This thesis investigates the processes and influential factors affecting the internationalisation of SMEs in manufacturing industries in Malaysia. Internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been widely researched but little is known of how and why internationalisation takes place in developing countries and this lack of evidence in the literature provides strong grounds for this study. Jones and Coviello (2005) suggest investigation of internationalisation should include the broad range of internationalisation theories, such as the Incremental and Rapid internationalisation models, Networking, Resource-based and International Entrepreneurship perspectives. These perspectives examine the awareness, process, driving forces and influential factors relevant to SME internationalisation. Therefore, the patterns and dimensions of internationalisation, including the modes of foreign entry, market selection, triggering factors, awareness of international opportunities were investigated, as were the problems and challenges faced by internationalising firms and the key drivers influencing the internationalisation process. A critical realism paradigm and qualitative method were employed. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 Malaysian experts and 54 Malaysian-based CEOs, owners, and/ or key executives from SME manufacturing industries using a semi-structured interview guide. The data was analysed with the statistical package NVivo 7 and also manually to improve triangulation of the results. The results are largely inductive and interpretive and are presented in qualitative-themes as well as some basic statistical analyses. The findings indicate that interrelated factors influence the internationalisation process of Malaysian SMEs. Various paces, a myriad of entry modes and broad market scopes determine the pattern of internationalisation undertaken. A traditional internationalisation pattern is strongly evident, although some companies exhibited rapid and born global patterns, depending on their industry, products, organisational competencies, knowledge and access to information or because of a change of management. The main drivers of internationalisation centred on key personnel and firm competencies. The study also found that while domestic and global forces motivate internationalisation, aspects of Government policy, procedures and international requirements inhibit the process. More importantly, the findings suggest that networking relationships create internationalisation awareness and provide appropriate pathways to internationalisation for manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia and this is an area where strategies could be improved. The increasing emphasis on the SME sector for enhancing economic and social development in Malaysia means they can make substantial contributions to development and understanding how to improve internationalisation strategies will increase those gains. More transparent government policies and coherence among supporting agencies as well as structured and relevant networks would assist the internationalisation of Malaysian SMEs. Currently, internationalisation processes are constrained by limited resources and difficulty in accessing assistance and supports. This study provides new knowledge and important insights that will benefit manufacturing and other industries in Malaysia and other developing countries.

Organisational learning has been identified as a lasting source of competitive advantage in uncertain environments. Plentiful research has highlighted that knowledge and skills and the capabilities they develop are strategic resources and that effective utilisation of these resources enhances firm innovation and performance. However, in spite of this widespread recognition, family businesses, specifically family SMEs, have not been the subject of previous research exploring the strategic impact of organisational learning on innovation and firm performance. This research, therefore, sets out a theoretical framework drawing upon organisational learning theory and innovation, and explores the strategic links between organisational learning, innovation and firm performance “within” family SMEs and “between” family and non-family SMEs. The study was undertaken in an Australian context using a sample of 222 manufacturing SMEs comprised of 104 family and 118 non-family SMEs. The data were obtained from the Business Longitudinal Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics over the financial years 1995/96 - 1997/98, which provides the most recent available comprehensive longitudinal dataset of SMEs in Australia. The study involved three constructs: organisational learning, innovation and firm performance. Organisational learning was operationalised using commitment to learning, shared vision, and networking. To measure commitment to learning, three variables, employee training, management development, and comparison of performance were used. Shared vision was measured using the presence of formal planning in the firms. Networking was measured using the existence of external networks. The innovation construct was measured using product and process innovation intensity, and firm performance was measured by growth of sales and rate of return on total assets. Data were analysed using two tests: regression analysis and the Chow test. Whereas the former test was conducted to explore the direct and indirect effects of organisational learning on innovation and firm performance “within” family SMEs, the latter was conducted to compare those effects “between” family and non-family SMEs. Our “within” results, concerning the direct effects of organisational learning on innovation found that network relationships positively influenced innovation in family SMEs. With regard to the direct effects of organisational learning on performance, we found that management development and formal planning were positively linked with family SMEs’ performance. Moreover, relating to innovation and firm performance, our research concludes that innovation in family SMEs is positively linked with their performance. In the case of the indirect effect, we found that networks affect firm performance via innovation. With respect to the “between” results, we found that whereas the effects of formal planning and innovation on firm performance of family SMEs were stronger than for non-family SMEs, the effects of employee training and management development on firm performance were stronger in non-family SMEs. Concerning networks, we found a stronger effect of family SMEs’ networks on their innovation than non-family SMEs. Finally, we re-emphasised the necessity of more scholarly studies linking organisational learning with family business characteristics such as familiness, leadership, ownership, social interactions and organisational process.

In today’s technological environment, organizational capabilities for managing change are regarded as important for business survival and growth. In particular, dynamic organizational capabilities have attracted considerable research interest over the past decade. Recently several studies have suggested that dynamic capabilities may be associated with a concept termed organizational fitness. What is not clear in this emerging research stream is whether firms with superior organizational fitness are more likely to prosper than unfit firms. In addition, relatively little attention has been directed toward creating a systemic model of dynamic capabilities that explains organizational fitness. The nature of fitness has been intensively debated in the biological sciences over a period of several decades. A confusing variety of fitness definitions have emerged from this literature. The lack of an agreed definition of fitness has resulted in several streams of research on organizational fitness. As a result of this fragmentation, there has been little progress toward answering the question of how to measure organizational fitness. The fragmentation in organizational fitness literature is problematic, because research into the relationship between organizational fitness and firm performance is not well-advanced. In this study, organizational fitness is defined in terms of organizational capability to produce variation. By defining fitness in this way, the tautological criticisms leveled against existing concepts of fitness are avoided. The definition of fitness proposed here accommodates both an evolutionary learning perspective and a perspective of strategic management, and thus reflects an integrative approach to the concept. A notable feature of the literature exploring organizational fitness is that it has been focused on large corporations. However, a growing body of literature suggests that SMEs are different from large firms and need to be examined in their own right. SMEs are important contributors to business in most countries throughout the world. This study addresses that perceived gap in the literature and asks: What relationship, if any, is there between organizational fitness and business performance for SMEs? Theory is developed and tested here by means of a large sample of SMEs in New Zealand. Two distinct aspects of organizational fitness are identified for SMEs. First, survival fitness is associated with generic combinative capabilities. Second, growth fitness is associated with knowledge assimilation and transformation. SME growth fitness and survival fitness are each found to be positively related to business performance under a variety of contexts. Further, an increase of growth fitness and survival fitness provides a means of alleviating selection pressures for SMEs. That is, dynamic capabilities of knowledge assimilation and integration are found to be positively associated with SME business performance. In contrast to studies that advocate SME development of context-dependent capabilities, the findings of this study suggest an alternative perspective: variable selection pressures can be influenced by SMEs with a high level of survival and growth fitness.

This research focuses on internationalisation and e-commerce in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a significant part of the New Zealand economy. Based on interviews in ten SMEs, this study explores the internationalisation process and adoption of e-commerce in these enterprises. Both phenomena are examined separately to explore relevant issues, followed by consideration of the interrelationship between the two phenomena. Ten case studies of New Zealand SMEs engaged in international business were conducted. Qualitative data was collected in semi-structured interviews with key members of each SME. The interview data were supplemented with secondary data sources, including publicly available information on the firms and their activities. A within-case and cross-case analysis was performed based around the three research foci identified above. The research findings reveal that while there is a high level of confidence among the SMEs studied for internationalisation, e-commerce adoption in these firms was at a medium level of maturity. Facilitators and inhibitors of both internationalisation and e-commerce adoption are presented. A major contribution of the study is the consideration of the mutual effects between the two phenomena, in order to raise awareness of internationalisation and e-commerce in SMEs and their significance for SMEs’ competitiveness.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att belysa faktorer som påverkar SMF:s marknadsföring samtidigt som studien söker att kartlägga innehållsmarknadsföringens tillämpningsgrad hos studieobjekten. Metod: I studien används den kvalitativa forskningsmetoden. Tio telefonintervjuer ut fördes på hälsokostbutiker i Stockholm, Göteborg och Malmö. Urvalsgruppen valdes utifrån ett bekvämlighetsurval. Slutsatser: Innehållsmarknadsföring tillämpas av tre av dem tio SMF inom urvalsgruppen. Metoden anses ha en låg tillämpningsgrad. Studien har framgångsrikt belyst faktorer som påverkar urvalsgruppens marknadsföring med hjälp av den teoretiska referensramen. Dessa faktorer är närverkande som marknadsföringsverktyg, empirisk omvärldskontakt som inlärningsprocess för marknadsföring, slumpmässighet i marknadsföringsplanering och resursknapphet som påverkande kraft i marknadsföringsplanering.

Aim: This research attempts to understand the interrelation between strategy, performance measurement and management systems (PMMS) and human behaviour. Literature and the researcher’s experience suggest that PMMS most of the time do not deliver the expected results. In the specific case the focus is on a medium-sized company in Sweden which has experienced operational troubles with respect to delivery, which in turn has impacted financial performance. The research proposes a toolbox approach to introduce and align strategy, performance management and behavioural aspects. Methodology: The research enquires about how existing performance measurement and management is influencing the behaviour of employees and managers of this organization. The actions taken during the management of the crisis and the results which were achieved are described. The method and methodology are based on constructivism in order to obtain information about the impact of the strategy, performance measurement and management systems and behaviour. Literature research provided significant conceptual frameworks for both the implementation of strategy and consequent measurement and management systems as well as human behaviour in an organizational environment, summarized in a revised conceptual framework deduced from previous research. This research brings these two fields together to examine the interrelation of both within the researched organization. The researcher is part of the system and also influences the participants and this cannot be separated from each other. The research is less concerned with a wider validity due to the uniqueness of the case. The work might be used as reference for researchers and practitioners to compare their specific situation and derive ideas how to approach them. Based on the findings, previous research is validated, and a process introduced which enables the organization to align strategy, performance measurement and management systems and behaviour. To obtain the primary data the research uses a semi structured interviewing method of both individual and focus groups interviews. The primary data is the thematically coded with NVIVO. Results: Literature suggests that the introduction of PMMS and addressing behavioural aspects are widely separate issues. In introducing new PMMS, literature often refers to “creating buy-in” or “engaging” employees but does not advise on how to address behavioural aspects. Behavioural research deals with the motivation of employees but mostly cannot establish a link between performance management and measurement systems and behaviour. In this specific research, it was found that there is validity of motivational theory with regard to human behaviour, which strongly influences the performance measurement and management of the company. The impact of motivators may have opposite effects than expected because in this specific case the PMMS of the corporate office for the local unit did not change but nevertheless financial performance improved significantly. Contribution to knowledge: A conception framework was derived from literature attempting to interrelate Strategy, PMMS and behaviour. The primary research confirmed this framework and partially validated previous research and theories. Based on the findings from literature a revised conceptual framework is proposed to link behaviour to PMMS.

This study addresses public sector intermediaries and their role in facilitating innovation in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea. The primary aim is to understand and address the informational and relational barriers that SMEs face during the innovation process and how these are resolved through interaction. Although the government has been implementing SME support policies for several decades, the Korean National Innovation System (KNIS) has been characterised with six words: ‘strong large firms, weak small firms’. Korean Government policies for R&D have not been effective in enhancing the economic performance and innovative capabilities of SMEs and the ‘low level of competitiveness’ of SMEs obstructs knowledge interaction between firms. Policies directed at SMEs mainly focus on direct support and do not reflect the interactive nature of the innovation process. This mismatch between policy and desired outcomes has led this study to go beyond examining the informational and relational constraints. It analyses the factors influencing successful (or less successful) innovation and asks whether public intermediaries have provided an effective mechanism in resolving innovation barriers (i.e. system failures). Yet, there has been a lack of research into public intermediaries and SMEs within the National Innovation Systems (NIS) framework. The NIS approach is a loosely configured framework and the intermediary literature is fragmented and has rarely been integrated with the NIS literature. Research has tended to focus on specific functions of private intermediaries and far less on the public intermediaries, which have been playing a crucial role in facilitating innovation in Korean industry for several decades. The central focus of this study is on the knowledge interaction process between public intermediaries and SMEs occurring at multiple levels of interaction in the Korean NIS. This study therefore attempts to integrate the NIS concept and the intermediary approach to provide a robust way to explore the knowledge interaction process at meso- and micro-levels. Four functions of the intermediary are constructed to explore how they might influence SME innovation: knowledge facilitation, learning facilitation, knowledge enabling and managing interfaces. Through in-depth analysis of five case studies encompassing firms in mechatronics and IT, this study explicates the knowledge interaction process and influential factors of successful innovation. The analysis addresses a series of issues that the generic NIS concept cannot fully explain: (1) knowledge interaction at meso- and microlevels; (2) multiplicity of relationships and their evolving nature; (3) the role of public intermediaries in a specific cultural context; and (4) the heterogeneity of SMEs with their pre-existing resources and routines. Sociological perspectives especially provide insights for investigating not only the dynamic nature of interactions but also micro-level factors that determine successful interactions and innovation that are largely neglected in both NIS and intermediary studies; e.g. productive combination of competing rationalities, social learning, and the importance of reflexive individuals. Focusing on a modulated NIS concept for public sector intermediaries and SMEs in a Korean context, the study opens the ‘black box’ of knowledge interaction and learning that resolves the barriers, shapes the successful innovation environment and hence strengthens the innovation system. The findings have implications for policy, including the need to establish new policy measures aimed not simply at achieving a set goal but rather at facilitating the interaction process with a long-term view. The study recommends that public intermediaries need to focus on monitoring activities that integrate and support the knowledge interaction process by facilitating ‘associativeness’ among actors. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of the local contexts and SMEs in the innovation process need to be taken into account in designing the programmes, moving away from one-size-fits-all type services.

This research aims to investigate the effects of creolisation (in a manifestation of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity) on consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in a Thai retailing context. In this study, creolisation is the process of cultural crossover that appears when local culture has been influenced and integrated with foreign culture. This doctoral study develops a theoretical and conceptual framework that addresses the main question of how creolisation impacts on Thai fashion consumers, retailers and their supply chain. Based on reviewing literature, there is lack of studies exploring the relationship between creolisation, consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in Thailand. It is expected that the study will complete this gap by providing the empirical findings to the literature. The study was based on the scientific realism position with a deductive (Thai fashion consumers) and an inductive (Thai fashion retailers and their supply chain) approach to gain a detailed understanding of their relationships. This also relates to mixed methods approach, including the three main methods used. Quantitative questionnaire surveys were conducted with Thai fashion consumers, whereas qualitative interviews and document analysis were used to collect the data from Thai fashion retailers and manufacturers. In terms of data analysis, the data from questionnaire survey were analysed by descriptive statistics and multiple-regression analysis, whereas the interviews data and document analysis were analysed by directed content analysis. In particular, the literature review and the findings from qualitative interviews were used to construct hypotheses to be tested in the quantitative analysis. Overall findings were integrated in the interpretation stage based on the suggested conceptual framework. Furthermore, the triangulation approach was considered to validate the research findings on the relationship between creolisation, Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion supply chain management. The study contributes to the extant literature by providing not only new insights into its deficiencies, but also developing a suggested conceptual framework to inform practice. In particular, Thai fashion retailers may have interest in the suggested conceptual framework and apply it in order to enhance an understanding of the relationship between creolisation, consumer behaviour and supply chain management. Moreover, the findings could contribute to the responsiveness strategy in fashion supply chain management. In terms of research methodology, the study also contributes to a methodological foundation of supply chain management research. There is the using of mixed methods approach which integrates a quantitative method and qualitative method in order to investigate the effects of creolisation on consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in Thailand.

The main aim of the thesis (diploma work) was to analyse the current situation in (running) small and medium-size businesses in the region of South Bohemia and to uncover the possibilities of any further development and innovation, and to suggest suitable aid(support) programmes for SMB in South Bohemia. Implicit partial aims were: - characterization of the region of South Bohemia, including SWOT analysis; - evaluation of the importance of of the technology centres and their up-to-now findings and experience

The implementation of environmental management accounting (EMA) in Mittelstand companies is an uncharted area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the ways, benefits, and disadvantages of implementing EMA in such companies. The choice of the approach and method depended on the following reasons: As the observed phenomena took place inside a company and depended on the attitudes of its members, an interpretivist and qualitative research approach was used that regarded a company as a socially constructed entity. The research was executed with a top-down deductive method starting with a literary review (on Mittelstand-like companies using EMA), and leading to hypotheses concerning the research aim. These assumptions were tested in a qualitative case study using a German Mittelstand company from the printing industry. To this end, the study used the company’s files, personal notes from management meetings, and interviews with experts from the focal company offering the deepest insight in the focal company. The analysis found two different results. Mittelstand companies will have trouble with implementing EMA. However, after having done this, they will only experience benefits and no disadvantages. During the EMA implementation there will probably be delays due to lacking expertise, conservative attitudes, and disturbed channels of information among the staff. However, these obstacles can be overcome with external experts guiding the EMA implementation, and with financial resources to pay them. EMA will then enable a Mittelstand company to track the flows of hazardous and harmless physical entities alike and its associated environmental and conventional costs. With this information the strategic management accounting (SMA) will be able to reduce these costs, to develop eco-friendly products, and to increase its resource efficiency, profits and competitiveness. In a Mittelstand company EMA should therefore be placed at the interface of proper accounting and SMA. FCA, ABC, flow cost accounting, input/output analysis, and EBSC seem to be the optimal methods to track and analyse a company’s physical flows and its related conventional and environmental costs. The former cost type depends on the quantities of the resources, with the latter one depending on the production of waste, the excessive use of water, wood, fuel, electric energy, hazardous chemicals and the process they are used in. To capture these costs it is best to use a set of primary metrics (reflecting the quantities of the resources) and secondary metrics (focussing on the flows and dangers of these resources). Measuring environmental costs of hazardous substances is difficult, since the production processes they are used in depend on chancy circumstances like accidents. Instead, it is also possible to use an EMA that only calculates the amounts of wood, water, waste, fuel, and electric energy needed for the use of hazardous substances. After multiplying these costs with a numerical and empirically obtained factor, the related environmental costs can now be measured both accurately and easily. Such a simplified EMA seems to be a promising method for Mittelstand companies with low technical skills.