Purpose - Identify the most frequent challenges of growth perceived by micro firms. Design/methodology/approach - The data was collected through 30 qualitative interviews, conducted in April and May of 2011. In addition, the data was analyzed in accordance of the different characteristics of the participating firms to identify patterns of the most frequent challenges of growth perceived by micro firms. Findings - The findings from this research implicates that challenges to grow in micro firms differs from different sectors, if the firms is enrolled within a business incubator or not, and according to the age of the firm. Research limitations/implications - This study may not be global since the research was fulfilled in Sweden. As the institutions and regulations might differ from other countries there are some common nominators that Sweden shares with other nations and regions for instance the financial system. Practical implications - Evidence from this research has shown that time is the most frequent perceived challenge to grow in micro firms, and that time is the foundation of many other perceived challenges. Originality/value - Researchers have stated that empirical findings on what affect micro firms growth has been neglected, the previous studies have been focusing on SMEs rather than micro enterprises.

This study investigates tourism micro firms’ innovative behavior amid the time of global pandemic Covid-19 within the geographical context of Dalarna County in Sweden. Moreover, this study explores the major factors that drive tourism micro firms for innovation during the pandemic. A qualitative approach is adopted to explore and understand tourism firms’ behavior from their perspectives. The results reveal that all tourism micro firms that participated in this research have adopted some changes during the pandemic. However, most of these changes are non-technological and incremental with high market orientation. When it comes to the driving factors behind tourism micro firms’ innovative behaviors, this study finds that tourism micro firms’ innovative behaviors are largely influenced by owner-managers’ personal traits, and the human capitals that tourism firms possess. Besides, the development stage of the firm and the industry where the firm is in can also affect micro firms’ decisions on innovations. In addition, the study identifies that tourism trends stimulated during the pandemic and the widespread ICT can trigger tourism innovation if tourism firms capture the opportunity and take actions on it. Findings of this study can help the regional government and destination management organizations to have a closer look at tourism micro firms’ business behavior during the pandemic, and to have a better understanding of the cause and means of micro firms’ innovation activities so as to provide better support and planning to help them to get back to the new normal.

Abstract   Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to show how the firm-specific resources interact with the institutional context of an emerging country in the case of E-business micro firms. This is done by identifying the factors and investigating the outcomes of those factors which give these firms economic performance from the perspective of the entry, as well as growth. This study aims at extending the knowledge on the entry and strategies of E-business micro firms entering into China. The goal of the study is to answer the research question, “How can firm-specific resources, paired with country-specific institutional context influence the successful entering into China for micro e-businesses?”, and to provide entrepreneurs which desire to internationalize on the Chinese market with a frame of reference and good practices in E-business.   Frame of references: Literature on SMEs and their associated entry modes, institutional context, firm resources and performance was used to develop a theoretical basis for the paper. The research gap was found in the corroboration of these terms in the context of the emerging Chinese E-business market.   Method: This study has adopted an inductive approach and was exploratory in nature. Qualitative case studies were employed to collect and analyze data with regards to micro E-businesses currently active on the Chinese market. The firms found are all foreign to China but active on Chinese soil. To collect primary data, we have used semi-structured interviews. For secondary data, we have used financial data, websites, and firms’ power point presentations. Following, the data was categorized, coded and analyzed according to professional research methods. Because the study is inductive, the literature was linked and discussed in relation to the findings.   Findings: The findings are numerous, stemming from both the analysis of the data, as well as from the coupling of the initial firm-resource findings with the institutional context findings. The discussion and conclusion hold all the findings. Due to their amount, they cannot be presented here in their entirety. However, the two major findings and criteria to be considered in the case of our research questions are: Proposition 1: For micro B2C E-businesses, the tangible resource is less important than the intangible resource. The capability of applying the Chinese market knowledge and experience to the institutional context, and bringing the results into the entry strategy is more important than the tangible resources Proposition 2: In a matured E-business institutional context, a partnership entry mode which requires lower investment is preferable for foreign micro E-businesses and can lead to a higher possibility for success.