This thesis examines empirically the demand for as well as the supply, design and the effects of small enterprise support services in Bangladesh. Recognition of the role of small enterprises in economic growth and development has resulted in promoting institutions for providing support services to these enterprises in most developing countries. From the very beginning, expectations have been very high on the effectiveness of this supply-side intervention in fostering healthy growth of the small enterprises sector. As a result, there now exist numerous agencies, both in the public and private sector, for providing support services. However, the initial high expectations about the effectiveness of these services now seem somewhat over optimistic or, as in some cases, even unrealistic, giving rise to a re-examination of the effectiveness of these services and the institutions involved, particularly between the public and private sector organisations. In the literature, apart from the question of the nature and need for support services from small enterprises, there is also the issue of how these services can be evaluated. To address the issues of evaluation, a framework is developed, bringing together major influences on the evaluation process. The framework was applied to a sample of predominantly manufacturing small enterprises, located in the district of Dhaka - the capital city of Bangladesh. Data were gathered through interviews with owner-managers of the small firms. The study also surveyed major public and private support agencies involved in the small enterprise sector. The findings support a view that, overall, the effect of assistance is low, in terms of growth in sales, employment and value added. Financial assistance, however, seems to have a considerable effect on survival, start-up process, production and sales turnover of small firms. Here, the study underlines the importance of extensive support, comprising financial and non financial components. It uncovered that most firms do not receive the services they need and want. The study confirms the view that an agency - which is private, small, autonomous, closer to its clients in terms of people, processes and structures employed, and provider of financial and non financial assistance - can effectively meet the needs of small firms. Thus, private support agencies are well suited in terms of design and are more effective, perhaps due to their pre-selection of few viable small firms, unlike the public agencies. There is evidence, however, to conclude that public support organisations play a major role in the survival of small firms, usually less attractive to private support agencies. Overall, the study underpins the view that assistance can be a trigger to the development of small enterprises, if it is selective. Evaluation of support services, as the findings suggest, can be done by an exploration of the supply-demand interaction, viewing supply-inputs through a process to ultimate outputs. Finally, the study recommends, among others, a restructuring by formation of partnership between the public and private support agencies for the promotion and development of small enterprises in Bangladesh.

The rationale for this study was the apparent difference between the marketing planning practices of Scottish SME's and the marketing planning practices recommended by management theory. The direction of this study was adaptedf rom two broad objectives: (i) To assess if , how, and why Scottish small and medium sized businesses go about strategic marketing planning; and (ii) To ascertain whether business performance is affected by participation in the marketing planning process. To address the research issues raised regarding marketing planning practice and its link with business performance, a conceptual framework that incorporated elements of the traditional strategic marketing planning process model suggested by the literature and also allowed for the marketing characteristics of SME's was developed. The research design involved a longitudinal survey of 626 Scottish SME's in 1990 and 183 of the same businesses in 1996. This study found that the incidence of marketing planning was significantly linked to business size supporting a number of authors who identify that business size has a direct influence on the nature of marketing and marketing planning practice. The research highlighted differences in the incidence of marketing planning across the three SME size categories. In assessing the planning-performance relationship 4 categories of SME's were defined according to their planning behaviour 1990-1996. These categories were Planners; Non-Planners; Embracers; and Disavowed. Analysis of these groups showed a significant positive relationship between planning and performance providing empirical support to case that marketing planning improves business performance.

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Smulkusis verslas Lietuvoje sudaro ekonomikos augimo pagrindą, kadangi apima apie 99 proc. viso verslo. Jis svarbus ne tik naujų darbo vietų kūrimui, tačiau ir bendrai šalies ūkio plėtrai. Sėkmingam smulkiojo verslo vystymui didelę reikšmę turi inovacijų plėtra. Darbe apibrėžiama smulkiojo verslo bei inovacijos samprata, taip pat aptariama inovacijų svarba smulkiajam verslui Lietuvoje, pagrindinės valstybės taikomos smulkiojo verslo plėtros strategijos ir paramos kryptys. Nors ir formuojamos smulkiojo verslo plėtros strategijos, tačiau vis dar nėra vieningos sistemos tarp mokslo atradimų ir jų praktinio pritaikymo versle. Darbe taip pat analizuojama regionų plėtros svarba. Empirinio tyrimo rezultatais nustatytos pagrindinės smulkiojo inovatyvaus verslo problemos Kauno apsrityje ir jų sprendimo būdai. / Small business in Lithuania compose economical growth base. It includes 99 proc. of all business. It is important not only for establishing new workplaces, but also for all Region economy development. For successful small business growth it is important innovations development. In this work definable small business and innovation conception, also there is discussed about innovation importance in small business in Lithuania. It is discussed about main states political strategies in small business and support trends. Despite that it is formed small business strategies, but still there is no one system between academic discovery and it adaptation in business. In this work it is also analyzed Region importance for Lithuanian country. Empirical research showed main small innovative business problems in Kaunas Region and revealed it solutions.

The research examined the nature of behaviour in relation to the motivations and aspirations of small business owners. The work provides a more comprehensive understanding of business owners' behaviours and their reasons for being in business. The thesis analyses the philosophical assumptions underlying theories and previous ideas on entrepreneurship. It shows that such assumptions guide and/or restrict the process of knowledge construction in the subject. One contribution that the work provides is to develop theoretical frameworks, based on the principles of Social Constructionism, which are used to guide the methodology and field research. The field research, which involved benchmark case studies and critical incident interviews with restaurant business owners, explores and codes narrative data examining behaviours related to entrepreneurship. The results show that the interviewees' reasons for being in business have an important impact on their behavioural strategies. This affects the way they socially construct and relate to their external environment. The thesis is concluded by the presentation of an integrated typology that builds on and adds to existing knowledge in the subject area. The work thus provides a better understanding of small businesses and may better inform business support and enterprise policy.

Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 30 cm.

Thesis (MEd)--University of South Australia, 2001.

Thesis (MBus) -- University of South Australia, 1994

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 1999

Thesis (MBus)--University of South Australia, 2001