The Influence of IT Management Sophistication and IT Support on IT Success in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

This study examined three factors that influence information technology (IT) success in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs): internal IT support, external IT support, and IT management. Using survey data gathered from 289 small and medium‐sized Chartered Accounting firms in New Zealand, the results suggest that IT management in SMEs is best understood as a multidimensional concept consisting of practices related to: IT planning, IT organizing, IT controlling, and IT leading. This view clarifies and improves our understanding of the nature and character of IT management in SMEs. The results show that some SMEs are significantly more sophisticated than others in terms of their IT management practices. Both IT planning and IT leading were found to influence IT success.     

Brand Management in Small to Medium‐Sized Enterprises*

Although an impressive body of literature has emerged focusing on the critical activities involved in brand management for larger organizations with well‐established brands and substantial marketing budgets, no research has been undertaken to examine branding within small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The present study therefore seeks to assess the nature and scope of brand management within an SME context. Findings show significant differences between small and large organizations along 9 of the 10 brand management dimensions reported in Keller's brand report card. Moreover, different brand management practices are associated with business performance in SMEs. Implications of the study are highlighted, limitations noted, and directions for future research outlined.     

Leadership,sourcing modes and IT project management

Information technology (IT) project management has always been a major concern for firms. Researchers have demonstrated that the different characteristics of a project directly affect project management practices and have suggested that different leadership profiles are better suited to different project conditions. The aim of the proposed model is to aid in the understanding of the relationship between the type of IT project (represented by its sourcing mode) and the leadership profile adopted by a project manager. Using a case approach, we studied four successful IT projects. Our results suggest that projects using a partnership or recuperation sourcing mode require a more flexible profile of management than projects characterized by internal governance or outsourcing, which require a more control‐oriented profile of management. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multidimensional analysis of supply chain integration in canadian manufacturing

Supply chain management is a key element in companies' competitiveness. We surveyed 512 Canadian manufacturers, most of which were small or medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Our survey was structured around four dimensions of supply change integration, namely: nesting, collaboration, financial incorporation, and distancing. In this paper we describe the use of supply chain management practices and show that their use is dependent on the nature of the business partners (i.e., upstream or downstream positioning of partnership in chain logistics of businesses studied), business field (i.e., sector of activities in which the business operates), and organizational size. Our findings suggest that supply chain practices were used more intensively with clients than with suppliers. They also show that practitioners and scholars need to qualify the concept of integration which is often used in a one‐dimensional perspective. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Workplace Flexibility Practices in SMEs: Relationship with Performance via Redundancies,Absenteeism, and Financial Turnover

This workplace flexibility study uses primary data on private sector small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lancashire, United Kingdom, collected in 2009 during the recent “credit crunch” recession. Key features include: (1) objective measures of SME performance; (2) a focus on the previously relatively neglected relationship between workplace flexibility practices (WFPs) and three SME performance indicators, namely, redundancies, absenteeism, and financial turnover; and (3) a timely contribution to research on SMEs. Numerical, functional, and cost WFPs analyses, via zero‐inflated Poisson and linear regressions, control for SME and market characteristics. Despite SMEs having limited resources, the results show a significant section of SMEs to be innovative and entrepreneurial organizations, embracing advancements in employment relations regarding employee discretion, training, participative working arrangements, and/or job security. Moreover, results indicate that WFPs have the potential to assist SMEs in responding to periods of constrained demand. Flexitime and job sharing are associated with low permanent‐employee redundancies. Training, job security, and family‐friendly practices relate to low absenteeism with reductions of up to six annual days per worker. Job security and profit‐related pay are associated with high financial turnover. Staff pay‐freeze links with high financial turnover, but to the detriment of redundancies and absenteeism, whereas management pay‐cuts or management pay‐freeze relate to low financial turnover. On a cautionary note, spending cuts, often enforced by policymakers, may be of limited benefit to SMEs, and thus other approaches would appear more fruitful.     

A new way of thinking about IT project management practices: Early empirical results

Despite decades of efforts to improve the management of Information Technology (IT) projects, failure rates remain high. This article first reviews literature about information systems success and IT project success. Most of the improvement efforts have focused on advancing variations of the traditional project management paradigm, such as embodied by the Project Management Body of Knowledge. This article describes a new way of thinking about managing IT project called Value-Driven Change Leadership (VDCL), and reports the results of an initial empirical exploration to identify project success factors stemming from VDCL as well as the traditional paradigm. The results are based on data collected from 16 medium-sized IT-intensive projects at eight Chicago-based organizations from six different industries. The results, although not based on a large sample, point to several project management practices associated with project success that stem from both the traditional paradigm as well as VDCL. For example, traditional practices managing stakeholders’ expectations, scope, and schedule are associated with project success, as are practices stemming from VDCL, such as managing the end-product’s architecture, business value added, and the organization change associated with systems implementation. The results of this study also suggest that further research into new ways of thinking about IT project management may be fruitful.     

Open Innovation in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises (SMEs): External Knowledge Sourcing Strategies and Internal Organizational Facilitators

In this paper we explore how small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) engage in external knowledge sourcing, a form of inbound open innovation. We draw upon a sample of 1,411 SMEs and empirically conceptualize a typology of strategic types of external knowledge sourcing, namely minimal, supply‐chain, technology‐oriented, application‐oriented, and full‐scope sourcing. Each strategy reflects the nature of external interactions and is linked to a distinct mixture of four internal practices for managing innovation. Both full‐scope and application‐oriented sourcing offer performance benefits and are associated with a stronger focus on managing innovation. However, they differ in their managerial focus on strategic and operational aspects.     

Managerial Perceptions of SMEs in the Wood Industry Supply Chain on Corporate Responsibility and Competitive Advantage: Evidence from China and Finland

Our comparative study investigates the Chinese and Finnish managers' perceptions of corporate responsibility (CR) and how CR engagement can benefit small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the mechanical wood processing industry. Based on the semi‐structured interviews with 23 line managers between December 2009 and December 2010, our study provides evidence that with a focused stakeholder approach, managers in wood industry SMEs adopt informal corporate social responsibility strategies and tools to meet the specific expectations of their key stakeholders. Legal aspects were the key drivers of CR, whereas advanced production technology, efficient wood procurement, customer focus, and a competent workforce formed the four principal cornerstones in their pursuit of competitive advantage. Despite the two vastly different cultural and operational settings, the importance and the role of CR were found to follow a fairly similar logic in how CR was understood and implemented in the wood industry SMEs seeking for competitive advantage.     

Untangling African indigenous management: Multiple influences on the success of SMEs in Kenya

This article examines the nature of indigenous management in relation to the success of SMEs in sub-Saharan Africa, taking Kenya and six SMEs under the management of Kenyan Africans, Kenyan Asians and Kenyan British as examples. It proposes that management systems, styles and practices, when appropriate to the local cultural contexts, will give rise to successful organizations. By formulating tentative hypotheses about this relation after reviewing the literature, the data from these case studies are interrogated first by using a ‘template’ derived from theories of management control to investigate the inter-continental cultural influences on local management, and then inductively to modify and develop the original hypotheses in view of possible intra-country influences. Paternalism, emerges as a common theme in the way cultural influences are combined, suggesting different types of paternalism for in-group and out-group organizational members. This is a possible success factor for local SMEs. Implications for future research in these areas and management practice are discussed.     

Young managers' interpersonal stress and its relationship to management development practices: an exploratory study

This exploratory study investigates whether there is a relationship between young managers' interpersonal stress and various management development practices. In recent years, practitioners and researchers have focused on stress studies and related practices in the workplace. However, stress encountered by young managers has received less attention. We examine possible sources of young managers' interpersonal stress and develop a scale through exploratory factor analysis. Participants are less than 35 years old, mainly from the financial, high‐tech and service industries in Taiwan. Organizational managerial development practices are discussed to understand their relevance to young managers' interpersonal stress. The results suggest that the more opportunities young managers have to make decisions, the more their opinions will differ from those of their middle‐aged fellow managers and senior subordinates. However, organizations with formal assessment may lessen disagreements with middle‐aged fellow managers. Future studies regarding young managers' interpersonal stress can be carried out using this scale and can explore whether other, specific organizational management development practices are related to lower stress levels among young managers.     

辽宁中小企业人力资源问题调查研究

中小企业在我国经济发展中占有重要位置。通过对辽宁205家中小企业人力资源问题的问卷调研和现场访谈发现,目前中小企业特别缺乏中、高级管理层人员,管理人员素质偏低;对员工激励手段单一;大学生就职中小企业难题多等问题。辽宁中小企业在人力资源利用方面,应该采取的对策是:尽快形成有效的激励机制;加强对员工的培训;在企业实施员工参与式管理;给予员工更多的人文关怀。同时,管理者自身要努力提高素质。     

中小企业财务管理模式创新与再造

本文认为,中小企业要在激烈的竞争中生存并发展成为先进的现代企业,就必须把财务管理作为其管理体系的核心,树立以财务管理为核心的先进管理理念,并对财务管理模式进行创新与再造:第一,建立适合中小企业的财务管理模式,如确立规范化的会计制度、采用信息化财务管理手段、拓宽财务管理的内容和方法。第二,建立高效的财务控制模式,如高效的资金管理模式、应收账款控制模式、存货管理模式、资产控制模式等。第三,创新企业融资方式,除了争取银行贷款和向亲朋好友借款外,还可以采用多渠道融资,如利用资本市场、租赁等现代融资模式进行直接融资。第四,建立科学的投资模式。     

The Characteristics and Features of SMEs: Favorable or Unfavorable to Logistics Integration?

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), logistics integration is one of the most significant challenges of modern management. Growing numbers of SMEs are under pressure from large manufacturing enterprises (LMEs) to change their traditional management styles, both operationally and organizationally, replacing them with integrated systems that help increase the speed and fluidity of physical and information flows, help synchronize demand with supply, and help manage transactions more accurately. The recent literature discusses integrated logistics chain management quite extensively, but most studies address the issue from the standpoint of large firms. Given the importance of SMEs in the economies of industrialized countries, and given, too, that a constantly growing number of such firms will have to replace their management methods by logistically integrated practices, the authors of this study believe that it is important to examine the characteristics and features of SMEs in order to identify those favorable and unfavorable to logistics integration.     

SMEs and the fallacy of formalising CSR

There exists increasing pressure for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, including social reporting. Curiously in this promotional programme of CSR reporting, the only group whose ideas are not sought in this debate are the SME leaders themselves. The present ethnographic field analysis, based on discussions within entrepreneurs' circles, tends to suggest that the argument for expanding formalisation of CSR to SMEs rests upon several fallacies. It implicitly assumes that an apparent solution for large multinationals can be transposed to SMEs, and it underestimates the drawbacks of bureaucracy. Moreover, many SMEs experience inconsistency between the idealistic CSR communication of some large companies and their actions, especially in the supply chain. The author concludes that reports do not constitute the validation for real CSR, nor the proof of superior ethical behaviour. Formalisation can even be counterproductive. Conversely, the absence of social reporting does not imply that SMEs do not behave responsible. CSR in SMEs needs a specific approach, adapted to the informal nature and entrepreneurial character of the small business. The essence of CSR lies in the implementation of responsible business practices. It lies in the right attitudes, in the corporate culture, not in formalisation.     

Determinants of the adoption of HRM practices in tourism SMEs in Spain: an exploratory study

This paper explores the relationship between the adoption of HRM practices in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the characteristics of the firm and the person responsible for HRM. We propose a conceptual model based on the resource-based view, which is tested with quantitative data from 164 tourism’s SMEs in Catalonia (Spain). As predicted, the adoption of HRM practices is positively associated with the presence of an HRM department. Also, SMEs in which the person responsible for HRM has previous experience in similar positions are greater adopters of HRM practices. Finally, SMEs which cooperate with other organizations are more likely to implement HRM practices.     

Business Growth and Performance and the FinancialReporting Practices of Australian Manufacturing SMEs

This article describes an explanatory study of the impact of financial reporting practices upon business growth and performance outcomes amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in manufacturing in Australia. The study is able to establish some statistically significant bivariate associations between the extent and frequency of financial reporting undertaken and certain measures of SME growth and performance. However, the state of financial reporting practices becomes subsumed by other important influences in multivariate analysis. Management is a complex activity affected by a myriad of interacting internal and external factors, and must inevitably be undertaken in an holistic manner in SMEs. Particular practices make a contribution to the whole task without necessarily standing out as all-embracing solutions to problems generally encountered. Thus, it is argued that improved financial reporting should be realistically viewed as simply part of a broader competence in financial management which, taken together with other functional capabilities, is likely to lead to more effective and efficient management of SMEs and significantly improve their prospects.     

Project management in retailing: integrating the behavioral dimension

The retail environment is globalizing, requiring high levels of consistent experimentation. Project management can be used to help retailers test new ideas and implement the most successful ones. Unfortunately, project management in the retail setting often delivers unsatisfactory results. Project management has traditionally focused on conventional planning tasks. The people dimension is often overlooked as a key to project management success. However, human behavior is particularly important in the retail setting, where projects are generally focused on testing new concepts, increasing collaboration, and implementing new technologies. This research examines the role of the behavioral dimension in retail project management and supports the view that the behavioral dimension is central to retail project management success.     

Corporate social responsibility and aging workforces: an explorative study of corporate social responsibility implementation in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises

Although critical differences exist between large companies and small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), limited empirical research has been done on human resource (HR)‐related corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this paper we study aging workforce management (AWM) as a component of CSR. Our study was conducted in the Netherlands through a randomly distributed online questionnaire. Managers and team leaders of 201 SMEs responded. The data were analyzed using multiple hierarchical regression analysis. Our results are twofold: first, findings suggest that CSR policies in micro organizations with fewer than five employees seem to be strongly associated with AWM; and second, that companies with a focus on integration of older workers in daily activities do not perceive their actions as HR‐related. Using AWM as part of CSR helps to give insight into the role of the owner, company size and the nature of implicit CSR practices. Our study demonstrates that the use of AWM in CSR research can lead to valuable insights and therefore, our overarching research question is answered that AWM can be used when studying CSR.     

Modelling the Extent of Financial Reporting Practices amongst Australian Manufacturing SMEs

This paper describes an exploratory study of financial reporting practices amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in manufacturing in Australia. Non-linear principal components analysis is employed in empirical derivation of an overall measure of the comprehensiveness of financial reporting practices undertaken in the SMEs investigated. Non-linear principal components analysis is also used in empirically capturing the business context in terms of enterprise and financial management characteristics. Polytomous logistic regression modelling reveals development orientation, extent of owner-management, technological complexity, degree of reliance upon external financial advice, and the financial reporting climate to be the most significant influences on the extent of financial reporting practices in the SMEs under study. Of the business context factors identified, development orientation and financial reporting climate seem to have greatest impact. The study appears to reinforce the impression that SME growth is a key driver towards more sophisticated financial reporting practices. Alternately, better financial reporting may be viewed as an important enabling factor in realising the growth aspirations of such concerns.     

Open innovation practices in SMEs and large enterprises

Few studies on open innovation (OI) address OI practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and how their use of OI and the resulting benefits differ from those of large enterprises. The lack of resources in SMEs to engage in looking outward is said to be a barrier to OI, but at the same time this shortage is cited as a motive for looking beyond organisational boundaries for technological knowledge. We investigate how OI dimensions impact the innovative performance of SMEs in comparison to large companies. The key finding is that the effects of OI practices in SMEs often differ from those in large firms. SMEs are more effective in using different OI practices simultaneously when they introduce new products on the market, whereas this is less the case for large firms. Turnover from new products in SMEs is driven by intellectual property protection mechanisms, while large firms in this case benefit more from their search strategies.