A szerződések teljesülése a magyar élelmiszerláncban (Contract fulfilments in Hungarian food chains)

A tanulmány célja, hogy azonosítsa azokat a tényezőket, amelyek befolyásolják az élelmiszer-gazdasági kis- és közepes vállalkozások szerződéseinek teljesülését a Közép-magyarországi régióban. Számításaink megerősítik Guo-Jolly [2008] eredményeit, amely szerint a szerződések tartalmi elemeinek kulcsszerepük van a szerződések teljesülésében. Továbbá a vállalatvezetői képességek, a vállalati és tranzakciós jellemzők szintén jelentős hatást gyakorolnak a szerződések teljesülésére. Érdekes módon az ágazatspecifikus jellemzőknek csak korlátozott szerepük van a szerződések teljesülésének magyarázatában. / === / The paper analyses the contractual relations and contract fulfilment of small and medium-sized firms along the food chain, in the central region of Hungary, using survey data. The estimates also reveal that contract fulfilment is significantly affected by the design of the contract. They confirm that an important role in contract fulfilment is played by corporate and managerial attributes and transaction characteristics. Interestingly, branch-specific characteristics play only a limited role in explaining contract fulfilment.

Factors that influence entrepreneurship activity by gender in the European Union

This research work aims to discuss the gender issue concerning entrepreneurship in European Union countries in a period of nine years, from 2007 to 2015, identifying the factors which drive individuals to be entrepreneurs. The study mainly concentrates on identifying and quantifying the personal, social, political and economic features which are motivating individuals, especially women, to be entrepreneurs, as well as the main difficulties they feel during the process of business creation. In order to explore the entrepreneurial activity across a set of developed countries the econometric methodology of panel data (in particular the fixed effects and random effects models) is applied to a data set of entrepreneurial statistical indicators calculated and made available by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. The results show that the knowledge of other start-up entrepreneurs, a desired career choice, the governmental support and the existence of public policies that promote entrepreneurship (specially within the framework of small and medium sized firms) and the transfer of R&D are factors influencing negatively on the rate of female entrepreneurship. None of the observed variables are barriers for male entrepreneurs. The perceived capabilities and opportunities, the entrepreneurial intention, the policies to lower taxes and bureaucracy and the social and cultural norms are identified drives for women for engaging in a process of running their own ventures. These findings offer a set of valid knowledge to understand which measures could be implemented or should be changed and improved at a political and managerial level for stimulating entrepreneurship, especially for women.

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’.

Productivity in southern European small firms: When and how work organization complements process innovation

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of human capital, advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT), and new work organizational practices on firm productivity, while taking into account the synergies existing between them. This study expands current knowledge in this area in two ways. First, in contrast with previous works, we focus on AMT and not ICT (information and communication technologies). Second, we use a unique employer-employee data set for small firms in a particular area of southern Europe (Catalonia, Spain). Using a small firm data set, allows us to analyse the particular case of small and medium enterprises, since we cannot assume they have the same characteristics as large firms. The results provide evidence in favor of the complementarity hypothesis between human capital, advanced manufacturing technologies, and new work organization practices, although we show that the complementarity effects depend on what type of work organization practices are used by a firm. For small and medium Catalan firms, the only set of work organization practices that improve the benefits of human capital and technology investment are those practices which are more quality oriented, such as quality circles, problem-solving groups or total quality management.

Purchasing and supply management capabilities in Finnish medium-sized enterprises

Purchasing and supply management (PSM) has become increasingly important for companies to survive in current highly competitive market. Increased outsourcing has extended the role of PSM, making external resource management and supplier relationships critical success factors in business. However, the recent research has mainly concentrated on large enterprises. Therefore the PSM issues related to medium-sized enterprises represent a significant research area. The thesis aims to explore the status and role of PSM in Finnish medium-sized firms, understand how strategic companies consider PSM to be, clarify what are the competence requirements for PSM professionals, and increase the understanding of PSM capabilities needed from the points view of individual competence and organisational capabilities. The study uses data that was collected in 2007 from purchasing executives at the director/CEO level representing a sample of 94 Finnish firms. 54 % of the respondent enterprises had a supply strategy. The total supply cost was on average 60 % of firms' turnover. Centralisation of PSM and outsourcing of logistics will increase in Finnish medium-sized enterprises. The findings point out that Finnish medium-sized enterprises had strategical features of PSM. However, Finnish firms have not concentrated on making strategies that relate to PSM. The elements that explain the existence of a supply strategy could be found in this study. It can be concluded from this study that there is an advantageous base for the development of strategic PSM, because nearly all the enterprises were of the opinion that PSM capabilities have an effect on business success. When reviewing the organisational capabilities, the five most important development elements were supplier relationships, both operational and strategic processes, time management, and personnel's competence. Training in internationalisation, strategic management, and communication could help to improve competences of PSM personnel.

Rising concentration in Asia-Latin American value chains: Can small firms turn the tide?

Dynamic Asia has overtaken the European Union as Latin America and the Caribbean’s second largest export market, after the United States. However, the region’s exports to Asia remain concentrated in few commodities involving a small number of large firms. This book explores the present and future scope for the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in biregional trade and value chains and the measures that can be taken to make those chains more inclusive and sustainable. SMEs have a low direct presence in the region’s export flows and their participation in the supplier networks of multinational companies is weak. This volume reviews several supplier development programmes (SDPs) adopted in various countries in Asia and Latin America to increase SME linkages with multinational firms. These programmes, many of which are public-private initiatives, aim to boost SME productivity and enhance their participation in value chains.

Primary cutaneous CD4+ small-/medium-sized pleomorphic T-cell lymphoma: a cutaneous nodular proliferation of pleomorphic T lymphocytes of undetermined significance? A study of 136 cases

Patients with skin nodules characterized by the infiltrate of pleomorphic small/medium T lymphocytes are currently classified as "primary cutaneous CD4+ small-/medium-sized pleomorphic T-cell lymphoma" (SMPTCL) or as T-cell pseudolymphoma. The distinction is often arbitrary, and patients with similar clinicopathologic features have been included in both groups. We studied 136 patients (male:female = 1:1; median age: 53 years, age range: 3-90 years) with cutaneous lesions that could be classified as small-/medium-sized pleomorphic T-cell lymphoma according to current diagnostic criteria. All but 3 patients presented with solitary nodules located mostly on the head and neck area (75%). Histopathologic features were characterized by nonepidermotropic, nodular, or diffuse infiltrates of small- to medium-sized pleomorphic T lymphocytes. A monoclonal rearrangement of the T-cell receptor-gamma gene was found in 60% of tested cases. Follow-up data available for 45 patients revealed that 41 of them were alive without lymphoma after a median time of 63 months (range: 1-357 months), whereas 4 were alive with cutaneous disease (range: 2-16 months). The incongruity between the indolent clinical course and the worrying histopathologic and molecular features poses difficulties in classifying these cases unambiguously as benign or malignant, and it may be better to refer to them with a descriptive term such as "cutaneous nodular proliferation of pleomorphic T lymphocytes of undetermined significance," rather than forcing them into one or the other category. On the other hand, irrespective of the name given to these equivocal cutaneous lymphoid proliferations, published data support a nonaggressive therapeutic strategy, particularly for patients presenting with solitary lesions.

What Makes a Family Firm Innovative? CEO Risk-Taking Propensity and the Organizational Context of Family Firms

Investigating the new product portfolio innovativeness of family firms connects two important topics that have recently received considerable attention in innovation and family firm research. First, new product portfolio innovativeness has been identified as a critical determinant of firm performance. Second, research on family firms has focused on the questions of if and why family firms are more or less innovative than other organizational forms. Research investigating the innovativeness of family firms has often applied a risk-oriented perspective by identifying socioemotional wealth (SEW) as the main reference that determines firm behavior. Thus, prior research has mainly focused on the organizational context to predict innovation-related family firm behavior and neglected the impact of preferences and the behavior of the chief executive officer (CEO), which have both been shown to affect firm outcomes. Hence, this study aims to extend the previous research by introducing the CEO's disposition to organizational context variables to explain the new product portfolio innovativeness of small and medium-sized family firms. Specifically, this study explores how the organizational context (i.e., ownership by top management team [TMT] family members and generation in charge of the family firm) of family firms interacts with CEO risk-taking propensity to affect new product portfolio innovativeness. Using a sample of 114 German CEOs of small and medium-sized family firms operating in manufacturing industries, the results show that CEO risk-taking propensity has a positive effect on new product portfolio innovativeness. Moreover, the analyses show that the organizational context of family firms impacts the relationship between CEO risk-taking propensity and new product portfolio innovativeness. Specifically, the relationship between CEO risk-taking propensity and new product portfolio innovativeness is weaker if levels of ownership by TMT family members are high (high SEW). Additionally, the effect of CEO risk-taking propensity on new product portfolio innovativeness is stronger in family firms at earlier generational stages (high SEW). This result suggests that if SEW is a strong reference, family firm-specific characteristics can affect individual dispositions and, in turn, the behaviors of executives. Therefore, this study helps extend the knowledge on the determinants of new product portfolio innovativeness of family firms by considering an individual CEO preference and the organizational context variables of family firms simultaneously.

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.

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).

Managing small-medium cities in a time of globalization: Experiences and evidence from Florida's public managers

This study examines how public management practitioners in small and medium-sized Florida cities perceive globalization and its impact on public management practice. Using qualitative analysis, descriptive statistics and factor analysis methods, data obtained from a survey and semi-structured interviews were studied to comprehend how public managers view the management and control of their municipalities in a time of globalization. The study shows that the public managers’ perceptions of globalization and its impact on public management in Florida’s small-medium cities are nuanced. Whereas some public managers feel that globalization has significant impacts on municipalities’ viability, others opine that globalization has no local impact. The study further finds that globalization processes are perceived as altering the public management functions of decision-making, economic development and service delivery in some small-medium cities in Florida as a result of transnational shifts, rapidly changing technologies, and municipalities’ heightened involvement in the global economy. The study concludes that the globalization discourse does not resonate among some public managers in Florida’s small-medium cities in ways implied in extant literature.

Ownership Structure, Board Composition and Entrepreneurship : Evidence from Family Firms and Venture-Capital Backed Firms

The purpose of this article is to investigate how ownership structure, especially family and/or venture-capital involvement, as well as entrepreneurial activities, defined as strategic change and renewal, help explain the involvement of independent members on boards of directors. The CEOs of 2,455 small and medium-sized, private enterprises from practically all industries were contacted in a telephone survey, resulting in an exceptionally high response rate. The findings reveal that family firms are more reluctant to involve independent directors on their boards than non-family firms that presence of venture capitalists increases the frequency of independent board members and that ownership has an impact on board roles. The results do not support the hypothesised relationship that independent directors enhance entrepreneurial activities. One implication of our study is that the often-argued-for strategic contribution of outsiders to the boards in family firms may be overemphasised. Another implication is that family firms that choose to acquire additional capital should be aware that this could result in a change in the board composition and the loss of control of the business. However, new and external owners’ inclusion on the board seems to be negotiable since there are also venture capitalists that do not insist on board representation.

Entrepreneurship Strategies in Family and Non-family Businesses

The goal of the present paper is to analyse the classic entrepreneurship strategies (Innovation, Risk and Proactivity) in small and medium-sized businesses. However as presented in the title, the study will go further by comparing the results of those strategies in familiar and nonfamiliar businesses. This study was carried on in construction and industry sectors, in the region of Vale do Sousa, in the north of Portugal. In order to classify businesses as familiar or non-familiar types two criterion were adopted: (1) Management Control, (2) Family Employability. On the opposite to some studies that present a larger percentage of familiar businesses in national and European entrepreneurial fabric, the criterion used leaded to a larger number of non-familiar businesses (53%). The results showed that in general SMEs in this region are not following entrepreneurship strategies. Analysing the entire sample without a separation of businesses by nature (familiar/non-familiar) only proactivity showed to be more present in the managerial decisions. There is a lack of innovation and risk culture. Comparing the groups only on proactivity tests was possible to verify some differences. It was concluded that non-familiar businesses are more proactive than familiar ones. Between those groups there are no statistical differences on the means of the variables innovation and risk. At the same time some tests were conducted to test the differences on the variable entrepreneurship. The results were similar to innovation and risk strategies: There are no significant differences on entrepreneurship between these groups of businesses.

Three essays on internationalization and firm entrepreneurial behavior

PAPER 1: A THEORY ON THE EFFECTS OF INTERNATIONALIZATION ON FIRM ENTREPRENEURIAL BEHAVIOR AND GROWTH Abstract This article addresses the relationship. Past findings reveal that the direct effects of internationalization on performance are mixed and inconclusive. Our framework integrates firm entrepreneurial behavior as a mediating force of the troublesome Drawing on the tension between the entrepreneurship literature and the organizational inertia theory, we argue that internationalization is key to minimizing the stifling effects of inertia and in engendering entrepreneurial behavior towards growth. We suggest that firms that internationalize at a young age and enjoy an intense degree of internationalization tend to become more entrepreneurial than do late and weakly internationalized firms. As a consequence, early and intense internationalizers experience superior growth. Aware of the inherent endogeneity of our propositions, we also discuss how consistent estimates can be obtained when testing the model empirically. PAPER 2: DOES INTERNATIONALIZATION MATTER FOR GROWTH? THE CASE OF SWISS SOFTWARE FIRMS. Abstract This paper seeks to address the issue of whether early and intense internationalization leads to superior firm growth. We revisit the hypotheses of previous studies within the emerging research domain of international entrepreneurship. Empirical analyses on the performance implications of internationalization have so far been limited and inconsistent. Our paper intends to make two contributions to the international entrepreneurship literature. First, we bring additional empirical evidence as to the inconclusive firm performance endogeneity in our causal model, using a sample of 103 Swiss international small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). On one hand, we find that the degree of internationalization significantly increases perceived firm growth (i.e., relative firm performance in a market); however, age at internationalization was unrelated to perceived firm growth. On the other hand, we reproduced the causal path of a highly cited study that showed how age at internationalization was significantly and negatively associated with objective firm growth (i.e., sales). Interestingly, our results support the study similar setting (OLS regression with comparable control variables); however, the effect for age at internationalization reverses when we correct for endogeneity. PAPER 3: EFFECT OF INTERNATIONALIZATION ON FIRM ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF SWISS SOFTWARE FIRMS. Abstract How does internationalization influence a firm orientation (EO) and is this related to firm growth? This paper inquires into the performance theorizing, we test a process model in which EO plays a mediating role in accounting for the relationship between internationalization and growth. We position this paper on the tension zone between the entrepreneurship literature and the organizational inertia theory. We lay out the argument that internationalization is source of opportunities that drives a firm and thus mitigates inertial pressure. Using a sample of Swiss software small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we found that degree of internationalization (but not age of internationalization) increases EO, which subsequently increased firm growth.

Capital Structure of Finnish SMEs and Financial Constraints

This thesis studies capital structure of Finnish small and medium sized enterprises. The specific object of the study is to test whether financial constraints have an effect on capital structure. In addition influences of several other factors were studied. Capital structure determinants are formulated based on three capital structure theories. The tradeoff theory and the agency theory concentrate on the search of optimal capital structure. The pecking order theory concerns favouring on financing source over another. The data of this study consists of financial statement data and results of corporate questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to find out the effects of several determinants. Regression models were formed based on the presented theories. Short and long term debt ratios were considered separately. The metrics of financially constrained firms was included in all models. It was found that financial constrains have a negative and significant effect to short term debt ratios. The effect was negative also to long term debt ratio but not statistically significant. Other considerable factors that influenced debt ratios were fixed assets, age, profitability, single owner and sufficiency of internal financing.