diploma thesis' main subject is to design a service that automatically analyses (e-shop) data, interprets them and consequently provides users with results of this analysis via web service. Design of this service includes concept composition its technical solution and market verification. The main purpose of this thesis is to design an online service for small and medium sized e-shops, that will (based on provided data) deliver information for e-shop performance optimization. Aspects taken into account are service functionality, its technical solution and business plan destined for its market launch. Theoretical part focuses on analysis of online analytical tools that are available for users on market. It looks at internet e-shops market and analyses users' requirements for analytical tool/service either. This part delivers a list of currently available analytical platforms and services that are convenient for e-shops to be used. Then these tools are compared amongst each other. Criteria for comparison are the usability of service, its user experience, positive and negative aspects related to these predefined criteria. Practical part of this thesis specifies functional and non-functional requirements on service, its user interface. The whole concept is verified on market by interview. Discovered requirements are consequently applied in technical solution design and business plan composition. Overall view of functionality and feasibility of the newly designed service and its verification in real environment is the preoccupation of this part as well.

The thesis deals with the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium Enterprises (IFRS for SMEs). The theoretical part provides information on the origin and development of this standard, including its current expansion across the European Union and beyond. The theoretical part also includes the definition of "small and medium enterprises" defined acording to the IASB and the EU. The individual rules of IFRS for SMEs and their practical application is captured in the second part, which outlines the procedure for the transition of the financial statements selected Czech company that uses the Czech accounting standards into those of the IFRS for SMEs with emphasis on capturing individual adjustments primarily in the actual balance sheet.

The aim of this work was to identify and analyze the inner and outer causes, which may influence the success or failure of small to medium-sized enterprises located in the city of São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil. Such enterprises represent a fundamental pillar for the economy of all countries. In Brazil, its social and economical importance is confirmed by the following statistical indexes: the large percentage of workmanship and registered enterprises. However, most of the new undertakings do not last over the two first years of activity. In order to reach the proposed aim, first of all, the study of those causes has been conducted. Secondly, a field research has been carried out with the purpose of gathering information. With the support of explanatory methodology, bibliography and field research, a total of 656 enterprises have been analyzed through the information found in the records of enterprises provided by the Town Hall of the city of São José dos Campos. This research has identified various causes, which interfere in the management of such enterprises, and concludes that the cause for their premature death is due to several associated factors, which together accelerate such phenomenon. Among the main causes are, the lack of clients and working capital, the high tribute taxes as well as inadequate location. / O Objetivo deste trabalho foi de identificar e analisar as causas internas e externas que podem influenciar no sucesso ou no fracasso das pequenas e médias empresas, sediadas na cidade de São José dos Campos, estado de São Paulo. A pequena e média empresa representa um pilar fundamental para a economia de todos os países. No Brasil, sua importância social e econômica é confirmada pelos índices estatísticos: o grande percentual de mão-de-obra ocupada e empresas registradas. Entretanto, a maioria dos novos empreendimentos não completa os primeiros dois anos de atividade. Para alcançar o objetivo proposto, em um primeiro momento, fez-se um estudo destas principais causas. Em seguida, efetuou-se uma pesquisa de campo para a coleta de informações. Com o uso da metodologia explicativa, da bibliográfica e da pesquisa de campo, foram analisadas 656 empresas, utilizando para isto o Cadastro da Prefeitura Municipal da cidade de São José dos Campos, buscando maiores informações sobre as causas citadas. A pesquisa identificou várias causas que interferem na gestão das pequenas e médias empresas e concluiu que a causa da mortalidade prematura ocorre devido a vários fatores associados que, acumulados, aceleram esse fenômeno, sendo os quatros principais: a falta de clientes, a falta de capital de giro, a carga tributária elevada e a localização inadequada.

Företag, oavsett storlek, vill idag följa den digitala transformationen och höja den digitala mognadsgraden för att kunna få effektivare resultat samt nå de konkurrensfördelar som digitaliseringen kan medföra. Små och medelstora företag, så kallade SMF:s, påverkas av de förändringar som digitaliseringen medför eftersom de får helt nya möjligheter att delta i den globala ekonomin jämfört med tidigare. Denna studie kommer att utforska den digitala mognaden bland små och medelstora företag samt identifiera företagens utmaningar och efterfrågade stöd för att nå högre mognad. Studiens metod utgår från ett explorativt angreppssätt med en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och använder sig av en abduktiv forskningsansats. Både en strukturerad och en semi-strukturerad intervju används för den empiriska datainsamlingen. I studien intervjuas sju respondenter från olika små- och medelstora företag. Studiens analys undersöker hur företagens digitala mognad och utmaningar ställer sig mot teorier rörande digitalisering, digital mognad och digitala mognadsmodeller. Diskussionen belyser att de mer mjuka värdena som ledarskap, strategi och visionsarbete samt kompetensutveckling är utmanande för små och medelstora bolag. Dessutom diskuteras att små och medelstora bolags förutsättningar och resurser påverkar deras upplevda utmaningar samt vilka stöd som efterfrågas för att höja den digitala mognadsgraden. Studien visar att små och medelstora bolag har olika utmaningar för att nå digital mognad, men att de har viljan att höja mognadsgraden. För att höja mognadsgraden förutsätts att de har egna kapaciteter eller kan få förutsättningar i form av stöd och hjälpmedel för att prioritera transformationsinsatser och anpassa struktur samt kultur internt. / Companies, regardless of size, want to follow the digital transformation and reach a higher level of digital maturity. Because they want to achieve more effective results and gain the competitive advantages of digital transformation. Small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, are affected by digitalization and they are given new opportunities to participate in the global economy compared to before. This study explores the digital maturity of small and medium- sized enterprises and identifies their challenges for reaching higher maturity. Furthermore, the study distinguishes what kind of support SMEs are in need of to be able to raise their maturity level. The study method is based on an explorative approach with a qualitative research method and uses an abductive research approach with two types of interviews in the data collection, structured and semi-structured interviews. In the study, seven respondents from different SMEs were interviewed. The study's analysis examines how the companies' digital maturity and challenges can be linked to theories regarding digitalization, digital maturity and digital maturity models. The discussion highlights that softer values such as leadership, strategy and vision, as well as competence and digital knowledge are challenging for SMEs. In addition, it is discussed that the resources of small and medium-sized enterprises affect the perceived challenges as well as the support needed to increase the digital maturity level. The study shows that small and medium-sized enterprises have different challenges for achieving digital maturity. However, they also have the will to increase the level of maturity. In order to increase the maturity level, they must have their own capacities or get the capacities with external support. Then they will be able to prioritize digital transformation efforts and adapt structure as well as culture internally.

Companies cannot keep up with the change occurring in the ICT arena. As a result of companies being chased by an untamed animal namely IT evolution, they fear that they cannot run, as running feels like floating in air. This ICT evolution has become a fearful sight for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This research project acknowledges this fear and provides a conceptual framework whereby SMEs can familiarise themselves when engaging in ICT investments from a South African point of view. The data collected in this qualitative study is based on ten different SMEs as well as one larger company, to try and obtain a benchmark which SMEs can strive towards. The outcome of this research project allows SMEs to be less fearful when deciding on ICT and seeing how ICT can benefit these organisations. Copyright / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Informatics / unrestricted

The thesis is focused at the measurement of the benefit of modern technologies in relation to sustainable development for companies that are implementing the so-called Key Enabling Technologies, into their production processes. The multidisciplinarity of these technologies and their huge impact on societal and environmental challenges of the current society are the reason, why the companies implementing these technologies have to be assessed differently, more comprehensively. It is also proven within the detailed literature review. The aim of the thesis is to develop evaluation model of the benefit of modern technologies in manufacturing companies that reflects the aspects of the sustainable development. For this purpose, the relevant performance indicators have to be developed. The various statistical methods are applied, especially the structural equation modelling, in order to achieve the goal of the thesis. Finally, the pilot testing of the optimized model is realized on the specific company.

Growing number of SME restaurant and unsustainable food consumption creates a paradoxicaltension in the society from “Environmental sustainability” perspective. This paradoxicaltension requires every organizations to reduce their ecological footprint through minimizingits environmental effects. In Sweden, KRAV, a non-profit organization that sets organicagriculture standards, oversees certification for a variety of industry members, includingrestaurants. Previous research has focused on only CSR issues and only large multinationalfood chains rather than SMEs. While SME restaurants are less powerful on their own but theircollective impact on the environment and society is tremendous. Guided by qualitative data inthe form of semi-structured interviews were collected from SME sushi restaurant owners inUmea, Sweden. Firstly author has identified the motives of owners toward “environmentalsustainability” such as packaging, waste management, procurement, and environmentalcertification. Environmental certification has further classified into two motives one is basedon morality and another one is based on profitability & morality. Secondly, author furtherdiscussed the environmental certification that is based on both morality & profitability into twodimension such as “profitability” & “Legitimacy”. Thirdly, author represent the role of greenmarketing to achieve these two dimensions along with its benefits and challenges. Benefits andchallenges were discussed based on both “environmental certification (KRAV) and “Greenmarketing” perspective. Benefits such as “New customer segment”, “Brand loyalty”,“Competitive advantage” and “higher profitability” in the long run have been identified.Moreover, “Lack of awareness”, “attitude- behavior gap”, “inadequate use of technology”,“costly”, “SME restaurant type”, “unavailability”, “strict rules and restriction” and“insufficient financial investment” have been found as a major barriers or challenges to achieveKRAV certificate (environmental certification) and overall “Environmental sustainability”.With the help of a comprehensive literature review, the motivations and challenges of theseparticipants were identified and explored using a conceptual framework based on“Environmental sustainability” and “Green marketing”.