Establishing information security culture in Australian small and medium enterprises

This thesis develops a framework of key influences that must be considered in order to enable development of an information security culture in Australian small and medium enterprises. The study argues that, by ensuring that key influences are in place, an effective information security culture will evolve.

How do Australian small and medium enterprises communicate their environmental improvement activities online?

There have been calls in the IS/eBusiness literature for research on "green" IS/IT in a Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) context. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature has neglected the issue of how SMEs can use websites to communicate their environmental improvement activities. This paper links these two previously separate disciplines by reporting on a content analysis of 443 Australian SME websites from four industry sectors to identify if and how they use websites to communicate their environmental improvement activities. The study found that 47 websites were communicating such activities in some form. A detailed analysis was undertaken of these 47 websites to identify emergent themes relating to how these SMEs were communicating their environmental improvement activities. These themes resulted in a reconceptualisation of the traditional "4 Ps" of marketing for online communication of environmental improvement activities by SMEs: profile; product; process; and prominence.

Institutional analysis of strategic choice of micro, small, and medium enterprises : development of a conceptual framework

This paper presents a conceptual framework showing formal and informal institutions and their relationship with the strategic choice of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in a developing country setting. It emphasises how institutions at sub-national level (such as a region or city) influence the strategic orientations of MSMEs as many developing countries in Asia are undergoing decentralisation whereby sub-national government authorities are given more political, economic, fiscal, and administrative powers. Furthermore, it sheds more insights on the environmental (institutional) determinism-organisational (strategic) choice nexus. It offers propositions, questions as well as issues worth pursuing in empirical investigations in the future.

Implementation of six sigma in Australian manufacturing small and medium enterprises

The present study discusses the status of quality management practices in manufacturing SMEs in Australia and investigates the reasons why they are not implementing the Six Sigma methodology. This study emphasises that Six Sigma can be implemented in manufacturing SMEs. Moreover, this study identifies the motivation for adopting Six Sigma by Australian manufacturing SMEs. A Six Sigma implementation framework is developed and presented.

The importance of clusters for the development of small & medium enterprises

This thesis aims to open a theoretical discussion on the importance of cluster for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises. The methodology applied was based on bibliographical and qualitative research. The basic questions raised by this study can be summarized as follows: How the creation of a cluster will help in the development of the SME?. Consequently, the final objective of the work is to identify which are the characteristics that help into the success of a Small & Medium Enterprises inserted in a cluster. The answer to this question led the research to a better understanding of (i) the characterization of the Small & Medium Enterprises; (ii) the clusters theory; (iii) evidence for a developed (Italy) and a developing (Chile) country that support our proposition to verify. The main results confirm the relevance of the cluster for the development of the Small and Medium Enterprises because of the collective efficiency that generates, improving the funding conditions, the exporter capacity and diminishing the activities costs of the small companies that are part of the conglomerate.

Promoting corporate social responsibility in small and medium enterprises in the Caribbean: methodology report

Incluye Bibliografía

Promoting corporate social responsibility in small and medium enterprises in the Caribbean: survey results

Includes bibliography

Change and opportunity: corporate social responsibility as a source of competitiveness in small and medium enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Final report: the Chilean support policy for small and medium enterprises in the areas of technology, quality and financing

Includes bibliography

Final report: national and state policies for micro, small and medium enterprises in Brazil

Includes bibliography

Fact Findings and Lessons Learned from the Comparative Study on Information Techonology (IT) Usage by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America and Asia

ECLACs International Trade and Integration Division (DCII) will launch the book titled Information Technology for Development of Small and Medium-sized Exporters in Latin America and East Asia in the end of September 2005. The report provides an overview of the present condition of Information Technology (IT) and its use to promote international trade. It focuses on the experiences of IT usage by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Latin American and Asian-Pacific regions, with a special focus on SME exporters in the 13 researched countries, that were selected from the Forum for East Asia - Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) member countries. This issue of the FAL bulletin is produced based on the executive summary of the book.

New product development in brazilian technology-based small and medium enterprises

This article examines new product development (NPD) in small and medium-sized Brazilian enterprises (SMEs) in two technology-based industries: medical devices and process control automation devices. A conceptual model that categorizes factors that contribute to the success of a new product was established. The data were collected from a sample of 62 Brazilian SMEs. The conceptual model was tested to examine the relationships between NPD practices and new product success. Data analysis reveals that new product success in medical device companies is related to organizational characteristics such as NPD proficiency and marketing skills; while in process control automation device companies, they deal in a large degree with product differentiation, innovation and capability to analyze the targeted market. Due to the relatively small sample size, caution should be exercised when interpreting the results.

Unlocking the Potential of Zambian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises "Learning from the international best practices - the Southeast Asian Experience"

This paper examines the SMEs performance in Zambia and attempts to identify some practical lessons that Zambia can learn from Southeast Asian countries (with reference to Malaysia) in order to facilitate industrial development through unlocking the potential of its SMEs sector. Malaysia and Zambia were at the same level of economic development as evidenced by similar per capita incomes but Zambia has remained behind economically and its manufacturing sector has stagnated as if both countries did not have similar initial endowments. It therefore, becomes imperative that Zambia learns from such countries on how they managed to take-off economically with a focus on SME development. Training (education), research & development, market availability and technological advancement through establishment of industrial linkages coupled with cluster formation were some of the outstanding strategies identified that Zambia could use as a “key” to unlock its SMEs’ potential as it strives to meet the UN MDGs in particular halving its poverty levels by 2015 and also realizing its vision of becoming a middle income earner by 2030.

Financing Small and Medium Enterprises in Myanmar

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) share the biggest part in Myanmar economy in terms of number, contribution to employment, output, and investment. Myanmar economic growth is thus totally dependent on the development of SMEs in the private sector. Today, the role of SMEs has become more vital in strengthening national competitive advantage and the speedy economic integration into the ASEAN region. However, studies show that SMEs have to deal with a number of constraints that hinder their development potential, such as the shortage in power supply, unavailability of long-term credit from external sources and many others. Among them, the financing problem of SMEs is one of the biggest constraints. Such is deeply rooted in demand and supply issues, macroeconomic fundamentals, and lending infrastructure of the country. The government’s policy towards SMEs could also lead to insufficient support for the SMEs. Thus, focusing on SMEs and private sector development as a viable strategy for industrialization and economic development of the country is a fundamental requirement for SME development. This paper recommends policies for stabilizing macro economic fundamentals, improving lending infrastructures of the country and improving demand- and supply-side conditions from the SMEs financing perspective in order to provide a more accessible financing for SMEs and to contribute in the overall development of SMEs in Myanmar thereby to sharpen national competitive advantage in the age of speedy economic integration.