scholarly journals Using a large sample analysis of Thai listed firms, we address an important question. Do board diversity and network add value to firms? This article extends the debate on the benefits and costs of board diversity and network and their effect on the broad

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Chinomona
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Board Diversity ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Small Business Performance

While researches on small businesses have grown substantially, there seem to be a paucity of researches that specifically investigate the effects of small business owners expertise on employees skills training and small business performance. In order to fill this void the current study examined the direct effects of small business owner expertise on small business performance and the mediating influence of employee skills training in this relationship. To empirically test the three (3) posited hypotheses, a sample data of 221 was collected from small business employees in Zimbabwe. The results indicate that small business owners expertise positively influence employees skills training and small business performance in a significant way. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed and limitations and future research directions are indicated.

Social Commerce Benefits for Small Businesses

2019 ◽  
pp. 1237-1255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludwig Christian Schaupp ◽  
France Bélanger
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Social Commerce ◽  
Small Companies ◽  
Stakeholder Pressure ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Small businesses represent an important element of many western economies. However, they often struggle with resources needed to succeed, and small business owners often have to perform many, if not all, roles in their organizations. One of the key functions that small businesses need to excel at for business success today is social commerce since much of their business is migrating towards the use of social media for business. In this study, determinants of social commerce benefits for small businesses are explored. Using survey data from 60 small companies, this research identifies stakeholder pressure and partner pressure as the most significant factors in determining social commerce benefits for small business. Implications of these findings and provide suggestions for future research are discussed.

Social Commerce Benefits for Small Businesses

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludwig Christian Schaupp ◽  
France Bélanger
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Social Commerce ◽  
Small Companies ◽  
Stakeholder Pressure ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Small businesses represent an important element of many western economies. However, they often struggle with resources needed to succeed, and small business owners often have to perform many, if not all, roles in their organizations. One of the key functions that small businesses need to excel at for business success today is social commerce since much of their business is migrating towards the use of social media for business. In this study, determinants of social commerce benefits for small businesses are explored. Using survey data from 60 small companies, this research identifies stakeholder pressure and partner pressure as the most significant factors in determining social commerce benefits for small business. Implications of these findings and provide suggestions for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Regional small businesses’ personal and inter-firm networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 1957-1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jalleh Sharafizad ◽  
Kerry Brown
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Firm Networks

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of personal and inter-firm networks and the elements that contribute to the formation and management of these networks for regional small businesses. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 small business owners located in regional areas. Findings The findings highlight key characteristics of regional small business owners’ networks. Findings indicated that participants relied strongly on their personal networks for business purposes. This study shows that while personal networks adapted and changed into informal inter-firm networks, weak-tie relations within inter-firm networks were unlikely to develop into close personal networks. Novel findings also include a preference for “regional interactions” and included regular collaboration with local business competitors. Although the participants used social media to manage their business through personal networks, results confirmed there was a lack of awareness of the benefits of inter-firm networks with businesses outside the local region. Originality/value While it is acknowledged small business owners use personal and inter-firm connections to maintain and grow their business, there is a lack of research examining both of these networks in the same study. This research addresses this gap and presents five propositions as a useful direction for future research. This paper adds to the evolution of existing knowledge by expanding understanding of the formation of business networks and conditions of business trust relations within a regional context.

Measuring Success in Family Businesses: The Concept of Configurational Fit

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Hienerth ◽  
Alexander Kessler
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Border Region ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Comparable Data ◽  
Measurement Instruments ◽  
Success Measurement ◽  
Success Evaluation ◽  
As Effects

The problems associated with measuring success in small businesses are primarily caused by a lack of comparable data due to the ambiguity of “success” and by subjective biases. Success evaluation is dominated by the estimates of business owners, who tend to overestimate overall success and internal strengths. However, reliable success measurement instruments would be useful for small business owners/managers as well as small business policymakers. The main purposes of this article are to compare various measures of success, to explore the differences in their outcomes, and to analyze whether a model of success measurement using configurational fit can be used to overcome subjective biases. The study is based on a recent survey of 103 small family-owned businesses in the eastern Austrian border region. Our analysis of the data confirmed the existence of the measurement problems mentioned above. Although some individual indicators show significant biases as well as effects due to company age, size, and industry, the aggregated indicator based on the concept of configurational fit seems to be an appropriate means of overcoming most of these drawbacks.

scholarly journals The Assessment of Dimension Absorptive Capacity on Innovation Performance and Small Business Performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-140
Author(s):  
Gunarso Wiwoho
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Capacity Dimension ◽  
Spss Software ◽  
Small Business Performance

This study aims to examine the role of the absorptive capacity dimension in improving innovation performance and small business performance. The sample used as many as 35 businesses in the business sector of handy crafts. The collected data were analyzed using path analysis and processed with SPSS software version 24.0. The results showed that all hypotheses were accepted. The absorptive capacity dimension consists of potential absorptive capacity and absorptive capacity, both of which are able to have a positive influence on the performance of innovation and the performance of small businesses. But realized absorptive capacity can have a greater influence on innovation and small business performance than potential absorptive capacity.

scholarly journals The perception of sponsorship usefulness among South African small business owners

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-488
Author(s):  
Catherine Mpolokeng Sephapo ◽  
Johannes Arnoldus Wiid ◽  
Michael Colin Cant
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Small Business ◽  
South African ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Brand Image ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Marketing Tool ◽  
Marketing Budgets

Sponsorship is a powerful marketing tool that organisations in South Africa are embracing. From the evaluation of the sponsorship growth over the years, the industry in South Africa has developed from a R63 million industry in 1985 to the value of just under R7 billion in 2011 (City Press, 2012). Small businesses in South Africa are faced with the challenge of effectively reaching target segments. These small businesses are restricted in terms of limited marketing budgets and therefore need alternative ways of improving their brands in the eyes of the consumer. Theoretically, sponsorship is considered to improve the brand image of an organisation and ultimately improve sales. However, the question that this study aims to answer is whether small business owners perceive sponsorship to be a useful tool that even they can utilise. The study made use of a quantitative approach whereby a web-based questionnaire was distributed to small business owners. The findings indicated that the general attitude towards sponsorship as a marketing tool is positive. The correlation between sponsor sincerity and sponsorship usefulness was found positive; however, average in strength. Although sponsorship is seen as a useful tool, 15.4% of the respondents indicated that they would not consider using this marketing tool. This response may provide an opportunity for further research to be conducted which may shed some light on the strategies small business owners perceive to be most effective for their unique circumstances

Growth and Development of Small Business Through Microfinance Activities in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-34
Author(s):  
Chandra Prasad Dhakal
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Microfinance Institutions ◽  
Economic Activities

Small businesses play important role for economic development and stability. It develops access in financial services through enhancing economic activities. The study analyzes the growth and development of small businesses that enhance through the support of micro finance in Nepal. Descriptive and inferential were used to collected data and collected data were analyzed through using multiple linear regression analysis. Only 124 small business owners were selected for this study. The study helps to find out the growth of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and small businesses in emerging economy in Nepal. It also assists MFIs to assess the effectiveness of their services and help to efficient utilization of available resources in the economy of Nepal.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Courtney Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Justice Movements ◽  
The Impact

This introduction describes how encouraging a diversity of small businesses can help support a Native Nation’s long-term economic stability, but goes further to demonstrate this uniquely through the eyes of the small-business owners themselves along with an in-depth examination of their local, national, and international contexts. In doing so, it describes how this book also addresses the ways in which Native Nations, by supporting small business resilience, are responding in politically and socioeconomically meaningful ways to settler-colonial economic subjugations. This introduction further describes how the book unpacks the layers of small-business complications specific to Native Nations and American Indian business owners while speaking to larger theoretical questions regarding the impact of small businesses in a global indigenous context. Debates regarding economic sovereignty versus economic power, measures of autonomy, land status, economic identity, fluctuating relationships with settler-colonial society, and the growth of neoliberalism (along with its accompanying “structural adjustment” policies) meet with specific practices, such as the implementation of guaranteed annual incomes, cultural revitalization actions, environmental justice movements, and the potentially precarious choices of economic development—issues that are exacerbated during times of economic precarity, such as the Great Recession.

The Most Critical Problem for the Fledgling Small Business: Getting Sales

1984 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet Buckman Stephenson
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Critical Problem ◽  
Paper Work ◽  
Stage 1 ◽  
Selling Process ◽  
Regulation Costs

The most pressing problem of small business owners is how to get sales now and in the future. Items such as inflation, taxes, government regulation, costs of paper work, etc. become more important as a small business moves beyond stage 1 and possibly 2. Yet even then, how to get customers should still be the significant focus. Many entrepreneurs, especially providers of services, rely almost exclusively on word-of-mouth, which is often ineffectively utilized and, as the major source of business, should not be relied on. The entire selling process must be focused on in the first stage to change the survival rate of small businesses.

scholarly journals Are international small business owners really that different?

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-117
Author(s):  
Sarah Gundlach ◽  
Andre Sammartino
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Female Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Traits ◽  
Tolerance For Ambiguity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Do So

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of individual traits and attributes on the entrepreneurial and internationalization actions of Australian businesswomen, many of whom run small businesses. Design/methodology/approach This study is exploratory and quantitative, based on a questionnaire survey of 323 Australian businesswomen. Drawing upon the extant literature on internationalization, gender and entrepreneurship, the study explores two micro-foundational relationships of interest – personality and capability assessment differences between female business owners and their employed counterparts, and the impact of such traits and assessments on their internationalization. A further question is explored in terms of any differentials in perceptions of barriers in internationalization. Findings The findings show key personality dimensions do not differ dramatically between Australian businesswomen working in their own businesses (i.e. entrepreneurs) or as employees in organizations, while there are surprisingly few differences between women who are engaged internationally and those yet to do so. When comparing the female entrepreneurs and employees, in particular, the findings around tolerance for ambiguity and management efficacy are notably counterintuitive. This leads to the development of testable propositions to refine the causal claims in this domain. Practical implications The study calls into question the distinctiveness of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial endeavors, at least for female businesswomen. Originality/value By including entrepreneurs and employees, women who have engaged internationally and those that are yet to do so, the study avoids some of the potential self-selection and confirmation biases inherent in studies of only entrepreneurs or small business owners. The investigation of individual traits, attributes and experiences as micro-foundations for internationalization motivations challenges existing theories of small business expansion.

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