What kinds of business environmental problems do Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises that invested in Mainland China have faced? On the other hand, what kinds of factors influence the enterprises management in China¡¦s business environment? How do Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises cope with business environmental problems in mainland China? In the past, many studies were mainly to investigate problems of the business environment in mainland China by the way of questionnaire which can only realize where the problem have existed, however, it is hard to understand the environmental states which impact on Taiwan enterprises clearly. Because of special culture and social background in China, a lot of problems interlock and coincide with each other, which can not solve the problem in a systematic way. Furthermore, the way of Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises cope with the business environment in mainland China is related to the role of the owners and how long the owners stay in mainland China. In order to understand how the owners of small and medium-sized enterprises cope with the business environment in mainland China. This study has adapted case study method, a way of qualitative research to collect and analyze data. The propositions are as follows¡G Proposition 1: The basic influence of the business environment in mainland China on Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises is unable to estimate a cost; therefore, it is difficult for the Taiwan enterprise to finance in mainland China, and cause the enterprise unable to plan its future development. Proposition 2: The owners of Taiwan enterprises are often limited to the experience of life and the way of management in the past, this phenomenon causes the misunderstanding of business environment in mainland China. Proposition 3: In mainland China, a lot of problems interlock and coincide with each other, Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises can not solve the problem in a systematic way. Proposition 4: The role of the owners of Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises is the person who solves problems; so it needs to depend on those owners to solve any problems of the business environment in mainland China. Proposition 5: The owners of enterprises must spend whole time and energy on the business, in order to cope with business environmental problems in mainland China. Proposition 6: If the owners of Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises want to overcome environmental impact in mainland China, they need to keep establishing trusting Guanxi with stakeholders.

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This study aims at analyzing and explaining the use of information technology (IT) and its effect on organizational structures in SMEs in Turkey. Today, information technology has come to play a more and more important role in most organizations and especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Researchers give different meanings on the concept of IT as how IT is used or interpreted in organizations. This thesis focuses on the impact of IT on organizational structure. A framework for analysis consisting of four eras of IT use has been developed and forms the basis of research method for analyzing the effects of IT in SMEs. In the framework, the dominant technology actually creates an organization metaphor, which helps to determine how organizational structures will be affected by the use of information technology. The variables to be investigated in the areas of organizational structure are control, specialization, formalization, span of control, communication and collaboration, interorganizational relations. Through a case study of two small and medium sized companies in the electronics and manufacturing industries, it is found that formation of information networks especially external networks has a precise effect on organization structures. The results prove that IT has significant impacts on decentralization, specialization, communication, and interorganizational relations. Also, it is clear that managerial support for IT and IT implementation is found to be a major factor for information technology to be used effectively.

Studies of small and medium-sized enterprises have provided evidence that CEOs of such firms can have a dominating influence on firm activities. Drawing on upper echelons theory, we analyze the influence of CEO personality (CEO internal locus of control), CEO ownership and CEO education on the evaluation of middle manager performance. In line with our expectations, we find evidence for a direct effect of CEO ownership (negative) and CEO education (positive) on the use of objective performance evaluations and for a direct effect of the CEO's internal locus of control on the use of subjective performance evaluations. Moreover, we provide evidence for a moderating role of both CEO ownership and education with respect to the influence of the CEO's locus of control on the use of subjective evaluations. We use a sample of 247 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms to test our hypotheses.

Since Namibia’s independence in 1990, various changes were introduced to the Namibian Income Tax Act. None of these changes were specifically targeting small and medium enterprises although the majority of entities in Namibia can be classified as small and medium enterprises. Recognising the contribution made by small and medium enterprises, Government recently indicated that tax reform for small and medium enterprises should be treated as a priority. Differentiated tax treatment is applied in the United Kingdom and South Africa and aims to reduce the tax burden. Although previous studies have been carried out on differentiated tax treatment for small and medium enterprises, none of these studies were done from a Namibian perspective. The aim of this study is to analyse literature on taxation for small and medium enterprises in the United Kingdom and South Africa to recognize the advantages and disadvantages of tax policies aimed at the small and medium enterprises sector. The study also compared tax policies for small and medium enterprises in the United Kingdom and South Africa to recommend possible implementation for the Namibian tax system. Namibia should learn from these countries and apply the best practices. The study reached the conclusion that tax reform in Namibia for the small and medium enterprises sector is desperately needed and recommends that tax policies aiming at reducing the tax compliance burden should receive preference over those reducing the tax rate burden. This research may serve as the starting point for revised tax policies and legislation specifically aiming at small and medium enterprises. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Taxation / unrestricted

This research focuses on the degree of implementation of modularity and module supply by the automobile manufacturers in South Africa and the benefits they experience. Special attention was paid to the effect the modularity has on the local supplier base and the ability of small South African companies to support this supply concept. Lastly the factors influencing the car manufacturers’ outsourcing decision process was uncovered. The semi-structured face to face interviews with representatives of all light vehicle manufacturing companies operating in South Africa provided rich data for setting the background for further quantitative researches. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study investigates the magnitude of credit contraction encountered by Canadian Small-and-Medium-Sized-Enterprises (SMEs) during the recent financial crisis of 2007-2008. These firms account for an important source of job creation and economic welfare (Haltiwanger et al., 2010); therefore, to ensure the creation and growth of SMEs through a smooth flow of capital is crucial for a healthy economic recovery from the crisis. The empirical observation obtained in this study is contrary to what the theory suggests, as well as what many of the existing studies witnessed (i.e., a financial crisis has a negative impact on SME loan circulations). Using binary probit regression and structural break testing, this work finds that Canadian SME loan approval and application rates were higher during the crisis period. This somewhat counterintuitive result prompts the researcher to search for the possible factors enabling SME credit lending in Canada to retain its health during the time of financial distress, which include: (1) the stability of Canadian banks evidenced by the relatively constant Capital Tier I ratio during the crisis; (2) initiatives the Canadian government implemented as a response to the crisis. This result also raises a question whether the five billion dollars the federal government injected in the SME lending market under the Business Capital Availability Program (BCAP), a measure designed to insulate Canadian SMEs from the liquidity shock, could be justified. This research question will be investigated as a future area of research.

The use of mobile technologies has permeated the business arena rapidly over the last decade. Research has been conducted to understand the nature of these mobile technologies and their adoption into business. With the ever growing importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in countries such as South Africa, there is need to better understand the impact of mobile technologies on SMEs. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of mobile technologies on the business models of SMEs. A theoretical definition of a business model is used to understand the impact of mobile technologies on the customer value proposition, the profit formula, key resources and the value chain of SMEs. The study takes into account some of the challenges that SMEs face, namely limited resources, low levels of productivity and small management teams. SMEs registered with the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business (PCB) are used as a sample to assess the impact of mobile technologies. The results show that mobile technologies have a significant impact on the profit formula and certain aspects of key resources. Specifically, mobile technologies are used to firstly cut costs and then to enhance the utilisation of assets, improve knowledge management while ensuring adequate governance structures. The outcome of this study can be used by SMEs to plan for the adoption of mobile technologies and measure their impact on the business. Mobile technology companies can consider the development of mobile technologies tailored for the SME environment. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of insufficient business planning and good management of SMEs in Gabon have on SMEs’ to survive and grow. Thus, the study examined the relationship between business strategies and SMEs’ organisational sustainability in Libreville (Gabon).The study was a descriptive one which made use of positivist philosophy and adopted quantitative approach. As such a questionnaire which was designed from themes extracted from literature survey was used to gather data from a sample of 30 SMEs. The findings indicated that the lack of business strategy encountered in SMEs in Libreville lead partly to the failure or setbacks of the operation of the organisations. Most common reasons of the failure of SMEs were related to the absence of business plan, the lack of leadership, and lack of appropriate management system. The recommendations are to improve the SMEs in terms of good leadership, importance of business plan, management control system; strategic business management, organisation and employees performance. It further revealed that for the purpose of organisational sustainability, business strategies are regarded as critical aspects to consider for avoiding non-conformances while running businesses. The significance of the study is the framework to identify and optimise business strategies in order to promote successfully SMEs. The study shows the interest of owners of SMEs to set up appropriate business strategies.

This work seeks to explore the critical success factors that influence the success of Indian small business owners in the Tshwane area. To achieve this, the objective of the study is to confirm whether there are significant differences between a successful and less successful group of business owners in terms of general management skills, personal characteristics and entrepreneurial orientation and financing of the business. Through an analysis of theoretical information and empirical results it is possible to facilitate a better understanding of how Indian entrepreneurs operating in small and medium enterprises sustain success, thus enabling learnings that contribute to the body of knowledge relating to entrepreneurship development in South Africa. From the literature it became clear that cultural dimensions have an impact on the entrepreneurial process. The arrival of Indians to South Africa has also contributed to the Indian culture. The characteristics that describe ethnic entrepreneurs and success factors attributed to their success is described. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are crucial for the development of any country as they offer benefits of economic growth and employment generation. The success factors to sustain SMEs are also described. Data was collected from respondents by means of a convenience sample using a structured questionnaire consisting of 28 questions. A total of 106 useable questionnaires were returned, which were then classified into a successful and less successful group, based on the criteria of annual turnover and employment growth. The classification process resulted in the successful group containing 38 respondents while the less successful group contained 49 respondents. The findings of the study indicate that there are no significant differences between the comparable groups in relation to management skills and finance factors. There are, however, significant differences relating to personal factors, such as the level of education, family support and experience. Finally, an important learning is that the Indian entrepreneurs in this study are similar to ethnic entrepreneurs reviewed in literature. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted