The focus of this study is to examine the factors that lead to growth in small firms in a Least Developed Country (LDC). The research is based on the manufacturing sector in Ghana. The main objectives of the research are to identify the key variables that lead to small firms' growth and to ascertain the critical barriers that impede growth. A research model which is developed out of an initial exploratory research and existing literature focuses on how the characteristics of the owner/manager, the characteristics of the firm and the business strategy variables interact to affect growth in employment. In addition factors that are perceived to have constrained the growth of the small firms during the study period are ascertained and discussed. To properly test the hypotheses developed a face to face interview survey involving 122 owner/managers of small manufacturing firms is conducted. This resulted in a range of variables that allowed for the construction of a comprehensive multivariate model of small firm growth. A resulting regression model provides about 68 percent of the explanation for the growth of the small firms sampled. It also indicates that the owner/manager characteristics variables offer the most powerful explanation to small firm growth. We find that the owner/manager's growth aspiration is the most influential factor in achieving growth. The other owner/manager characteristics variables that have positive influence on growth are level of education, prior industry experience and entrepreneurial family background. Owner/managers with local experience and/or with other business interests are less likely to achieve faster growth. Foreign owned/managed firms grow faster. Younger and smaller firms appear to grow faster. While firms with multiple ownerships tend to grow at a slower rate than firms owned and managed by one person. Business planning, marketing and export have positive and significant impacts on growth. Other business strategies such as innovations and staff training also have direct relationships with growth but not significant. Some of the main constraining factors to growth are cost of borrowing, lack of access to credit, high cost of inputs, lack of trust within the business community, high bureaucracy, late payments and lack of efficient support system. While the external environment plays important role in small firm growth and development, the behaviours, response and strategies pursued by individual owner/manager are significant factors that determine the rate at which a firm will grow.

Mikroföretag skiljer sig från små och stora företag. Ägaren är en central del i mikroföretag och oftast även den enda beslutsfattaren. Detta innebär att ägaren som person inverkar på de beslut som tas i företaget. I beteendeteori diskuteras objektivitet och rationalitet vid beslutsfattande. Där betonas det att individer har mycket svårt att bortse helt ifrån sig själva. Med andra ord är det de egenskaper och erfarenheter ägaren bär på som utgör grunden för hur man fattar beslut. Detta leder in på uppsatsens syfte vilket är att förklara hur egenskaper och erfarenheter hos ägaren i mikroföretag påverkar användningen av informationskällor vid investeringsbeslut. För att svara på syftet utgick uppsatsen från epistemologin och en positivistisk ansats. En kvantitativ forskningsmetod användes för att utnyttja den korta tidsplan som fanns. Genom en kvantitativ forskningsmetod fanns det möjlighet att samla en större mängd data på kort tid. Detta mynnade ut i en webbaserad enkät som kunde analyseras statistiskt. Resultatet visade att utifrån uppsatsens datamaterial förklarar inte egenskaperna och erfarenheterna hos ägaren i mikroföretag antalet informationskällor de använder vid investeringsbeslut. Det gick inte heller att förklara vilka informationskällor ägarna använder beroende på vilka egenskaper och erfarenheter de har. Däremot visar den att ägarna i mikroföretag är flexibla, innovativa, har kontrollbehov och är riskvilliga, vilket kan vara av värde vid fortsatt forskning. Uppsatsens modell förkastas inte, däremot borde den testas igen. / Micro firms are different from small and larger companies. The owner is a central part of the micro firm and often the sole decision maker. This implicates that the owner as an individual affect the decisions made through the company. Being objective and rational is discussed in behavioral theory, where it is highlighted that for an individual it is very hard to entirely overlook from himself. In other words it is the personal characteristics and experiences of the owner that affects how the company makes decisions. This leads us to the purpose of the dissertation which is to explain how personal characteristics and experiences of the owner manager in micro firms affect use of information sources when making investment decisions. The purpose is answered using a positivistic approach. A quantitative research method was used to take advantage of the short amount of time given. Through a quantitative research approach the possibility to get at big sample was higher. This resulted in a web-based questionnaire that could be analyzed statistically. The result based from the collected data showed that the personal characteristics and experiences of the owner manager in micro firms do not explain the number of used information sources. Nor does it explain which sources of information the owner managers use depending on what personal characteristics and experiences they have. However, it shows that owner managers in micro firms is flexible, innovative, need to have control and are willing to take risk. This finding could be used in future research. The model presented in this dissertation is not rejected; future research could make a contribution by testing it again.

Enligt svensk lagstiftning måste aktiebolag ha en styrelse. Dock skiljer det sig på vilket sätt styrelsen involveras i företags strategiska arbete och hur företagsägare förhåller sig till dess funktion. I små och medelstora företag fyller styrelsen sällan någon reell funktion. När företaget växer blir det dock svårt för en person att ensam klara av att styra och kontrollera bolaget, vilket leder till ett ökat behov av en arbetande styrelse. Tidigare forskning visar att företagsägarens personliga mål ofta avgör den strategiska riktningen i små och medelstora företag. För att kunna bemöta de krav som existerar, behöver därför företagsägaren förstå styrelsens roll och nyttan av strategiskt arbete. Syftet med studien är att utifrån ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv bidra med kunskap om styrelsearbete i små och medelstora företag, samt att undersöka vilka attityder företagsägare i dessa företag har till styrelsens funktion. Studiens empiri har inhämtats från en kvalitativ datainsamling, i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra företagsägare ur tre olika små och medelstora företag. Den teoretiska referensramen berör ämnet bolagsstyrning och de aspekter som anses vara viktiga för ett framgångsrikt styrelsearbete. Studien kommer fram till att kunskapen vad gäller styrelsearbete är relativt låg hos företagsägare i små och medelstora företag, vilket gör att styrelsen inte används på ett effektivt sätt. Kunskapsnivån hos företagsägaren styr också huruvida styrelsen anses som viktig i det egna företaget, samt hur styrelsen arbetar. En annan slutsats som dras är att företagsägarens personliga mål påverkar dennes attityd till styrelsen. Om de personliga målen innefattar tillväxt, har företagsägaren en mer positiv attityd till en arbetande styrelse. Vidare ökar en positiv inställning till en arbetande styrelse sannolikheten att företagsägaren även har en positiv attityd till externa styrelseledamöter. / According to Swedish law, limited companies must have a board. However, it differs in the extent to which the board is involved in a company´s strategic work and how business owners relate to its function. In small and medium-sized enterprises, the board seldom fills any real function. As the company grows, it becomes difficult for one person alone to manage and control the company, leading to an increasing need for a working board. Previous research shows that business owner's personal goals often determine the strategic direction of small and medium-sized enterprises. In order to meet existing demands, business owners need to understand the board´s role and the benefits of strategic work. The purpose of the study is, from a business perspective, to contribute knowledge about board work in small and medium-sized enterprises and to examine the business owners' attitudes toward the functioning of the board. The study's empirical data has been collected from a qualitative data collection, in the form of semi-structured interviews with four business owners from three different small and medium-sized enterprises. The theoretical framework involves the subject corporate governance and the aspects that are considered important for a successful board work. The study concludes that awareness regarding board work, is relatively low among business owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, which means that the board is not being used effectively. The level of knowledge of the business owner also controls whether the board is considered as important in their own company, and how the board works. Another conclusion drawn is that the business owner's personal goals affect his attitude towards the board. If personal goals include growth, the business owner has a more positive attitude towards a working board. Furthermore, a positive attitude towards a working board increases the probability that the business owner also has a positive attitude towards outside directors in the board.

This thesis seeks to determine whether or not the inclusion of an explicit parody exception would be beneficial for EU trade mark law. The thesis presents all the variables that need to be taken into account in the decision, putting a special emphasis in the importance of considering the negative effects that a hypothetical inclusion can have on the consumers of the parodied reputed trade marks as this variable has been widely disregarded among scholars. Moreover, in this thesis it is considered that an explicit inclusion of the parody exception in EU trade mark law might be recommended for cases of non-commercial expression and mixed expression but not for cases of merely commercial expression.

I Skatteverkets fastighetstaxering 2017 infördes ett nytt ägoslag för skogsmark. Mark skyddad av biotopskyddsområde eller naturreservat går nu som ägoslaget produktiv skogsmark med avverkningsrestriktioner. Eftersom detta är ett relativt nytt ägoslag saknas underlag som kan stödja värdering vid fastighetstaxering. Examensarbetet fokuserar på hur fastighetsköpare värderar förekomst av skyddad skogsmark vid fastighetsköp. Det undersöks även hur skyddad skogsmark presenteras vid försäljning hos mäklarfirmor och i skogsbruksplaner. Syftet med arbetet är att få en ökad förståelse för fastighetsköpares värdering av skyddad skogsmark och klargöra hur den skyddade skogsmarken tas i beaktande vid fastighetsköp. Tidigare forskning inom området har bland annat berört naturvärden och nyckelbiotoper. För att få svar på frågeställningarna har två metoder använts: enkätstudie och granskning av prospekt och skogsbruksplaner. Enkäter har skickats ut till privatpersoner som har köpt en skogsfastighet där det finns förekomst av skyddad skogsmark. Fastighetsköparna har svarat på hur deras syn på värdet av skogsfastigheten påverkades av att det finns skyddad skogsmark. Resultatet visar bland annat att marknadsvärdet för naturreservat eller biotopskyddsområde ligger högre än värdet av impediment och lägre än halva värdet av produktiv skogsmark. Granskning av prospekt och skogsbruksplaner har visat att den information som ges inför köp enbart uppgår till att ange att det finns naturreservat eller biotopskydd på fastigheten. Huruvida begränsad information angående skyddad skogsmark kan påverka priset diskuteras i avsnitt 5.2. Valet av metod bedöms inte medföra några etiska risker som behöver tas hänsyn till. Arbetet knyter an till flera miljömål, bland annat det nationella miljömålet Levande skogar. / A new type of classification for forest land was introduced in the Swedish Tax Agency's property taxation of 2017. Forest land protected by biotope protection area or nature reserve is now called productive forest land with forestry restrictions. This is a relatively new type of classification and there is a lack of basis to support property valuation. The thesis focuses on how property buyers value protected forest land when purchasing a property. The type of information that is given to the property buyer is also investigated. The purpose of the thesis is to provide information that can be used when working with valuation of protected forest land with forestry restrictions. Previous research in this field has included, among other things, nature values and key biotopes. Two methods have been used in order to get answers to the thesis questions. Questionnaire survey, and study of estate agent leaflets and forestry plans. The surveys have been sent out to private property owners who have bought a forest property with presence of protected forest land. The property buyers have responded to how they think the value of the forest property was affected by the existence of protected forest land. The result shows, among other things, that the market value of nature reserves or biotope protection area is higher than the value of land with limited growth (e.g. swamps) and lower than half of the value of productive forest land. The study of estate agent leaflets and forestry plans has shown that the information provided for purchases only amounts to stating that nature reserves or biotope protection exists on the property. Whether limited information about protected forest land can affect the price is discussed in section 5.2. The choice of method is not considered to entail any ethical risks that need to be considered. The work connects to several environmental goals, including Sweden's national environmental goal “Sustainable Forests”.

L'objectif de cette recherche est d'établir l'existence d'un lien entre le design du système de contrôle de gestion, implémenté pour son propre compte par un propriétaire-dirigeant de petite entreprise, et les variables de sa trajectoire. Le design du système de contrôle de gestion doit être compris au sens non seulement des outils le composant, mais aussi du contexte dans lequel ils sont mis en œuvre, c'est-à-dire l'ensemble des techniques de management qui ont cours dans l'entreprise. La trajectoire du dirigeant est composée des variables relatives à son itinéraire socioprofessionnel, à sa personnalité, à ses aptitudes entrepreneuriales et à sa projection vers l'avenir.Les études de cas concernent des petites entreprises indépendantes du secteur de l'agencement, dans le Grand-Est, dont le dirigeant est propriétaire.Il résulte que c'est principalement de la variable-clé « logique poursuivie par le dirigeant » dont dépend l'ensemble des correspondances constatées entre le design du système de contrôle de gestion et les variables de la trajectoire. Il est aussi démontré que le système de contrôle de gestion est présent selon une temporalité dépendante du niveau de réflexion ‘stratégique' du dirigeant. / The aim of this research is to establish the existence of a link between the design of the system of management control, set up by the owner-manager of the small firm itself and the variables of his trajectory.The design of the system of management control must be considered not only in the sense of the tools composing it, but also within the context of development, comprising firm's management techniques. The trajectory of the manager is represented by the variables of his social and occupational background, his personality and entrepreneurial skills, but also his prospective capacity.Case study methodology was applied to small independent firms of the area of inside layout, from the East of France, owned by the manager itself.Results show that the key-variable, the logic followed by the manager, fosters all the correlations between the design of the system of management control and the variables of the trajectory. Moreover, the system of management control exists as a function of the temporality - depending on the level of 'strategic ' thinking characterizing the manager.

L’objectif de cette recherche est d’étudier la coopétition dans les petites entreprises. La coopétition est un sujet de recherche depuis vingt ans maintenant. Cette stratégie fait particulièrement l’objet d’un nombre croissant de publications depuis la fin des années 2000. La coopétition apparaît dans la littérature comme une stratégie paradoxale porteuse de performances mais également de risques pour les entreprises. Ces risques peuvent réduire la performance des entreprises ou bien conduire à l’échec de cette stratégie. Un management de la coopétition apparaît donc comme primordial pour bénéficier pleinement des avantanges de cette stratégie. Cependant, la plupart des études ont été conduites dans des grandes entreprises. Nous ne savons que très peu de choses sur la coopétition dans les petites entreprises. De par la spécificité des petites entreprises d’une part, et la multiplication des stratégies de coopétition dans les petites entreprises d’autre part, la recherche sur la coopétition dans ces entreprises présente de forts enjeux théoriques et empiriques. Cette étude cherche donc à expliquer comment fonctionne la coopétition dans les petites entreprises, c’est-à-dire à décrire ses modalités, à en définir un management efficace pour gérer les risques coopétitifs et à en évaluer l’impact sur la performance. Nous mobilisons une approche qualitative et une approche quantitative pour répondre à ces questions en étudiant le cas des agences immobilières en France. Les résultats de cette étude montrent que : (1) la coopétition dans les petites entreprises obéit drastiquement à la Loi proxémique ; (2) les principes d’intégration individuelle du paradoxe coopétitif, de séparation organisationnelle et de co-management des activités communes entre coopétiteurs sont nécessaires pour manager les risques coopétitifs ; (3) la coopétition impacte positivement la performance dans un contexte de petites entreprises. Les résultats montrent tout l’intérêt de la coopétition pour les petites entreprises et contribue à la connaissance de la théorie générale de la coopétition. / The objective of this research is to study coopetition in small businesses. Coopetition is a subject of research for twenty years now. This strategy is particularly the subject of a growing number of publications since the late 2000s. Coopetition appears in the literature as a paradoxical strategy bringing performance but also risks for companies. These risks may reduce the performance of companies or lead to the failure of this strategy. A particular management of coopetition appears as crucial to fully benefit from the avantanges of this strategy. However, most studies have been conducted in large companies. We know very little about coopetition in small businesses. On the one hand, because of the specificity of small businesses, and on the other hand, the proliferation of coopetition strategies in small businesses, research on coopetition in these companies has strong theoretical and empirical issues. This study seeks to explain how coopetition works in small businesses, that is to say, to describe its modalities, to define an effective management of coopetitive risks and to assess its impact on performance. We mobilize a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach to answer to these questions by studying the case of real estate agencies in France. The results of this study show that: (1) coopetition in small businesses to drastically obeys to the Proximity Law; (2) the management principles of individual integration of coopetitive paradox, of organizational separation, and of co-management of joint activities between coopetitors are necessary to manage coopetitive risks; (3) coopetition positively impacts the performance in a context of small business. The results show the advantage for small businesses to adopt coopetition strategies and contributes to the knowledge on the general theory of coopetition.

TAX - LAW RELATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY OF UNIT OWNERS ABSTRAKT OF WORK IN ENGLISH: The thesis deals with the detailed legal analysis of the owners of units created on the basis of the Act on Ownership of Housing and subsequently from January the 1st, 2014 created by the community of owners on the basis of the so-called new Civil Code. This was a large-scale recognition of private law that had an impact on public law and caused the necessary changes to financial, specifically tax laws and related procedural rules. The rights and obligations of the owners of units created by the Act on the Ownership of Housing in Connection with Recognized Private Law and their Coexistence with the Newly Developing Communities after January the 1st 2014 is the pivotal point of this work. The great part is devoted to tax impacts on the community as a legal entity and on natural and legal persons involved in the community, regardless of whether they are owners or administrators. Thesis has analysed report of administration and monetary advances of ownership of housing. Obligations and rights related to the accounting of advancements form a separate part. The basic tax obligations are discussed in connection with the ownership or the administration of one own self or entrusted property. Moreover, the author mention the...

In Nigeria, many small businesses fail before their 5th anniversary. Small businesses make up a major percentage of the businesses in Nigeria and provide jobs for 50% of the populace. The purpose of this qualitative multi-unit case study was to explore the factors required by small businesses in Nigeria to sustain operations beyond the first 5 years. The conceptual framework grounding this study was general systems theory. A review of the literature focused on small business failure and factors required to sustain a business longer than 5 years. Data collection occurred through semistructured interviews of a purposeful sample of 3 successful business owners in Port Harcourt, who described their experiences. Data analysis strategies consisted of using qualitative software, key words, phrases, and codes, which contributed to identifying the following themes: (a) effective strategizing, (b) flexible financial capital management, (c) human capital development, (d) market positioning and sales, and (e) stable power supply. The findings indicated that these 3 small business owners were passionate about starting up their businesses and had the necessary skills to strategize effectively and manage capital, thus sustaining their business beyond 5 years. Information derived from this study may assist small business owners in starting successful companies, that support employees, other companies, communities, and families, contributing to the development of the Nigerian economy.

Small businesses in the United States have a high failure rate, with 50% failing within 5 years. Small businesses also account for 99.7% of U.S. firms and provide 48.0% of employees in the private sector, or 57 million out of 118 million employees. From 1992 to 2013, small firms were responsible for 63% of new jobs generated. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the skills small business owners (SBOs) used to achieve sustainability beyond 5 years in a purposefully selected area of Central Florida. The conceptual framework of human capital theory served to focus this case study on the exploration of skills SBOs used to succeed. Purposeful sampling was used to identify 3 small businesses in the mortgage industry had achieved sustainability beyond 5 years. Data were collected via semistructured interviews conducted in person and via Skype. Interview data were analyzed through inductive coding of phrases and words, and secondary data were collected from participants' company documents, such as lead sheets and goal boards. The findings revealed continuing education and training helped SBOs to increase their skills, communication and community networking allowed SBOs to build relationships, and goal setting and creating plans increased SBOs' business success. The results may contribute to social change because new SBOs can use the data to improve their skills for increased job creation and business, which creates economic stimulation.