There is growing interest in studying management control practices as a package of interrelated mechanisms, yet few empirical examinations exist to date. This is particularly true for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). There is a wide gap in knowledge regarding the use and choice of control practices that constitute SMEs’ management control systems (MCSs). These gaps limit our understanding of how SMEs gather and interpret accounting information for decision-making and control purposes. This thesis contributes to the management control literature by researching MCSs in SMEs, examining their MCS configurations, the diversity of practices that constitute them, and similarities and differences in their composition and use across organizations. Moreover, the research integrates two theoretical perspectives (evolutionary and behavioural) to examine the alignments between MCSs and organizational characteristics, manager characteristics, and organizational environment. This thesis also contributes to the firm interrelations literature by examining how asymmetric relationships between large buyers and SME suppliers influence the MCSs of SMEs. I undertake a multi-case study of seven SMEs that are suppliers in the Chilean mining industry. Data collection included surveys and in-depth semi-structured interviews with general, financial and operations managers. A combination of deductive and inductive approaches was used in data analysis. Intra-case analysis was followed by inter-case contrast and comparisons. Several steps were followed to ensure rigour. The findings provide insights into the role of MCSs in information and control for decision-making and illustrate how MCSs are constituted of diverse control practices whose use is tailored by firms. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to MCSs in SMEs, as each firm has its unique MCS configuration. I identified three primary forms of MCS configurations across cases, including a comprehensive configuration that has not received attention in the literature. Moreover, the findings show that the MCS serves multiple purposes and is essential for ensuring a firm’s survival. While the overall set of controls may not be a well-integrated system, but rather a package of loosely connected parts, it provides a satisfactory basis for decision-making. There is little evidence to suggest that a more integrated system would be an improvement, as firms aim for MCSs to provide the necessary flexibility and adaptability. The results also indicate that managers influence both the control configurations utilized by firms and the design of their control practices. The cases studied further illustrate how powerful clients can create market mechanisms that influence information and control practices of suppliers through transactions and contracts. The study provides evidence of how control practices support SMEs in undertaking complex management decisions to deal with environments characterized by high uncertainty, unfavourable information asymmetries, and rigid market conditions. This research contributes to the academic literature on MCSs by comprehensively examining MCS configurations and their sources of influence in its contexts. It also brings theory closer to practice by inquiring firsthand from managers and accounting professionals on how their firms develop, design, and implement their MCSs. The results will be informative for policymakers, institutions pursuing the development of SMEs that are suppliers in a natural resources-based industry, as well as accounting and management professionals.

Aim – The aim of this study is to investigate the role that business strategy plays in theimplementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This research will enable us to answerthe questions of why SMEs get involved in CSR and How is CSR implemented/incorporated inthe business strategy of the company?Method – The study is based on an abductive research approach, which enables the theoreticalframework, empirical data as well as the analysis to evolve simultaneously. Information wascollected through semi-structured interviews from four representatives of three companies. Apurposive sampling is used to select the studied companies. Axial coding is used to analyze thedata and draw conclusions.Findings – The study shows SMEs are also very interested in CSR practices. There are severalmotivations behind SMEs involvement in CSR practices. These motivations include: theirinterest in doing good to other stakeholders (fulfillment of personal values), their image andreputation, an increase in employee involvement, and a stronger market position etc. The studyalso shows that business strategy has a significant role in the implementation of CSR.Conclusion – The results of this research show that CSR practices have an explicit noteworthyconnection with SME reputation. Incorporating your CSR strategy and your business strategyhas a positive effect in the implementation of CSR practices.

No / This paper reports on empirical work recently conducted about the use and effectiveness of HRM practices in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). A telephone survey was conducted with 100 senior managers of SMEs to ascertain their use of a range of human resource practices and the extent to which they had found those practices successful in aiding the achievement of company objectives. Additionally in-depth interviews were conducted with senior managers from a further 22 SMEs. Findings suggest that there is considerable diversity amongst SMEs in relation to their use of HR practices. A model is provided that identifies the key criteria that underlie the adoption of HRM practices, and the implications of the model are discussed.

yes / Purpose – Cost reduction through the use of technology has become the competitive strength of companies. The benefits of technology integration are quite credible and have been effective in business competition. The purpose of this paper is to describe an integrated manufacturing strategy for the deployment of a CAD/CAM system in a small, medium manufacturing enterprise (SMME). Design/methodology/approach – A case study of a SMME is utilised in deploying an integrated CAD/CAM system for practical application of manufacturing technology for achieving sustainable growth through lean systems design (LSD). The paper presents a techno-economic and technology change management framework, with an application of a holistic set of lean deployment tools that include establishing a strategic and operational plan for implementing CAD/CAM systems as a means to achieving world-class performance. Findings – The paper shows that the CAD/CAM integration within the case company increased knowledge of CAD/CAM technology, productivity, and flexibility whilst reducing throughput times. Based on the literature review and the current case study, a framework for ideal CAD/CAM implementation has been proposed. The paper also shows that management and organisational structures are key inhibitors for successful implementation of technology integration. Research limitations/implications – The paper uses a single case study to validate deployment of the integrated manufacturing strategy in SMMEs. Hence there is a limitation to its generality. Practical implications – ThepaperprovidesanopportunitytofurtherunderstandCAD/CAMsystem implementation protocols within a well structured framework and its configuration within SMMEs. Social implications – The CAD/CAM implementation framework will allow the SMMEs to achieve Lean manufacturing (thereby minimising wastes) leading to improved growth and employment rates. Originality/value – The presentation of conceptualisation, development and implementation of an integrated CAD/CAM system in support of organisational wide Lean manufacturing initiative in SMMEs is an originality of this paper.

Titel: Motivationer till frivilligt hållbarhetsarbete för SME   Nivå: Examensarbete på̊ grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi   Författare: Emelie Bast och William Henningsson Handledare: Asif M Huq  Datum: 2024 – maj  Syfte: Tidigare forskning visar en ökad trend med CSR aktiviteter bland SME trots att lagkraven inte påverkar dem ännu. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka varför små och medelstora företag (SME) engagerar sig i CSR aktiviteter även om de enligt lag inte är skyldiga att rapportera det. Där fokuset ligger på att öka kunskapen hur SME påverkas av CSRD, utifall CSR aktiviteter är ekonomiskt lönsamt för SME och utifall CSR ger långsiktiga konkurrensfördelar.   Metod: Studien utgår ifrån socialkonstruktivismen med ett hermeneutiskt synsätt med en abduktiv forskningsansats. Studien tillämpar en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi, där studiens empiriska data samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Där respondenterna bestod främst av ägare bland små och medelstora företag inom Gävle/Sandviken. Studien har analyserat den teoretiska referensramen som baserats på tidigare forskning och det empiriska datamaterialet analyserades utifrån studiens teman. Genom den abduktiva forskningsansatsen har författarna pendlat mellan teori och empiri för att besvara studiens syfte.  Resultat och slutsats: Studien tyder på att SMEs ökade kunskap samt kring CSR och CSRD samt implementering av CSR aktiviteter kan ge potentiella fördelar i verksamheten och samhället. CSR arbete bland SME kan ge en positiv påverkan på interna samt externa faktorer inom ekonomiska, sociala och miljömässiga aspekter.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien ger ett teoretiskt bidrag i en ökad kunskap om SMEs motiv samt engagemang till CSR arbete om de inte berörs av lagkrav. Studien ger även ökad information och insikter i SMEs åsikter om CSRD. Studien ger även ett praktiskt bidrag till SME där ökad kunskap samt information kring CSR och CSRD ger en positiv påverkan på verksamheten. Där företag bör implementera CSR arbete där de kan utifrån deras förutsättningar, då det kan ge positiva verkningar i framtiden.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vidare forskning borde fokusera på hur SMEs relation och motiv till CSR kan skilja sig mellan olika branscher samt vilka aspekter som gör att det eventuellt skiljer sig mellan branscher. Vidare forskning bör även replikera denna studie inom några år då CSRD inte riktigt har påverkat SMEs ännu men kommer förmodligen att göra det i framtiden.  Nyckelord: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), hållbarhetsarbete och motivationer. / Title: Motivations for voluntary sustainability work for SMEs  Level: Bachelor's degree thesis in business administration  Author: Emelie Bast och William Henningsson  Supervisor: Asif M Huq  Date: 2024 - may  Aim: Previous research shows an increasing trend of CSR activities among SMEs even though legal requirements do not yet affect them. This study aims to investigate why small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engage in CSR activities even though they are not required by law to report it. The focus is on increasing knowledge of how SMEs are affected by CSRD, whether CSR activities are economically profitable for SMEs, and whether CSR provides long-term competitive advantages. Method: The study is based on social constructivism with a hermeneutic approach and an abductive research strategy. A qualitative research strategy is applied, where the empirical data of the study was collected through semi-structured interviews. The respondents mainly consisted of owners of small and medium-sized enterprises in Gävle/Sandviken. The theoretical framework of the study, based on previous research, and the empirical data were analyzed according to the study's themes. Through the abductive research approach, the authors have oscillated between theory and empirical data to address the study's purpose. Results and conclusions: The study indicates that increased knowledge and implementation of CSR activities among SMEs can provide potential benefits for the business and society. CSR work among SMEs can have a positive impact on internal and external factors within economic, social, and environmental aspects.  Contribution of the thesis: The study provides a theoretical contribution by increasing knowledge of SMEs' motivations and engagement in CSR work despite not being subject to legal requirements. It also provides increased information and insights into SMEs' opinions on CSRD. The study offers a practical contribution to SMEs, where increased knowledge and information about CSR and CSRD can positively impact the business. Companies should implement CSR activities based on their conditions, as it can have positive effects in the future.  Suggestions for future research: Future research should focus on how SMEs' relationships and motivations for CSR may differ between different industries and what aspects may cause these differences. Further research should also replicate this study in a few years, as CSRD has not yet significantly impacted SMEs but is likely to do so in the future.  Key words: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), sustainability work and motivations.

Developing and retaining competitive advantage was a major concern for all companies; it fundamentally relied on being aware of the external environment and customer satisfaction. Modifications of the environment conditions and unexpected economic events could cause of a loss of the level of organisational adjustment and subsequent loss in competitiveness, only those organisations able to rapidly adjust to these dynamics would be able to remain. In some instances, companies decided to geographically co-locate seeking economies of scale and benefiting from complementarities. Literature review revealed the strong support that clusters had from Government and Local Authorities, but it also highlighted the limited practical research in the field. The aim of this research was to measure the dynamism of the cluster formed by the geographical concentration of diverse manufacturers within the Mondragon Cooperativa Group in the Basque region of Spain, and compared it to the individual dynamism of these organisations in order to have a better understanding the actual complementarities and synergies of this industrial colocation. Literature review identified dynamic capabilities as the core enablers of organisation when competing in dynamic environments; based on these capabilities, a model was formulated. This model combined with the primary data collected via questionnaire and interviews helped measure the dynamism of the individual cluster members and the cluster as whole as well as provided an insight on the complementarities and synergies of this type of alliance. The findings of the research concluded that the cluster as a whole was more dynamic than the individual members; nevertheless, the model suggested that there were considerable differences in speed among the cluster members. These differences on speed were determined by the size of the company and their performance in dimensions such as marketing, culture and management. The research also suggested that despite of the clear differences in the level of dynamism among cluster members, all companies benefited in some way from being part of the cluster; these benefits were different in nature depending on each specific members.

<p>Background</p><p>Globalization has opened up new possibilities for firms of all sizes to operate internationally. In that context, especially small- and medium sized companies often have limited resources and market power, which makes efficient relationship building with new intermediaries a key component when entering foreign markets. Therefore, approaching foreign companies and potentially engaging in new business relationships should be a strategic managerial issue.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The main objective is to analyze how Swedish SMEs in the textile industry should approach German buyers in accordance to their preferences, taking cultural differences into account, as well as maintaining and developing the relationship. The focus will primarily be on the on the stages where the initial contact has been made, thus aiming at advancing in the development process. For this to be achieved, Swedish sellers must know what values to communicate to their counterpart.</p><p>Method</p><p>A qualitative approach has been used in order answer the purpose of the thesis. We have gathered our data from ten in-depth interviews; five with Swedish sellers and five with German buyers. The essential part of the data collection was done over telephone.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The most critical components that are found to be vital in developing a successful buyer-seller relationship include trust, satisfaction and commitment with all their related aspects. It was found that the product offer plays a critical role in the Early Stage of the relationship development process. Communication is essential for the building of trust and satisfaction and supplements the actions of commitment shown by the parties. Having an understanding on what values the counterpart appreciates and when these are especially important in the respective stages of the relationship building enables the firm to adapt its relationship marketing to the buyers preferences in a cost efficient and successful way.</p>

This research aims to understand the contributions of inter-organisational knowledge transfer to innovation in SMEs from a social network perspective. The main objective is to identify the impact of the network characteristics on company’s innovation performance. Organisations are embedded in a network of relationships with other companies. They must make the best use of all available resources in order to survive and thrive in today’s competitive environment. However, most of the previous network studies focus on large organisations and studying network effects in the context of SMEs is not well explored. This study sheds light on the relationships between different network characteristics and two different types of innovation performance in High Tech SMEs. In this study inter-organisational knowledge transfer networks were investigated from ego-network perspective. Radical and incremental innovation was identified as specific types of innovation. More specifically this research studied the impact of the structural, relational and nodal properties of inter-organisational knowledge transfer network on radical and incremental innovation performance. In addition to network characteristics, internal capabilities of companies were also identified important. Pentathlon framework was used to capture firms’ innovation management capabilities. A survey instrument was used to collect data from a sample of UK Small to Medium size Enterprises (SMEs). A new innovation measurement instrument was developed to measure different types of innovation from companies’ and customers’ perspectives. The SMEs were chosen randomly from IT and Chemical industry. Inter-organisational relationships were mapped using social network techniques. Path analysis techniques including PLS were used to test the hypotheses of the study. In addition to the statistical method, Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis was used to shed light on different combinations (various configurations) of factors that impact on radical and incremental innovation. This study has made theoretical contributions by identifying research gaps through review and synthesis of literature in innovation and inter-organisational relationships and social network theories. Moreover, a new framework was developed based on the concepts identified in social network and innovation literature. The integration of theories and concepts regarding inter-organisational relationships, innovation and social networks with a view of better understanding of the impact of network characteristics on specific types of innovation is another contribution of this study. This research shows how different network properties can help companies to achieve ambidextrousness, which is vital for organisations’ competitive advantages and long term survival. Moreover, this study reveals that the internal capabilities (innovation management practices) of a firm play a significant role in enabling the company to benefit from its network resources. It shows how different configuration of the internal capabilities and network resources can lead to a better radical/incremental innovation performance. Findings from this research can help managers to adapt their network resources according to their strategies and the level of the innovation that they want to achieve.

Small construction professional services (CPS) firms are recognised as being vitally important to the UK construction industry as much of the professional capacity of the sector resides within these small practices. They rely on the capabilities of small groups of professional employees in delivering their services and so need to ensure their commitment to achieving organisational objectives. Clearly, human resource management (HRM) strategies have a major role to play in managing employee commitment, and yet such strategies have received little attention within the construction management literature. This study investigates the nature of construction professionals commitment within small CPS firms and to develop HRM interventions that foster organisational commitment in small CPS firms. The study adopts qualitative approach to enable gathering of rich data that come directly from the participants involved in the phenomenon. Exploratory interviews with managers of small CPS firms conducted in the early phase of the research helped to identify some of the key strategies and operational challenges related to the management of commitment. Following this, the main data was collected through conducting two in-depth case studies, which included one small quantity surveying practice in the East Midlands, UK, and one small multi-disciplinary practice in the West Midlands, UK. The case studies involve in-depth interviews involving the employer and employees, participation observation and document analysis at the main office of both organisations. Together, these data helped to unravel the nature of the employment relationship within such firms and also to gain a better understanding of how professional employees express their commitment. The findings reveal that professional employees commitment is influenced by a complex range of factors, but that five main HRM levers have a particular influence within such firms. These relate to job design, performance and career management, training and development, reward management and employee involvement. It is clear that a range of factors impinge on the abilities of employers to enact effective HRM strategies. In particular the recent economic crisis and personal problems have both been cited as the main challenges by the employer and employees of both organisations. It highlights the significant importance of managing organisational commitment much more effectively, regardless of the economic climate. Based on the research results a framework for managing professional commitment was developed and validated within a range of small CPS firms. The framework presents a holistic way of accounting for all the issues that influence the development and maintenance of organisational commitment within small CPS firms. Such knowledge is essential to the management of small CPS firms for achieving meaningful improvement in their approach to foster organisational commitment. The key recommendations for the management of small CPS firms is to make sure that every aspect of the job meets the professional employees expectations as well as project requirements and organisational objectives. This includes improving communication by utilising both formal and informal medium of communication, rewarding employees with both monetary and non-monetary rewards and developing employees by providing both on-the-job training and off-the job training. All these HRM practices need to be effectively linked and managed appropriately to collectively foster commitment. In conclusion, the complex nature of organisational commitment raised the importance for the management of small CPS firms to have a structured approach in managing their employees commitment.

The risks and opportunities that climate change presents for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) have been largely overlooked by previous research (Schaefer et al. 2011, Williams & Schaefer 2013). The subsequent lack of knowledge in this field makes a meaningful, profitable and sustainable engagement of SMEs with climate change challenging. Current research has difficulty explaining (1) why SMEs rarely engage with climate change (2) how climate change is currently communicated to SMEs and (3) how SMEs overcome the knowledge gap between business practice and climate change science (cf. Hoffman 2004, 2006, Hart 2007, Goodall 2008). In this thesis I critically examine 31 SMEs which engage with climate change knowledges, 5 Innovation-Support-Organizations (ISOs) which communicate climate change knowledges and 2 business-led communities of practice that discuss climate change-related business practices. Over a three-year period, I explore why and how business leaders approach the knowledge gap between climate change science and business practice, drawing on a variety of ethnographic research methods: (1) in-depth semi-structured and open interviews; (2) participant observations; (3) practitioner's workshops; and (4) an online survey. My research demonstrates that the participating ISOs communicate climate change in an overly simplistic way. The participating ISOs focus on persuading business leaders to engage with climate change. The participating business leaders who hear this persuasive message are already willing to engage with climate change. Their motivations to engage are lay-knowledge-dependent, derived from personal values, space and place identity. What the participating business leaders require is practical advice on how to mitigate the impact of, and adapt to, climate change, and they therefore try to overcome the limitations of current climate change communication through forming and joining communities of practice. By doing this, they can make sense of climate change in specialist niche communities and benefit from social belief systems. To enhance the number of SMEs engaging with climate change, I recommend that the participating ISOs target the personal values of business leaders and actively use these specialist niche communities niches within which the participating business leaders develop business practice to learn about climate change-related business practices themselves. Overall, my PhD shows that to create meaningful, profitable and sustainable engagement with climate change, business leaders and ISOs, as well as governments and society, need to address their "confusion and anxiety about the goals, ambitions and destinies [they] foresee" for themselves (Hulme 2013: 298).