Monetary policy for small emerging market economies: the way forward

Discretionary monetary policy for small emerging market economies, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, can benefit from closer scrutiny and strengthening through appropriate and incremental policies. Field research and related analysis challenge the conventional wisdom on the relationship between interest rates and inflation. Lessons learned suggest that monetary policy needs to be tempered to prevailing social, cultural, and socio-economic factors. In addition, access to credit through financial inclusion policies and programmes needs to be addressed, and the overarching role of good governance cannot be overlooked. Given the broad scope of weaknesses inherent in monetary policy-making (and the systems that support it) in small emerging market economies such as Botswana's, two options are available to tackle the problems: either monetary union should be adopted or incremental new directions to the status quo are required.     

SME–supplier alliance activity in manufacturing: contingent benefits and perceptions

We address the following two questions: how upstream vertical alliance (UVA) activity affects the performance of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs); and how SME perceptions of that relationship influence the choice to engage in UVA activity. Using responses from a recent survey of business unit managers representing 200 SMEs, we find that UVA activity benefits SME performance when self‐selection effects are controlled. Instead of being a source of differentiation advantages, UVA activity leverages the SME's existing advantages. And, while SME perceptions appear to drive the self‐selection of UVA activity, those perceptions are inaccurate; the result is that the SMEs likely to benefit less from such activity engage in it more. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

微差爆破的计算方法的探讨

工程微差爆破最近40年来控制爆破发展的新技术,它使工程爆破的使用领域得到拓展,原先只能在矿山或人烟稀少,远离建筑物地区进行的爆破施工,现在,即使在人口稠密、楼房鳞次栉比的城镇,甚至建筑物内部都有可能实施控制爆破。它减轻了劳动强度,缩短了施工期限,降低了工程成本。因此,正确的计算方法具有较大的经济效益。     

Surviving bear hugs: Firm capability,large partner alliances,and growth

In exploring the downsides of partnering with large firms, extant literature has typically focused on the external perspective and the alliance characteristics of small firms. We argue that jointly considering the internal dimension of firm capability together with the external perspective promises to yield a fuller understanding of the nature and consequences of a small firm's relationships with large partners. We analyze a longitudinal dataset on the alliance activities and growth of small, independent studios in the U.S. motion picture industry during 1990–2010. Our findings indicate that small firms that engage in higher levels of alliance activity with large partners, i.e., the major studios, realize lower growth benefits from their internal capability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

关系型借贷与中小企业融资

基于三家国内股份制银行中小企业客户的随机调查结果,本文验证了关系型借贷已经成为中小企业与银行之间信贷的一般方法。股份制银行已经超过国有商业银行成为中小企业银行借贷的主体,这证明了小银行优势假说在中国的适用。本研究证明中小企业的最大贷款金额基本上是在企业规模基础上,由企业自身的情况和企业与银行的关系共同决定的,与银行的关系越紧密,获得的贷款额度越高,价格越便宜。国家应在政策方面支持中小型银行的发展及对银行关系型借贷产品的开发,以在最短时间、最大程度上满足中小企业的融资需求。     

中小企业融资集群的自组织演进研究——以中小企业集合债组织为例

本文采取过程导向的思路,运用自组织理论,分析了中小企业融资集群出现的原因及演进规律,强调了集合信用资产作为序参量在中小企业融资集群演进过程中的导向性作用,提出了融资集群组织的内外部正反馈机理。本文认为,中小企业融资集群是中小企业从事融资活动形成的新型组织形式,应当借助其组织平台优势,通过不断优化集合信用资产的来源及结构,建立正反馈回路,来增强整体组织的融资能力,为解决中小企业融资难问题开辟一条新道路。     

欧盟EuP指令对中小企业的影响及应对策略

欧盟EuP指令所针对的产品将有80％来自中国,其中首当其冲的是处于国际产业链条末端的中国中小企业。中小企业应紧密跟踪Eup进展,积极借鉴“查漏补缺”,全面考虑生命周期,引入生态设计模式;争取参与制定标准,建立双边互补机制,促进其贸易发展。     

Does Project Management Affect Business Productivity? Evidence From Australian Small to Medium Enterprises

A fundamental assumption of project management practice and research is that using project management to achieve organizational objectives improves organizational performance. However, there is little published research that directly questions this assumption. This paper tests the hypothesis that using project management increases the productivity of small to medium enterprises, using data from two longitudinal surveys of Australian businesses with less than 200 staff members. These data were used to create models of the relationship between productivity and business skills using binary logistic regression. The models demonstrate that project management has a significant impact on small to medium enterprise productivity.     

Developing dynamic capabilities through resource accretion: expanding the entrepreneurial solution space

We report our findings from the analysis of crisis episodes that resulted in the development of new capabilities in eight small firms. When dealing with resource constraints in periods of crisis, entrepreneurs engaged in a number of actions to develop their firms' capabilities. By accreting resources such as knowledge, skills and other assets, entrepreneurs were able to expand their repertoire of potential solutions and change the firm's learning trajectory. Our contribution is to describe the process of resource accretion (the gradual accumulation and integration of resources) through grafting and bonding of capabilities into the firm's ambit, which is dependent on the proximities, salience and relationships of resources. We observe three patterns within the accretion pathways of the eight firms in the study, namely the combination of coping mechanisms, the extension of networks, and the reprisal of previously successful solutions. These activities support resource accretion and the subsequent expanded solution space where entrepreneurs begin the process of embedding new capabilities. Such coping routines are necessary antecedents for the development of nascent dynamic capabilities in small firms.     

The influence of small town context on access to external knowledge

ABSTRACT

The relative lack of variety and density of people, companies and knowledge institutions in small towns compel companies to seek new knowledge beyond their location. However, there is only scant research explaining the local characteristics that influence companies’ ability to access external knowledge. In this article, the focus lies on the obstacles and opportunities that arise due to companies’ location in small towns and that emerge when they seek to access external knowledge sources. A multiple case study design with qualitative interview data from five multinational high-tech companies in small towns in the eastern part of Switzerland is used. Also, a theoretical replication of the case study by investigating two single domestic high-tech companies was conducted. The results show that a thin labour market, a lack of urban amenities and the availability of transportation connections to bigger cities are most important for accessing the knowledge of new employees, collaborating with universities and for attending workshops or conferences. On the whole, multinational companies in small towns face the same obstacles and opportunities as single domestic companies in small towns.