Doing Business in Paradise

2011 ◽  
pp. 221-243
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Kaars-Brown ◽  
Chingning Wang
Keyword(s):  
Financial Management ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
British West Indies ◽  
Developmental Context ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Transfer Of Technology

This chapter presents findings from a case study of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) in the British West Indies area of the Caribbean. TCI is a tax haven that has worked to attract offshore financial firms such as trust, insurance, and financial management companies. All of these firms, which qualify as “information intensive,” are small in size (average 11 employees), engage in business on a global basis, and yet must compete while dealing with local infrastructure challenges. TCI is presented as the developmental context in which small businesses (largely owned or managed by foreigners from other cultures) must interpret and cope with national infrastructure challenges in this very small, young, rapidly growing island nation. Not surprisingly, we found that these firms share similar challenges with those in other developing countries; however, the perceptions of these challenges and how these small firms cope provide insights into the importance of small firms, small-scale foreign investment, and cross-national transfer of technology expectations.

Value generation in B2B contexts: the SMEs’ perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourdes Pérez ◽  
Jesús Cambra-Fierro
Keyword(s):  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Value Appropriation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
A Value ◽  
Novel Concept ◽  
To Receive ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Asymmetric Relationships

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to understand the process of value creation in business-to-business (B2B) contexts from the perspective of small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs). Small businesses are challenged to compete and collaborate with larger firms. While the “sharks” dilemma (often the most dangerous sharks also have the most valuable resources) focuses on specific defences, the authors emphasize a value generation perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The concept of asymmetric relationships is taken as a reference and examined using a longitudinal multi-case study. Findings – The authors results demonstrate how small firms not always assume an inferior, defensive position. Ambitious and growth-oriented SMEs learn to collaborate with larger partners and exhibit a proactive attitude towards relationship management. They understand the importance of developing social ties. They foster frequent and informal communication with their customers, favouring personal visits as a means to receive advice for directing their research efforts and exchange information and views. Such ties help them to develop shared plans and goals. Research limitations/implications – In asymmetric relationships, partner selection models should help firms to concentrate their efforts in a reduced group of key partners. These models should include not only economic performance indicators – variables such as flexibility and autonomy – but also innovation and improvement in processes, image, prestige and positioning, access to markets and stability. Originality/value – The authors found insight into a novel concept: dual-value appropriation, where partners do not split the pie of the total value generated, as frequently proposed in the literature, but fully appropriate a different and unique value from the relationship. The authors further highlight the important role played by the committed champions in developing communication and trust.

scholarly journals Challenges of Female Entrepreneurs in Transition Countries: Case Study of Kosovo

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Rrezarta Gashi ◽  
Hana Gashi
Keyword(s):  
Small Businesses ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Female Entrepreneurs ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Countries In Transition

Opportunely in the time of globalization, female entrepreneurs, including those doing business in countries in transition, are moving towards the booming of their businesses. Apart from the advantages they have in the period their countries are transitioning, female entrepreneurs also are faced with many challenges. These challenges are faced by female entrepreneurs who are doing business in Kosovo, which is in a transition period. The challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in the state of Kosovo, apart from economic factors, are also cultural factors. Given the role of small businesses in the country's economic development, a number of these businesses are run by women, ventures also known as small businesses. Through this research paper, we will try to highlight the main challenges of female entrepreneurs are facing in countries in transition, and especially in the state of Kosovo, where through the recommendations collected by this research paper, we believe that we will contribute to female entrepreneurs of this country. Key words: Challenges, Women, Female, Transition, Entrepreneurship, Factors.

Managing Small Businesses During Recession

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (02) ◽  
pp. 51-59
Author(s):  
P A L N S Kalyani
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Capacity Utilization ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Economic Cycle ◽  
Supply Shock ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
Investment Capacity

A recession is narrowing of an economic cycle and it is referred as slowdown of economic action. The macro economic factors varies during recessions. There will be a fall in production, employment, GDP, investment, capacity utilization, spending, household income, inflation and business fall. The rate of unemployment and bankruptcies rise during recession. Due to adverse supply shock there will be a drop in consumption and there will be a bursting of economic buddle. Even though owing business organizations is not without struggles, the rewards they earn often worth it. Every entrepreneur enjoy great freedom and flexibility in comparison with a regular employee. With a right kind of state of mind and proper understanding of hardship with are to be faced, a proper plan is required to tackle the ups and down in the journey of Entrepreneurship with respect of Small Scale sector. One of the biggest challenges faced by small firms is its difficulty to reach break even. It often takes 2 to 3 years for small businesses to accomplish their goals. Especially during recession, small business organizations often hit the hardest. Reduced spending power, inadequate preparedness for recession, budget constraints etc., are making it impossible for small business to endure. The present article offers various suggestions for small businesses to manage during recession.

Why some small businesses ignore austere working capital management routines

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Aseru Orobia ◽  
Kesseven Padachi ◽  
John C. Munene
Keyword(s):  
Financial Management ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Capital Management ◽  
Working Capital ◽  
Working Capital Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Size

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors explaining take-up rate of working capital management routines in small-scale businesses. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey research was employed using a sample of 450 small-scale businesses in the central business district of Kampala, Uganda. Common working capital management routines and activity rates were analyzed using descriptive statistics. While binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to discriminate between businesses that engage in working capital management frequently and those that do so less frequently. Findings – The results show that on average, the most frequently performed routines relate to safeguarding cash and inventory, and credit risk assessment. Payment management routines are least performed. Second, business size, perceived usefulness and attitude explain high take-up rate of working capital management routines in small-scale businesses. Business age, level of education and financial management training are inconsequential in determining the likelihood to undertake working capital management frequently. Research limitations/implications – Paucity of studies world over on the input perspective of working capital management limited comparison of the findings with previous research. Future studies should be conducted to confirm the results. Practical implications – The study findings imply that policy makers should develop work-based training programs that take into account the business size effect. Originality/value – This study contributes to existing working capital management literature by explaining activity rate in a developing country perspective.

On the Origins of Administrative Rent: Doing Business in a Russian Region N

2010 ◽  
pp. 58-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Oleinik
Keyword(s):  
Rent Seeking ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Resource Rent ◽  
Competitive Edge ◽  
Doing Business ◽  
Russian Region ◽  
Positive Gain ◽  
Access To The Field ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

In the article two types of rent are differentiated: resource rent and administrative rent. The latter is linked to restrictions on the access to the field of interactions. The contribution of the theory of public choice and the theory of rent-seeking and directly-unproductive activities is further developed by shifting the emphasis from individual decision-making to interactions between three actors: C, who controls access to the field, A, who gets a competitive edge as a result, and B, who assumes a subjacent position with regard to both A and C, yet still receives a positive gain from transacting. Domination by virtue of a constellation of As, Bs, and Cs interests is illustrated with the help of an in-depth case study of a Russian region. This study combines quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as their triangulation.

Multilingualism in eastern Indonesia: linguistic evidence of a shift from symmetric to asymmetric multilingualism

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692110231
Author(s):  
Francesca Romana Moro
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Modelling Language ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Eastern Indonesia ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Bilingual Communities

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: The Alorese in eastern Indonesia are an Austronesian community who have inhabited two Papuan-speaking islands for approximately 600 years. Their language presents a paradox: contact with the neighbouring Papuan languages has led to both complexification and simplification. This article argues that these opposite outcomes of contact result from two distinct scenarios, and formulates a hypothesis about a shift in multilingual patterns in Alorese history. Design/Methodology/Approach: To formulate a hypothesis about the discontinuity of multilingual patterns, this article first sketches the past and present multilingual patterns of the Alorese by modelling language contact outcomes in terms of bilingual optimisation strategies. This is followed by a comparison of the two scenarios to pinpoint similarities and differences. Data and Analysis: Previous research shows that two types of contact phenomena are attested in Alorese: (a) complexification arising from grammatical borrowings from Papuan languages, and (b) morphological simplification. The first change is associated with prolonged child bilingualism and is the result of Papuan-oriented bilingual strategies, while the latter change is associated with adult second language (L2) learning and is the result of universal communicative strategies. Findings/Conclusions Complexification and simplification are the results of two different layers of contact. Alorese was first used in small-scale bilingual communities, with widespread symmetric multilingualism. Later, multilingualism became more asymmetric, and the language started to undergo a simplification process due to the considerable number of L2 speakers. Originality: This article is innovative in providing a clear case study showing discontinuity of multilingual patterns, supported by linguistic and non-linguistic evidence. Significance/Implications: This article provides a plausible explanation for the apparent paradox found in Alorese, by showing that different outcomes of contact in the same language are due to different patterns of acquisition and socialisation. This discontinuity should be taken into account by models of language contact.

scholarly journals Photovoltaics Enabling Sustainable Energy Communities: Technological Drivers and Emerging Markets

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1862
Author(s):  
Alexandros-Georgios Chronis ◽  
Foivos Palaiogiannis ◽  
Iasonas Kouveliotis-Lysikatos ◽  
Panos Kotsampopoulos ◽  
Nikos Hatziargyriou
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Energy Market ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Local Energy ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Open Research ◽  
Energy Community

In this paper, we investigate the economic benefits of an energy community investing in small-scale photovoltaics (PVs) when local energy trading is operated amongst the community members. The motivation stems from the open research question on whether a community-operated local energy market can enhance the investment feasibility of behind-the-meter small-scale PVs installed by energy community members. Firstly, a review of the models, mechanisms and concepts required for framing the relevant concepts is conducted, while a clarification of nuances at important terms is attempted. Next, a tool for the investigation of the economic benefits of operating a local energy market in the context of an energy community is developed. We design the local energy market using state-of-the-art formulations, modified according to the requirements of the case study. The model is applied to an energy community that is currently under formation in a Greek municipality. From the various simulations that were conducted, a series of generalizable conclusions are extracted.

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