台灣中小企業林立，我們常聽到在台灣經濟奇蹟背後這些中小企業功不可沒， 《2013 年中小企業白皮書》(2013，頁2)中提及到「2012 年全球經濟受限於歐美先進國家經濟體就業情勢改善遲延，以及財政樽節支出、國際金融動盪，且逐漸 波及新興經濟體發展等影響，整體成長力道減弱，仍延續2011 年的疲軟走勢。 受國際景氣影響甚深的台灣環境，亦持續低迷，惟在內外艱困的環境之下，台灣 中小企業卻有亮眼的表現」。然而中小企業在經營模式上以代工式(OEM)經營為 主的小規模經濟體發展亦受到限制，例如在人力資源課題上就面臨到無法招募及 留住良好的人才、在行銷觀念於財務觀念上相較缺乏能力、生產要素成本持續提 升…等等，都侷限住中小企業的發展。因此中小企業未來如要增強競爭力，勢必 在服務的提供上須做出加值化的動作－也就是利用新方式將技術、產品或服務加 以修正改善以創造出更高的價值，靠成本硬碰硬的廝殺已經愈來愈不可行。 本研究選擇台灣一中小企業硬碟代理商－J 公司為研究對象；J 公司於1990 年設立於台灣台北，早期以貿易商起家並且無特定販賣之產品，後來在因緣巧合 之下，得到了美國威騰電子股份有限公司(WD)的硬碟代理權，其後便將產品主 力放在販售威騰硬碟之上。本研究透過訪談J 公司經營者對WD 硬碟的銷售做 法，搭配邱志聖(2010)策略行銷4C 架構來分析J 公司代理產品銷售的成功經驗。 經過本論文之研究，J 公司目前雖在專屬陷入成本(C4)上碰到困難，但如果能擴 增其他產品線代理、善用其底下服務公司的核心服務能力來創造加值服務，就可 以在未來繼續成長。

Acteurs majeurs du tissu économique, les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) font l’objet d’une attention croissante de la part des économistes depuis plusieurs années. Pour financer leur développement, ces entreprises privilégient le recours à l’endettement bancaire. Or ce mode de financement est générateur d'un risque de crédit, principalement lié à la probabilité de défaillance de l’entreprise. La question de l’évaluation du risque de crédit des entreprises est généralement abordée de manière indifférenciée. Cependant il est possible que les PME internationalisées présentent des caractéristiques spécifiques relatives à leur ouverture sur les marchés internationaux. Nous procédons à une analyse des déterminants du risque de défaillance des PME d’une part, et d'autre part, des risques auxquels elles sont confrontées dans leur processus d’internationalisation. A travers des estimations économétriques sur données de panel, nous montrons notamment que l’augmentation de l’intensité des exportations des PME françaises réduit leur probabilité de défaillance. Une PME internationalisée présente alors un risque de crédit moins important qu'une PME purement domestique. Nous montrons ensuite que cette information doit être intégrée dans la modélisation du risque de crédit, réalisée sur la base de variables financières. Celle-ci est plus performante (dans le sens d'un meilleur pouvoir prédictif)lorsque l’on estime la probabilité de défaillance à l’aide de modèles distincts pour les PME internationalisées et les PME domestiques. Selon ces résultats, l'internationalisation est un facteur important qui devrait être considéré dans la recherche future sur le risque de crédit des PME. / Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) dominate the French business environment making a significant contribution to the national economy. Unsurprisingly, an extensive set of empirical studies explores critical issues that affect SMEs including factors that can reduce the credit risk associated with bank debt. Despite that internationalisation has a number of key characteristics that can influence credit risk, the nexus between internationalisation and credit risks remains underexplored. This thesis aims to address this knowledge gap by examining this nexus for a panel of French SMEs. To do so, the thesis estimates the effect of export intensity of French SMEs on their default probability. Key findings illustrate that internationalisation plays a critical role in decreasing the credit risk. Motivated by these results, the thesis assesses the relationship between internationalisation and modelling credit risk through evaluating the effect of several financial variables on default probability of domestic and international SMEs, separately. Interestingly, the findings reveal that modelling the credit risk of SMEs could be improved by considering domestic and international SMEs separately. According to these findings, internationalisation is one of the most important factors that should be considered in future research in relation to SMEs.

Små och medelstora företag står inför utmaningar med att behålla personal, där job embeddedness theory kan fungera som ett verktyg för små och medelstora företag i deras arbete med att behålla personal. Syftet med studien är att beskriva vad som får personal att vilja stanna respektive lämna i små och medelstora företag utifrån aspekterna 1) relation 2) passform och 3) uppoffringar. Studien grundar sig i en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi, där semistrukturerade intervjuer baserade på teorin job embeddedness lägger grunden för insamlingen av empiri. Studien genomfördes på ett företag inom byggbranschen där nio respondenter, både män och kvinnor, intervjuades. Intervjuerna transkriberades och genomgick en tematisk analys som bidrog till ett antal underkategorier kopplat till job embeddedness theory. Den data som samlats in visar att anställda lyfter job embeddedness theory och dess tre aspekter relation, passform och uppoffringar som betydelsefullt i deras val att stanna. Samtliga respondenter förklarar att goda relationer till kollegor och chef bidrar till deras vilja att stanna kvar inom företaget. Det framgår även att företagets och individens värderingar bör stämma överens, samt att det bör existera en samhörighet för att trivas inom företaget. Anser individen att detta uppfylls tenderar beslutet att lämna företaget att bli omfattande, då personen står inför en uppoffring som för den enskilde individen ses som betydelsefull. Studien visar att kontexten i små och medelstora företag, i kombination med teorins tre aspekter och dess underkategorier bidrar till individens vilja att stanna respektive lämna företaget, baserat på den individuella uppfattningen av vad som får individen att trivas. / Small and medium-sized enterprises face challenges with retaining employees, job embeddedness theory could work as a tool for small and medium-sized enterprises in their work when it comes to retaining employees. The purpose of this study is to describe what makes employees stay or leave a small and medium-sized enterprise from the aspects 1) fit 2) links and 3) sacrifice. The study is founded in a qualitative research strategy where semi structured interviews based on job embeddedness theory which lays a foundation for the collection of empirical data. The study was performed at a business within the construction industry where nine respondents, of which both men and women, were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and went through a thematic analysis that contributed to a number of sub-categories linked to job embeddedness theory. The collected data shows that employees highlight job embeddedness theory and its three aspects fit, links and sacrifice as meaningful in their choice to stay. All of the respondents explain that good relationships with their colleagues and manager contributed to their will to stay within the business. It also appears that the business and the individuals values should coincide, and that solidarity should exist in order to thrive within the business. If the individual perceive that these conditions are fulfilled they tend to see the decision of leaving the business as comprehensive, since the individual is facing a sacrifice that they perceive as meaningful. The study shows that the context of small and medium-sized enterprises, in combination with the three aspects of the theory and their subcategories contribute to the individuals will to stay or leave the business, based on the individual perception of what makes them thrive.

The relationship between Gender Equality (GE) and Sustainability has been analysed for many years, with plenty of studies choosing the angle of the businesses environment to cut in. In addition, SMEs, as the predominant form of enterprise worldwide, are the primary source of employment in most countries. With that in mind, this research scrutinised internal and external drivers to Sustainability Engagement (SE) in Gotland SMEs from a Gender perspective, which presents a probable positive association between GE and SE in SMEs. The study mainly focuses on five female managers’ perceptions of GE and SE, supported by 16 responses to questionnaires. Under the Capabilities Approach (CA) and Dynamic Capabilities theoretical framework, we analyse the specific women managers’ Individual Dynamic Capabilities (IDC) and corporate Dynamic Capabilities, which proves that external and internal factors positively affect corporate SE. The study also introduces a particular psychological model of Social Desirability and Social Approval to delve deeper into female managers sensing mechanisms.

Electronic commerce (EC) has radically revolutionizedtraditional business practices across the globe. It is alsobelieved that EC offers considerable benefits andopportunities for enterprises.Despite the benefits, however, several scholars have shownthat Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have beenlagging in EC adoption. In this regard, this study aimed toexplore the factors that influence EC adoption among SMEsin developing countries, in the context of Kenyan retailSMEs.The study employed a qualitative approach through whichempirical data was collected by semi-structured interviews.The target population consisted of managers/owners of retailSMEs that use some form of EC technology in their businessoperations. The study identified several motivating factors forthe adoption and implementation of EC. Moreover, theresearch used (TOE) framework, the technological,organizational, and environmental (TOE) framework withan added national factor, to study and understand the factorsaffecting EC adoption among SMEs. The study identifiedsome factors ranging from, but not limited to the cost of IT,the benefits offered by EC, compatibility, lack of cleargovernment regulations, the role of managers, lack ofinfrastructure. The study further identified a national factorassociated with the social and cultural context in Kenya suchas the resistance to adopt a culture of purchasing online, lackof trust, lack of IT awareness, national address system, etc.