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

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Kis- és középvállalatok innovációs tevékenysége a válság idején – hálózatok szerepe (Innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises in times of crises – The role of networks)

A hálózati megközelítés alapján a vállalatok nem izoláltan működő szervezetek. A kis- és középvállalkozások számára a hálózatok, a partnerkapcsolatok jelentős támogatást képesek biztosítani a növekedés, a tanulás és az innovációs tevékenység során. A szerző a hálózati, partneri kapcsolatok szerepét a válság idején vizsgálta, kvalitatív kutatás keretében. A tanulmány fontos megállapítása, hogy nem kizárólag a hálózatban rejlő lehetőségek, hanem a korábban biztos partneri kapcsolatok megszűnése is indukálhat innovációt a válság idején, valamint a biztonság, a tartalék-erőforrások megléte esetén lassabb a piaci reagálás, kevésbé kerül előtérbe a változás, s főként az innovációs tevékenység ______ Based on the network perspective companies are not isolated organizations. Networks and partnerships mean a significant support for SMEs in growth, learning and innovation. The author examines the role of networks and partnerships during the crisis, in a qualitative research. An important result of the paper is that not only the opportunities in networks but also the decomposition of prior secure relationships can induce innovation during the crisis. Moreover in case of safety and slack resources the reaction is slower, change and innovation come to the front less.

A vállalati logisztikai költségek a magyarországi kis- és középvállalkozások körében végzett felmérés tükrében (Corporate logistics costs of the Hungarian small- and medium-sized enterprises)

A cikk a magyarországi kis- és középvállalkozások logisztikai költségeit vizsgálja a nemzetközi kutatások tükrében és a 2009-es közel kétezer hazai KKV-re kiterjedő „Vállalkozások helyzetének felmérése” alapján. A hazai logisztikai költségeket leginkább a vállalatméret és az ágazat befolyásolja. A magyarországi kis- és középvállalkozások ki nem szervezett szállítási és raktározási tevékenységei a hazai fuvarozóknak és raktárszolgáltatóknak jelentős piacbővülést jelenthetnének. Ez azonban csak látens piacbővülés, mivel a hazai KKV-k nem tervezik, hogy szállítási és raktározási tevékenységeiket nagyobb arányban szervezzék ki. Ez részben azzal magyarázható, hogy a feldolgozóipari, mezőgazdasági és kereskedő kis- és középvállalkozások viszonylag nagy arányban tekintik a logisztikát alapvető képességnek. Nemzetközi viszonylatban a magyarországi KKV-k magas logisztikai költségszintekkel szembesülnek, melynek mérséklésével az adminisztrációs terhek csökkentéséhez hasonló megtakarítást lehetne elérni. ____ This article examines total logistics costs and its components of the Hungarian small- and medium-sized enterprises in the light of international researches. It shows that company-size and its sector are the most important drivers of logistics costs and its components according to „Survey of position of enterprises”, which covered nearly 2000 Hungarian SMEs in 2009. It also proves that transport and warehousing demand of the Hungarian SMEs means a significant market growth for national carriers and warehouse providers. It is only a latent growth, because the Hungarian SMEs do not plan to outsource their transport and warehouse activities in a greater extent. The relative high level of logistics as a core competence among processing industry, agriculture and trade SMEs can be a partial explanation to this. The Hungarian small- and medium-sized enterprises face with high logistics costs in international comparison. Its reduction may bring similar savings as reduction of administrative burdens.

Small and medium-sized enterprises and regional economic growth in Brazil

This paper examines the relationship between the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector and economic growth for an annual panel of Brazilian states for the period 1985–2004. We investigate the importance of the relative size of the SME sector measured by the share of SME employment in total formal employment and the level of human capital in SMEs measured by the average years of schooling of SME employees. The empirical results indicate that the relative importance of SMEs is negatively correlated with economic growth, a result that is consistent with previous studies examining developing countries. In addition, our results show that the human capital embodied in SMEs may be more important for economic growth than the relative size of the SME sector.

Development of small and medium-sized enterprise horizontal innovation networks: UK agri-food sector study

Within the management literature, there is an emergent discourse on horizontal collaboration among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), whereby individual rivalries are overcome by the need for more resources and innovation, leading to increased competitiveness through joint product development. In particular, a number of these horizontal collaborations between SMEs have occurred within the agri-food sector. As a consequence, this article aims to explore the longitudinal development of horizontal innovation networks within an artisan bakers’ network as part of the UK SME agri-food sector. An interpretivist research approach was used, whereby the development and evolution of an artisan bakers’ horizontal network was studied over a 27-month period. The findings, as summarised in conceptual models which draw upon knowledge-based open innovation and social network constructs, illustrate that a complex three-stage life cycle development occurred within the bakers’ horizontal network.

Managing the complexity of information flow for construction small and medium-sized enterprises (CSMEs) using system dynamics and collaborative technologies

With the increase in e-commerce and the digitisation of design data and information,the construction sector has become reliant upon IT infrastructure and systems. The design and production process is more complex, more interconnected, and reliant upon greater information mobility, with seamless exchange of data and information in real time. Construction small and medium-sized enterprises (CSMEs), in particular,the speciality contractors, can effectively utilise cost-effective collaboration-enabling technologies, such as cloud computing, to help in the effective transfer of information and data to improve productivity. The system dynamics (SD) approach offers a perspective and tools to enable a better understanding of the dynamics of complex systems. This research focuses upon system dynamics methodology as a modelling and analysis tool in order to understand and identify the key drivers in the absorption of cloud computing for CSMEs. The aim of this paper is to determine how the use of system dynamics (SD) can improve the management of information flow through collaborative technologies leading to improved productivity. The data supporting the use of system dynamics was obtained through a pilot study consisting of questionnaires and interviews from five CSMEs in the UK house-building sector.