Entrepreneurship in Russia

This paper presents an account of the environment faced by entrepreneurs in Russia. In section one we give a brief introduction to the country which is followed by the overview of a public policy on small and medium enterprises in the next section. The current state of SMEs and some particularities of the entrepreneurial environment are discussed in section three, whereas section four focuses on the prospects of internationalisation of Russian SMEs. In section five we draw some conclusions.

An investigation into the factors affecting e-commerce adoption decisions by SMEs:a study in Saudi Arabia

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) has become an increasingly important initiative among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as both a great opportunity and as a source of competition. The factors affecting adoption decisions of e-commerce by SMEs have been well documented, but there is a paucity of empirical studies that examine the adoption of e-commerce in the Arab world. The aim of this chapter is to provide insights into the salient e-commerce adoption issues by focusing on Saudi Arabian businesses. This chapter investigates the state of e-commerce adoption and analyses the factors that determine the extent to which SMEs in Saudi Arabia are inclined towards deploying e-commerce technologies. This research was designed using a qualitative approach through exploratory case studies selected from firms in Saudi Arabia. The findings contribute towards a better conceptual and practical understanding of the main factors driving SMEs to adopt e-commerce. The study has found that the level of e-commerce implementation has yet to mature and customer readiness for Internet shopping has to improve before e-commerce reaches the levels of maturity seen in other regions of the world. This study highlights several directions for future inquiry and implications for policymakers and managers who are involved in efforts to introduce complex innovations such as e-commerce into their organisations or are interested in expanding their e-commerce applications and generating more revenue.

Access to technological and financial resources for SME innovation

Editorial: The contributions to this special issue of the International Journal of Technology Management are all based on selected papers presented at the European Conference on Management of Technology held at Aston University, Birmingham, UK in June 1995. This conference was held on behalf of the International Association for Management of Technology (IAMOT) and was the first of the association’s major conferences to be held outside North America. The overall theme of the conference was ‘Technological Innovation and Global Challenges’. Altogether more than 130 papers were presented within four sub-themes and twenty seven topic sessions. This special issue draws on papers within five difference topic sessions: ‘Small firm linkages’; ‘The global company’; ‘New technology based firms’; ‘Financing innovation’; ‘Technology and development’. Together they cover a wide range of issues around the common question of accessing resources for innovation in small and medium sized enterprises. They present a global perspective on this important subject with authors from The Netherlands, Canada, USA, Ireland, France, Finland, Brazil and UK. A wide range of subjects are covered including the move away from public support for innovation, the role of alliances and networks, linkages to larger enterprises and the social implications associated with small enterprise innovation in developing countries.

How SME owners’ characteristics influences external advice and access to finance

This paper aims to investigate the linkage between the use of external advice and access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, with particular consideration of differences in personal characteristics: gender, ethnicity and education. The approach adopted for the research is a telephone survey conducted by the Barclays small business research team in late 2005 on behalf of the authors. These data are quantitative in nature and involve a large sample of 400 SMEs with specific questions analysed by gender, ethnicity and education level. The approach adopted is robust and empirically sound and is a long established research methodology. We find that there appears to be a correlation between the provision of external advice and the ability to raise bank finance. Furthermore, there are clear gender, ethnic and educational differentials in the use of particular sources of advice, for example: Gender • men and women are equally likely to use accountants as sources of advice. • men are more likely to use family and friends and solicitors. • women, however, are around twice as likely to access external advice from Business Link and Enterprise Agencies. Ethnicity • family and friends is predominant amongst Asians or black respondents and the other ethnic group, which is also slightly true of accountants and solicitors. • ethnic minority respondents were considerably less likely to use Business Link/ Enterprise Agencies. Education • graduates are most likely to use solicitors and accountants, whilst they are very low users of advice from family and friends and Business Links/Enterprise Agencies. • O level and A level educated respondents predominate in family and friends and Business Link/ Enterprise Agencies.

The implications of internet auctions for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Great Britain

DUE TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION AT ASTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES WITH PRIOR ARRANGEMENT

Design and development of agent-based procurement system to enhance business intelligence

The purpose of this research is to propose a procurement system across other disciplines and retrieved information with relevant parties so as to have a better co-ordination between supply and demand sides. This paper demonstrates how to analyze the data with an agent-based procurement system (APS) to re-engineer and improve the existing procurement process. The intelligence agents take the responsibility of searching the potential suppliers, negotiation with the short-listed suppliers and evaluating the performance of suppliers based on the selection criteria with mathematical model. Manufacturing firms and trading companies spend more than half of their sales dollar in the purchase of raw material and components. Efficient data collection with high accuracy is one of the key success factors to generate quality procurement which is to purchasing right material at right quality from right suppliers. In general, the enterprises spend a significant amount of resources on data collection and storage, but too little on facilitating data analysis and sharing. To validate the feasibility of the approach, a case study on a manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) has been conducted. APS supports the data and information analyzing technique to facilitate the decision making such that the agent can enhance the negotiation and suppler evaluation efficiency by saving time and cost.

Exporting and innovation performance: analysis of the Annual Small Business Survey in the UK

This paper analyses the determinants of the export propensity of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based on the 2004 Annual Small Business Survey. Particular emphasis is placed upon the relationship between innovation activities (distinguishing product from process innovation) and export performance. In general the data suggest that some 17 per cent of firms within this group sell outside the UK. Businesses that export are also characterized by high levels of innovation activity (43 per cent of exporters innovate in products, 27 per cent innovate in process and 21 per cent innovate in both). When considering product and process innovation independently we find that both impact positively on the decision to export. However, once we consider the interdependence between both innovation activities, we find no robust evidence that process innovation increases the probability to export beyond product innovation.

Do strategic groups play a role in the SME financing process?

This exploratory paper, developing a conceptual model of owner-manager characteristics and access to finance, aims to investigate whether the concept of strategic groups plays a role in the process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accessing finance. Strategic groups are groups of firms making similar patterns of investments in order to achieve their goals. This paper explores how strategic groups, which represent a classification of SMEs based upon their realised strategies, helps to provide an understanding of the success of SMEs in raising finance. The data, from a representative survey of 400 SMEs conducted by the Barclays Bank Telephone Research Unit, were subject to two-stage cluster analysis, thus codified into strategic groups using the natural rhythm of the data, rather than any subjective and value-laden categories being imposed by the authors. The findings show clear differentiation between strategic groups of SMEs, the characteristics of their owner-managers, and the financing strategies adopted. As such, the paper develops a novel typology of strategic groups of SMEs which, therefore, informs their financing strategies, as well as advising other stakeholders.

Purchasing in small firms – past assumptions, current evidence and future research

This paper reviews the literature on purchasing in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), in the context of the wider literature on SMEs. Evidence from these sources is related to insights from exploratory interviews with the owner-managers of 15 small firms, to derive recommendations for further research. Our findings complement those of Ellegaard (2006) but also extend these with specific proposals for the process and settings of future research, notably that the priority is to understand purchasing in small firms (cf medium or micro-firms) firms and research should be ‘small firm-centric’.

Internet technologies, ECRM capabilities, and performance benefits for SMEs:An exploratory study

Research on large firms suggests that dedicated customer relationship management (CRM) software applications play a critical role in creating and sustaining customer relationships. CRM is also of strategic importance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but most of them do not employ dedicated CRM software. Instead they use generic Internet-based technologies to manage customer relationships with electronic CRM (eCRM). There has been little research on the extent to which the use of generic Internet technologies contributes to SME performance. The present study fills the gap, building upon the literature on organizational capabilities, marketing, and SMEs to develop a research model with which to explore the relationships between generic Internet technologies, eCRM capabilities, and the resulting performance benefits in the SME context. A survey across 286 SMEs in Ireland finds strong empirical evidence in support of the hypotheses regarding these benefits. The study contributes to managerial decision making by showing how SMEs can use generic Internet technologies to advance their customer relationships and contributes to theory development by conceptualizing eCRM capabilities in an SME context.

The social and entrepreneurial orientation of small businesses:mutually exclusive or reinforcing? (INTERACTIVE PAPER)

Principal Topic - As argued by Acs and Phillips (2002) it is not only “the creation of wealth (entrepreneurship)” but also “the reconstitution of wealth (philanthropy)”, which has been essential for the inherent dynamism of the market economy (Ibid., p.201). However, we understand little about the entrepreneurship – philanthropy link in institutional contexts that differ from that of leading developed market economies. Accordingly our research agenda is to investigate the entrepreneurship-philanthropy nexus in a very different context of Lithuania, a country which shed a command economy system twenty years ago. In particular, we are interested to see if the cluster of attitudes and strategies of firms conducive to entrepreneurship, i.e. their entrepreneurial orientation (Covin & Slevin, 1989), is consistent or contradictory with philanthropy? In other words, is philanthropy strongly associated with some core components of entrepreneurship, or is it an entrepreneurial anomaly, relying on a minority of economic actors that provide important links with wider, non-economic communities. Method - The study draws on 270 randomly sampled, phone interviews with owners and ownermanagers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), i.e. firms with less than 250 employees. Interviews were conducted in Lithuania during January- March, 2008. Our results are based on confirmatory factor analysis combined with regression analysis. Results and Implications - Despite the legacy of informal institutions that is conducive neither to entrepreneurship nor to civic society, we found that by now, (i) the companies that score highest on entrepreneurial orientation construct, (ii) that perform best and those (iii) that have foreign owners are also most likely to declare their commitment to philanthropy. Our findings that most entrepreneurial firms are also involved in philanthropy are consistent with the perspective on the pattern of development in an entrepreneurial economy as outlined by Acs and Phillips (2002).

Purchasing green transport and logistics services:implications for small business

Considering its strong environmental impact, logistics plays a critical role in green supply chain management. It provides strategic links in the supply chain and is an essential function in the delivery of green products to the consumer. There is a general consensus on the fact that more environmentally sustainable companies may be achieved only if transport and logistics activities also become greener. To achieve this objective, buyer companies need to incorporate green considerations in the purchasing of transport and logistics services. This appears particularly challenging for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) because of their traditional lack of managerial, organisational and financial resources that often result in failure to adopt an environmental perspective. In the extant literature, green purchasing has received increased attention over the past decade and the strategic importance of introducing green aspects into purchasing practices has been recognised. However, little has been written in relation to purchasing green transport and logistics services. The aim of this paper is to explore practices in the buying of green transport and logistics services and to derive implications for small buyer companies. The paper analyses how general environmental company ambitions and environmental purchasing practices are reflected when green transport and logistics services are purchased in three different European countries (Italy, Ireland and Sweden) using a multiple case study research approach. The results of the paper indicate that while the case companies show a relatively high concern for green issues at corporate level, a lower importance is attributed to green issues at the purchasing function level. When green concerns in the purchasing of transport and logistics services are analysed the level of importance decreases further. Thus, a conflicting attitude is evident between the overall corporate level and the purchasing of transport and logistics services specifically. This suggests that there is potential for improvement especially in the area of green collaboration in buyer and supplier relationships.

The role of information and communication technology in small Italian logistics enterprises

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is widely regarded as a key integration enabler in contemporary supply chain configurations. Furthermore, recent years have seen the vertical disintegration of supply chains as increasing numbers of manufacturers and retailers outsource significant parts of their supply chain functionality. In this environment, Third Party Logistics (3PL) providers - the majority of which are small companies - play a pivotal role. This raises important questions about the usage of ICT in this sector. However, there is a paucity of research in the field of small 3PLs with little empirical investigation into the usage of ICT by such firms. This paper presents the results of a survey on ICT systems usage in a sample of small Italian 3PLs. The results provide a technological profile of the surveyed companies, as well as an analysis of the role of ICT in customising services and of the factors influencing technology adoption.

SME resilience to extreme weather events:important initiatives for informing policy making in the area

Enhancing the resilience of local communities to weather extremes has gained significant interest over the years, amidst the increased intensity and frequency of such events. The fact that such weather extremes are forecast to further increase in number and severity in future has added extra weight to the importance of the issue. As a local community consists of a number of community groups such as households, businesses and policy makers, the actions of different community groups in combination will determine the resilience of the community as a whole. An important role has to be played by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs); which is an integral segment of a local community in the UK, in this regard. While it is recognised that they are vital to the economy of a country and determines the prosperity of communities, they are increasingly vulnerable to effects of extreme weather. This paper discusses some of the exploratory studies conducted in the UK on SMEs and their ability to cope with extreme weather events, specifically flooding. Although a reasonable level of awareness of the risk was observed among the SMEs, this has not always resulted in increased preparedness even if they are located in areas at risk of flooding. The attitude and the motivation to change differed widely between SMEs. The paper presents schemas by which the SMEs can identify their vulnerability better so that they can be populated among a community of SMEs, which can be taken forward to inform policy making in this area. Therefore the main contribution the paper makes to the body of knowledge in the area is a novel way to communicate to SMEs on improving resilience against extreme weather, which will inform some of the policy making initiatives in the UK.