Tinkamai atliekamos bankų kreditavimo operacijos yra labai svarbios, nes jos padeda nukreipti, paprastai limituotus, šalies piniginius išteklius į dinamiškiausias ir perspektyviausias verslo sritis. t.y. vienas pagrindinių gerai veikiančios rinkos ekonomikos dėsnių. O smulkus ir vidutinis verslas yra ekonomikos varomoji jėga ir socialinio valstybės stabilumo garantas. Šio verslo reikšmės didėjimas tapo akivaizdžiu viso civilizuoto pasaulio esminiu bruožu. Teisinga valstybės politika šioje srityje yra labai svarbus kiekvienos valstybės vidaus politokos uždavinys. Analitikai taip pat sutaria, kad smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtra yra vienas iš prioritetinių Europos Sąjungos ir Lietuvos politikos tikslų. Pirmiausia SVV įmonės yra nuolatinio užimtumo pagrindas – smulkusis verslas tai svarbi priemonė, kovojanti su struktūriniu nedarbu. Antra, didesnis įmonių skaičius duoda postūmį ekonominiam augimui, paskatintam intensyvesnės konkurencijos.SVV įmonės greičiau pajunta rinkos paklausos ir pasiūlos pokyčius, prisitaiko prie jų, užimdamos konkrečias rinkos nišas. Praktinėje dalyje pateikiami tyrimo rezultatai gauti anketinės apklausos būdu iš smulkių ir vidutinių įmonių atstovų. Gauti rezultatai yra interpretuojami bei vertinami, darbo gale pateikiamos tyrimo išvados ir pasiūlymai. / The object of this paper is the crediting possibilities of the small and middle – size lithuanian enterprises.The small and middle business of Lithuania is the garanty of the economics stability and growth.. A risk element always exists in granting loans, so that’s why banks’ must organize rational and will – considered crediting process. Owning to the banks, vacant monetary capital is directed to the most dynamic and perspective business areas, in other words, is converted from idle to functionating capital. The main results of the research are: o the main users of the loans are trade, communication and transport companies; o the main credit market player is Vilnius bank, that takes 48% of the loan market. o the most popular crediting product is big loans ( over 50 000 lt.) with long term period (over 3 year).

Chemical pollution has become an environmental and human health concern. Small and medium-sized enterprises are becoming the focus of environmental researchers, as they have been found to collectively contribute a significant amount of the pollution due to improperly managed chemicals. This case study of Nova Scotia small and medium-sized enterprises aimed to collect baseline information regarding environmental and chemical management including what positive practices were in place, what areas required more assistance, what information is being requested and who should be the focus of information programs. Results indicated that there is significant room for improvement in both the environmental and chemical management practices of small and medium-sized enterprises, even though participants indicated they were employing responsible practices. Participants were however, able to provide multiple suggestions regarding information they require in order to improve their business operations and environmental performance, thereby indicating they are aware improvements are needed.

The expectations’ on companies to take responsibility for their business practices aregrowing. Still, limited research have been conducted on consumer expectation on corporatesocial responsibility (CSR) practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Thereforethe purpose of this study was to investigate how consumers’ expectations of CSR practices inSME’s differ concerning the five areas of CSR; environmental, social, ethical, human rightand labour rights, to provide suggestions on how SME’s could allocate their resources onCSR. This was investigated by a mixed method consisting of a survey and a focus group witha sample of students at Uppsala University. The findings of the study demonstrate that theconsumers have the highest expectations on labour rights responsibility, second highest onethical responsibility, followed by human rights responsibility, environmental responsibilityand finally the lowest expectations on social responsibility. The main theoretical implicationof the study is that the expectations on the social area of CSR differ much from previousresearch and the main managerial implication indicates that SME’s should allocate a majorityof their resources to ensuring labour rights.

Different stakeholders are now showing a higher interest in organisations’ social responsibility than ever before, creating an increased pressure on organisations' sustainability performance. Various researchers (e.g. Emerson, 2003; Lingane & Olsen, 2004) stress that in order to meet this pressure and to achieve a true sustainable development, organisations need to fully incorporate social values through social accounting. Although numerous organisations report on their social impacts (Hahn & Kühnen, 2013), it is often said that small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are lagging behind in terms of sustainability performance (Cassells & Lewis, 2011). A few studies have addressed this by investigating difficulties for social enterprises to conduct social accounting but a research gap is evident regarding practical implications for SMEs in the for-profit sector. Through an embedded case study design of a sustainability network of for-profit SMEs on Gotland, we sought to explain SME managers perception of difficulties and benefits associated with social accounting, and how such attitudes relate to their sustainability practices. Through a triangulation design, surveys and qualitative interviews were applied to determine the relationship between attitudes and actions. A theoretical framework by Thomas and Lamm (2012), based on Ajzen’s (2005) theory of planned behaviour and Suchman’s (1995) typology of legitimacies was used for analysis. The SME managers were found to have a neutral attitude towards social accounting and they all engaged in practical actions rather than social impact measurement or social reporting. Thus, the results reflect consistency between attitudes towards social accounting and actions, i.e. the intention to perform social accounting. The SME managers perceived the difficulties of social accounting to outweigh the benefits of it, and were insecure about their abilities to perform social accounting. The findings of this study could confirm previously found implications of social accounting and further found that the SME managers expected additional difficulties for companies in the service sector and for those without employees.

Worldwide, entrepreneurship is seen as one of the most important solutions to unemployment, poverty and low economic growth. The creation of new ventures and the growth of existing businesses are vital contributing factors to any economy. Women outnumber male entrepreneurs, which have led to a renewed focus on gender entrepreneurship and the development of appropriate interventions for gender–specific groups across the globe. In South Africa, women make up just less than 50% of the entrepreneurial population. There is therefore, considerable scope to improve the number of women entrepreneurs in the economy and the level at which they operate. Literature review in this study highlighted that female business ownership is concentrated primarily in the service industries where businesses are relatively smaller in terms of employment and revenue, as opposed to the technology, construction and manufacturing sectors. Women entrepreneurs want to expand their businesses as much as male entrepreneurs but women have a hard time in obtaining external financing and credibility as business owners. The objective of the study was to explore white and black women entrepreneurs in the Carletonville and Soweto areas and to provide practical recommendations to ensure successful women entrepreneurship in the country. This study had a total of 58 black and white women entrepreneurs that were motivated by factors like the need for independence, confidence in the product/service offered, self– fulfillment and the need for a challenge into owning a business. A typical woman entrepreneur in this study is between the ages 40 to 59 years, is married with an average of one to two children. The woman entrepreneur is fairly educated with an education level of matric and a diploma. But her business is micro or very small with an annual turnover of R50 000 to R500 000. Participating women entrepreneurs are faced with obstacles such as inequality of access to credit, awareness and access to business support, risk averse, lack of focused women entrepreneurship policies from regional municipalities and government, lack of education and training in their business start–up phase. They are faced with obstacles such as awareness / access to business support, gaining acceptance and respect of people, liquidity and other financial problems and lack of timely business information in running their businesses. Women entrepreneurs in this study declared that they need support on factors such as business advice, information, counselling, mentoring, marketing support and women entrepreneurship specific based policies to enhance women entrepreneurship in the areas of Soweto and Carletonville. The study also conducted t–tests to compare white and black women entrepreneurs in the Carletonville and Soweto areas. The t–tests focused on motivational factors to self– employment, obstacles to business start–up and obstacles faced in current business operations. The t–test in this study revealed that black women entrepreneurs rated the following motivating factors: desire to wealth, the need for independence, need for flexible work schedule, need for a challenge, self–fulfillment, to develop my hobby, insufficient family income and ensure high job security more positively than the white women entrepreneurs. In addition, the t–tests also revealed that black women entrepreneurs are affected more than the white entrepreneurs by fear of failure and their perceived inequality of access to credit in their business start–up. Furthermore, black women entrepreneurs, in running their businesses are severely affected by family pressures in relation to gender roles and a lack of awareness of or access to business support more than the white women entrepreneurs. This study offered recommendations such as exposing women in entrepreneurship at a tender age, increasing access to finance and the establishment and enhancement of women entrepreneurs’ organisations like SAWEN, BWASA, and SAWIMA amongst others. The women entrepreneurs’ organisations should embark on campaigns and intensify their marketing strategies amongst others. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Over the past few years there has been an explosion of appetite for entrepreneurship, more particularly from women. Given the numerous barriers faced especially by women entrepreneurs today, there is a pressing need to initiate empowerment programmes to enable them to succeed in their endeavours. There is a need to empower women economically and to create employment opportunities and income generating activities to enable them to survive, prosper and provide support for their families. For the development of women–to–women business potential, women entrepreneurs require support in the form of training in strategic business development, access to credit funds, assistance with marketing skills and product design and development. Starting a firm of one's own may be one way for women to avoid the 'glass ceiling' that has sometimes been argued to exist in established organisations, providing one attractive way for entrepreneurial women to realise their full potential. Small business owners have more freedom to plan their personal schedules and to jungle them to suit their work and family demands which is often an important consideration for women. Entrepreneurs must be flexible and creative to meet the challenges which come along with running their businesses. The importance of a strong, entrepreneurial vision that can lead towards a successful enterprise is often underestimated. Women are disadvantaged by their lower levels of financial literacy and awareness. Access barriers are significant. Opportunities for financial services companies who can provide affordable, appropriate and accessible products to meet the needs of self–employed women are thus limited. Women entrepreneurs are still to overcome key challenges like access to training in international trade issues, operations management and marketing, as well as access to good mentors and mentorship programs. The study concludes that women confront barriers because of their gender and the author or investigator cites previous research that argues that these barriers are a result of socialisation practices, educational experiences, family roles, and networking. Government and all other relevant stakeholders should promote public awareness and ensure that resources for programs to foster entrepreneurship are decentralised. Women entrepreneurs should examine the role that the education system could play in developing entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. In Ekurhuleni region there is an increasing number of women who are required to steer their own businesses, and many are struggling to achieve success. This paper explores women entrepreneurship in the construction and engineering sectors. According to the responses obtained from the study, there are specific skills that entrepreneurs must posses in order to operate and succeed in construction and engineering industries within the Ekurhuleni region and these are communication skills, administration skills, financial skills and interpersonal skills. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Worldwide, entrepreneurship is seen as one of the most important solutions to unemployment, poverty and low economic growth. The creation of new ventures and the growth of existing businesses are vital contributing factors to any economy. Women outnumber male entrepreneurs, which have led to a renewed focus on gender entrepreneurship and the development of appropriate interventions for gender–specific groups across the globe. In South Africa, women make up just less than 50% of the entrepreneurial population. There is therefore, considerable scope to improve the number of women entrepreneurs in the economy and the level at which they operate. Literature review in this study highlighted that female business ownership is concentrated primarily in the service industries where businesses are relatively smaller in terms of employment and revenue, as opposed to the technology, construction and manufacturing sectors. Women entrepreneurs want to expand their businesses as much as male entrepreneurs but women have a hard time in obtaining external financing and credibility as business owners. The objective of the study was to explore white and black women entrepreneurs in the Carletonville and Soweto areas and to provide practical recommendations to ensure successful women entrepreneurship in the country. This study had a total of 58 black and white women entrepreneurs that were motivated by factors like the need for independence, confidence in the product/service offered, self– fulfillment and the need for a challenge into owning a business. A typical woman entrepreneur in this study is between the ages 40 to 59 years, is married with an average of one to two children. The woman entrepreneur is fairly educated with an education level of matric and a diploma. But her business is micro or very small with an annual turnover of R50 000 to R500 000. Participating women entrepreneurs are faced with obstacles such as inequality of access to credit, awareness and access to business support, risk averse, lack of focused women entrepreneurship policies from regional municipalities and government, lack of education and training in their business start–up phase. They are faced with obstacles such as awareness / access to business support, gaining acceptance and respect of people, liquidity and other financial problems and lack of timely business information in running their businesses. Women entrepreneurs in this study declared that they need support on factors such as business advice, information, counselling, mentoring, marketing support and women entrepreneurship specific based policies to enhance women entrepreneurship in the areas of Soweto and Carletonville. The study also conducted t–tests to compare white and black women entrepreneurs in the Carletonville and Soweto areas. The t–tests focused on motivational factors to self– employment, obstacles to business start–up and obstacles faced in current business operations. The t–test in this study revealed that black women entrepreneurs rated the following motivating factors: desire to wealth, the need for independence, need for flexible work schedule, need for a challenge, self–fulfillment, to develop my hobby, insufficient family income and ensure high job security more positively than the white women entrepreneurs. In addition, the t–tests also revealed that black women entrepreneurs are affected more than the white entrepreneurs by fear of failure and their perceived inequality of access to credit in their business start–up. Furthermore, black women entrepreneurs, in running their businesses are severely affected by family pressures in relation to gender roles and a lack of awareness of or access to business support more than the white women entrepreneurs. This study offered recommendations such as exposing women in entrepreneurship at a tender age, increasing access to finance and the establishment and enhancement of women entrepreneurs’ organisations like SAWEN, BWASA, and SAWIMA amongst others. The women entrepreneurs’ organisations should embark on campaigns and intensify their marketing strategies amongst others. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Over the past few years there has been an explosion of appetite for entrepreneurship, more particularly from women. Given the numerous barriers faced especially by women entrepreneurs today, there is a pressing need to initiate empowerment programmes to enable them to succeed in their endeavours. There is a need to empower women economically and to create employment opportunities and income generating activities to enable them to survive, prosper and provide support for their families. For the development of women–to–women business potential, women entrepreneurs require support in the form of training in strategic business development, access to credit funds, assistance with marketing skills and product design and development. Starting a firm of one's own may be one way for women to avoid the 'glass ceiling' that has sometimes been argued to exist in established organisations, providing one attractive way for entrepreneurial women to realise their full potential. Small business owners have more freedom to plan their personal schedules and to jungle them to suit their work and family demands which is often an important consideration for women. Entrepreneurs must be flexible and creative to meet the challenges which come along with running their businesses. The importance of a strong, entrepreneurial vision that can lead towards a successful enterprise is often underestimated. Women are disadvantaged by their lower levels of financial literacy and awareness. Access barriers are significant. Opportunities for financial services companies who can provide affordable, appropriate and accessible products to meet the needs of self–employed women are thus limited. Women entrepreneurs are still to overcome key challenges like access to training in international trade issues, operations management and marketing, as well as access to good mentors and mentorship programs. The study concludes that women confront barriers because of their gender and the author or investigator cites previous research that argues that these barriers are a result of socialisation practices, educational experiences, family roles, and networking. Government and all other relevant stakeholders should promote public awareness and ensure that resources for programs to foster entrepreneurship are decentralised. Women entrepreneurs should examine the role that the education system could play in developing entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. In Ekurhuleni region there is an increasing number of women who are required to steer their own businesses, and many are struggling to achieve success. This paper explores women entrepreneurship in the construction and engineering sectors. According to the responses obtained from the study, there are specific skills that entrepreneurs must posses in order to operate and succeed in construction and engineering industries within the Ekurhuleni region and these are communication skills, administration skills, financial skills and interpersonal skills. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This study explored the processes of innovation among innovative rural manufacturing SMEs by using the narratives of the owner/mangers of case study firms and other actors involved in the innovation process. This was consistent with the ontology of critical realism that was selected which entailed the use of case study method as a tool for data collection. This study makes a number of incremental rather than radical contributions to innovation theory and our understanding of innovation among rural Manufacturing SMEs. The results of this study shows the importance of opinions of owner/managers in the measurement of innovation considering that the majority were either unaware of the need to register their innovation and the lack of support organizations in rural areas who can advice SMEs on the need for patents and the registration process. Regarding the characteristics of innovation in rural areas, the results showed that rural innovative SMEs are likely to be relatively strong in innovations where effects of scale are not yet important but where they can make use of their flexibility and proximity to market demand. The results of this study showed that SMEs received ideas for their innovations from various sources located both within and outside the case study area. The firms then used different approaches to develop their innovations including internalised design and externalised manufacturing, externalised design and internalised manufacturing, and internalised both design and manufacturing. Lastly, rurality did not appear to constrain the processes of innovation since SMEs had developed strategies that enabled them to adapt and adjust to their rural environment in order to remain innovative.

This thesis analyses the ways of strengthening Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey and promoting entrepreneurship in the light of the current EU policies from a holistic approach. Analyses of theoretical framework and exploring the structure of SMEs, existing support policies and the future strategies of both European Union and Turkey are the major stages of this study. This thesis makes critical evaluation of SME policies in Turkey by pointing out their weaknesses, which are supported by the results obtained from the case study conducted on SMEs in Adana. This study also attempts to develop some recommendations in order to eliminate shortcomings of SME policy in Turkey. The main idea of this thesis is that a long term strategy, which should be developed in order to promote entrepreneurship and support Turkish SMEs requires reassessment of the policies and developing effective measures in wide range of policy domains such as, R&amp / D, technology, labor markets, financial markets, education and social policies.