Succession planning and performance of family-owned small and medium enterprises in Arusha City – Tanzania

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Haynes Kiwia ◽  
Kenneth M.K. Bengesi ◽  
Daniel W. Ndyetabula

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine succession planning and performance of family-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach The quantitative research approach and a cross-sectional research design were employed. The probability sampling technique was used to draw 219 respondents from the sampling frame. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests were used for data analysis. Findings It was revealed that most of family-owned SMEs founders in the study area had mechanisms for succession planning for their businesses. Also, there is a difference in business performance when successors are selected and prepared by business founders compared to when they are selected and prepared by other family members. Successors selected and prepared by business founders performed better in business than successors who were selected and prepared by other family members. Research limitations/implications This study employed a quantitative research paradigm methodology, which limits deep discussion with respondents. Future studies could consider using a qualitative research paradigm methodology. Originality/value The paper presents succession planning process experience in family-owned SMEs in the study area, specifically the existence of succession planning in family-owned SMEs. It also shows a difference in business performance between the two investigated groups. This paper will benefit business founders, family business successors and researchers.

2010 ◽  
Vol 110 (9) ◽  
pp. 1319-1336 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.T.S. Ho ◽  
K.L. Choy ◽  
S.H. Chung ◽  
C.H.Y. Lam

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the factors, such as the different strategies adopted and the size of the company, that have a significant determining impact on the financial performance of companies in extreme circumstances.Design/methodology/approachThe research target of this paper is the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong. This is quantitative research and it is done on a survey basis, which includes hypothesis setting and statistical analysis. In addition, constructive suggestions are given to companies after analyzing the current situation.FindingsIn total, ten factors from four dimensions are determined as the critical strategies for the company to adopt in an uncertain financial situation. The result shows the influence of different factors on return on investment for the companies with different backgrounds.Practical implicationsThe business environment today is full of turbulence and uncertainties; this, along with the fierce global competition, means that manufacturers are all struggling to survive. The financial tsunami that has swept across the global economy is believed to be the most catastrophic in living memory. Therefore, this research will be especially valuable and useful to companies which wish to achieve excellence in business performance in spite of such a global disaster.Originality/valueManufacturers worldwide have suffered badly from the impact of the financial tsunami. The SMEs in Hong Kong are certainly not an exception. However, under the same adverse conditions, some have been able to maintain their stability or even thrive. The findings suggest some specific corporate strategies which will enable companies to survive and remain competitive.


Author(s):  
Seemant Kumar Yadav ◽  
Vikas Tripathi ◽  
Geetika Goel

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of market orientation on performance and to figure out the mediator effect of incremental innovation on this relationship with an implementation on Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach Following a survey among 333 owners/managers of SMEs in Indian, six research propositions were framed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and regression analysis was used for the purpose of data analysis. Findings The outcome of the study demonstrates a significant effect of market orientation on SMEs performance. In addition, the mediating effect of innovation between market orientation and business performance was not supported in the context. Research limitations/implications This study uses cross-sectional research, which limits the ability to test the causality; hence, such studies should be replicated in other settings also to get more evidences about the relationship. Practical implications The research will help managers especially in manufacturing SMEs of developing countries to understand benefits of being market-oriented to improve performance. Originality/value The study attempts to enrich the market orientation literature especially in developing economies. It identifies the significant effect of interfunctional coordination on performance of small and medium enterprises working in more volatile environment. Further, the study also examines mediating role of innovation between market orientation and performance linkage.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-100
Author(s):  
Svetoslav Georgiev ◽  
Emil Georgiev

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the evolution of top management’s understanding of product quality in Bulgaria since the end of communism. The study examines three specific areas: top management’s understanding of the term “quality”; top management’s understanding of the relationship between quality and business performance; and top management’s understanding of the impact of job position on quality. Design/methodology/approach The paper relies on a quantitative research approach by using data from a survey of 186 companies in Bulgaria. Findings The paper suggests that senior managers in Bulgaria continue to base their understanding of “quality” on a single approach (*a characteristic of the communist era), with the product-based and the user-based approaches currently being the two most common ones. At the same time, surprisingly enough, this study claims that senior management in Bulgaria is currently well aware of the importance of quality as a dimension of firm’s competitiveness, and is also highly conscious of its roles’ impact on product quality. Research limitations/implications The results of this study are exclusively based on the case of Bulgaria and must be treated with caution in the case of other former communist states from the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Practical implications This paper has relevance for both managers and companies doing business in Eastern Europe. Originality/value This is the first paper to provide detailed analysis of the evolution of the understanding of “product quality” in CEE since the end of communism. Moreover, this paper applies, for the first time, Garvin’s five approaches to defining quality within a practical context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-442
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Festa ◽  
Matteo Rossi ◽  
Ashutosh Kolte ◽  
Mario Situm

Purpose This study aims to analyze the territory as a distinctive factor through which the concept and practice of “Made in Italy” operates. Specifically, the study considers the role of local and sub-national entrepreneurial collaborations that preserve and enhance factors such as history, style and talent as the essence of Italian “quality” and as the pillar of Italian territorial capitalism. Design/methodology/approach The research examines this Italian phenomenon by investigating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that successfully compete abroad (and also in the domestic market) with a “glocal” approach, adopting the entrepreneurial formula of industrial districts. Findings The results indicate that international expansion is becoming increasingly more complex (as is every growth/development strategy) but that “glocalism” could represent a potential driver for the success of internationalization strategies. Specifically, for SMEs operating in industrial districts, territorial capitalism could emerge as a unique competitive factor, because it is a component of local structural capital and global reputational capital, as in the case of “Made in Italy.” Originality/value In an increasingly globalized market environment, many companies look to foreign markets to maintain and expand competitive advantage and business performance. Once the companies embark on this endeavor, organizations are involved in governing and managing these networks of finance, production and communication and the distribution-related relationships that constitute globalization. The push to engage in international development is currently imperative for SMEs, which need to extend their business engagement beyond conventional local markets and identify and exploit their distinctive competitive advantage to be able to succeed. One possible way of achieving this is the close interaction with the local territories in which these enterprises reside.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 754-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seemant Kumar Yadav ◽  
Vikas Tripathi ◽  
Geetika Goel

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank different dimensions of strategic orientation and firm’s performance using the approach of interpretive structural modeling. Design/methodology/approach The study uses interpretative structural modeling and the MICMAC technique to establish a hierarchical relationship among different dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation and manufacturing performance of Indian SMEs. Findings The final outcome of interpretative structural modeling and the MICMAC analysis revealed a relationship between the variables under study along with the categorization of all in two different categories, depending upon their driving power and dependency, which decision-makers can also use while devising their strategy to improve performance. Originality/value To date, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no significant contribution about such interrelationship was reported; therefore, this study is one of its types to fill this gap.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 829-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Alnawas ◽  
Allam Abu Farha

PurposeThis study aims to: first, examine the effect of interaction orientation (IO) and brand orientation (BO) on marketing capabilities and small and medium enterprises' (SMEs') performance, and second, assess the complementarity effect of IO and BO on marketing capabilities and SMEs' performance.Design/methodology/approachA model was developed and tested using a survey methodology. Data were collected from 538 SMEs located in Qatar and analysed by structural equation modelling with AMOS.FindingsFirst, IO affects SMEs' performance only indirectly via marketing capabilities, whereas BO affects SMEs' performance both directly and indirectly. Second, contrary to expectations, the complementarity between IO and BO produced a destructive/suppressive effect, rather than a synergistic effect, on both marketing capabilities and SMEs' performance, reflecting the importance of a trade-off to enhance both marketing capabilities and SMEs' performance.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the complementary effect of BO and IO on marketing capabilities and performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Oduro

Purpose Open innovation (OI) is now recognized as one essential innovation paradigm to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) quell their liability of newness and smallness. However, little is known about SMEs’ OI barriers, particularly in emerging economies. Drawing on both network and transaction cost theory, this study aims to explore the barriers to SMEs’ OI adoption in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted an exploratory sequential research design that involved both qualitative and quantitative study methodologies. A total of 644 responses (21 survey interviews and 623 usable questionnaires) across SMEs in Ghana were collected and analyzed in the study. A qualitative analysis involving quotations extracted from the respondent’s statement was used to present the qualitative findings, whereas SEM-partial least square, co-variance approach, was used to analyze the formulated hypotheses. Findings Results show that significant barriers to SMEs OI adoption are collaboration barriers – difficulty in finding the right partners and problems of cooperation and coordination of operational functions; organizational barriers – lack of flexible internal procedures and structures and organizational inertia; and strategic barriers – opportunistic behavior of partners and lack of strategic and resource fit. Contrary to existing findings, financial and knowledge barriers were disclosed as driving factors, rather than barriers, to SMEs’ OI adoption; these findings challenge conventional thinking about SMEs’ major OI barriers. Research limitations/implications This study focuses on only SMEs in one emerging economy, namely, Ghana, which may limit the generalization of the findings. Practical implications The findings of this study, while limited to Ghana, offer useful insights to SMEs managers, development practitioners and policymakers respecting the overall importance of the OI model, its associated impediments, as well as the strategic measures to quell those barriers. Originality/value This study provides a pioneering empirical investigation into the main barriers to SMEs’ OI adoption in a less-explored emerging market context through a mixed research approach.


Author(s):  
Alireza Jalali ◽  
Mastura Jaafar ◽  
T. Ramayah

Purpose This study aims to explore the direct and indirect effects of organizational stakeholder’s relationship on performance through innovativeness and risk-taking among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach This study used the cluster sampling method to select the study sample and the questionnaire survey approach to 580 SMEs established in Tehran. A total of 150 completed questionnaires were returned. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was administered to analyze data via the SmartPLS 3.0 software. Findings The survey outcomes revealed that organization-stakeholder relationship had an indirect effect on performance through innovativeness and risk-taking. The results indicated positive links for organization-stakeholder relationship and innovativeness, as well as the organization-stakeholder relationship to risk-taking. Practical implications This research is beneficial for entrepreneurs who wish to learn about the specific resources significant for venture growth, to devise effective strategies to expand their relationship with stakeholders and to consider the significance of the correlations established, in this study, through innovativeness and risk-taking. Originality/value This research is one of the few attempts that have addressed the importance of innovativeness and risk-taking as the key mechanisms to transform the advantages of organization-stakeholder relationships to enhance performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1307-1327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irwan Usman ◽  
Haris Maupa ◽  
Muhammad Idrus ◽  
Siti Haerani ◽  
Nurjanna Nurjanna

PurposeThis paper examines how market orientation and competence of knowledge reinforce the innovation and in turn improve the business performance.Design/methodology/approachThis research applied research design with quantitative approach based on positivism philosophy, that is, research aimed to test the theory and data which is general to produce findings that are special through hypothesis test. This study was supplemented by field studies as a necessary source of data in the form of trends, attitudes, opinions, perceptions of owners, managers or senior employees of SMEs in the textile industry in Bali, related to the variables used in this study.Findings(1) Market orientation influences business performance, (2) competence of knowledge moderates the influence of market orientation on business performance, (3) innovation moderates the influence of market orientation on business performance.Originality/value(1) Novelty of this research is developing the concept of competence of knowledge associated with business performance in which this relationship has not yet been expressed. (2) Building the concept of innovation development of small-scale industry based on the market orientation. (3) Developing the concept of innovative development of small and medium enterprises of textile industry based on competence of knowledge. (4) Investigating the concept of market orientation and competence of knowledge in an integrated and holistic way to strengthen the innovation and business performance of SMEs of the textile industry in Bali.


Author(s):  
Ilona Berková ◽  
Markéta Adamová ◽  
Kristýna Nývltová

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is one of the methods for measuring of the company’s performance, strategy formulation and subsequent management leading to improving competitiveness. Nowadays company performance has an important role because the competitive environment is much more changeable and more difficult to predict because of the influence of globalization. BSC is worldwide used both in large, medium and small businesses regardless of the field of business. According to Knápková, Homolka and Pavelková (2014), this model is used only by 13 % of the enterprises in the Czech Republic. BSC monitors business performance from four perspectives: Financial, Customer, Internal Process, Learning and Growth. The main aim of this paper is to verify whether there is a correlation between Learning and Growth and Financial perspective. Data were obtained from the database Albertina Gold and from quantitative research in companies in 2015. As sample small and medium enterprises in Czech Republic were chosen by random selection. Data were analysed by using regression analysis. Based on the analysis the dependence of some financial indicators on the attitude of the company to the risk and on long‑term or short‑term orientation was proved. BSC is spread in 30 – 50 % companies all over the word, in Australia this method is used even in 88 % companies (Al Sawalqa, Holloway and Alam, 2011). Due to proven dependence it would be appropriate to raise Czech companies’ awareness of advantages of this method.


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