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This thesis deals with an evaluation of a project which was financed from public funds. All of the theoretical bases were analyzed in detail focusing on a project management in a small and medium sized companies, management of soft projects and financing from EU funds. A practical part of this thesis is based on this theoretical knowledge. There is described and evaluated a project in a company Gravograf Ostrava, s.r.o. in the practical part. This project dealed with organizing retraining course called Commercial advertising designer - graphic designer and using cutting and engraving plotters. This project is described and evaluated from different points of view and includes suggestions to improve the processes within project management.

Die vorliegende Studie analysiert die Ergebnisse einer bundesweiten Unternehmensbefragung zum Finanzierungsverhalten deutscher KMU. Im Fokus stehen die Verfügbarkeit konkreter Finanzierungsinstrumente für KMU und deren Akzeptanz im Mittelstand. Dies soll die derzeitigen Möglichkeiten und Grenzen des heimischen Banken- und Finanzsystems verdeutlichen. Darüber hinaus werden verschiedene Aspekte des Innovationsverhaltens der befragten Unternehmen beleuchtet. Es zeigt sich, dass die Finanzierung aus erwirtschafteten Gewinnen einen überragenden Stellenwert besitzt. Zudem werden neben dem traditionell verankerten Bankdarlehen, vor allem kurzfristige, flexible, aber teure Kontokorrent- und Lieferantenkredite für Investitionszwecke genutzt. Alternative Finanzierungsinstrumente, wie Mezzanine, Beteiligungskapital sowie auch Kapitalmarktfinanzierungen haben bisher nur eine marginale Bedeutung erlangt. Als mögliche Ursachen hierfür sind mangelnde Kenntnisse und persönliche Vorbehalte auf Unternehmensseite, aber auch die grundsätzliche Nichteignung dieser Alternativen festzustellen. So liegt das nachgefragte Finanzierungsvolumen bei KMU häufig unter den Mindestgrenzen derartiger Kapitalgeber. Staatliche Förderinstrumente, welche vor allem von größeren mittelständischen Unternehmen in Anspruch genommen werden, können dabei nur einen Teilbeitrag leisten, um die Finanzierungsrestriktionen zu reduzieren. Im Bereich der Innovationsfinanzierung zeigt sich daher vor allem bei mittelgroßen Projekten ein besonderer Finanzierungsengpass. / This study analyzes the results of a nationwide survey on the corporate financing behavior of German SMEs. The availability of specific financial instruments for SMEs and their acceptance from an entrepreneurial perspective is investigated. Therefore, the current possibilities and limitations of the domestic banking and financial system are illustrated. Moreover, various aspects of the innovation behaviour of the companies are highlighted. It is shown that funding from earned profits has an outstanding importance. Furthermore, beside the traditional Bank loan, especially the short-term, flexible but also expensive overdraft and supplier credit are frequently used for investment purposes. Yet alternative financing capital such as mezzanine, private equity as well as capital market financing instruments had only a marginal importance. Possible reasons for these findings are on the one hand a lack of knowledge and personal reservations from the entrepreneurial perspective. On the other hand, a general unsuitability of these alternatives partially is noted, e.g. the funding volume from SMEs is often below the requested minimum limits of these alternatives. State subsidies, which are taken mainly from larger SMEs, can only make a partial contribution to reduce these financing constraints. Finally, a special funding shortfall is highlighted for medium-sized project´s in the field of innovation financing.

In der Arbeit werden verschiedene Ansätze zur Erfassung von Unternehmenskultur betrachtet. Darauf aufbauend wird ein eigenes Messinstrument entwickelt, mit dem der Zusammenhang von Aspekten der Unternehmenskultur und des Unternehmenserfolgs erklärt werden soll. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird im Besonderen ein kurzer Überblick über die Operationalisierung und das Untersuchungsdesign gegeben.

The main aim of the thesis (diploma work) was to analyse the current situation in (running) small and medium-size businesses in the region of South Bohemia and to uncover the possibilities of any further development and innovation, and to suggest suitable aid(support) programmes for SMB in South Bohemia. Implicit partial aims were: - characterization of the region of South Bohemia, including SWOT analysis; - evaluation of the importance of of the technology centres and their up-to-now findings and experience

In der Arbeit werden verschiedene Ansätze zur Erfassung von Unternehmenskultur betrachtet. Darauf aufbauend wird ein eigenes Messinstrument entwickelt, mit dem der Zusammenhang von Aspekten der Unternehmenskultur und des Unternehmenserfolgs erklärt werden soll. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird im Besonderen ein kurzer Überblick über die Operationalisierung und das Untersuchungsdesign gegeben.

Purpose - This thesis addresses the lack of research on Performance Management (PM) in Hidden Champions (HCs) due to development and implementation of a HC tailored PM system (PMS) in Action Research Design (AR). A HC tailored strategy map and PMS framework were elaborated to improve the financial and non-financial performance of the HC. Design/methodology/approach - A longitudinal case study with two AR cycles were performed to develop the HC tailored strategy map and framework for the PMS including their implementation using mixed methods data collection. A validated HC tailored strategy map and framework for the PMS implementation are presented. Findings - Findings show significantly increased financial and non-financial performance of the HC. The revenue of the case company increased by 11.6%, the return on revenue increased 3% up to 17%, customer satisfaction grew, throughput times shortened and leadership competencies improved. Findings further show that AR is an effective procedure for HC tailored PMS design and implementation. Research limitations and practical implications - The findings are based on one case study and needs to be tested in other HCs. Findings should be of interest to scholars in the field of PM, as well as practitioners improving financial and non-financial performance. Originality/value -This thesis contributes to knowledge of PM in HCs, and AR, as it provides a validated HC strategy map and framework for HC tailored PMS implementation in a HC. It provides an approach for practitioners to improve financial and non-financial performance in HCs.

Familjeägda företag har oftast en styrelse bestående av ägare och i vissa fall, någon eller några familjemedlemmar till ägaren. Detta kan bidra till att styrelsen inte når sin fulla potential. Ett flertal forskare inom verksamhetsstyrning och familjeföretag argumenterar för vikten av att tillsätta externa ledamöter till familjeföretags styrelser. Detta verkar dock inte vara helt oproblematiskt. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om det är motiverat för ett litet eller medelstort familjeföretag att tillsätta externa ledamöter i sin styrelse. Den empiriska datan har inhämtats dels från en kvantitativ datainsamling i form av en enkätundersökning, dels från en kvalitativ datainsamling i form av sex djupgående intervjuer med ägare av familjeföretag, interna och externa styrelseledamöter samt en person med mångårig erfarenhet av styrelsearbete. En slutsats från denna studie är att externa ledamöter kan innebära en kompetenshöjning som kan vara nyttig för många företag, dock är det viktigt för en ägare av ett familjeföretag att veta vad denne vill få ut av en extern ledamot. Vidare kan externa ledamöter bidra med en objektivitet och ett breddat nätverk vilket talar för att det skulle vara motiverat att tillsätta externa ledamöter i familjeföretag. Samtidigt har dock externa ledamöter en sämre insyn i företaget jämfört med interna ledamöter, och de är därför inte alltid kapabla att fatta de beslut som är mest gynnsamma för verksamheten. / The family-owned companies usually have a board consisting of owners and, in some cases, one or more family members of the owner. Because of this the board may not reach its full potential. A number of researchers in operations management and family business argues for the importance of adding external directors to the family business boards. This may however not be entirely unproblematic. The purpose of this study was to research whether it is relevant for a small or medium-sized family business to appoint outside directors on its board. The empirical data has been collected from a quantitative data collection in the form of a questionnaire, and from a qualitative data collection in the form of six in-depth interviews with owners of family businesses, internal and external board members and a person with many years of experience from board work. One conclusion from this study is that externally appointed directors can bring competence and experience to the board that may be useful for many companies. However, it is important for an owner of a family business to know what they want to get out of an external board member. Furthermore, external members contribute with objectivity and an expanded network, which suggests that it would be relevant to appoint external directors of the family business. However, external board members often have less insight into the company compared to internal board members, and therefore are not always better equipped to make the decisions that are most favorable to the business.

Sedan tidigt 90-tal har internet utvecklats och fått ett större inflytande på marknaden. Web 2.0 har varit en del i den utvecklingen och definieras som en teknologisk infrastruktur som har aktiverat det sociala fenomenet på webben. Web 2.0 har där igenom gett konsumenter en möjlighet att kommunicera med företag via sociala medier. I och med utvecklingen av Web 2.0 kan företag interagera med sina kunder genom nya kommunikationskanaler såsom Facebook, Twitter och Youtube med flera. Sociala medier har en ekonomisk fördel då marknadsföring kan genomföras till en lägre kostnad. Dock menar vissa forskare att sociala medier fortfarande befinner sig i ett embryo-tillstånd då experter tvivlar på dess faktiska betydelse. Att marknadsföra sig online har även bidragit till att teknologiska barriärer minskat, oavsett företagetsstorlek och resurser. Syfte med studien var att mäta små och medelstora företags attityder till och användande av sociala medier. Uppsatsen har genomförts med hjälp av en kvantitativ metod där vi valde att skicka ut en webbenkät till 350 slumpmässigt utvalda små till medelstora företag. Utifrån studiens resultat fann vi tendenser som pekade mot att det var vanligare att B2C företag använder sociala medier. De företag som inte använde sig av sociala medier menade bland annat på att företaget saknade kunskap eller anledning till att använda sociala medier samt att det var för tidskrävande. / For the past twenty years Internet has developed and increased its as cendant on themarket. Web 2.0 has been a part of that development and can be defined as a technical infra structure, which activated the social phenomena on the web and consumers chance to respond and interact with companies through social media. Facebook,Twitter and Youtube are examples of popular social media channels. Social media has economic advantages and can be implemented on a low budget compared to other marketing channels. How ever, some researchers state that social media is still in anembryonic state since experts are having doubts about social media’s actual importance. Online marketing has decreased the technological gap, regardless of company size and resources. The purpose with this study was to measure small and medium sized companies’ attitudes towards and usage of social media. A quantitative method was used for this assignment. A web survey was sent out to a random sample of 350 companies. Based on the results, we could see differences between B2B companies and B2C companies that suggested that users of social media were more common among B2C companies. Companies, which did not use social media,suggested that their company lacked knowledge or reason to use social media. In addition some companies claimed that social media was time consuming.

A crescente influência que a internet tem trazido à população e às organizações do início do século XXI é, certamente, um dos fatos marcantes desta época. Por sua versatilidade e custo relativamente baixo, a internet tem se destacado como meio de comunicação nas mais diversas formas, desde um simples e-mail à transmissão de imagem e som em tempo real. Todo este desenvolvimento não seria possível (pelo menos da forma que se conhece atualmente) se a tecnologia de transmissão de dados via internet não tivesse se desenvolvido a ponto de permitir velocidades adequadas para estas aplicações. Ou seja, evidencia-se a importância da internet em banda larga. No mercado de pequenas empresas (porém, não apenas neste mercado), constata-se que ainda há uma parcela significativa de usuários de internet discada que não aderiram à banda larga. Este trabalho tem o objetivo de identificar os motivos que provocam esta resistência (as chamadas barreiras de adoção). Para tanto, foi feita uma revisão da literatura sobre qualidade em serviço (seguindo a linha de pesquisa de Parasuraman, Zeithaml e Berry) e modelos de aceitação de tecnologia (seguindo a linha de pesquisa de Davis e Venkatesh) com seus respectivos desdobramentos. Baseado nesta literatura, este estudo foi composto de três partes: i) pesquisa qualitativa com um fornecedor de banda larga, ii) pesquisa qualitativa com usuários de internet discada e iii) pesquisa quantitativa com usuários e não usuários de internet. A pesquisa qualitativa com fornecedor foi focada no modelo de lacunas de qualidade (PARASURAMAN et al., 1985 e ZEITHAML et al., 1988). Nesta etapa, foram identificados dois tipos de lacuna: controladas e não controladas. Enquanto as lacunas não controladas são consideradas pouco significativas como barreiras de adoção (podendo, no entanto, estimular o cancelamento do serviço), as lacunas controladas são barreiras bem conhecidas: preço e forma de precificação (fixo versus variável). Como as decisões do fornecedor buscam geração de valor, estas barreiras são mantidas em um nível controlado, procurando-se um equilíbrio entre volume e preço. A pesquisa qualitativa com usuário de internet discada foi focada na UTAUT (VENKATESH et al., 2003). Teve o objetivo de avaliar qualitativamente as percepções de usuários de internet discada sobre o serviço de internet banda larga, à luz das dimensões de expectativa de desempenho, expectativa de esforço, condições facilitadoras e influência social. Neta etapa, identificou-se claramente uma barreira na percepção de valor (custo/benefício) por parte dos potenciais clientes. A pesquisa quantitativa também foi focada na UTAUT, mas com algumas adaptações ao contexto. Foram identificados como fatores relevantes para diferenciar os usuários dos não usuários de banda larga: intenção de comportamento, viabilidade (construto análogo às ?condições facilitadoras? da UTAUT original) e influência social. O resultado esperado (análogo à ?expectativa de desempenho?) não foi significativo na diferenciação dos dois públicos, contrariando uma forte hipótese da UTAUT. Por fim, o fator de facilidade esperada (análogo à ?expectativa de esforço?) também apareceu como não significativo; porém, sob alguns critérios, este fator apresentou sinais de que pode diferenciar os dois públicos. / The growing influence that internet has brought to population and to organizations since the beginning of 21st. century is, certainly, one of the outstanding factors of this time. For its versatility and relatively low cost, internet has been detached as communication means in many different ways, from a simple e-mail to the transmission of image and sound on real time. All this development would not be possible (at least as it is known nowadays) if data transmission technology through internet had not have been developed enough to allow adequate speed for these applications. Thus, it is shown the importance of broadband internet. In small business market (though not only in this market), one can still find significant part of dial-up internet users that have not adopted broadband. This work has the objective of identifying the reasons that lead to this resistance (the so called adoption barriers). For such, a literature review was done about quality service (following the research line of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry) and technology acceptance models (following the research line of Davis and Venkatesh), with its respective deployments. Based on this literature, this study was composed by three parts: i) qualitative research with a broadband provider, ii) qualitative research with dial-up internet users and iii) quantitative research with broadband users and not users. The qualitative research with provider was focused on the quality gaps model (PARASURAMAN et al., 1985 and ZEITHAML et al., 1988). At this stage, two kinds of gaps were identified: controlled and uncontrolled. While the uncontrolled gaps are considered to be lowly significant as an adoption barrier (however, possibly stimulating the canceling of the service), the controlled gaps are well known barriers: price and pricing model (fix versus variable). Since the providers decisions aim value generation, these barriers are kept at a controlled level, seeking for a balance between volume and price. The qualitative research with dial-up internet users was focused on UTAUT (VENKATESH et al., 2003). It had the objective of evaluating qualitatively the dial-up internet users? perceptions about broadband internet, under the point of view of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions and social influence. At this stage, it was clearly identified a barrier of value perception (cost/benefit) by the potential clients. The quantitative research was also focused on UTAUT, but with some adaptations to its context. It was identified as relevant factor for differentiating broadband users and not users: behavior intention, viability (construct analog to the facilitating conditions) and social influence. The expected performance was not significant in differentiating the two publics, against one of UTAUT strongest hypothesis. At last, the factor expected facility (analog to effort expectancy) also appeared as not significant; though, under some criteria, this factor presented signs that it may differentiate the two publics.