Effects of a fox removal program on small and medium-sized mammal population dynamics within the Anglesea Heathlands, Victoria

This thesis assessed the diet of foxes within the ALCOA lease area of Anglesea to determine which native and introduced species foxes were eating. Results showed that Swamp Wallaby was regularly eaten but many other mammals, birds, insects and reptiles were also consumed. The response of native mammals to seasonal fox removal was also determined.

E-business security management for Australian small SMEs - a case study

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role within the Australian economy. There is a strong business case for Australian SMEs to be involved in e-business, which has been realised as the use of the Internet for performing business activities continues to increase. The evidence available indicates the uptake and advancement of performing e-business activities shall be dependent on the ability of Australian SMEs to secure their e-business systems. This paper presents the results of a case study, which applied a previously developed methodology to a small SME e-business system. The purpose was to validate the ability of the Australian Small to Medium Enterprise E-business Security Methodology (ASME-EBSM) to provide an effective security management strategy for Australian SMEs. The outcome demonstrated that this approach was both feasible and realistic for providing recommendations to secure the e-business activities performed and to protect the small SME e-business system.

The relationship between knowledge management strategic orientation and business strategic orientation among SMEs

Little is known about how Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) practise Knowledge Management (KM) from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. Some research has been conducted in this field but from a western cultural perspective. Research on KM and SMEs in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia is limited. The research reported in this paper investigated KM strategic orientations and business strategic orientations in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The research involved the development of a theoretical framework relating to KM strategies and business strategies. Three KM strategies were proposed: aggressive, conservative and balanced and were linked to Miles and Snow’s typology: prospectors, defenders and analysers respectively. The empirical research involved a survey of Saudi Arabian SMEs. A total of 143 SMEs, participated in the survey. The results indicate that the proposed classifications and relationships between KM strategic dimensions were valid. It further shows that there was an association between business strategy and KM strategy exists and the proposed linkage between: prospectors and aggressive KM strategy, defenders and conservative KM strategy and analysers and balanced KM strategy were mostly confirmed but with some inconsistency regarding knowledge breadth dimensions.

SMEs and the potential for a collaborative path to environmental responsibility

Globally, the potential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to collectively impact negatively on the environment is great. Therefore, the adoption, and maintenance, of environmentally responsible practices by this group of firms is especially critical. Studies of environmental practices successfully implemented by small firms have revealed that relationships with other firms, or other organizations, can contribute to greater awareness of the benefits of such activities and, therefore, enhance the possibility of environmental engagement. Collaborative relationships may provide opportunities for SMEs to overcome some of the barriers to implementing environmental initiatives associated with their size, and/or associated characteristics. This paper focuses on attitudes of SME owner-managers to a variety of environmental issues (including regulation and voluntary standards), and to collaborating with other firms (in either a formal or informal sense). The data this paper draws upon are from two waves of an ongoing longitudinal survey of New Zealand SMEs.

How do SMEs with single and multiple owners finance their operations differently? Empirical evidence from China

We study the impact of firm-level characteristics on the capital structures of private small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as the differences between the capital structures adopted by SMEs with single and multiple owners in China. Our findings highlight the limited use of asset-based financing by Chinese SMEs. We also find that the propensity of SMEs with single-owners to use external debt was significantly less than those with multiple owners. Furthermore, our findings suggest that single-owned firms are subject to a more constrained pecking order than those with multiple owners.

Ownership concentration and product innovation in Chinese private SMEs

Product innovation is extremely important to the growth, success, and ultimate survival of firms. Although its unique features in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have gained growing attention in the literature, there is limited knowledge as to how ownership concentration moderates the relationship between product innovation and its determinants. Based upon insights from agency and institutional theories, we examine the moderating effects of ownership concentration on the relationship between product innovation and its key determinants in Chinese SMEs, utilizing a large dataset of 43,728 Chinese firms over the period 2005-2006. We focus on examining the differences between single-owner SMEs, where there is dominant control of one family member, and multiple-owner SMEs, where principal-agent conflicts and principal-principal conflicts are more likely to occur. Our findings indicate that single-owned firms tend to convert research and development into product innovation more efficiently than firms with multiple owners, who are typically better at utilizing external sources of knowledge and human capital.

Security and privacy concerns for Australian SMEs cloud adoption: empirical study of metropolitan vs regional SMEs

New national infrastructure initiatives such as the National Broadband Network (NBN) allow small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia to have greater access to cost effective Cloud computing. However, the ability of Cloud computing to store data remotely and share services in a dynamic environment brings with it security and privacy concerns. Evaluating these concerns is critical to address the Cloud computing underutilisation issue and leverage the benefits of costly NBN investment. This paper examines the influence of privacy and security factors on Cloud adoption by Australian SMEs in metropolitan and regional area. Data were collected from 150 Australian SMEs (specifically, 79 metropolitan SMEs and 71 regional SMEs) and structural equation modelling was used for the analysis. The findings reveal that privacy and security factors do not significantly influence the decision-making of Australian SMEs in the adoption of Cloud computing. Moreover, the results indicate that Cloud computing adoption is not influenced by the geographical location (i.e., metropolitan or regional location) of the SMEs. The findings extend the current understanding of Cloud computing adoption by Australian SMEs. The results will be useful to SMEs, Cloud service providers and policy makers devising Cloud security and privacy policies.

Implications in e-commerce research in small business

It is believed that the recent emergence of electronic commerce (eCommerce) in the early 90s could provide different opportunities to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in overcoming part of their technological. environmental, organizational, and managerial inadequacies. However, recent research portrays a gloomy picture about eCommerce uptake and use in SMEs. Therefore. the implication here is twofold. Initially. there is a need to generate more eCommerce research that could penetrate much deeper into main impending issues pertaining to the SMEs in their potential uptake and use of eCommerce. On the other hand. eCommerce is characterized of being embryonic but growing very fast and fragmented across the different disciplines. which makes the task of capturing its different perspectives a very complex task. The preceding two implications represent the greatest challenge for researchers and professionals interested in undertaking eCommerce research in SMEs. In line with the above implications. the first objective of this research aims at capturing the different eCommerce perspectives from the SMEs point of view and the second objective aims at capturing the eCommerce perspective from the theoretical and the methodological point of view. Addressing the preceding implications in this research could shed some light into some of the grey areas in the eCommerce research in SMEs.

Factors affecting e-commerce adoption by SMEs : a meta-analysis

There have been a myriad of research studies concerning SME e-Commerce adoption. However, the findings of these studies with regard to adoption factors have often been fragmented and contradictory. This paper analyses the previous research and synthesises the findings into a cohesive model of factors affecting SME adoption of e-Commerce. Eight meta-factors were identified: (1) perceived relative advantage; (2) perceived compatibility; (3) perceived complexity; (4) pressures from trading partners; (5) pressures from competitors; (6) external change agents; (7) knowledge and expertise about e-Commerce; and (8) management attitudes towards e-Commerce. These meta-factors were further grouped into three contexts: technological, environmental and organisational.

Review of interventions to encourage SMEs to make environmental improvements

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important part of the world economy but they are thought to be responsible for around 60% of all carbon dioxide emissions and 70% of all pollution. SMEs often have major problems with limited resources, limited knowledge, and limited technical capabilities to deal with their own negative environmental impact. SMEs exhibit widely differing characteristics and commitment where environmental issues are concerned. Yet under these conditions they are all expected to engage in environmental improvement. Interventions that encourage environmental improvement are often polarised between regulation and legislation at one extreme and voluntary environmental agreement at the other. It is clear that a holistic mixture of interventions is necessary to achieve maximum engagement and environmental improvement by all SMEs. In this paper we categorise the different levels of environmental commitment observed in SMEs and develop a selection or ‘toolkit’ of intervention strategies that might be deployed within each category of SME.

Factors influencing Australian SMEs knowledge sharing online

The Web offers a powerful tool for knowledge-sharing among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Such online initiatives have, however, frequently been unsuccessful. This paper examines factors motivating SMEs to share knowledge online. It reports data from a telephone survey of 192 SME members of two successful regional business networks comprising members from diverse industries. Although the majority of SMEs actively used the Web in their daily business operations and most were willing to share knowledge face-to-face, this did not translate into willingness to share online. The most significant factors affecting the willingness to share knowledge online were the how many of networks SMEs were involved in, the number of years an SME had been in business, the geographical scope of their operations, and intensity of their use of the web. These findings challenge the commonly-held view that SMEs will automatically share online if the infrastructure is provided.

Encouraging SMEs to participate in the management of common pool resources

In this paper we contribute to an understanding of how small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can be encouraged to participate in the management of environmental common pool resources. We do this by applying ideas from general theories about collective actions and, using evidence from interviews of people with experience dealing with SMEs, show how the ideas are relevant to SMEs. In line with previous research, we present evidence that communication is also necessary to help ensure SME participation. We conclude noting some evidence that suggests that local networks may contribute to successful management of global common pool resources.

Enabling information security culture : influences and challenges for Australian SMEs

An effective information security culture is vital to the success of information systems governance, risk management and compliance. Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) face special challenges developing an information security culture as they may lack the information security knowledge, skills and behaviours of large organisations. This paper reports the main findings from an interpretive study of key influences enabling an effective information security culture for Australian SMEs. The paper provides a framework depicting external and internal influences on SME information security culture and a set of key challenges in the Australian context. The findings highlight that SME owner attitudes and behaviour – in turn influenced by government involvement - strongly influence information security culture for Australian SMEs. A surprising finding is the potential influence of the Australian culture. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

An empirical study of high performance HRM practices in Chinese SMEs

This paper explores the performance effects of human resource management (HRM) practices in 74 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Four high performance HRM practices are identified: performance-based pay, participatory decision-making, free market selection, and performance evaluation. Regression analysis results support the conventional idea that the adoption of HRM practices generates better HRM outcomes and, in turn, better HRM outcomes contribute positively to firm performance. However, not all HRM practices, and their effects, led to improved SME performance. Among the Chinese SMEs investigated, a high level of employee commitment was identified as being the key HRM outcome for enhancing performance.