Organizational effects and labor behavior of domestic violence

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Segundo J. Castro-Gonzáles ◽  
Orquídea Arias Díaz ◽  
Anamari Irizarry Quintero
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Canonical Analysis ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Purpose Using a proposed model, the purpose of this paper is to categorize small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) owners/managers’ perceptions of customer service, and of the manifestations and observable behaviors in relation to the most frequent repercussions of domestic violence in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 73 SME owners/managers was selected; a survey with 44 variables was used for data collection; and factorial and canonical analysis techniques were used to analyze the data. Findings The following were found: among the most frequent manifestations of domestic violence in SME customer services, there are four categories that explain 69.46 percent of the model of variance: threats and continuous absences, frequent mistakes and bad relationships, physical damage/lack of concentration and negative manifestation with low self-esteem; among observable behavior at the workplace, there are four categories that explain 65.35 percent of the model of variance: lack of concentration/tearfulness, fear/insecurity, limited attention to customers and continuous threats; finally there is a 96.70 percent probability of the SMEs’ productivity being affected (loss of customers and low production), through three manifestations of domestic violence detected in the employees: tiredness, sleepiness and tearfulness. Research limitations/implications This research is circumscribed to only one geographical zone in Puerto Rico. Practical implications Even only three manifestations of domestic violence in workers will significantly decrease productivity. When SME managers detect these, they can take action to mitigate the problem for the benefit of the workers. Originality/value This study is a pioneer proposal in its analytical quantitative approach on domestic violence in Puerto Rico and its repercussions on the productivity of the service sector, using canonical analysis.

Development and validation of knowledge management performance measurement constructs for small and medium enterprises

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng Sheng Lee ◽  
Kuan Yew Wong
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Survey Instrument ◽  
Management Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Measurement Models ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Purpose – This paper aims to address the lack of previous studies and to propose a reliable and valid knowledge management performance measurement (KMPM) model for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument containing 13 constructs and 49 items was initially developed and posted to small and medium-sized consultancy firms in Malaysia. Reliability and validity analysis was performed to ensure the quality of the instrument. Findings – The developed survey instrument was shown to be reliable, valid and suitable to be applied in SMEs to evaluate their knowledge management (KM) performance. Research limitations/implications – The present study is limited to SMEs in the service sector. The results are not suitable to be generalized to the manufacturing sector or larger organizations without further research. Practical implications – This study would provide SMEs with a better understanding on KMPM and also a guideline to refer to when measuring their KM performance. Academics can use this study as a basic model to explore KMPM in SMEs and develop new measurement models. Originality/value – This study is believed to be the first that has scientifically developed and empirically tested the constructs that represent a comprehensive KMPM model tailored for SMEs.

The level matters: building capabilities for innovation and enterprise performance through customer involvement

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Anning-Dorson
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Involvement ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Medium Enterprises

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the quadratic relationship between customer involvement capability and performance, and innovation of small- and medium-scale service firms. The study answers the critical question of how SMEs make the most benefit from their involvement capability.Design/methodology/approachData from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the service sector of an emerging economy in sub-Saharan Africa were used. A two-stage data analysis with a quadratic estimation was used to assess the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe study found that the influence of involvement capability over SME performance differs in terms of financial and non-financial. And that, while increasing customer involvement will improve non-financial performance such as customer satisfaction and service quality, it is only at the intermediate level that financial performance is optimized.Originality/valueThe relationships (involvement, and performance and innovation) are not linear, and that at some levels, the relationship with financial or non-financial performance is more positive than other levels. The findings also suggest that involvement capability influences both process and product innovations most at intermediate levels than at low and high levels.

Organizational culture and leadership as antecedents to organizational flexibility: implications for SME competitiveness

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Anning-Dorson
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Managerial Implication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Resources ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Purpose This study aims to assess how innovative organizational culture and innovative leadership generate market flexibility for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the service sector to enhance their competitiveness. Both organizational culture and leadership are seen as firm-level resources capable of influencing the flexibility of the firm in periods of market turbulence. The study argues that SME service firms must use their internal resources to develop their flexibility capability which is more valuable, rare, inimitable and not substitutable. Design/methodology/approach SME service firms from Ghana are used to test the study’s hypotheses through robust standard regression analysis. A sampling frame was developed from an online database of small and medium enterprises operating in the service sector. Findings The findings suggest that although organizational culture and leadership may influence a service firm’s competitiveness, it is more viable to use these firm-level resources to create market flexibility capability to amplify the effect. This means, when culture and leadership propel the flexibility drive, the service firm is able to connect, coordinate and synchronize functional units to take advantage of new product and market opportunities. Additionally, market flexibility emanating from organizational culture and leadership wields enough power and resource support to tackle the turbulent market conditions better than firms with less support. Practical implications The managerial implication from this study is that firms should use their organizational culture and leadership to create flexible organizations that afford them the opportunity to adapt to the environmental dynamics. If both leadership and culture work together, they are able to create strong market capabilities such as flexibility which determines how well the firm will respond to the competition, customer demand and all other external pressures. It is, therefore, the view of this paper that SMEs should use their organizational culture and leadership to build a market-flexible organization to create a competitive advantage. Originality/value This paper shows how internal resources/assets such as culture and leadership generate the needed flexibility to create a competitive advantage for SMEs. This paper explains the two dimensions of Volberda’s flexibility from a firm-level resource perspective and highlights flexibility as a second-order capability whose cultivation and effectiveness are dependent on a firm’s culture and leadership. Evidence of how a firm’s market flexibility is fuelled by organizational leadership and culture is demonstrated. Finally, this paper shows how resource-poor SMEs in emerging African economies can enhance their market competitiveness through internal systems and processes.

Internal Customer Satisfaction in Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME): An Empirical Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr Alok Kumar Rai ◽  
Ms Vandana Pareek ◽  
Mr. Manish Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Employee Satisfaction ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Internal Customer ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Number Of Authors

There is hardly any organization today that would disagree with the notion that people are the indispensable asset of any organization, which endows it with significant competitive advantage. Internal Customer Satisfaction is an assessment of how contended the worker is with his job or work environment. Happy and satisfied workers are likely to produce more, take less leaves, and stay loyal to the company. The importance of human capital in MSMEs has been posited by a number of authors (e.g. Wells et al., 2003; Neace, 1999) and has been linked to important outcome variables including quality, customer service, and productivity (Penning; Edelman et al., 2002). This paper explores the various facets of employee satisfaction in MSME's of Varanasi.

Twiga Hosting Ltd – providing affordable information and communication technologies services to small and medium enterprises

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Juma James Masele
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Innovation Management ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Medium Enterprises

TitleTwiga Hosting Ltd – providing affordable information and communication technologies services to small and medium enterprises.Subject areaThe case describes the launch of Twiga Hosting Ltd, a company providing information and communication technology (ICT) services to the underserved small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in Tanzania and in a many countries in Africa.Study level/applicabilityThis case targets a range of audience from undergraduate students taking both Bachelor of Commerce and those taking Bachelor of Business Administration; and Postgraduate students taking business‐related courses. Nonetheless, the case may be used by all other learners of advanced studies in entrepreneurship and innovation management.Case overviewThe case addresses a number of issues including: Issues to be considered when starting an ICT enterprise. Strategic management. Business revenue models.Expected learning outcomes To impart/inculcate entrepreneurial insights in ICT and related areas. To make learners aware of the business growth opportunities in ICT ventures. The success factors for fruitful ICT ventures. To enable learners to identify challenges facing entrepreneurs in ICT ventures and the ways to overcome them.Supplementary materialsTeaching notes.

Relevant factors of innovation contests for SMEs

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1196-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Isabel Rodriguez Ferradas ◽  
José A. Alfaro Tanco ◽  
Francesco Sandulli
Keyword(s):  
New Product Development ◽  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Retrospective Case ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Context Factors ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Design Factors ◽  
Relevant Factors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevant factors that influence the implementation of innovation contests, an open innovation (OI) practice that has been extensively reported in the literature as a managerial tool for external knowledge search. The authors focus the study on the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach The approach is a retrospective case study. This methodology allows an in-depth view into a Spanish SME that successfully undertook two new product development processes thanks to the deployment of innovation contests. Findings The main context factors influencing innovation contests as managerial tool are ambidexterity, technological and marketing turbulence and intermediaries, among others. Regarding design factors, this work highlights the role of attraction and facilitation. Additionally, the repetitive implementation of innovation contests creates a corporate culture that promotes OI activities. Practical implications Managers will understand that they can use innovation contests as a managerial tool, and knowing the factors that need to be taken into account when implementing an innovation contest will help SMEs managers to make better use of this practice. Originality/value This case study enriches the literature of both innovation contests and topics relevant to SMEs. Based on a theoretical framework of the design factors that influence the implementation of innovation contests, the authors propose a research framework that incorporates those context factors in association with an SME.

Effects of cloud computing assimilation on supply chain financing risks of SMEs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Lu ◽  
Jinliang Chen ◽  
Hua Song ◽  
Xiangyu Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Chain Financing ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how cloud computing assimilation reduces supply chain financing (SCF) risks of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This study also investigated the mediating roles of internal and external supply chain integration between cloud computing assimilation and the SCF risks of SMEs, as well as the moderating role of environmental competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from surveys of SMEs located in China. Multiple regression analysis was used to validate the proposed theoretical model and research hypotheses. Findings The findings show that cloud computing assimilation could reduce the SCF risks of SMEs directly. The results also indicate that both internal and external supply chain integration mediate the relationship between cloud computing assimilation and SCF risks. Furthermore, environmental competitiveness inhibits the effects of cloud computing assimilation on SCF risks. Originality/value To our best knowledge, this is the preliminary study to explore the role of cloud computing assimilation in reducing the SCF risks of SMEs. Also, this study attempted to investigate the process by which cloud computing assimilation affects the SCF risks of SMEs.

How to survive in the age of artificial intelligence? Exploring the intelligent transformations of SMEs in central China

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinqiang Wang ◽  
Yaobin Lu ◽  
Si Fan ◽  
Peng Hu ◽  
Bin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Central China ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Text Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Medium Enterprises

PurposeThe purpose of the research is to explore how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in central China achieve intelligent transformation through the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Because of unequal resource allocation, constraints on the intelligent transformation of SMEs in central China are different from those in economically and technologically well-developed coastal provinces. Hence, the authors focus on SMEs in central China to identify drivers of and barriers to intelligent transformation.Design/methodology/approachThe interview data were collected from 66 SMEs across 20 industries in central China. To verify the validity of the data collection method, the authors used two methods to control for retrospective bias: multi-level informants and enterprises' AI project application materials (Wei and Clegg, 2020). The final data were validated without conflicts. Next, the authors cautiously followed a two-step approach recommended by Venkatesh et al. (2010) and used NVivo 11.0 to analyze the collected text data.FindingsSMEs in central China are enthusiastic about intelligent transformation while facing both internal and external pressures. SMEs need to pay attention to both internal (enterprise development needs, implementation cost, human resources and top management involvement) and external factors (external market pressure, convenience of AI technology and policy support) and their different impacts on intelligent transformation. However, constrained by limited resources, SMEs in central China have been forced to take a step-by-step intelligent transformation strategy based on their actual needs with the technological flexibility method in the short term.Originality/valueConsidering the large number of SMEs and their importance in promoting China's economic development and job creation (SME Bureau of MIIT, 2020), more research on SMEs with limited resources is needed. In the study, the authors confirmed that enterprises should handle “social responsibility” carefully because over-emphasizing it will hinder intelligent transformation. However, firms should pay attention to the role of executives in promoting intelligent transformation and make full use of policy support to access more resources.

Big data-driven supply chain and performance: a resource-based view

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shampy Kamboj ◽  
Shruti Rana
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Firm Age ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Performance ◽  
Medium Enterprises

PurposeThe main objective of this paper is to study the role of supply chain performance (SCP) as a mediator between big data-driven supply chain (BDDSC) and firm sustainable performance. In addition, the role of firm age as a moderator between BDDSC and SCP as well as between SCP and firm sustainable performance has also been explored.Design/methodology/approachThe 200 managers of medium or senior level positions in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) located at Delhi-NCR have been contacted. Further, collected data have been confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In this paper, structure equation modeling (SEM) has been employed to empirically check the proposed hypotheses and their relationships.FindingsThe findings confirmed that SCP mediates the link between BDDSC and firm sustainable performance. Additionally, firm age moderates the association between BDDSC and SCP as well as between SCP and firm sustainable performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe role of SCP and firm age between BDDSC and sustainable performance have been examined in the context of MSMEs in Delhi-NCR and thereby limit the generalization of results to other industries and country contexts.Originality/valueThe present study adds to the existing literature via recognizing the blackbox using SCP and firm age to comprehend BDDSC and firm sustainable performance relationship.

Determinants and outcomes ofe-business adoption among manufacturing SMEs: Insights from a developing country

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muneer Abbad ◽  
Ibrahim Hussien Musa Magboul ◽  
Kholoud AlQeisi
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Practitioners ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Purpose In response to a turbulent industrial environment, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), organizations have widely adopted e-business to improve their processes. This study aims to propose a model that encapsulates the determinants and outcomes of e-business adoption. Design/methodology/approach The determinants and outcomes of e-business adoption were tested using data gathered from 282 managers and analysed using structural equation modelling techniques. Findings The results indicated that owner support, perceived ease of use and government support were important determinants that influence e-business adoption. Attitude, competitive pressureand relative advantage were not significant. Regarding outcomes, e-business adoption had a major impact on SME functioning and operational progress; however, it had no influence on competitive advantage. Originality/value By ascertaining the determinants and outcomes of e-business adoption, the findings provide e-business practitioners and managers with guidelines that can encourage more efficient and effective e-business adoption within their organizations. The results also provide a basis for more precise e-business studies to be conducted in developing countries.

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