Does membership of local Chambers of Commerce networks enhance rural SME performance?: An empirical analysis

PurposeLocal Chambers of Commerce networks provide small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an opportunity to access essential information and networking with other businesses, resulting in improved business performance. However, rural SMEs are less likely to participate in these networks and often possess lower performance. This paper aims to examine the relationship between being members of local Chambers of Commerce networks and rural SMEs’ performance by comparing business performance between rural SMEs who are members and non-members of local Chambers of Commerce networks. This paper also further explores difference in business growth plans between rural SMEs members and non-members.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical analysis draws on cross-sectional data of 3,769 rural SMEs in England and Wales from the UK's Government Longitudinal Small Business Survey 2015. Propensity score matching (PSM) is applied to control for selection bias and variations in business characteristics before comparing business performance, measured in terms of annual turnover, sale growth and profitability, between rural SMEs that are members and non-members of local Chambers of Commerce networks.FindingsOur results show that rural SME members of local Chambers of Commerce networks are more likely to grow their sales than non-members. However, they perform as good as non-members in terms of turnover and profitability. The results also emphasise that local Chambers of Commerce networks are crucial for rural SMEs to develop the skills of the workforce and leadership capability of managers, new product/service development and new working practices. Therefore, to enhance rural SMEs' performance, tailoring the services of local Chambers of Commerce to support rural businesses' needs and encouraging rural SMEs to make use of business networks are recommended.Practical implicationsThe paper unpacks the relationships between being local Chamber of Commerce membership and business performance, offering lessons for rural SMEs to boost their business performance and growth through participating in local business association networks.Originality/valueThis paper is the first study that explores the comparative analysis of business performance and growth plans between rural SMEs that are members and non-members of the local Chamber of Commerce networks. We provide an empirical evidence-based analysis to existing literature regarding the advantages of being local Chamber of Commerce memberships to enhance business performance in rural areas.

School as an Entrepreneurial Enclave

Studies of ethnic entrepreneurship usually concentrate on the ethnic economy in the global north to argue the importance of structural and cultural factors. Based on previous studies and the author’s own work in Dongguan and Jakarta, this article explains how entrepreneurial culture of Taiwanese enterprises, often referred to as Taishang culture, is partially sustained and reproduced through the activities of two ethnic schools in these two cities. The overlapping membership of schools and Taishang chambers of commerce means that ethnic schools are also designed and operated to support the development of Taiwanese enterprises. These ethnic schools are not only institutions for educating Taiwanese children but also the de-facto ethnic enclave for consolidating and reproducing Taishang culture. The two schools also reflect differences in Taishang culture, which are shaped by how Taiwanese enterprises survive and thrive in different contexts.

Does the environment matter, a closer look at the environmental approach by small businesses in Africa developing countries.

Environmental Social Responsibility (ESR) is a notion, where business integrates environmental concerns in their operations and the interaction with stakeholders, without compromising profit. To this day, ESR studies are limited to areas of ethics, society and employees while literature is blunt on its impact on societies, consumer behaviour and governments. SMEs in developing countries are not spared their approach to ESR as a sustainability strategy. SMEs’ approach seems to digress from leverage on loyalty which emanates from their nearness to communities who in turn are potential customers. This paper takes a closer look at SMEs’ approach to ESR driven by SME business owners’ perception towards ESR. The paper will take account of SMEs’ behavioural response towards ESR and establish whether they regard ESR a strategic sustainability approach with long-term positive bottom-line benefits. Results were attained through assessing perceptions of SMEs towards ESR; assessing impact practice of ESR by SMEs; exploring factors that undermining practise of ESR by SMEs. A mixed approach was adopted where data was obtained using face to face interviews. Results showed that the majority of SME business owners had a negative approach towards the practice of ESR. SMEs believe ESR was mainly for large corporations since their operations were hideously affecting the environment. As new knowledge, recommendations from this paper will be shared with Chambers of Commerce in Africa developing countries. Some of the recommendations were that the chambers of commerce, local authorities must proactively support SMEs to practise ESR through awareness workshops, train and share the ESR strategy alignment with business strategy.

SURVIVAL CAUSAL PATTERNS OF SOCIAL AND COMMERCIAL ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES IN SPAIN

This research aims at analysing the influence of a holistic configuration of factors related to industry and the characteristics of the entrepreneur and the business, on the survival of social and commercial entrepreneurial initiatives in both, new and consolidated companies. The sample ranges from 2,851 to 2,109 firms, according to the period considered, and has been obtained from the reports of the projects submitted to the Assistance Programme to Young Entrepreneurs, promoted by the Valencian Institute of Youth. Other sources of information have been the Institute’s own reports and the Chambers of Commerce. A configurational analysis is performed using the Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The results obtained show that there is no necessary condition by itself and that there are several sufficient solutions that explain a considerable percentage of survival cases. They also show how the solutions vary significantly and, consequently, the relevance of the different causal antecedents, when the company acquires greater maturity.

The Role of Scientific Activities in the Germany`s Chambers of Commerce

The analysis of a model of the German Chambers of Commerce helps to explore the assumption, that along with consulting, expert function (scientific and analytical), viz. collecting of empirical data (business surveys and interviews with entrepreneurs), analytics (preparation of analytical reviews for member firms), expert networking (joint projects with scientific institutions; holding events with the involvement of practicing experts and economic researchers) is one of its key activities. Four main directions are formulated in this area: data collection, interaction with researchers (preparation of analytics), dissemination, and the use of the results on decision-making level (regional/federal government) in order to protect business interests. In conclusion, the author highlights a number of relevant principles for chamber-nets developing in RF and other EAEU countries.

Communication of chambers of commerce and industry on the example of the Union «Leningrad Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry»

This article is devoted to an urgent problem - the role of chambers of commerce and industry as an intermediary between business and government bodies. The goal is to confirm the hypothesis that the Union “Leningrad Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry” is an effective platform for interaction between business communities and representatives of state authorities using the analysis of the communication and GR-activities. The work focuses on historiography, models and international experience of communication of chambers of commerce and industry, and analyzes the subject of communication – The LRCCI. Methods used in the analysis: expert interviews with different groups (the top management of the LRCCI, entrepreneurs and government bodies), analysis of social networks, case-story method. The article discusses three questions that are revealed in the course of the text

Online Banking in Italy. “Widiba Bank” Case Study, PESTLE and DEA Analysis

Given the great interest and impact generated by the previous article on the “Widiba Bank” case study published in this journal, the authors intend now to provide more insights on the analysis of the current Italian framework. A PESTLE analysis is therefore carried out to identify the main financial and environmental alternative strategies. The object of research is the chosen company Widiba Bank because, despite being a latecomer in the Italian online banking industry, its success demonstrated the importance of the adoption of targeted strategies in the digitized world. The performed analysis PESTLE allowed to provide many insights from different perspectives. The paper then confirmed the analyses by comparing the last 5 years’ performances (measured by the ROE ratio and Deposits Growth as Inputs, and Assets Growth as an Output) of the Italian Online Banking industry (average of the years 2016-2019). The data are retrieved from the Italian Public Registry of Incorporated Companies (managed by the Italian Chambers of Commerce) and processed using the DEA SOLVER software. This article strategically enhanced the knowledge of a previous one focused on the same bank by providing different perspectives and, therefore, a comprehensive view of the Widiba bank case study. It, therefore, aims at producing useful resources for business schools, practitioners, and experts.