The micro and small companies are constituted in an of the pillars that give sustain to the Brazilian economy, be that for your enormous capacity to generate employment or endless number of establishments. These are responsible for great part of the production, commercialization and offer of services placed to the disposition of the society. Today, the number of these small businesses in Brazil are of 5,5 million establishments (more than 90% of the number of managerial units) and they use more than 50% of the formal labor at the country. So big it is the force of this enterprises that wakes up the interest of economical authorities in not just stimulating the creation of new businesses, but, mainly, to already strengthen it those existent with the intention of promoting your survival and your growth. In this sense, this objective research to analyze the small commercial enterprises, constituted in the period from 1995 to 2005 that they are in activity in the municipal district of Nossa Senhora da Glória/Sergipe/Brasil, trying to identify the survival factors and growth. Specifically, search to identify: the characteristics of the small enterprising and of your businesses; the employment generation and income of these establishments; and, the influence of the commercial activity in the local economy. It is an investigation of descriptive exploratory nature, of quanti-qualitative character, based on criteria of sampling probabilística and aleatory simple. The data were collected by questionnaire application semi-structured with open and closed subjects, applied for the author to 54 companies, in the period of May to July of 2009. Among resulted they detach them his the following ones: the micro and small analyzed businesses influence the local economy, they generate employment and they adopt managerial practices that strengthen them and they allow your survival. The principal found problems were: rotatividade of the labor, little knowledge concerning the market, lack of investments in consultoria services, absence of programs of personnel's qualification, besides the inexistence of partnerships among the companies / As micro e pequenas empresas se constituem num dos pilares de sustentação da economia brasileira, quer pela sua enorme capacidade geradora de empregos, quer pelo infindável número de estabelecimentos. Estas são responsáveis por grande parte da produção, comercialização e oferta de serviços colocados à disposição da sociedade. Hoje, o número destes micro e pequenos negócios no Brasil é de 5,5 milhões de estabelecimentos (mais de 90% do número de unidades empresariais) e empregam mais de 50% da mão-de-obra formal no país. Tamanha força destes empreendimentos desperta o interesse de autoridades econômicas em estimular não apenas a criação de novos negócios, mas, principalmente, fortalecer àqueles já existentes com o intuito de promover sua sobrevivência e seu crescimento. Neste sentido, esta pesquisa objetiva analisar os micro e pequenos empreendimentos comerciais, constituídos no período de 1995 a 2005 que estão em atividade no município de Nossa Senhora da Glória/SE, procurando identificar os fatores de sobrevivência e crescimento. Especificamente, busca identificar: as características dos micro e pequenos empreendedores e de seus negócios; a geração de emprego e renda destes estabelecimentos; e, a influência da atividade comercial na economia local. Trata-se de uma investigação de natureza exploratória descritiva, de caráter quanti-qualitativo, baseada em critérios de amostragem probabilística e aleatória simples. Os dados foram coletados mediante aplicação de questionário semi-estruturado com questões abertas e fechadas, aplicados pelo autor a 54 empresas, no período de maio a julho de 2009. Dentre os resultados destacam-se os seguintes: os micro e pequenos negócios analisados influenciam a economia local, geram emprego e adotam práticas gerenciais que os fortalecem e permitem a sua sobrevivência. Os principais problemas encontrados foram: rotatividade da mão-de-obra, pouco conhecimento acerca do mercado, falta de investimentos em serviços de consultoria, ausência de programas de qualificação de pessoal, além da inexistência de parcerias entre as empresas.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-10-17T13:59:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 erikaburkowski.pdf: 845391 bytes, checksum: 14c988927e98f8c13c85ad45e55d0a1c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-10-25T11:59:26Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 erikaburkowski.pdf: 845391 bytes, checksum: 14c988927e98f8c13c85ad45e55d0a1c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-25T11:59:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 erikaburkowski.pdf: 845391 bytes, checksum: 14c988927e98f8c13c85ad45e55d0a1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-27 / Esta dissertação pesquisou 99 empresas localizadas na cidade de Juiz de Fora (MG), buscando identificar um perfil de financiamento das mesmas. Utilizou-se a Análise Conjunta (Conjoint) para identificar as características mais desejadas de um instrumento de financiamento por essas empresas. Realizaram-se revisões bibliográficas acerca de temas como estrutura de capital, finanças comportamentais e trabalhos empíricos realizados em micro e pequenas empresas, além da Análise de Correspondência, para se identificar os atributos das empresas relacionados à decisão de financiamento atual e ideal. Constatou-se que a maior parte das empresas da amostra utiliza financiamentos de curto e de longo prazo; o endividamento total se apresenta próximo a 20% do capital total. A variável ‘novos Investimentos’ foi significativa para os financiamentos de curto longo prazos. As variáveis ‘tamanho’ (medida pelo faturamento), ‘, ‘expectativa de retorno dos novos investimentos’ e ‘fonte de financiamento dos novos investimentos’ foram significantes para financiamentos de curto prazo. Com os financiamentos de longo prazo, estão relacionadas ‘destino do financiamento’, ‘percepção da volatilidade’, ‘expectativa de crescimento’ e ‘intenção de novos investimentos’. Conclusivamente, observa-se adequação da hierarquia de fontes modificada (HOLMES e KENT, 1991) e do modelo de decisão de estrutura de capital em pequenas empresas (MICHAELAS et al, 1998). / This dissertation surveys 99 companies located in Juiz de Fora (Minas Gerais State), searching for patterns in their capital structure. Conjoint Analysis was used to capture the most preferable items in a financing instrument chosen by them. A literature review on capital structure, behavioral finance and empirical works concerning to small companies was made and Correspondence Analysis was used to identify companies attributes related either to the actual capital structure and capital structure preferences. The findings were: most of the companies in the sample use short and long term funds. Debt was nearly 20% of total funds. Variable “new investments’ was significant to the short- and long-term debt. Variables “size” (measured by Net Income), “new investments return expectation” and “funding source of new investments” were related to short-term debt. Variables “application of new funding”, “volatility perception”, “growth expectation” and “intention of doing new investments” were related to long-term debt. Conclusively, evidences of the modified pecking order theory (HOLMES e KENT, 1991) and the capital structure model adequacy in small companies (MICHAELAS et al, 1998) were found.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-18T18:55:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Meire Joisy Almeida Pereira.pdf: 913273 bytes, checksum: b3d256e100b47c3a42696e1234ba82a4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-17 / The evaluation implementation process of the General Law of Micro enterprises and small companies in Boa Vista city. The study falls within the evaluative research field, specifically in the case of an evaluation process. It is analyzed how the state is manifested in the current restructuring capitalist context, particularly in facing the issue of unemployment and informality in labor relation. It discusses the entrepreneurship category as an ideological foundation of the main strategies currently used by the capitalist state to overcome the unemployment and informality in labor relations. Take as reference the empirical implementation of the General Law of Micro enterprises and small companies in Boa Vista city, considering the General Law as a legal instrument that has as one of its purposes the issue of combating unemployment and informality in labor relations by different attendment to micro enterprises and small companies and the institution of the National Simple, single tribute that agglutinates eight spheres of federal, state and municipal taxes. / Avaliação do processo de implementação da Lei Geral das Microempresas e das Empresas de Pequeno Porte na cidade de Boa Vista. O estudo se inscreve no campo da pesquisa avaliativa, tratando-se especificamente de uma avaliação de processo. Analisase a forma como o Estado se manifesta no atual contexto de reestruturação capitalista, particularmente no enfrentamento da questão do desemprego e da informalidade das relações de trabalho. Discute-se a categoria empreendedorismo como fundamento ideológico de uma das principais estratégias presentemente utilizadas pelo Estado capitalista para a superação do desemprego e da informalidade nas relações de trabalho. Toma-se como referência empírica o processo de implementação da Lei Geral da Microempresa e da empresa de Pequeno Porte na cidade de Boa Vista; considerando a Lei Geral como um instrumento legal que tem como um de seus objetivos combater a questão do desemprego e da informalidade nas relações de trabalho mediante o atendimento diferenciado às Micro e Empresas de Pequeno Porte e a instituição do Simples Nacional, tributo único que aglutina oito impostos das esferas federal, estadual e municipal.

For smaller business it is important to have good and concrete data to make decisions because there are no big margins to test and fail or go on intuition. The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how data can be used as a decision-making tool in small business. This paper studies the data two smaller companies collect and how they use the collected data. The study has a qualitative method with interviews which have been used for collecting result. The informants were selected based on their previous knowledge and experience.The collection of data in smaller business is both from internal and external sources that complement each other. It is important to have an understanding and knowledge of the visualizations otherwise it can be misleading. Visualizations are used to find patterns, trends and other affecting factors in the data. Segmentation is used by smaller business to understand their target market, customers and which customers they should direct their attention to. Data-driven decision making uses different sources of information, visualization and segmentation. With data-driven decision making it is important to maintain the overall perspective of the business, while all parts of the business are involved in the process. / För mindre företag är det viktigt att ha bra och konkret data för att fatta beslut eftersom det inte finns så stora marginaler att testa sig fram eller gå på intuition. Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för hur data kan användas som ett beslutsfattande verktyg i mindre företag. Studien undersöker vilken data mindre företag samlar in samt hur de använder den data som samlas in. Studien är en kvalitativ där intervjuer använts för datainsamling. Dessa gjordes på två mindre företag där informanterna valdes ut baserat på deras tidigare kunskaper och erfarenheter.Insamlingen av mindre företagens data sker både från interna och externa källor som kompletterar varandra. Det viktigt att ha förståelse och kunskap om visualiseringarna för att de inte ska bli missvisande. Visualiseringar används för att lättare hitta mönster, trender och andra påverkande faktorer i data. Segmentering används hos mindre företag för att förstå företagets målgrupp, kunder och vilka kunder de ska rikta sin uppmärksamhet till. För datadriven beslutsfattning används olika informationskällor, visualiseringar och segmentering. Med datadriven beslutsfattning är det viktigt att behålla helhetsperspektiv över företaget samtidigt som alla delar av företaget är involverade i processen.

Informationsteknik (IT) har en betydelsefull roll i dagens samhälle och ett av de mest framgångsrika verktygen för att inhämta, bearbeta och bevara data och information är olika typer av IT-system. Studier visar att ett väletablerat IT-system kan möjliggöra kunskapsöverföring inom en organisation. En välkänd bransch som har utnyttjat de konkurrensfördelar som kunskap och kunskapsöverföring kan ge är konsultbranschen. Uppsatsen syftar därmed att studera vilken roll IT-system kan ha vid kunskapsöverföring och studien genomfördes således på ett konsultföretag i Stockholmsregionen. Studiens empiri inhämtades från sju intervjuer med anställda vid företaget. Uppsatsens slutsats visade att ITsystemen har en fundamental roll men att systemen inte används uteslutande vid kunskapsöverföring då även sociala interaktioner används i processen. / Information technology (IT) has gained an increasingly important role in today's society and one of the most successful tools for retrieving, processing and preserving data and information are different types of IT systems. Studies show that a well-established IT system can enable knowledge transfer within an organization. A well-known industry that has taken advantage of the competitive advantages that knowledge and knowledge transfer can provide is the consulting industry. The aim of the thesis is thus to study the role of IT systems in the process of knowledge transfer and the study was conducted at a consulting company in the Stockholm region. The empirical material was obtained from seven interviews with employees at the company. The conclusion of the thesis showed that IT systems have a fundamental role but that the systems are not used exclusively for knowledge transfer since social interactions are also used in the process.

The goal of this thesis is to create a proposal of framework which can be used to support software quality management in a small development company. Framework is composed of processes, methodologies and tools which together should improve the quality of software products of a company. Concrete implementation of the framework is shown as a case study. Data for the case study were collected in the company Cleverbee, where the author worked during the case study's creation. Personal contribution of the author of the thesis is firstly the creation of the framework concept based on author's experiences and commented list of concrete results of framework's implementation. The detailed goal setting for this thesis and the definition of the target reader can be found in the chapter 1. Introduction. The definition of main terms, which will appear in the rest of the thesis, is contained in the chapter 2. Terms. Chapter 3. Software quality and its definition is explains the term "software quality" and the nature of the small companies. Chapter 4. Software quality management forms the theoretical foundation of the thesis. In this chapter you find how the methodologies RUP and CMMI view the software quality. Chapter 5. Framework concept contains the concept of the software quality management framework. Framework is based upon relevant sources and also author's personal experience. The chapter 6. Case study describes the concrete example of the implementation of the proposed framework. The case study also contains descriptions of the used software tools. The chapter 7. Conclusion contains the brief resume of the findings of the thesis.

This thesis examines the information security awareness and compliance to related policies by employees at small companies, and to which degree the company’s policies fulfil requirements according to standards for security policies. A case study was carried out at a small healthcare company by collecting and analysing information security related documents and by conducting interviews with employees. The assessment of the company’s policy documents was made by comparing them to policy requirements established by the ISO 27000 standards. The information security awareness and policy compliance at the company was graded using an information security maturity model with a scale of 0 to 5. The highest degree of policy compliance was found in rules regarding anonymising sensitive information in text-based communication and deleting it when it is no longer needed. Compliance to mail and password routines was identified as the most neglected part of analysed policy documents. The awareness and policy compliance at the company conforms to level 2 of the maturity model. As for the policy documents, they partly or fully fulfilled a majority of the ISO requirements included in the comparison. However, 7 out of 17 requirements were missing completely in the policy documents, and only two out of eight requirement categories were fully fulfilled. The requirement category that the policy documents fulfilled to the highest degree concerned protecting sensitive information during transfer, while the biggest shortage concerned requirements on having documentation establishing a regular control systems and education on information security and policies within the organisation.

All organizations, regardless of size, are affected by information security awareness. Information security awareness is an important component, especially for organizations in the IT industry, to be able to respond to new cyber threats but also comply with requirements and regulations for handling customer data. The purpose of the study is to improve awareness-raising measures used by Swedish micro and small companies in the IT industry to increase information security awareness among employees. The study is performed through semi-structured interviews and then analyzed using the Grounded theory-method. The study highlights the awareness measures used in the IT industry and how they are used among companies to make employees aware of information security. In addition, the companies' underlying motives for their choice of awareness measure and their perspective on adapting the measure are examined. The study's conclusions present recommendations that can be used by micro and small companies in the IT industry to improve their awareness-raising measures. The study highlights the importance of adapting training measures, but also that companies should present reality-based scenarios to employees. In addition, it is also emphasized that incentives should be used by information security officers for employees to ensure compliance. / Alla organisationer, oavsett storlek påverkas av informationssäkerhetsmedvetenhet. Medvetenhet om informationssäkerhet är en viktig komponent i synnerhet för organisationer inom IT-branschen för att kunna bemöta nya cyberhot men också efterleva krav och regleringar för hantering av kunddata. Syftet med studien är att förbättra medvetenhetshöjande åtgärder som används av svenska mikro- och småbolag inom IT-branschen för att öka informationssäkerhetsmedvetenheten bland anställda. Studien utförs genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyseras sedan med hjälp av Grundad teori-metoden. Studien synliggör vilka medvetenhetsåtgärder som används inom IT-branschen och hur de används bland bolagen för att göra anställda medvetna gällande informationssäkerhet. Dessutom framgår bolagens bakomliggande motiv för deras val av medvetenhetsåtgärd samt deras perspektiv på anpassning av åtgärd. Studiens slutsatser presenterar rekommendationer som kan användas av mikro- och småbolag inom IT-branschen för att förbättra deras medvetenhetshöjande åtgärder. Studien lyfter fram betydelsen av anpassning av utbildningsåtgärder, men även att bolagen bör presentera verklighetsförankrade scenarier till de anställda. Därtill framhävs även att incitament bör användas av informationssäkerhetsansvariga till anställda för att säkerställa efterlevnad.