Why SMEs invest in environmental measures: sustainability evidence from small and medium‐sized printing firms

Why do SMEs invest in environmental measures? From the literature we know that most SMEs are rather slow in adopting these sustainable measures, but then the following question arises: why are other SMEs fast in this respect? From our research, it becomes clear that improving the working conditions is the most important reason why these fast‐going SMEs invest in environmental measures, as this probably improves their employees' motivation and performance. This explanation connects ‘planet’ and ‘people’ with each other, and does not exclude ‘profit’, which completes the traditional sustainability circle. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

High‐performance work systems and workplace performance in small,medium‐sized and large firms

This article draws on the Organisational Growth and Development (OGD) life cycle model to explore the relationship between high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and performance in firms of different size, thereby extending understanding of congruence or ‘best fit’ theory within strategic HRM debates. With reference to management control theory, economies of scale and the availability of specialist managerial skills, the article hypothesises that while an HPWS–performance relationship might exist in small, medium‐sized and large firms, the relationship will be stronger in large firms than in both small and medium‐sized firms, and stronger in medium‐sized firms than in small firms. Analysis of data from the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey demonstrates, however, that there is no association between HPWS and workplace performance in medium‐sized firms, in contrast to the positive relationship between HPWS and performance found in large firms and between HPWS and labour productivity in small firms.     

Putting policy into practice: an exploratory study of SME innovation support in a peripheral UK region

Abstract

Focussing on a regional Government sponsored support programme for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the aim of this paper is to conduct a multi-level exploration of the relationships between policy interpretation and support programme design and the development of innovation capability among participant SMEs within a U.K peripheral region. The Innovplus programme was designed and implemented in Northern Ireland to help nascent high technology companies become more competitive and to contribute to the goals of the Regional Innovation Strategy. A knowledge-based absorptive capacity framework is used as the theoretical lens to explore the relationships between policy interpretation and programme design and the development of innovation capability within participant SMEs. The findings show that the design of the Innovplus programme, while linked to a coherent Regional Innovation Strategy, lacks consistency in relation to the policy and practical interpretation of knowledge and innovation. This inconsistency is reflected in the practical design of the programme, limiting its effectiveness as a result. In terms of the development of innovation capability, it was found that recognition and development of nascent absorptive capacity drivers in potential form was essential before participant SMEs could transition to realised absorptive capacity.     

浅析中小型企业标准化财务管理

文章在分析当前中国中小型企业生存发展的基础上,归纳了中小企业财务管理存在的漏洞与缺陷,并提出了相关的建议。     

中小企业财务管理中存在问题及对策

目前,我国中小企业财务管理中普遍存在一些问题,如管理模式僵化、资金不足等,严重影响企业的成长。通过对这些问题的产生原因进行深入剖析,提出了相应的改善对策,以期中小企业的健康、持续、稳定发展。     

Social business collaboration at the bottom of the pyramid: The case of orchestration

Social business orchestrators (SBOs) help social businesses of various sizes to tackle major societal issues by filling gaps in knowledge and resources. However, research has overlooked these types of collaboration. Situated within a bottom of the pyramid context in Bangladesh, the current study sheds light on the process of value creation for SBO–social businesses partnerships by comparing different collaboration partners. Multiple case study research through the lens of the relational view were used to ask how SBOs facilitate value creation in social businesses by flexibly adapting resource inputs and governance mechanisms to the specific endowment and size of partners; this approach was informed by interviews and field note analyses. The combined deductive–inductive analysis enhances knowledge of idiosyncrasies of SBO–social business collaborations. Our study draws attention to the role of large orchestrators, whose model could be scaled and transferred to other world regions, including industrialised countries.     

Engaging Hong Kong businesses in environmental change: drivers and barriers

Hong Kong's businesses have been slow to embrace environmental management principles, particularly in the SME sector. This article analyses key barriers and incentives to engaging Hong Kong businesses with voluntary environmental initiatives and compares their relevance for companies of different sizes. As in other countries, SMEs show a much lower uptake of such activities than larger companies. Their approach towards environmental management is predominantly reactive, and legislation remains the key driver for engaging them with environmental change. Inadequate government policy and support, societal attitudes and corporate culture all contribute significantly to the comparatively poor development of corporate environmental management among Hong Kong companies. As long as most SMEs regard voluntary environmental activities as costly and unnecessary ‘extras’ that endanger their competitiveness and detract resources from their core business without offering any tangible benefits, fundamental improvements in their environmental performance will be difficult to achieve. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

中小企业如何在改革开放的浪潮中发展

随着我国改革开放的不断深入和市场竞争的日益激烈,中小企业面临的挑战和压力越来越大,如何在改革开放大背景下增强中小企业的竞争实力,不断发展壮大申小企业,成为学术界关注的热点。文章以南宁新丰塑料有限公司为案例,全面阐述了抓好企业领导班子建设、依靠技术创新、走低成本扩张之路、拓宽融资渠道,是中小企业发展壮大和提高竞争力的重要举措,是中小企业实现科学发展、持续发展的基础。     

中小物流企业关于金融物流的创新探索

在激烈的市场竞争中,金融和物流企业基于供应链的竞争向客户提供整合服务是一种必然的发展趋势。文中结合华派克国际物流有限公司在金融物流领域的探索,提出物流与金融业要协同发展。     

我国中小型物流企业发展问题研究

首先对中小型物流企业的背景进行了分析,接着运用SWOT分析的方法指出了中小型物流企业的优势、劣势、机会以及威胁．在此基础上为中小型物流企业如何在现阶段持续健康的发展,如何利用自身优势打造企业发展的核心竞争力．以应对经济全球化下来自国内外愈演愈烈的竞争压力提出了相应的发展对策。     

广西中小企业知识产权托管服务平台设计与规划

在知识经济快速发展的背景下,知识产权已成为企业竞争力的核心要素,中小企业受到自身实力不强和人才资源匮乏的制约,难以有效开展知识产权的相关工作,文章结合广西实际情况及政府相关政策,分析了如何建设一个整合政府托管实施单位、服务机构和中小企业的知识产权托管云服务平台。     

我国中小企业集合债制度探析

中小企业集合债打破了只有大企业才能发债的惯例,拓宽了中小企业在债券市场的直接融资渠道。但是,集合债准入门槛高、担保难、增信机制不完善、融资成本高等问题严重阻碍着债券的广泛发行。要构建适应中小企业特性的集合债制度,应该从准入条件、担保增信、信用评级、违约风险管理、产品创新等方面对融资模式进行改进。     

西部地区中小企业人力资源管理存在的问题及对策

加强西部地区中小企业人力资源管理对增强西部地区中小企业的内在驱动力,加快自身发展具有重要意义。文章分析了西部地区中小企业人力资源管理存在的主要问题。并提出建立科学的人力资源管理体系、提高管理绩效及促进西部地区中小企业发展的对策建议。     

中小企业实施环境管理体系的激励因素和障碍

当今环境问题已日益成为国际社会关注的焦点,企业通过实施环境管理体系将增加企业的市场竞争力。然而,在环境管理中关注更多的是大型企业,对中小企业的研究甚少,本文从中小企业的角度研究他们实施环境管理体系的激励因素和存在的障碍,并对促进我国中小企业采用环境管理体系,提高企业环境绩效提出了相应的对策建议。     

Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises and Sustainability: Managers' Values and Engagement with Environmental and Climate Change Issues

This article reports on an in‐depth, qualitative study into the pro‐environmental engagement of small businesses in the east of England, with respect to climate change in particular. Managers of environmentally pro‐active small businesses were asked about the pro‐environmental measures they had implemented in their firms, their motivations for doing so, and their understanding of climate change. The managers in this study had a relatively good understanding of environmental issues in general and climate change in particular, and had implemented a range of pro‐environmental measures in their firms. Their understanding of climate change was a holistic one, which sat within their overall understanding of environmental and social issues. While economic arguments and external pressure played a role in their pro‐environmental engagement, perhaps the most notable motivation for managers in this study to engage with environmental and climate change issues was personal values and beliefs. Environmentally engaged managers exhibited an internal locus of control. Some of these findings contrast with the views of key informants in local government and business advice organisations, who tend to emphasise the business case and cost arguments when trying to encourage small businesses towards greater environmental engagement. These findings suggest that public policy and business advice in this area should perhaps focus more strongly on personal values and a sense of being able to contribute to environmental protection in their engagement with small businesses. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Bouncing Back from Extreme Weather Events: Some Preliminary Findings on Resilience Barriers Facing Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

Extreme weather events (EWEs) pose unprecedented threats to modern societies and represent a much‐debated issue strongly interlinked with current development policies. Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute a driving force of economic growth, employment and total value added, remain highly vulnerable to and ill prepared for such environmental perturbations. This study investigates barriers to SMEs’ resilience to EWEs in an attempt to shed light on enabling factors that can define effective organizational responses to non‐linear environmental stimuli. Relying on structural equation modeling and data gathered from 109 SMEs that recently experienced EWE impacts, we link the general concept of SMEs’ resilience barriers to EWEs with a series of elements to determine specific internal and external factors that contribute the most to EWE resilience. In particular, external barriers of institutional conditions and mechanisms of support and guidance as well as internal barriers of resources and managerial perceptions are found to be the most critical ones in determining resilience. The assessment offers essential research evidence for practitioners on SME management and sets forth linkages with current mechanisms for policy interventions towards an appropriate resilience agenda for SMEs. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

论“创先争优”与企业可持续发展的关系

文章阐述了企业开展"创先争优"活动的重要意义,探讨了企业发展中存在的主要问题。企业应抓住当前"创先争优"的有利时机,解放生产力,推动、促进、引领企业可持续发展。     

An exploration of the HRM values of Chinese managers working in Western multinational enterprises in China: implications for HR practice

This paper qualitatively explores the nature of human resource management (HRM) values of local Chinese managers working in Western-based multinational enterprises in China and also considers how these values are associated with preferences for HR practices. The study involves the use of repertory grid interviews with 36 local Chinese managers. The study shows that interviewees reflected a high level of assimilation and internalization of many Western HRM values. Interviewees also retained many traditional Chinese values, thus highlighting the role of institutional and cultural forces on HRM. However, among these local managers, there was clear decline in some traditional Chinese values, such as ‘harmony’ and ‘virtue’. A further interesting finding was the co-existence of paradoxical values of collectivism and individualism among the managers. Analyses of repertory grid data and interview comments also highlight that preferences for HR practices is associated with these underlying HRM values.     

实施国家科技型中小企业技术创新基金探析

自国家实施科技型中小企业技术创新基金以来,江苏省按照"优化环境、重在培育、加强监管、确保质量"的原则,认真组织实施创新基金项目,无锡尚德太阳能光伏电池、永中Office集成办公软件、"龙芯"CPU等一大批具有自主知识产权的重大高新技术成果迅速得到转化和产业化,成为引领江苏省高新技术新兴产业发展的重要力量。文章分析了江苏省实施国家科技型中小企业创新基金的总体情况、主要做法、主要成效和存在的问题,提出推动江苏省实施好国家科技型中小企业创新基金项目的对策建议。     

浅谈河北中小企业发展战略

本文针对全球金融危机对河北中小企业的影响,分析了当前制约中小企业发展的突出问题,主要是竞争战略同质化、单一化,进而提出根据河北中小企业实际情况,实行差异化的战略及建立战略联盟。促进企业摆脱困境,健康发展。