Understanding Entrepreneurship Process and Growth in Emerging Business Ventures under Market Socialism in China

Objectives: This paper aims to provide an insightful view of the entrepreneurial process and growth in different types of Chinese entrepreneurial enterprises under market socialism in China. This issue is explored by examining the organisational characteristics of three emerging business ventures under market reforms and institutional changes. It addresses the interactive effect of key contingency factors in entrepreneurship process and explains its impact on growth or failure outcomes in a particular ‘China type’ of market economy. Prior work: China’s hybrid economic system represents a mixed political economy with both socialist and capitalist characteristics (Lichtenstein, 1992; Morphy et al, 1992; Opper, 2001). Despite a growing body of research on Chinese small business practices alongside the economic reforms (Shen, 1994; Child, 1994; Naughton, 1994; Schlevogt, 2001; Warner, 2004; Yang, 2007; Kshetri, 2007; Yang and Li, 2008), more empirical studies are required to provide a critical insight into the emerging business practices. This research adopts a contingency model of entrepreneurship(Wickham, 2006) to examine entrepreneurship process and growth in different types of business venture. It reveals the interactive relationships among key variables such as strategy, ownership, culture and management process. Approaches: This research is undertaken through the empirical analysis of three case study companies in the textile industry. This fieldwork was conducted in 2006 and 2009 respectively. Multiple sources of data were collected including 21 open-ended interviews of owners and key managers in three case study companies. Results: The study offers an explanation on how entrepreneurship takes different forms and features in different organisational contexts. Empirical evidence supports four hypotheses: (1) The type of ownership is a key contingent factor that moderates particular entrepreneurial outcomes. (2) Leadership and knowledge accumulation capability are critical factors in learning process, significantly affecting the strategic choices in either high value or low value added products strategy. (3) The broadening of product portfolios and increased production capacity will improve survival chances and increase the likelihood of firm growth. (4) Management capability and consistency have greater impact on the outcome of entrepreneurship process than the resource and strategy factors. Implications: The findings have significant implications for a conceptual understanding of Chinese entrepreneurship dynamics. It addresses important considerations on government policy making and promotion strategies for entrepreneurship development in different forms of business venture. Value: The textile sector has pioneered the government reforms in restructuring and creating entrepreneurial enterprises. It offers a perfect case for assessing the entrepreneurship processes in a rapidly changing market environment. It emphasizes the important ownership effect on entrepreneurial outcomes. Drawing upon Wickham’s contingency model of entrepreneurship, it provides an improved understanding of this concept under particular circumstance and different contexts

The role of cloud computing in addressing small, medium enterprise challenges in South Africa

This thesis was motivated by Roberts (2010) who found that 63% of SMEs in South Africa do not make it past second year of operation. To expand further on this problem, we reviewed literature to understand key business challenges experienced by SMEs in South Africa which contribute to this high failure rate. The challenges include red tape, labour legislation, lack of skills, lack of innovation, impact of crime, and lack of funds. The research project aimed to answer a key question: “How can information technology, in the form of Cloud Computing be used to address the challenges faced by small and medium businesses in South Africa?” To answer this question, data was collected from 265 SME companies and quantitatively analysed. It is important to note that the profile of SMEs targeted in this study are those that employed fewer than 200 employees, with a turnover of not less than 26 million rand per annum, and registered with South African Revenue Services (SARS) and also with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) of South Africa. Over 60% of the firms that responded to the survey were in business for more than 10 years which means we are mainly dealing with data from businesses that have past the survivalist stage and are matured businesses. These are businesses that can share their experiences and challenges they faced throughout their journey. The profile of SMEs in this study should not be confused with that of Very Small Medium Enterprise Businesses. The questionnaire was designed to address four themes being the Demographic profile, SME Business Environment, Threat of Survival, and lastly Technology Adoption. Key finding in this research is that 60% of the panellists stated that red tape is the overriding challenge that small businesses contend with. 67% of the panellists confirmed that they have not invested in their businesses in the past year; and 53% stated that they have not applied for finance from the bank for fear of being rejected. Only 30% of the SME market were found to use enterprise resource planning (ERP) and 62% do not have their own IT department. Of great concern is that 65% of the panellists have experienced server down time at least once in the past year. Inability to predict the rising IT costs in a firm has been cited as the main concern when running IT on premise. The cost predictability finding was also discovered to be a benefit enjoyed by the SMEs who use Cloud Computing. The conclusion is that there is a relationship between Cloud Computing, Small and Medium Enterprise businesses and the challenges they face in their business environment. To address the identified business challenges, technology adoption studies by Gumbi & Mnkandla (2015), Carcary, Doherty & Conway (2014), Lacovou et al (1995), Mohlomeane & Ruxwana (2014), Kshetri (2010), BMI Research (2018), Conway & Curry (2012), Li, Zhao & Yu (2015), Wernefeldt (1985), Schindehuitte & Morris (2001), Tornatzy & Flesher (1991) were reviewed. From these publications, the Technology, Organisational and Environmental (TOE) was found to be relevant and of interest for use in answering the main research question. This study developed the Cloud Adoption Framework which is the anchor of all SME challenges. Key study contribution is that the TOE model, which is predominantly used to understand the determinants of technology adoption like various industry applications, infrastructure innovations etc., are now used to address specific challenges that have contributed in the high failure rate of SME business. This is the first-time TOE model has been used to align with key SME challenges that contribute to firms’ failure. Specific technology across Software, Infrastructure and Platform services models are recommended for use by SMEs to ensure challenges are mitigated and improve the chances of survival for SMEs operating in South Africa. By following the recommended Cloud Adoption Framework, SMEs should be able to navigate the complexities brought about by the tough operating environment and also the technologies available to address those challenges. All six challenges have solutions in Cloud Computing and SMEs are educated on these solutions and also how to access these on a pay as you use model of consumption.Business ManagementD.B.L

Value co‐creation between foreign firms and indigenous small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kazakhstan's oil and gas industry: the role of information technology spillovers

Study related to the extractive sector still plays a limited role in the mainstream international business (IB) and management literature, with even less focus on ongoing liberalisation and digitalisation in the industry. This paper was motivated by the question of how collaboration between foreign and indigenous oil and gas (O&G) companies can support small and mediumsized indigenous technological development. A three-stage qualitative–interpretive method based on interviews with industry experts has been adopted in order to build three case studies. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a model that explains how different actors can cocreate value in the ecosystem of public–private partnership (PPP) in the O&G industry through digital technologies. This paper proposes what companies and the government could do to increase the competitiveness of the local economy, diversify from O&G into high technological industries, and support industrial development through information and communication technologies (ICT)

Institutionalising XBRL for financial reporting:resorting to regulation

By integrating and streamlining financial information within and among various organisations, eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) has been developed with a view to enhancing the efficiency, accuracy, and transparency of corporate accounting information. Taking an inter-organisational focus, this paper investigates the process of how XBRL was institutionalised. It explains and offers insights on how institutional arrangements emerge and become relevant as heterogeneous organisations consider adopting accounting innovations while evidence concerning their benefits is unavailable. The original and overall contribution of this study is that it improves current understanding of coal-face actors' perceptions, behaviours, and strategies as they interact in the organisational field and become engaged in developing accounting innovations to produce the macro-level observations documented in existing institutional theory studies

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Determinants of Competitiveness of the Indian Auto Industry

This paper analyses the determinants of competitiveness of auto industry in India, based on a field survey and a quantitative analysis of secondary data. It highlights that all segments of Indian auto sector are growing at a fairly high rates and their productivity as well as export intensity is on the rise. Domestic sales are rising, but they have declined in certain sub-segments of vehicles. However, the R&D expenditure has been scarce. Effective rate of protection of automobile assembly is far higher than that of auto-components manufacturing. Unorganised sector, which is quite significant in auto-component manufacturing, has grown more rapidly in the urban areas than in the rural areas. The econometric analysis suggests various measures that could be taken by the government, particularly, the credit facilitation for SMEs. A field survey comprising auto manufacturers in India underlines various constraints faced by the sector, such as the shortage of skilled manpower along with poor infrastructure, fluctuating steel prices and unavailability of land at reasonable price. This suggests that the government could facilitate the industry in becoming more competitive by taking steps such as structural fiscal reforms, cut in import duties of raw materials and capital goods, promotion of R&D and FDI, training facilities, research-backed negotiations of FTAs, roadmap for harmonising emission norms across the country and infrastructure improvement. Industry, on the other hand, should improve its R&D capabilities and market research.Indian Auto Industry, Competitiveness, Efficiency and Indian Auto Policy

Determinants of Competitiveness of the Indian Auto Industry

1. This study analyses the determinants of competitiveness in the Indian auto industry. It is based on a field survey and a quantitative analysis of secondary data. The field survey covers 45 firms all over India, of which 31 are auto-component firms and 14 are Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). 2. From 2001-02 to 2005-06, the Indian automobile sector has grown at an average annual rate of over 18 per cent in terms of value of output at constant 1993-94 prices and the auto-component sector has grown at about 26 per cent. During the same period, in terms of domestic sales in numbers, two-wheelers have grown at over 13 per cent per annum; three-wheelers at more than 15 per cent commercial vehicles at about 25 per cent per annum and the number of passenger vehicles by 17 per cent per annum. 3. Vehicle exports at constant 1993-94 prices have grown at an average annual rate of more than 55 per cent from 2001-02 to 2005-06, while auto-component exports have grown at 21 per cent. Two-wheeler exports have seen an annual average growth rate of 27 per cent; passenger car exports have grown at 80 per cent; and commercial vehicles at about 55 per cent. 4. The effective rate of protection on automobiles is much higher than on components. For example, during 2006-07, while nominal custom duties were 60 per cent for automobiles (other than commercial vehicles), 12.5 per cent for commercial vehicles and 12.5 per cent for auto-components, effective rates of protection were 183.5 per cent, 12.5 per cent and 10.1 per cent, respectively. 5. With the higher countervailing duty and other cesses/levies, the effective rate of protection for automobile sector would be even higher. 6. This differential rate of effective protection distorts resource allocation and investment pattern in the industry. 7. The auto-component sector has much higher employment-generation potential and export-intensity than the auto assembly segment of the sector. The component manufacturers are now globally competitive and are also maintaining reasonable profitability levels despite a tariff protection of only 7.5 per cent. 8. The import tariff for the assembled vehicles is 60 per cent. Given the low level of protection both for the auto components and CKD/SKD kits, this clearly reflects a policy bias in favour of auto assemblers. 9. The reduction in import duties on assembled units may be undertaken in a phased manner and after ensuring that Indian automobile companies get comparable access to ASEAN and Chinese markets. 10. The anti-dumping mechanism should be strengthened to prevent the dumping of vehicles in the Indian market. 11. The government must also ensure that the large infrastructure deficit faced by this important sector is addressed urgently so that any adverse impact of macroeconomic policies is avoided. These are important steps if import duty structure is to be rationalized. 12. Materials cost is the major component in production cost and its share is increasing. Policy measures to reduce domestic indirect taxes on all inputs for the auto industry would be a welcome step to enhance competitiveness. The Chinese auto industry faces a flat 17 per cent indirect tax incidence, so our aim should be to reach that level. 13. Significant scaling up is required at all levels in the Indian auto-component sector so that economies of scale are gained and cost of production reduced. 14. One of the major constraints for the smaller auto-component manufacturers in increasing their scales of production is lack of credit availability at interest rates comparable to other countries. This is also confirmed by our econometric analysis. 15. R&D expenditure as a share of turnover is low in the Indian auto-component sector ranging between 0 and 1.5 per cent while it is 0.5-3 per cent for the automobile sector. In fact, most of the smaller auto-component firms and a few of the bigger ones do not have an R&D facility. Policy intervention is urgently needed to improve the R&D activities in the Indian auto industry. Since fiscal incentives are not working, a scheme of special credit for R&D would be useful to induce the R&D activities. 16. Indias current levels of tariff on capital goods are higher than those in the ASEAN and China. Thus, these tariffs should be brought down further to enhance competitiveness. 17. The Indian auto industry does not possess good design facilities. The Government needs to significantly strengthen non-proprietary R&D and design capacity that has strong connections with research institutes like IITs. This could be used by all the players in the industry to develop new models, reduce material costs and become more competitive. 18. Skill shortages and skill mismatches have emerged as a major constraint. To address this critical concern, the proposed National Auto Institute1 should be quickly established with active participation of private industry players. 19. There is a significant and increasing use to contract workers in the industry. Labour reforms, aimed at more flexibility, are widely considered among the industrialists as an essential step. This will encourage firms to employ and retain more permanent workers and improve learning and raise productivity levels. 20. It is important to recognize that labour reforms are expected to increase overall employment in the auto sector and will also help firms in the organised sector to scale up. 21. The unorganised sector contributes 30 per cent to total employment, 15 per cent to fixed assets and only 1.5 per cent to output in auto industry in India. This sector has much lower capital and labour productivity than the organised sector. The share of power/fuel cost in total costs are much higher in the unorganised sector. Hence, policy measures are required to incentivise these smaller firms to use power and fuel more efficiently, by adopting better technologies and taking steps to minimise wastage. 22. In the econometric analysis, foreign equity participation is found to be correlated with technical efficiency. Therefore, both centre and state governments should create a conducive environment for attracting more FDI. 23. The trend of mid-sized vehicles capturing a large market share is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. 24. A detailed roadmap for strict implementation of emission standards that are harmonised across states should be drawn up. This could go a long way in ensuring that the entire automotive supply chain upgrades quality and technology. 25. While the implementation of VAT is a positive step, remaining differential in indirect taxes should be eliminated by moving to the GST. The currently prevalent region-specific fiscal concessions are creating the unsustainable locational distortions in the industry. 26. So far, Indias FTA with Thailand has resulted in a net trade gain for India. The government must, however, ensure comparable, if not preferential, market access to domestic firms in partner countries, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, while negotiating FTAs. 27. The principles pertaining to the rules of origin have to be strictly implemented.Indian Auto Industry, competitiveness, Efficiency and Indian Auto Policy

Competitiveness of Indian Manufacturing: Finding of the 2001 National Manufacturing Survey

In this paper we present findings of the second national survey on the competitiveness of Indian manufacturing. The paper develops hypotheses on the competitiveness of firms in the manufacturing sector and addresses some key questions on the characteristics of world class firms in India. We analyze the processes and practices that such firms have adopted to become world class. More important, we highlight firm level practices that are preventing Indian firms from becoming globally competitive. The findings point towards three distinct aspects of manufacturing management that define the capabilities of the firm, i.e., strategies related to dynamic control of shop floors, network linkages and innovation. It is found that firms that build distinctive technological and managerial capabilities in these domains are able to compete globally. The paper provides a comparison with manufacturing capabilities of competitors in China and draws lessons for organizing large scale manufacturing. It also provides an assessment of the changes that have happened in manufacturing priorities and strategies in India since our last survey that was conducted in 1997 and highlights the implications of these changes.

IFRS compass : IT systems implication

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/1979/thumbnail.jp

Implications of WTO Accession for Selected Domestic Industries of Laos

The study examines the implications of Lao PDR’s WTO accessions on the domestic cement, steel bar and brewery industries with a view to developing recommendations on how to concurrently manage the Government’s domestic strategic objectives with the country’s effective involvement in the global economy. Calculations of total protection (TE) to the industries shows that beer receives the highest level of protection (110%), followed by steel bars (17%) and cement (16%). The actual level of effective rate of protection (ERP) with the existing tariffs and TEs of the non-tariff measures is 62 percent for cement and 50 percent for steel bars. Lowering the existing tariffs to zero on tradable inputs in the cement and steel bar industries would increase the effective rate of protection (ERP) on those industries to 84 percent for cement and 67 percent for steel bars. It would also create greater transparency, streamline administrative and bureaucratic procedures, and facilitate business practices in the country. As part of the WTO negotiations, Lao PDR is likely to undertake specific reforms of its trade regime covering tariff and non-tariff measures impacting on the selected industries covered by this study. The study examines the transformation of non-tariff measures to ad valorem tariff equivalents, and assessed the impact of alternative tariff reform strategies on the beer, cement and steel bar industries in terms of various performance indicators, including those related to the industry, government tax revenue and employment effects