Опубликована Окт. 21, 2014

This study examines the effect that age and business size have on business performance. A structured research instrument was used to collect data from 500 SMEs in retail industry through interviewer administrated and selfadministrated survey and 93% of questionnaires were returned. The results show that there is no statistical significant difference between the means of business size and business performance. There is no significant difference between the age categories; under one year and 20 years and more and business performance. Age is no longer a significant factor in a company’s performance after twenty years. Life cycle approach of the company …

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Опубликована Апрель 10, 2015

This paper investigates how action-based entrepreneurship training influences entrepreneurial knowledge and personal attitudes, which in turn reportedly develop individuals’ entrepreneurship intentions. A cohort of students who had undergone social entrepreneurship training under the auspices of Enactus South Africa was studied to determine the relationship between these three key variables associated with entrepreneurship tendencies. The study, in particular, addresses the question of whether practical entrepreneurship training bears any consequences on developing students’ personal attitudes, entrepreneurship knowledge, and entrepreneurship intentions. Stratified sampling techniques were utilized to collect data from 355 Enactus South Africa students from the constituent 27 colleges and universities that …

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Опубликована Дек. 15, 2014

It has been widely advocated that SMEs create most of the jobs in an economy. However, studies from both the developed and developing world have shown that only a small amount of SMEs create most of the jobs in an economy. These set of SMEs have been termed high quality firms that grow and create the much needed jobs. While studies from the developed world have identified a number of factors that depict the quality of a firm, there is however, little empirical evidence from the developing world on firm quality. This study has as main objective to determine the …

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Опубликована Сен. 18, 2014

Since its introduction more than 20 years ago the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has garnered the interest of both academics and practitioners. In the ‘official’ practitioner-oriented literature the BSC’s main proponents Kaplan and Norton have touted the concept’s potential performance enhancing effects. Academics have been more skeptical, and have not found a clear-cut relationship between the use of the BSC and organizational performance. It appears that some uses of the BSC may increase performance, while other types of BSC use might decrease it. Still, research has shown that the concept is widely used in practice, more than 20 years after its …

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Опубликована Апрель 1, 2014

The balanced scorecard (BSC) is one of the most widely used and discussed management concepts in the world. Although many BSC success stories have been cited in the practitioner-oriented literature and in the business media, researchers have shown that the implementation of BSC can be a complicated process. There are many pitfalls and dysfunctional consequences associated with the implementation and use of the BSC. Still, little research is conducted on BSC implementation issues. This paper reports on a qualitative study of Scandinavian BSC users. Based on interview data, the paper identifies four main problem areas associated with the implementation of …

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Опубликована Окт. 8, 2011

This paper presents the most recent evolutionary lines in operational research, through a review of the basic principles that guide this field of research. In broad terms, some emphasis is given to the fact that Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (or Aid) (MCDA) takes into account that decision-making processes are complex and composed of several actors with different perceptions and value systems, stressing that this approach highlights the limits of objectivity, and considers the possibility that some problems may not have an optimal solution. In this vein, it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss the modeling of particular …

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Опубликована Фев. 14, 2011

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement has attracted significant attention from academics and has quickly moved up the corporate agenda over the past number of years. However, the literature tends to focus disproportionately on large organizations. As SMEs (small and medium enterprises) play a crucial role in the European economy and their unique characteristics make it far from applicable for them to employ CSR theories and practices of large corporations, considerable research is needed to enhance SME CSR field. The purpose of this article is to contribute to this endeavor by conducting a thorough review of the literature on the …

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Опубликована Апрель 18, 2012

These analyses explore the differences in locus of control and subjective well-being in China and Southern Africa, including how these variables relate to each other in each region and how demographic variables relate to both subjective well-being and locus of control. One hundred and eleven professionals were studied across Southern Africa and China and the hypothesis that the different regions would yield different locus of control and subjective well-being profiles was supported, with different demographic variables affecting each region differently. Furthermore, locus of control and subjective well-being were differently correlated to one another, with China showing significant negative correlation between …

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Опубликована Фев. 14, 2011

This study examines the predictive power of comprehensive income and its individual components within the homogenous institutional setting of German IFRS firms. First of all, the predictive power of income numbers is an attribute of high relevance for analysts as it reduces their forecast risks. Second, the standard setters are prominently referring to the importance of financial statements to assist their users in predicting the entity’s future cash flows and, in particular, their timing and certainty. Third, the examination of predictive power provides direct evidence on the relation between accounting information and future firm operating performance. The authors find no …

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Опубликована Апрель 1, 2013

Open innovation has become a key strategic element to increase the generation and commercialization of innovations among big companies. Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs), that exhibit particular characteristics regarding organization, culture and strategy, have been more reluctant to adopt this approach. Thus little research exists on the adoption of open innovation among SMEs, and small and micro companies in particular. The paper presents the results of an explorative research design based upon semi-structured and narrative interviews that investigates particularities of small and micro firms regarding the sources of innovation, the strengths and weaknesses of their innovation process, and the potential …

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