In the field of the Total Qualitative Management, like ISO 9000 that enterprises implement. Total Qualitative Management become a model of company, strive for the Total Qualitative Management and reward it as the goal of every company. Recent years, many empirical research results of implementing TQM and their effects on performance have different view points. Some scholars believe that TQM activities indeed have positive impact on firm¡¦s quality and productivity, and reduce production time and then create competitive priorities. The objective of this study is to find out the relationship between TQM practices and business performance, and hope the result of this study could provide some suggestions for the managers.This study sampled 130 the small and medium enterprises manufactures in Taiwan with which had registered ISO 9000 . A total of 130 manufacturing corporations were each sent the questionnaire. There are 129 returned questionnaires, response rate is 99%. The conceptual framework of this study is based on the research model of S.Bruce Han¡BShaw K. Chen¡BMaling Ebrahimpour(2007), that the dimensions of ISO 9000, TQM and Business Performance and significantly correlated.This research adopts the ISO 9000 efforts, TQM practices, competitiveness , and customer satisfaction as business performance of measure perspectives. Using multiple regression analysis, this paper finds that ISO 9000 efforts and TQM practices hasn¡¦t the positive influence to the business performance. Besides, this research finds that the competitiveness and customer satisfaction had positive influences on the business performance. In other words, the firms with high TQM implementation will put more emphasis on competitiveness and customer satisfaction have better business performance.

Background: The globalization of markets, competition in the market place, shareholder activism has compelled firms to rethink their way of doing business. In today’s world stakeholders are placing much emphasis on supplier relationships given that the survival of firms depends on the type of relationship that exists between the supplier and the buying firm. The maintenance of supplier relationships is a complex task due to differences in interest and the opportunistic behaviour which may be on the part of the supplier or the buyer. For this reason, firms have to look out for supplier relationships that can improve their business performance and enhance their competitive advantage. Purpose:     The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship that exists between medical devices manufacturers in Sweden and their key suppliers, and the reasons for establishing relationships. The authors were also interested in knowing how this relationship ultimately leads to improved business performance. Method: The authors used positivist perspective and a deductive approach for this thesis. The sampled firms in this study are Arcoma AB, Baxter and Cellavision and a convenience sampling method was used in selecting the companies. The empirical data for this study was collected through interviews with senior management personnel of the three companies whose head offices are located Lund and Växjö in Sweden. Results, conclusions: The supplier relationships established by Arcoma, Baxter and Cellavision, and their key suppliers was found to be collaborative. The quests to improve on quality, reduce cost and increase the responsiveness of the supply chain are some of the reasons why firms establish collaborative relationships. Establishing collaborative relationships with key suppliers leads to improved operational and financial business performance. Improvements in operational business performance could be in the form of reduction in defects, improved compliance with quality standards, and improvement in delivery reliability and reduced lead times. The benefits to the firms in terms of financial performance stems from cost reduction and the offering of competitive prices in the marketplace which leads to increased market share and revenue expansion.

Microcredits have become a popular way to include poor people in the financial market. Former research on the impact on business performance has provided divergent findings and its impact on the Salvadoran market is not yet investigated. This thesis takes on this problem by analysing and evaluating how the microenterprises in Usulután, El Salvador are affected by the participation in a microcredit program. By using a quantitative method the business performance of a treatment group is compared to that of a control group. The results show that participation in a microcredit program enlarged the enterprise size in terms of sales, total assets and equity, but did not have any significant impact on business profit, marginal return to capital or fixed asset. Regressions are conducted to describe what individual characteristics of the clients are the most important for the business performance. Clients with higher education and male clients over performed other clients.

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) contributes to performance with an outlook on business growth as well as business development and improvement. It is predicted that the failure rate of small, medium and micro enterprises in South Africa is between 70% and 80%. Millions of rands are being lost on new venture creations because of mistakes and problems that could have been avoided. The survival rate of SMME‟s in South Africa is relatively low indicating that less than half of newly established businesses survive beyond five years. There are a number of similar undesired events surrounding entrepreneurs. These events called for a study on entrepreneurial orientation with the aim to improve on the current situation. The South African government Gazette (2009) indicates that small and medium-sized enterprises contribute positively to the South African GDP and it is essential to help these businesses to grow and to develop. The primary objective of this study is to investigate entrepreneurial orientation in small and medium-sized businesses in South Africa and to assess the awareness and application of the five EO-dimensions, in order to ultimately promote entrepreneurial orientation in the entrepreneurial environment so that businesses can be successful and sustainable. The field of study is entrepreneurship with reference to the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on business managers and entrepreneurs, managing and creating South African SMME‟s. The private sector with specifically regard to micro, small and medium sized-enterprises in South Africa is under investigation. The study was carried out on selected product and service suppliers in the region of the North-West and the Gauteng provinces. Only businesses older than one year was considered during the research process due to the fact that most businesses that have not yet reached the first year is still under establishment. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERATION OF Teresa K. Betts, for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Business Administration defended December 14, 2011, 10:00 a.m. 108 Rehn Hall at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: THE ROLE OF COMPETITIVE CAPABILITIES AND STAKEHOLDER PRESSURE IN THE ADOPTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICES AND IMPACT ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Suresh Tadisina This paper examines the underlying effect of manufacturing plants' competitive capabilities and their adoption of environmental practices. A Natural Resource Based View (NRBV) theoretical approach was utilized to develop and test a set of hypotheses surrounding how manufacturing plants with specific competitive capabilities would have a greater likelihood of implementing sets of environmental practices with similar underlying resources and capabilities. Further analysis evaluated how the influence of stakeholder pressures moderated the relationship between competitive capabilities and the degree of adoption of environmental manufacturing practices. Multiple regression results indicate quality and cost competitive capabilities are positively significantly associated with the adoption of specific environmental practices. Further analysis indicates stakeholder pressures do not moderate the relationship between competitive capabilities and the degree of adoption of environmental practices. Unique sets of stakeholder pressures are independent predictors for each set of environmental practices. ANOVA analysis indicates competitive process flexibility capability and product design environmental practices and competitive product innovation capability and product design environmental practices positively significantly impact business performance. This study contributes to the literature by providing insights into competitive capabilities which link to the degree of adoption of specific environmental practices and insights into synergies which may exist between competitive capabilities and environmental practices and their effects on business performance.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Small business faces challenges of surviving amidst competition from established businesses, due to lack of resources and quality management. Hence many of these businesses do not last for long. Small businesses do not only need capital resources to succeed, but need intangible assets as well. These intangible resources are also called Human Capital, and include elements such as education, experience and motivation. This study has limited its focus to only one element of human capital, the experience of the owner or managers of the Supa Quick franchise. This research is undertaken to examine the perceptions of owners and managers on the impact of their experience and the franchise standard operating procedures (SOP) on the success of their franchise business. Furthermore, the study looks at factors that impede business performance, as well as other measures used by owners and managers to measure their business success, besides the normal financial measures used every day. In order to collect data, the qualitative method was employed using a questionnaire which consisted of open- and closed-ended questions in the form of 4 - point Likert scales type questions. The questionnaire was administered to 12 Supa Quick franchise owners and managers in the Cape Town Metropolitan areas and Stellenbosch. The findings indicated that more than 90 % of the studied Supa Quick owners and managers perceive experience as an important factor in influencing their business performance. Furthermore, 100% of them say that franchise SOP play a part in the success of their franchises. However, they have many different ways in which they measure success in their businesses and the factors that impede their business performance. The results of this research add to the current existing literature on improving business performance and success. Also, it will assist in guidance of entrepreneurs who want to start or buy franchise businesses.

abstract: Ever since the registration of private banks was deregulated in Taiwan in 1991, the sector has suffered significant decline in profitability. Facing such a dynamic sector yet vital to domestic economy, what should the banks do to successfully improve their competiveness? As external changes are often unpredictable, the exploration and buildup of internal resources is a critical approach. This article focuses on how to effectively manage internal competition so as to upgrade business performance and accomplish organizational goals. This article discusses the effects of the compensation system and employee incentives on business performance in banking in two areas. First of all, based on the statistics on the banking sector in Taiwan, it explores the regulating effects of different compensation systems on two conflicts in the industry. It also reviews the literature on Conflict Theory. Research shows that when people trust each other, they tend to accept a value statement different from theirs. And our research also shows that trust can minimize task conflict and relationship conflict between team members. Moreover, after identifying the role of compensation structure to trust and task conflict, this article further categorizes the structure into team performance reward and individual performance reward. Analysis points out that when the organization bases compensation payment on team performance reward, the relationship between trust and task conflict is higher than that on individual performance reward. That is, team performance reward better helps to reinforce such correlation compared to individual performance reward. Second, the research studies different forms of employee incentives in Taiwan’s banking sector as well as resulting performance. During the studied period, the majority of the financial institutions preferred cash bonus. In addition, financial institutions also take other incentives. Cash bonus covered the highest percentage, followed by share bonus, treasury repo and transfer, and options in order. We study the ROEs under different incentives and conclude it is higher and more stable in the institutions offering multiple employee shares instead of single method. Whether the incentives are implemented also influence the level of net ROE. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2016

Purpose: This research was designed to contribute to a greater understanding of the characteristics of female entrepreneurs in South Africa by interrogating whether certain elements of their Social and Human Capital impact on their business performance, measured in terms of turnover and business size in terms of employee numbers. Methodology: This was an exploratory study that used quantitative data collection and analysis techniques. The unit of analysis was women business owners in South Africa that fit the criteria of owning and running businesses. The web application Survey Monkey survey tool was used from which the entrepreneurs could access the online questionnaire. The impact of elements of Human Capital and Social Capital on business performance was studied by looking for associations with a number of independent variables including education, social networking, age of business, and age and experience of the entrepreneur. Outcome: Pearson Chi-square test, and generelised linear(GLM) models revealed that Human Capital, does influence the business performance, although only on specific elements of business performance. Social Capital also influences the business performance, although only on specific Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The Market orientation (MO) phenomena have been meticulously studied in the marketing literature for more than three decades. While in the beginning MO had been investigated from a focal form perspective, it has evolved to account for the role it plays in distribution channels or supply chains. However, the perspective taken has consistently been from a focal firm perspective, either about its own or its partners market orientation. This study seeks to extend the theory on market orientation to account for the role that it plays within business relationships (i.e. inter-firm market orientation). IMO was initially conceptualized as the joint activities between the focal firm and its channel partner in joint intelligence generation, joint intelligence dissemination and joint customer responsiveness. This study develops the theory that a business relationship can be either market oriented or not and attempts to explain the effect of this inter-firm market orientation on relationship performance as well as focal firm performance. Specifically, this study asks the question, does inter-firm market orientation mediate the focal firm market orientation – performance relationship?This study was investigated using a two-stage approach. In the first stage, a measurement scale was developed and empirically tested to measure inter-firm market orientation. It was from the scale development efforts that the conceptualization of IMO was refined to include the joint intelligence cooperation and joint customer responsiveness efforts between the focal firm and its channel partners. It appears that the focal firm and their channel partner do not differentiate or separate the activities of intelligence generation and intelligence dissemination. They view it more as a cooperative effort. Additionally, the focus of the intelligence cooperation efforts appears to be more about intelligence collected through market research about end-user customers rather than by speaking with customers directly. Finally, the customer responsiveness efforts appear to be reactively focused rather than both reactively and proactively. The scale development was followed by the second stage where the revised IMO construct was included in a model in which it mediated the often-studied market orientation – performance relationship. A number of hypotheses were developed using various relationship theories such as transaction cost economics, resource-based view, and interaction approach. The model was tested with a sample of 130 informants using a variance-based structural equation modeling technique called partial least squares. The final analysis indicated that all paths were significant and that the IMO and relationship performance constructs partially mediated the MO – performance relationship. These findings suggest that it is important to understand both intra and inter-firm market orientation activities to truly understand their impact on business performance.

In the first part, author is describing theoretical concept of rasing economic performance by using method Six Sigma (basic terms, tools, DMAIC). Then she describes current phenomenon outsourcing. The final part of the master thesis deals with practical implementatin of Six Sigma on a project called Reduction of manually allocated remittances in company Capgemini.