<p>Introduction:</p><p>The growth of small business is fast and their impact on the economy is becoming bigger. How to manage the inventory effectively and efficiently often is a challenge for these small businesses. The study took place at HEM-SOL FORSALJNINGS AB, a company involved in gym sports equipment wholesale. For HEM-SOL two inventory problems, stock-out and overstock occur frequently. The company wants to improve its efficiency and is con-sidering a change in the inventory management.</p><p>Purpose:</p><p>The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons behind the inventory management inefficiency in HEM-SOL, and then the proposed managerial suggestions will be presented to deal with the issues.</p><p>Method:</p><p>The study is considered as qualitative single-case study. Data collection is mainly through the interviews with the top manager and other staff involved in inventory control opera-tions. Secondary data is retrieved from the information system to provide the annual pur-chasing and sales report about twenty items using a purposive sampling approach. Data analysis follows the theoretical framework.</p><p>Conclusion:</p><p>Small businesses have limited financial resources and bargaining power. Long-distance suppliers, big fluctuation of demand and lack of formalized inventory control system result in HEM-SOL bad performance on inventory management. The authors analyze the col-lected data and establish a formal inventory control system as the solution to improve the company’s inventory management.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:hj-1136 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Bai, Lining, Zhong, Ying |
| Publisher | Jönköping University, Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University, Jönköping International Business School |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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