University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Government and Public Administration

Alex Yee-yuk Tang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 88-96.

By undertaking an in-depth case study in Yi County where the first microfinance program was launched in 1993, this dissertation investigates how microfinance was adopted and adapted in China through four chronologically established microfinance programs: microfinance NGOs, microfinance programs housed within national subsidized poverty alleviation loans, rural credit cooperatives microfinance programs, and commercial microfinance companies. Inspired by but distinct from the policy mobilities approach, this dissertation takes upon the notion of assemblage as the analytical framework under which the adoption and adaptation process can be conceived as four distinct, though overlapping assemblages that are constantly fluctuating and in (re)formation. The questions asked, therefore, are how these assemblages are constituted by heterogeneous elements, including policies, institutions, discourses, and practitioners? What are the attendant contradictions and externalities and how are they managed (or fail to be managed)? And what are the politically progressive and regressive possibilities that arise in the process? By illustrating how four microfinance assemblages in Yi County were produced, maintained, transformed and/or deteriorated, this dissertation focuses on the messy and complex processes of microfinance formations and reveals the not-always-coherent and sometimes even contradictory capacities of the elements common to all microfinance assemblages and the practices required to draw these elements together, forge connections between them, and sustain these connections it the face of such capacities.

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Minority small business owners significantly contribute to national and local economies. Only 50% of small firm owners sustain their businesses longer than 5 years. The purpose of the multiple case study was to explore the management strategies that minority small business owners used to sustain their businesses for longer than 5 years. The study's population consisted of 4 minority small business owners in the midwestern region of the United States to explore management strategies necessary for maintaining minority small firm operations. The conceptual framework for the study was general system theory. Data sources included semistructured interviews, social media information, company documentation, and company website information. Based on the methodological triangulation of the data sources, analytical coding, and analyzing the data using a qualitative data analysis software, 3 themes emerged: networking with other small business owners, strategic planning, and building strong customer and employee relationships. The study findings might contribute to positive social change by providing knowledge about effective management strategies to minority small firm owners, thereby creating jobs, augmenting local and national economies, and increasing profitability.

Owners of small business restaurants experience a high failure rate. Many small business restaurants fail within 5 years of inception because of inadequate business plans, ineffective strategies for changing markets, and a lack of financial capital to achieve profitability, growth, and long-term survivability. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the financial strategies that some owners of small business restaurants used to sustain operations for longer than 5 years. The resource-based view was the conceptual framework for this study. Participants in this study consisted of 5 owners of small business restaurants in northern California who implemented successful strategies to survive in business longer than 5 years. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with participants, member checking, and a review of company documents. Using Yin's 5-phase data analysis process of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding the data, 3 emergent themes were identified: financing strategy, cash-flow-management strategy, and customer-retention strategy. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential for owners of small business restaurants to reduce the failure rate of small restaurants, decrease local unemployment rates, and increase economic stability for local families and organizations through the implementation of effective financial strategies.

Human resource management involves a set of activities that involve employees within organisations. The development of the concept of strategic human resource management requires systematic examination and an informed perspective. High commitment human resource systems aim to enhance employee commitment within organisations. High commitment human resource systems have close relationships to organisational performance. Management must therefore understand the ways in which organisational performance can relate to high commitment human resource systems in order to achieve a competitive advantage in today's intensively competitive marketplace.Small businesses are important players in various economies; therefore, understanding how high commitment human resource systems relate to organisational performance in small businesses would be valuable. Despite the considerable benefit associated with knowledge of the relationship between high commitment human resource systems and organisational performance in small businesses, this area has not been specifically researched. This study empirically addresses these topical issues by asking:Are high commitment human resource systems related to organisational performance in New Zealand small businesses?In order to answer this question, this study develops a set of research propositions. A respondent group of small businesses completed a questionnaire designed to gather information regarding the relationship between high commitment human resource systems and organisational performance in small businesses. Statistical analysis of the data identified a number of interesting findings.The results indicate that small businesses conduct high commitment human resource systems with compliance and commitment human resource practices. Small businesses use compliance human resource practices much more widely than commitment human resource practices. The results of this study provide evidence that commitment human resource practices do exist in the context of small businesses; however, commitment human resource practices are unique to the context of small businesses, differing from those in larger organisations. This study also suggests that commitment human resource practices in small businesses do not relate to organisational performance with regard to employee turnover or financial performance as they do in larger organisations. This study emphasises the importance of an understanding of how high commitment human resource systems relate to organisational performance in the context of small businesses. The study also discusses implications for research areas and business practice, the limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research.

Planning by owner-managers of small business has not received the attention from researchers a sector of such importance deserves. Using the forestry sector in Victoria as a sample, an investigation into the background and the planning undertaken by the owner-managers of small businesses was designed and implemented. The people consulted by the owner-manager as part of the planning process were identified as well as the topics discussed. A range of approaches to planning were identified and grouped into non-planners, partial planners and formal planners. The sample was divided into Consultants and Contractors based on the type of work undertaken and the equipment used. Further sub-sets were identified. Contractors were split into Labour Intensive Contractors and Capital Intensive Contractors and the Consultants were also divided by age into

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2003. / Adviser: Leonard Ortolano.

Small businesses significantly rely on debt financing. However, it is challenging for them to convince the lenders on their creditworthiness because of the agency problems rooted in information asymmetry. Professionalization, as one of the signal devices, may carry positive information about a small firm since it helps enhance the firm value by aligning owner and managers interests. If firm value goes up, the financial leverage drops without any new external debt financing. Thus, it is safer for the lenders to provide the capital. Unfortunately, whether professionalization helps mitigate the lender-borrower conflict of interest has not been investigated in the previous literature. This study intends to help fill in this gap by investigating the influence of professionalization on small business debt financing. Our empirical results show that professionalization tends to increase the use and the amount of new venture debt financing. Findings also indicate that the solution to owner-manager agency problem can also help alleviate the creditor-shareholder conflict of interests in new venture debt financing.