Coaching SME managers: business development or personal therapy? A mixed methods study

While a growing number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are making use of coaching, little is known about the impact such coaching has within this sector. This study sought to identify the factors that influence managers' decision to engage with coaching, their perceptions of the coaching ‘journey’ and the kinds of benefits accruing from coaching: organisational, personal or both. As part of a mixed methods approach, a survey tool was developed based upon a range of relevant management competencies from the UK's Management Occupational Standards and responses analysed using importance-performance analysis, an approach first used in the marketing sector to evaluate customer satisfaction. Results indicate that coaching had a significant impact on personal attributes such as ‘Managing Self-Cognition’ and ‘Managing Self-Emotional’, whereas the impact on business-oriented attributes was weaker. Managers' choice of coaches with psychotherapeutic rather than non-psychotherapeutic backgrounds was also statistically significant. We conclude that even in the competitive business environment of SMEs, coaching was used as a largely personal, therapeutic intervention rather than to build business-oriented competencies.

e-Leadership through strategic alignment: an empirical study of small and medium sized enterprises in the digital age

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the European economy. A critical challenge faced by SME leaders, as a consequence of the continuing digital technology revolution, is how to optimally align business strategy with digital technology to fully leverage the potential offered by these technologies in pursuit of longevity and growth. There is a paucity of empirical research examining how e-leadership in SMEs drives successful alignment between business strategy and digital technology fostering longevity and growth. To address this gap, in this paper we develop an empirically derived e-leadership model. Initially we develop a theoretical model of e-leadership drawing on strategic alignment theory. This provides a theoretical foundation on how SMEs can harness digital technology in support of their business strategy enabling sustainable growth. An in-depth empirical study was undertaken interviewing 42 successful European SME leaders to validate, advance and substantiate our theoretically driven model. The outcome of the two stage process – inductive development of a theoretically driven e-leadership model and deductive advancement to develop a complete model through in-depth interviews with successful European SME leaders – is an e-leadership model with specific constructs fostering effective strategic alignment. The resulting diagnostic model enables SME decision makers to exercise effective e-leadership by creating productive alignment between business strategy and digital technology improving longevity and growth prospects.

The only way is up: retail format saturation and the demise of the American five and dime store, 1914-1941

We examine a classic ‘wheel of retailing’ episode – the abandonment of the five and dime pricing formula by American variety chains. These switched from a conventional product lifecycle, focusing on cost reduction through standardisation, to a reverse path up the ‘service cost - unit value’ continuum. We show that, rather than reflecting deteriorating managerial acumen, this was a response to the continued imperative for growth following retail format saturation. Firm-specific (rather than format-specific) competitive advantages were too weak for any chain to be confident it could win a within-format price war, making inter-format competition through raising price points more attractive.

Iberia-Latin-American Symposia of Morphological Terminology (SILAT). First Two Years and Statute

On the occasion of meeting the first two years of life, it makes a review of SILAT as scientific and educational program that serves as a tool to analyze and solve the problems of morphological medical terminology in the countries of Hispanic and Portuguese-speaking America. It describes the basis of its creation, strategy and scope in the region, the founding years and its immediate future. Finally, some conclusions are indicated and it Statute is annexed.

Where did all these books come from? The Publishing Industry and American Intellectual Life

The American book publishing industry shapes the character of American intellectual life. While the newspaper and television industries have been accused of and investigated for bias and lowering America’s intellectual standards, book publishing has gone largely unexamined by scholars. The existing studies of the publishing industry have focused on finance, procedure and history. “There are few ‘theories’ of publishing – efforts to understand the ‘whys’ as well as the ‘hows.’ Few scholarly scientists have devoted significant scholarly attention to publishing” (Altbach and Hoshino, xiii). There are many possible reasons for this lacuna. First, there is a perception that books have always been around, that they are an “old” technology and therefore they don’t appear to have had as much of an impact on our society as television and other media (which were developed quickly and suddenly) seem to have had (Altbach and Hoshino, xiv). Also, despite books’ present and past popularity, television, radio, and now the internet reach more people more easily, and are therefore more topical points of study and observation. In studying the effects of mass media on everyday American life, television and the internet may be the most logical points of study. Regarding public intellectual life however, books play a much more important role. Public intellectual life has always been associated with independent thinkers publishing their work for the masses. For this reason, this I focus on trade publishing. Trade publishing produces fiction and non-fiction works for the general reading public, as opposed to technical manuals, textbooks, and other fiction and nonfiction books targeted to small and specific audiences. Although, quantitatively speaking, “the largest part of book publishing business is embodied in that great complex of companies and activities producing educational, business, scientific, technical, and reference books and materials,” (Tebbel 1987, 439) the trade industry publishes most of the books that most people read. It is the most public segment of the industry, and the most likely place to find public intellectualism. Trade publishing is not only the most public segment of the industry, but it is also the most susceptible to corruption and lowered intellectual standards. Unlike specialty publishing, which caters to a specific, known segment of society, trade publishers must compete with countless other publications, as well as with other forms of media, for the patronage of the general public. As John Tebbel (author of a widely referenced history of the publishing industry) puts it, “The textbook, scientific, or technical book is subjected to much more rigorous scrutiny by buyers and users, and in an intensively competitive market inferior products are quickly lost" (Tebbel 1987, xiv). Since the standards for trade publishing are not nearly as specific – trade books simply need to catch the attention of a significant number of readers, they don’t have to measure up to a given level of quality – the quality of trade books is much more variable. And yet, a successful trade publication can have a much greater impact on society than the most rigorously researched and edited textbook or scholarly study.

Barriers faced by the Brazilian business community to access the United States market system

Trade history between Brazil and the United States is long and complicated but it is only in recent years that the trade balance has become more equal in terms of both imports and exports. As Brazil continues to establish its position in the world economy and expand its export market it is only natural that it seeks to increase exports to its single largest trading partner, the United States, and maintain the market share already established. In order to achieve success in these regards Brazil must have a deep understanding of the American political economy system. Part of this entails understanding barriers that must be overcome by Brazilian businesses to access United States markets, particularly the access of certain products at the industry level.

Main obstacles in the business environment affecting firm growth: a comparative analysis between Chinese and Brazilian SMEs

Usando dados do Banco Mundial, esta dissertação analisa as semelhanças e diferenças entre os obstáculos enfrentados pelas micro, pequenas e médias empresas (MSME) no Brasil e na China. Realizamos tanto uma análise comparativa entre os dos países como uma análise de clusters para confrontar os dados subjetivos e objetivos recolhidos, de modo a identificar o desempenho das empresas, levando em consideração as características dos países e o ambiente de negócios.

As distintas percepções sobre o empreendedorismo social

This dissertation is a literature review with exploratory and descriptive purposes, which aims to compile the different perceptions of the term Social Entrepreneurship, but not propon-being of an epistemological analysis on the topic. The main objectives of this research were: 1) to identify the convergences and divergences in the various perceptions of the Social Entrepre-neurship, from the perspectives: American, European and Brazilian; 2) identify whether Social Entrepreneurship can be considered as a new theoretical trend, or can be understood as a sub-category of an existing theory; 3) identify whether Social Entrepreneurship can be considered as practice of Social Management; 4) identify whether the "Social Business", proposed by Yunus (2010), can be considered as a completely new type of organization, as the author says. For this research were studied literary works available in the physical environment and elec-tronic database. The main concepts studied in this research were: Entrepreneurship; Social Management; Third Sector; Business Management and Social Entrepreneurship. The conclu-sions reached by this study were: 1-a) the main theoretical convergence is the Social Entrepre-neur ability to apply methods and process typically used in for-profit companies, in business that aimed social value creation; 1-b) the main difference is the different perceptions that the United States, Europe and Brazil have about what is Social Entrepreneurship. In the American perspective, these are private sector organizations operating according to market logic and that somehow generates social value. In the European perspective, closer to the social economy, emphasizes the activities of civil society organizations with public functions. In Brazil empha-sizes market initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and transform the social conditions of mar-ginalized or excluded individuals; 2) Social Entrepreneurship is an activity that incorporates much all the practices, methods and processes of commercial entrepreneurship and, as such, should not be considered as a new theoretical trend, but a subcategory of Entrepreneurship theory. 3) Social Entrepreneurship cannot be considered as a practice of Social Management, being much closer to the commercial entrepreneurship practices; 4) the "Social Business" pro-posed by Yunus (2010), closely resembled in its modus operandi with the Social Enterprises in Western Europe, thus, not supporting the author's claim.

Structural change and productivity growth, 20 years later: old problems, new opportunities

Includes bibliography

Opportunities for trade and investment between Latin America and Asia-Pacific: the link with APEC

Includes bibliography

Innovating, gaining market share and fostering social inclusion: success stories in SME development

Includes bibliography

Natural resources within the Union of South American Nations: status and trends for a regional development agenda

Includes bibliography

Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union: striving for a renewed partnership

Includes bibliography

The problems of intellectual property in Latin America and how to address them

Includes bibliography

Information technology for development of small and medium-sized exporters in Latin America and East Asia

Includes bibliography