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In Jordan around 98 percent of manufacturing and service sector firms are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while around 80 percent of the Jordanian labour force is employed by S MEs. However, SMEs face considerable difficulties in obtaining sufficient funds, especially from external sources such as commercial banks. This has been recognized in Jordan by the establishment of a loan guarantee scheme in 1994. However, neither this nor any other similar scheme introduced by a developing country has b een fully evaluated to establish its impact and success. The purpose is to evaluate the effects of the Jordanian loan guarantee scheme to establish its role in improving the supply of funds to SMEs, and to suggest policies and procedures for the improvement of the scheme. The methodology for the study is based upon an interview questionnaire survey of 142 Jordanian firms receiving loans from the commercial banks backed by a guarantee. It covers firms in different types of business (manufacture, services, retail and agriculture) and in different locations (Amman, Zarqa, Irbid, Balqa and Aqaba). The study also utilizes interviews with the credit managers of commercial banks participating in the loan guarantee scheme. The thesis is organized around nine chapters including on the Jordanian economy, SMEs in Jordan, a literature review of loan guarantee schemes and the qualitative and quantitative results of the surveys. The main findings are that younger borrowers and newer SME firrns are more able to receive commercial bank ftinding under the scheme than they would otherwise obtain. The scheme also helps firms with uncertain profitability and projects that are traditionally viewed as 'low quality' (e. g. low level of education or female entrepreneurs) to obtain extra finance. These projects have low default rates and do not have high failure rates suggesting a substantial market failure. However, the study finds that the commercial banks tend to use the scheme as an additional source of security in their lending, and do not necessarily lend to riskier projects, as they require similar levels of collateral. Further, the study draws attention to the management of the scheme, so that it needs to be better marketed to the target group and there needs to be better monitoring and follow-up of projects. Lessons could also be leamt from other guarantee schemes, such as in the UK, including the introduction of a premium charge for firms.

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The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of strategic paths to knowledge management in small and medium-sized hotels. This thesis has formulated a path knowledge concept and developed a PathFinder model. The formulation of the path knowledge concept and the development of the PathFinder model are based on an empirical investigation through the conduct of thirteen face-to-face in-depth interviews with owners/managers in small and medium-sized hotels. The interview data were analysed with the use of a purpose-built database and Structured Query Language for data manipulation. This study has identified four broad types of paths to knowledge management in small and medium-sized hotels. A hotel's choice of a path to knowledge management is essentially dependent on two defining aspects, the sources of revenue generation and knowledge management activities. The path knowledge concept reflects the growth visions of small and medium-sized hotels, whe re knowledge management is practised unconsciously as part of the integrated business operation. The PathFinder model represents the intentions of small and medium-sized hotels with regard to certain paths to knowledge management as influenced by various internal and external resources. The model provides strategic level decision making options for knowledge management and the basis for the development of future additions.

The process of internationalization has been one of the major areas of interest for researchers for over four decades. The phase that precedes internationalization for firms, known as the pre-internationalization phase, has also been of interest to study. Firms that are in this early stage of becoming international, are characterized by being active only in the domestic market but with intentions to expand. However, within this phase, little is known about the stimuli that affect firms to expand their operations to foreign markets. By combining the traditional theories of the drivers and barriers to internationalize, with the new theories concerning the entrepreneurial influence in small and young firms, this study serves to complement a particular research gap in the pre-internationalization phase. The purpose of this study is to describe the pre-internationalization phase of SMEs, analyze how drivers, barriers and entrepreneurial characteristics of managers affect the decision to internationalize and to contribute to a further understanding of the research gap in the preinternationalization phase. A deductive research approach and a qualitative research method have been chosen for this study. In this way, in-depth answers can provide understanding to a phenomenon that is still partly undiscovered. To increase understanding in a broader environment than within one organization the multiple case study design is used for this study. Therefore, three managers from different firms participated in interviews, which is the basis for the empirical data. When the empirical data is combined with relevant theories it provides a basis for the analysis where the effects of drivers, barriers and international entrepreneurship are evaluated. This analysis provides a foundation for the conclusion that it is a necessity to combine traditional and new theories, with further empirical research, to fully understand why young domestic small and medium-sized enterprises decide to internationalize. When these are put together, it is possible to establish that barriers that are neglected by entrepreneurs are seemingly small impediments, in comparison to the drivers to reach success and the entrepreneurial urge to expand.

This thesis comprehensively explores the credit risk of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) using transactional characteristics, financial variables and market information. It contributes SMEs credit risk modelling by exploring a range of soft features, such as management capability, industrial sectors, entity type, etc. It is the first study of investigating the concept of management capability through quantitative transactional information. Firstly, models are proposed to assess the credit risk of SMEs by identifying the significant factors. To fulfill this, two studies are carried out. In the first study, logistic regression, survival analysis and ordinal regression are used to model the relationship between transformed financial variables and probability of default. Both the traditional AUROC measure and Hand Statistic are used to evaluate the performances of the models, and they both indicate that logistic regression on weights of evidence transformed data yields the best prediction. Survival model takes an extra element of the time dimension into consideration. Ordinal regression performs poorly possibly due to impact of sample sizes. The factors appeared with highest frequencies are ratios associated with liquidity and growth. The other study predicts the credit risk (‘good’ ‘bad’ and ‘indeterminate’) of the SMEs using transactional characteristics. 35000 SMEs are clustered by different clustering algorithms. It is notably found that most ‘indeterminate’ observations are clustered with ‘bad’ observation, which is different from industry habit of combining ‘indeterminate’ and ‘good’. Logistic regression performs better than ordinal regression according to AUROC measure. In addition, some key points raised in focus group interview with bank managers are seen in the modelling process as significant variables, such as sector belonging to, entity type, region/location, time associated with bank, and account conduct. Secondly, the informational bases of two major models, which are accounting based credit scoring models and Merton type models, are explored to figure out aspects which affect SMEs’ credit risk. 33 financial variables covering nine financial categories are considered. It employs other modelling frameworks rather than the often-used linear regression, which are linear regression with interactions and the Cox proportional hazard model. It is found that weak relationship exists between these two models. The two major models capture different aspects of corporate information, it is suggested that a hybrid model, which incorporate both sources of information, might be considered to predict SMEs financial health. Thirdly, management capability of SMEs is elicited by applying principal component analysis to their transactional characteristics. Management capability is a qualitative idea, and its manifestation in quantitative variables was not explored in previous research. This study indicates some success in determining management capability. It is found that financial measure (credit turnover and debit turnover) and the performance measure (number of days in excess of the account) could be considered as reflecting management capability. Good management can identify trends at a very early stage and take action to mitigate the issue.

<p><strong>Problem:</strong> There has been a limited amount of study in procurement within SMEs (Quayle, 2002). In general, for all sizes of organizations, the procurement function has often been regarded as a transactional based function and plays a supporting department to the value-adding process. These organizations view procurement as a simple function of the entire firm (Hutchins, 1992). It is more commonly found that procurement in SMEs tend to be fragmented and non-strategic (Zheng et al., 2007).</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this thesis is to investigate innovation in procurement in small and medium-sized enterprises</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> A qualitative research method with an abductive approach was used to conduct this research. A primary and secondary material was gathered from Sensys Traffic AB which was used as a case study in investigating into the innovation in procurement within small and medium-sized enterprises.</p><p><strong>Theories: </strong>The theoretical framework that was utilized in this investigation consisted of procurement processes, strategies, roles, and innovation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> An organization can compete for the present and the future by placing more emphasis and priority within procurement in SMEs, developing the procurement department and employment skills, coordinating and collaborating within both internal and external members, forming 'win-win' relationships with suppliers, and proactively looking for ways to innovate. Furthermore, by specifically looking to innovate within these areas the procurement function can leverage itself and its firm to be able to achieve reduced total cost of ownership and higher quality products/services. These special areas which were outlined by Spray (2009) are new sourcing ideas, new insights, new partnerships and new technologies.</p>

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The research is focusing on small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the German Medical Technology (MedTech) industry and investigates the antecedents and the effects of organizational capabilities on their strategy regarding international ventures. Although there is various research in the field of strategy, internationalisation and SMEs, the impact of existing research in the specific field of German Medtech SMEs is relatively poor while theoretical and empirical findings obtained in another particular institutional context are not yet applicable in other countries or industries. As a consequence, a systematic review of the literature has been conducted. An initial conceptual model was developed, in which significant findings regards country, industry and firm-specific aspects could be identified. The philosophical stand of the researcher and his ontological view as a post-positivist allows both, a qualitative and a quantitative approach. By applying a mixed method approach a focus group discussion provided in depth-knowledge in order to sharpen the initial model. Antecedents, as well as the most important factors related to strategy, were emphasized and further important aspects that focus on capabilities were revealed. With these results, constructs and relationships were modeled and quantitative data from a survey with more than 60 German MedTech SMEs were collected and assessed. This approach led to the finding that factors such as ́market potential ́, ́physical capital ́, ́medical regulations ́ and ́product competitive-ness ́ have the highest influence on the firm ́s strategic approach. ́Organizational learning ́ and ́coordination mechanism ́ have particularly an impact on strategy development, whereas relationship capabilities mediating effect on the strategy-competitive advantage relationship. Firm size and firm ́s experience in international ventures influence a firm ́s internationalisation. The results will serve as a strategic input for SME’s in the German MedTech industry. This research provided a contribution to knowledge that is relevant from an academic as well as from an economic point of view. The findings should help academics, MedTech SMEs, and governmental institutions to understand the decisive factors for internationalisation and the importance to develop specific organizational capabilities in this context. This understanding contributes towards a sound development of German MedTech SMEs in their future internationalisation.

This thesis assesses the role of the Government (in Mexico) and the Foreign Trade Council of Mexico (BANCOMEXT) in the internationalization of Mexican small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in low- and medium-technology industries (LMT), which is the main group of firms serviced by BANCOMEXT-Europe. It also sheds light on the internal and external barriers this organization has identified as affecting the internationalization of these SMEs from developing countries (Mexico) in developed and distant markets (the European Union). To achieve this, a case study was undertaken in the six offices of BANCOMEXT (now PROMEXICO) in Europe: Italy, the UK, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and France. BANCOMEXT is the most specialized governmental organization dealing with the internationalization of SMEs. The story told by the BANCOMEXT officers is analysed from the international business (the Uppsala model and the role of government intermediaries in the internationalization of SMEs), innovation and policy perspectives (the national system of innovation (NSI) approach) and the economic perspective. After the inductive analysis of the interviews undertaken with government officers from BANCOMEXT-Europe, 220 concepts that span the policy, macro, micro and meso levels were identified. The findings suggest that BANCOMEXT-Europe has mainly contributed to the internationalization of LMT-SMEs by the provision of information and by putting these firms in contact with potential clients abroad, but there are some unattended areas in which BANCOMEXT-Europe could expand its activities to contribute to the internationalization of LMT-SMEs. This thesis also uncovered that the SMEs' performance and the scope of BANCOMEXT's activities have been negatively affected by problems of different origins. Some of them are internal to Mexican SMEs, and there are also external barriers of both domestic and foreign origin inhibiting the SMEs' internationalization and explaining their very limited participation in foreign markets. These problems are enhanced by the environmental differences (differences in institutional set-ups) between Mexico and the EU and the geographical distance. In addition, this research provides empirical evidence from a developing country (Mexico) about the pervasive consequences of the lack of governmental support and policies for the internationalization of LMT-SMEs. This research calls for more active participation from the Government and policy makers to contribute to long-term economic growth from the supply side by improving SMEs' competitiveness through interactive learning, knowledge access and knowledge creation, innovation (incremental innovation) and the provision of favourable conditions for the internationalization of LMT-SMEs. Accordingly, a series of suggestions aimed at improving the competitiveness and internationalization of Mexican LMT-SMEs in the EU is also presented.