The Roles of Business Ethics in Conflict Management in Small Retailer–Supplier Business Relationships

Any ongoing relationship involves conflict. While facing conflict can be a serious matter for small firms with limited resources and capabilities, little is known about conflict management or the role of an ethical foundation, or business ethics, for small businesses. This study examines some influential factors regarding conflict management and the role of business ethics in satisfactory business relationship building in the context of small retailer–supplier relationships. The proposed model identifies (1) the relative importance of business ethics and role performance as antecedents and (2) two dimensions of satisfaction (social and economic) as consequences. The data, collected from small apparel retailers in the United States, clearly demonstrate the powerful role of business ethics. The positive perceptions of small retailers regarding supplier business ethics significantly reduces retailer–supplier conflict and increases retailer–supplier social satisfaction. Supplier role performance does not contribute to a reduction in retailer–supplier conflict as perceived by small retailers, but it does enhance the economic satisfaction of retailers, which further increases their social satisfaction. The functional benefits of conflict provide interesting insight. Providing several meaningful implications, this study demonstrates the unique aspects of conflict management within small retailer–supplier relationships.     

美国“小企业投资公司计划”运作机制研究

小企业投资公司(SBIC)是私人拥有和操作的对美国小企业进行长期投资的公司,在美国中小企业的发展历程中起到了重要的推动作用。回顾其发展历程、组织形式、参与主体、资金来源及流向、投资对象界定以及法律的相关规定,试图对今天我国制定本国中小企业扶持政策提供一些思路。     

Theoretical milestones in international business: The journey to international entrepreneurship theory

For many decades global business was considered the preserve of large multinationals and traditional international business theory was developed to explain the behaviour of these firms. However, increasingly there is a realization that the small entrepreneurial firm has an important role to play in international business especially given that there are strong globalization pressures that both pull and push the small firm into international markets to ensure its very survival. On the questions of how and why international business takes place, several theoretical approaches have been developed that appear to run parallel to each other. However, this paper posits that the point of convergence is international entrepreneurship.     

Research Issues Relating to Structure,Competition, and Performance of Small Technology-Based Firms

The role that small firms play in industrial organization has evolved considerably since the second world war. This paper seeks to document how and why small business plays a very different role in industrial organization research today than it did some three decades ago.     

Policy Interventions for Industrial Network Formation: Contrasting Historical Underpinnings of the Small Business Policy in Japan and the United States

This article examines the role of policies in promoting inter-firm networks, by contrasting policy frameworks for small businesses in Japan and the United States. While the policies in two countries share similarities in many respects, different historical underpinnings have led small business policies to play different roles in economies of Japan and the United States. This paper analyzes how Japan's small business policy came to encourage inter-firm collaborations over the course of its history, while policies in the United States have not had explicit orientation toward the development of inter-firm networks until the 1990s.     

Supplier Selection Practices among Small Firms in the United States: Testing Three Models

One of the issues investigated in recent studies on small business enterprises involves the role of supply chain management. Supply chain management has become an important part of strategic planning in both large and small businesses in the 1990s as firms increasingly choose outsourcingas an externally-driven strategic growth path. This study examines the supplier selection practices among 78 small business executives in the midwest United States by testing three models: rational/normative, external control, and strategic choice. Although the results show support for all three models, the rational/normative model emerges as the most significant model for predicting the supplier selection practices of small firms.     

Improving Relationships with Small Business Buyers

Abstract

This paper focuses on a critical examination of the potential role of balance theory as a tool for marketers who seek to enhance their relationships with small business buyers. The nature of the theory and its potential contributions are discussed. An empirical test of the theory is provided and implications based on this assessment are set forth. The data employed in the test suggest that this theory has potential valuable contributions for marketers who serve small business buyers.     

“Small business enterprises and Latino entrepreneurship: An enclave or mainstream activity in South Texas?”

We surveyed 298 Latino small businesses in South Texas, a minority-majority region, in the summer of 2010. The survey focused on Latino entrepreneurship, and in this paper, we report findings associated with business start-up, immigration status of the entrepreneur, the sphere of business operations within formal or informal markets, the role of language in business operations, and the impact of the US-Mexico border in business success. We explore Latino entrepreneurship in the region as an enclave or mainstream activity developing a typology of business income chances associated with immigration documentation and business start-up rationale. Lastly, using multivariate analysis, we find gender, financial access, residence, and business language significant determinants in business orientation between necessity-driven and opportunity-driven Latino enterprises.     

Community Social Responsibility and Its Consequences for Family Business Performance*

Family‐centered businesses may have unique perspectives of socially responsible behavior due to family involvement and ties to the community. This research explored the antecedents and consequences of community social responsibility (CSR) for family firms operating in small and rural markets. Using a national sample from the 2000 wave of the National Family Business Survey (NFBS), researchers profiled family business operators' (n = 221) to determine if their CSR orientation contributed to family business performance. Enlightened self interest and social capital perspectives provide a framework for elaborating the role of CSR in sustaining family businesses in changing small communities. Results indicate that three dimensions, commitment to the community, community support, and sense of community, account for 43 percent of the variation in family business operators' CSR. Size of the business was significantly related to family firms' ability to give and receive community support. Further, commitment to the community was found to significantly explain perceived family business performance while community support explained financial performance. Findings suggest that socially responsible business behaviors can indeed contribute to the sustainability of family businesses in small rural communities.     

中小企业贷款风险分类模式探讨

中小企业在国民经济中占有举足轻重的地位并发挥着极其重要的作用.然而,在获得金融支持方面,中小企业却仍处于"弱势群体"的地位.这种"强位弱势"的境况已经成为当前中小企业融资难的真实写照.以商业银行为主的金融机构在中小企业融资问题上要充分发挥作用,商业银行要完善组织架构、强化制度建设,建立起一套有中小企业特色的经营管理体系及运行机制.本文基于此,结合建行实际,以中小企业贷款风险管理为研究对象,针对相关问题展开了讨论,希望能够为相关领域的研究提供指导和帮助.     

When Ethics Matters – Interpreting the Ethical Discourse of Small Nature-Based Entrepreneurs

This article examines the unique ethical concerns faced by small nature-based entrepreneurs in their everyday business operations. By using qualitative, empirical data, six kinds of business situations were identified to bring about moral consideration for all the entrepreneurs in this study. The business situations identified were the selection of raw material suppliers, reconciling the quality of production and the lack of resources, the pricing process, the content of marketing information, the close relationships to employees and the collaboration with other entrepreneurs. The ethical argumentation used in these business situations was examined in relation to three ethical theories: utilitarian ethics, deontology and virtue-ethics. This article shows that typical for the decision-making of the small nature-based entrepreneurs in an ethical sense is the variety of ethical arguments used and the important role of customers and employees influencing the ethical views of the entrepreneurs.     

Explaining business cycles in small open economies: ‘How much do world prices matter?’

This paper analyzes the role of world price shocks - fluctuations in the prices of capital, intermediate, and primary goods, and in the world real interest rate - in the generation and propagation of business cycles in small open developing countries. I construct a stochastic dynamic multi-sector small open economy model. The model is a variant of the specific-factors model and reflects the major structural characteristics of developing economies. I utilize variance decomposition methods to quantitatively evaluate the impact of world price shocks. The results indicate that world price shocks account for a significant fraction of business cycle variability in developing countries.     

Small business economics: A perspective from The Netherlands

Conclusion In the analysis of economic phenomena either within or across industries there is room for integrating the role of small business. This contribution can be made by aggregation or generalization of the findings at the meso level, which again are partly based upon analyses at the micro level.The Netherlands has a long history in macro model building. A recent discussion among Dutch macro-economists considered the future of econometric model building at the macro level, and considered how best to improve this model building. The explicit integration of scale effects, however, was not mentioned. I am convinced that improvements in this respect are possible. In particular, I have in mind the role which small businesses play in certain areas such as wage structure, employment or investments. The dissection of macro prognoses into a small business component and a remaining component is a traditional practice in The Netherlands. Finally, there is much concern in The Netherlands for the calculation of regulatory effects, decomposed into effects for small and large businesses. If anywhere in the world there is a solid foundation for studying scale effects in both macro and sectoral models, it most certainly has been in The Netherlands. There is a strong tradition of macro-econometric model building; groups of econometricians specialized in small business research exist; Dutch policymakers show concern and the required research apparatus is available.

---

     

论中小型企业内部知识转移与管理创新

知识经济时代要在市场竞争中取得优势,中小型企业必须加强内部知识转移,提升其知识竞争力。为此,中小型企业必需利用自身的结构特征和知识转移的要求进行管理创新。本文通过对中小型企业时代竞争特点和其内部知识转移内涵的描述,进而分析中小型企业内部知识转移过程模型以及其作用和影响因素,并从激励机制、企业文化、学习型组织、知识转移情境、信息化建设和知识主管的设立等六个方面进行企业管理创新方面的探讨。     

Understanding consumption and entrepreneurship in subsistence marketplaces

This article describes exploratory research on how consumers and small entrepreneurs navigate subsistence marketplaces, with particular emphasis on social networks, a central characteristic of these contexts. Existing studies have characterized subsistence contexts as 1-to-1 interactional marketplaces due to the prevalence of face-to-face interactions among consumers and sellers when evaluating products, making purchases, and operating small businesses. This research uses survey methods to study these networks, paying particular attention to how individuals interact within them, the kind of information being shared, their influence on purchase decisions and business decisions, and finally, their impact on the marketplace skills of subsistence consumers and entrepreneurs. Consideration of both consumers and entrepreneurs provides perspective on the role of social networks from both sides of the business transaction. The article also discusses implications for business research and practice.     

Small business loan securitization and interstate risk sharing

Do credit risk transfers in general, and loan sales and securitizations in particular, by financial institutions enhance credit availability and financial stability? Or do they allow assets of poor credit quality to spread to unprotected investors, and thus create financial crises and destroy values? In this paper, we contribute to the continuing debate by examining the effect of small business loan securitizations on interstate personal income insurance. Using data of U.S. banks for the period 1995–2008, we find that small business loans securitizations contribute to the smoothening of state personal income volatility, and that this contribution is stronger in states where small businesses play a more important role in the local economy.     

The role of the internet in the internationalisation of small and medium sized companies

It is now recognised that many firms are “born global’ and initiate international business from inception or shortly thereafter. They have been influenced by both globalisation and the impact of new ICT technologies. This paper examines the role of the Internet in the internationalisation of a cross national sample of small entrepreneurial firms from Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The findings are presented, including the role of the Internet in marketing, distribution, business processes and market intelligence and competitor analysis. The role of the Internet as a knowledge building tool is discussed, and areas for future research are presented.     

Small Business vulnerability to floods and the effects of disaster loans

In this paper, we examine the impacts of floods on businesses and the efficacy of small business administration (SBA) disaster loans on mitigating disaster aftereffects. We find lack of business adaptation to extreme events in the short term, indicating their extreme vulnerability to flood disasters. Our results further indicate that subsidized disaster loans are important for businesses, with statistically significant effects estimated for businesses employing fewer than 50 people. At the margin, for every additional dollar spent on disaster loans per establishment in a county, four small businesses survive. Gloomy projections about increasing frequency and severity of disasters imply there will be significant loss in local economic activities because of increased vulnerability of small businesses to these incidents. Moreover, these effects will have implications nationwide, given the vital role small businesses play in creating jobs.     

Improving Supply Chain Efficiency Through Electronic Payments: The Case of Micro-Entrepreneurs in Kenya and Tanzania

Research suggests that one possible key to development may be the growth of micro-entrepreneurial firms. The current work suggests that improving supply chain efficiency may help these very small enterprises grow. Specifically, it examines the role played by the use of mobile payments to facilitate transactions with suppliers. The study contrasts Kenya, which has widespread adoption of mobile payments by both consumers and small business, with neighboring Tanzania, where adoption, although substantial, has occurred at a much slower rate and achieved far less penetration. Findings support the idea that positive business outcomes such as increased income and increased hiring are related to mobile payment usage.     

Are Group-Affiliated Firms Really More Profitable than Nonaffiliated?

The role of corporate center in influencing the economic performance of business units has been a central research topic in the industrial organization and strategic management literature. A common finding is the limited corporate and business group effects. Recently, an emerging line of studies argues that the market inefficiencies and institutional voids in emerging markets can be overcome more efficiently by large diversified business groups than by non-group small firms. Some empirical evidence also shows that non-group small firms are significantly less profitable than group-affiliated firms. This paper raises this issue by empirically investigating the influence of group affiliation on the return on assets and Tobin's q of 340 group-affiliated firms versus 423 non-group firms in Taiwan, during the period of 1997–1999. The statistical results show that group affiliation can not always create value for member firms. The size of the business group matters. When affiliated with the largest business groups, member firms indeed show improved stock market performance, but when firms are affiliated with small- and medium-sized groups, their accounting performance suffers. Findings of this paper suggest a threshold effect and a U-shape relationship between group affiliation and profitability in emerging economies.