Search results

In his 2006 State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki indicated that the regulatory environment for small businesses would be improved, as this sector plays an important role in the national strategy for accelerated and shared growth. The aim of this study is to determine whether the size of an enterprise and the sector in which the enterprise operates has an impact on how the enterprise’s tax responsibilities are administered and managed. A survey was conducted amongst small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing, retail and business services sectors in Gauteng. The study focused on Gauteng because the majority of small, medium and microenterprises (SMMEs) are located in this province. The study found that most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the business services sector outsource their tax responsibilities because they lack the time needed to manage these functions. It was also found that the size and type of organisation affects the role taxation inputs play in business decisions. The SMEs included in the survey preferred a reduction in interest and penalties charged as a taxation relief measure.

In his 2006 State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki indicated that the regulatory environment for small businesses would be improved, as this sector plays an important role in the national strategy for accelerated and shared growth. The aim of this study is to determine whether the size of an enterprise and the sector in which the enterprise operates has an impact on how the enterprise’s tax responsibilities are administered and managed. A survey was conducted amongst small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing, retail and business services sectors in Gauteng. The study focused on Gauteng because the majority of small, medium and microenterprises (SMMEs) are located in this province. The study found that most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the business services sector outsource their tax responsibilities because they lack the time needed to manage these functions. It was also found that the size and type of organisation affects the role taxation inputs play in business decisions. The SMEs included in the survey preferred a reduction in interest and penalties charged as a taxation relief measure.

This paper aims to trace the evolution of industrial subcontracting in Japan, over a period of time. Subsequently, the transition in the spread and depth of subcontracting along with relative performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Japanese industry over a period of time are to be analyzed.

First, a historical over view of the evolution of industrial subcontracting in Japan is discussed based on literature and discussion with experts. Secondly, based on secondary data, the industry‐wise trends of subcontracting and performance of small, medium and large enterprises are analyzed.

Japanese industrial subcontracting and structure evolved over the period, particularly after World War II, represents integration and mutual coordination among small, medium and large enterprises across industries. Along with the growth of multi‐layered subcontracting, labour productivities of SMEs have improved as that of large though value added/value of output has remained more or less at the same level. Overall, there is reason to argue that SMEs have benefited from the system of subcontracting in Japanese manufacturing towards its overall competitiveness.

It would be worthwhile to promote multi‐layered industrial subcontracting, particularly with locally based/newly entered TNCs at the helm of the pyramid, in industrializing countries like India, to enhance the competitiveness of local SMEs.

This paper provides the reader with an understanding of evolution of industrial subcontracting in Japan since World War I and its recent trends and throws light on how SMEs have improved their performance over a period of time.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This paper deals with the international expansion of manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the opening of retail outlets in foreign countries. The paper develops and discusses five research questions.

The paper discusses emerging data from the analysis of a database set up in recent years. In particular, it deals with 1,419 retail operations regarding 246 Italian fashion brands in 77 foreign markets during the period from 2005 and 2010.

The paper points out that retail operations are largely used by Italian fashion SMEs to internationalize. This form of entry in foreign markets is used to develop in both mature and emerging markets and it seems related to the brand potential of Italian fashion SMEs abroad.

The paper is limited to the case of Italian fashion brands and to the period 2005–2010.

The paper considers an unexplored area of the internationalization theory of SMEs, that of the development abroad through retail store openings. The paper offers insights on the extent to what this strategy is used by Italian fashion brands.

The aim of this article is to investigate the determinants of the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets: evidence from Vietnam.

This article relies on the resource-based view to examine the factors affecting the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets. The method employed in the research is the generalized method of moments for testing hypotheses of data collected from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam in the period of 2013–2016.

The results show that factors such as the intensity of capital investment, age and size of the firm, labor productivity, foreign ownership, location, cost management effectiveness and export activities have a positive effect on the performance of Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises, while revenue growth rate, fixed assets and financial leverage tend to hinder their performance. This has brought important messages that the input markets and the business environment in emerging markets like Vietnam have not yet stimulated well-economic activities.

This study sheds light on a topic that has not been fully explored in small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets in general, and Vietnam in particular. Specifically, small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets reconfigure available resources and strengthen internal capabilities to overcome barriers of the shortages of strategic, rare and irreplaceable resources in order to improve their performance. This is a unique contribution to the existing literature and highlights the original value of this article.

This study attempts to examine the missing middle (MM) phenomena in the context of the Indian manufacturing sector using the unit level information from the database of Ministry of Corporate Affair, Government of India.

Unlike the previous studies, the present study first bifurcated the missing enterprises into two categories such as “permanently” dropped and “reappeared,” in order to pursue a meaningful analysis and derive conclusions with policy insights. Various financial indicators were used to explain the causes of MM phenomena during 2009–2010 and 2016–2017, in a logistic framework.

The study found that profit margin ratio is higher for the group of medium sized enterprises which continued in comparison to the units which dropped out permanently. Similar is the case with the ratio of investment turnover. The econometric results, however suggest that the relationship between the chances of a firm being dropped out and financial indicators is weak as the coefficients of various financial indicators are found to be statistically significant only for a few years.

The study suggests that the missing middle phenomenon is not a myth in India as very large number of medium-sized firms have been disappearing from the market over the years. Based on firm level data it identifies the factors which resulted in such a phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a reliable and valid understanding of entrepreneurship and examine the relationships between small and medium‐sized Chinese manufacturing enterprises, the intensity of their entrepreneurial orientation and the degree of their internationalization. In addition, it examines whether entrepreneurial orientation would affect enterprises' internationalization strategies and their success.

The seven‐step procedure for scale development is used and survey data have been utilized to conduct statistical analysis.

The paper finds that entrepreneurial orientation is positively related to the degree of internationalization, particularly amongst the small and medium‐sized Chinese manufacturing enterprises. The international experiences of enterprises have significant importance and positively affect the degree of their internationalization. In addition, the degree of their success depends greatly on their attitudes towards risk taking, their ability to diversify internationally and successfully compete with those already established in the market.

A lot of studies have been conducted on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial orientation. However, few people have ever studied the relation between the degree of entrepreneurial orientation and internationalization. Empirical studies on the correlations between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance are not abundant in China. Furthermore, very few researches on the correlations between entrepreneurial orientation and internationalization have been conducted. The research presented in this paper is intended to bridge this gap. Through empirical analyses of their relationships, this paper shows how entrepreneurial strategies can stimulate competitive advantages and drive forward the international developments of the Chinese enterprises, particularly the small and medium‐sized.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how and why small to medium enterprises (SMEs) access knowledge from external actors in general and from higher education institutions (HEIs) in particular and what is the extent to which these knowledge access pathways affect SME innovativeness.

The paper involved both quantitative and qualitative approaches: a survey of 1,226 SMEs and a mini case study to follow-up on issues arising from the survey analysis. Survey data were analysed using both non-parametric and multivariate Poisson regression analysis. The case study was based on a medium-sized manufacturing firm in South Australia.

While there are significant differences between the micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, the evidence suggests that SMEs generally use “generic” university–industry knowledge transfer pathways (e.g. published research results) rather than university–industry links with high “relational” involvement. More significantly, the results indicate that SMEs are more likely to rely on organisations other than universities and related R&D enterprises for knowledge acquisition like clients/customers or suppliers. While collaboration is most likely to occur within the same state/territory, or Australia, many SMEs also collaborate internationally, usually as part of normal supplier–customer relationships, reinforcing knowledge acquisition from organisationally proximate partners. These findings are also supported by the case study.

This research was limited to surveying SMEs in one geographic (metropolitan) region in Australia. It also does not account for the different patterns of HEI–SME interactions in different industry sectors. There is also only one case study.

First, the research adds to the few field studies that have investigated accessing knowledge for innovation among SMEs. Specifically, the research contributes to an understanding of the heterogeneous roles that different actors play in facilitating knowledge access for improving innovative SMEs outcomes. Second, the research does not treat all SMEs similarly in terms of size effects but instead accounts for differing SME sizes and how this affects their selection of knowledge access pathways. Third, the research contributes to a small number of studies that attempt to understand how HEIs and SMEs can work better together in the context of a regional innovation system, especially one that is relatively less competitive to the larger economy.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which lean management practices are adopted by small- and medium-sized manufacturing organizations in India and their impact on firm’s operational performance (OP). Also, the paper makes an attempt to identify the barriers and challenges faced by Indian SMEs that are striving to succeed with improvement efforts based on lean manufacturing.

In this paper, acceptability and implementation of lean manufacturing in Indian Manufacturing SMEs were analyzed using three constructs, namely, process improvement (PI), flow management (FM) and waste minimization (WM). The responding firms were categorized into “lean-Beginners,” “In-transition lean” and “lean” group based on their phases of lean implementation. Using a survey questionnaire, data were collected from 121 manufacturing SMEs in India. Lean tools and barriers, identified from the literature review, were also included in the survey. The reliability and validity of the practice and performance measures were evaluated. Correlation analysis was employed to investigate the effects of three constructs on OP.

The results indicate that all the three lean constructs are significantly related to OP. In the context of Indian manufacturing SMEs, “PI” and “WM” practices have shown a higher level of significance on OP, compared to “FM” practices. “5S -workplace organization” was found to be the most practiced lean tool. “Attitude of workmen” was highlighted as the main obstacle in successfully implementing lean. The findings suggest overall positive effects as a result of applying lean tools and philosophy in Indian SMEs.

The research results may lack qualitative justification because of the chosen research approach. Therefore, the researchers are encouraged to explore the inter-relationship among various lean tools/practices and performance criteria by conducting a qualitative study in the form of a case study or action research.

This paper is a beneficial source of information that highlights the contribution of lean implementation in enhancing manufacturing productivity. The major tools and techniques used by Indian SMEs have been highlighted and discussed; it could be a genuine source of motivation to lean practitioner and entrepreneurs of SMEs to go in for lean implementation. The findings are also expected to benefit the lean practitioners and entrepreneurs of SMEs to focus on vital issues to facilitate successful lean implementation in an organization.

The paper demonstrates that practical implication of lean implementation can bring real breakthroughs in productivity to small- and medium-scale manufacturing firms.