Designing a framework for the alignment of e-business strategy and consultant engagement processes for Australian SMEs : a cross-case analysis

The majority of SMEs have neither the internal expertise nor financial resources to enable in-house development of electronic commerce and therefore turn to the services of website design consultants to assist them. Unfortunately, they often engage consultants without any clear idea of their intended e-business strategy and without due care as to effective engagement processes. This frequently leads to ineffective e-business development and a highly disaffected group of small entrepreneurs. The study suggests that there is a significant gap between the intended strategies of SMEs and the actual e-business strategy implemented. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between Australian Small and Medium Enterprises, Internet strategy and the engagement of website design consultants. The objectives of the research project were firstly, to identify factors including SME engagement of website design consultants, and other factors presented in previous research that may influence the success of online organizations. Secondly, to construct a framework for analysing those factors\u27 which may influence the success of online organizations. Finally, to provide a set of critical development factors that may be used by Australian SMEs to implement the online organisation. The research methodology chosen used an interpretivist perspective and incorporated a multiple cross-case study approach. Four research instruments were employed in the study to enable triangulation of data and to increase validity and reliability. A pilot study was conducted and the results were used to refine and develop the data collection methods, procedures and theory development for the main study. The expected outcomes of the research project included developing a framework to enhance negotiations between website design consultants and Australian SMEs; to design a set of critical development factors, in relation to Internet strategy and consultant engagement, that may be used by Australian SMEs and consultants to facilitate the implementation of the online organization; and to provide a summarised report to Dow Digital in fulfilment of the requirements of the research funding, and to publish a number of papers based on the research project

OECD reviews of higher education in regional and city development, State of Victoria, Australia

With more than 5.3 million inhabitants Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Once a manufacturing economy, Victoria is now transforming itself into a service and innovation-based economy. Currently, the largest sectors are education services and tourism. In terms of social structure, Victoria is characterised by a large migrant population, 24% of population were born overseas and 44% were either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas. About 70% of the population resides in Melbourne. Victoria faces a number of challenges, ranging from an ageing population and skills shortages to drought and climate change and increased risk of natural disasters. Rapid population growth, 2% annually, has implications for service delivery and uneven development as well as regional disparities. There are barriers to connectivity in terms of transport and infrastructure, and a high degree of inter-institutional competition in tertiary education sector. The business structure in Victoria includes some highly innovative activities such as in biotechnology, but other sectors, especially those with high number of small and medium-sized enterprises, are lagging behind. Most of the larger manufacturing enterprises are externally controlled and there is uncertainty over the long term investments they will make in the state, as well as the place of Victoria in the global production networks

Review of interventions to encourage SMEs to make environmental improvements

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important part of the world economy but they are thought to be responsible for around 60% of all carbon dioxide emissions and 70% of all pollution. SMEs often have major problems with limited resources, limited knowledge, and limited technical capabilities to deal with their own negative environmental impact. SMEs exhibit widely differing characteristics and commitment where environmental issues are concerned. Yet under these conditions they are all expected to engage in environmental improvement. Interventions that encourage environmental improvement are often polarised between regulation and legislation at one extreme and voluntary environmental agreement at the other. It is clear that a holistic mixture of interventions is necessary to achieve maximum engagement and environmental improvement by all SMEs. In this paper we categorise the different levels of environmental commitment observed in SMEs and develop a selection or &lsquo;toolkit&rsquo; of intervention strategies that might be deployed within each category of SME.<br /

Aggregation and the Role of Trusted Third Parties in SME E-Business Engagement: A Regional Policy Issue

YesIt is against the background of low engagement by SMEs in e-business that this paper seeks to highlight the potential importance of aggregation and of the role of trusted third parties in facilitating higher levels of involvement. The paper is based on an ongoing SME e-business research programme and reports on some recent research on SMEs that were using high complexity e-business applications and explores the extent to which the research findings could address the core concern of low engagement. This qualitative case study based research includes analysis of data collected from 13 community intermediaries, acting as trusted third parties. It concludes that the role of community intermediaries appears to be central to the adoption of critical e-aggregation applications provided by service providers. For policymakers, this important role of critical e-aggregation applications in facilitating e-business engagement by SMEs has emerged as part of this research but there is limited evidence of policy initiatives that reflect this

Value management in practice: an interview survey

The results of an interview survey are provided involving 17 professionals working in the property and construction industry, mainly from Australia, concerning their actual experiences and observations of the Value Management (VM) process and outcomes. The main finding is that VM is popular among those with experience in its use, with an average 33% acceptance of the VM workshop - its use having extended even into the area of consultant selection. Much of the interviewees’ experiences are related qualitatively in terms of VM contribution to the identification and management of the risks involved in project delivery

Sustaining and Growing the Informal Sector in Ghana Using Management Consulting: A Case Study of the Fashion SMEs in Kumasi Metropolis

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the informal sector could be made relevant and sustainable using management consulting, by examining why entrepreneurs use or do not use consultants. A representative sample size of 210, made up of 200 fashion businesses and 10 consulting firms participated. Structured questionnaires and interviews were used for the data gathering.  Stratified random sampling technique was used. Chi-square test of association, correlation and logistic regression were used to determine the relationships or associations of variables. The study revealed that even though the skills level of entrepreneurs is low they are reluctant to engage the services of consultants Keywords: informal sector, fashion, SME, entrepreneur, management consulting, micro-enterprises DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-22-07 Publication date: November 30th 202

What makes the difference? Analysing the regional component of the influence of university's structural configuration on its performance

There is an increasing interest in the analysis of how universities should maximise their specific regional contribution alongside their traditional teaching and research goals. However, due to the institutional heterogeneity it is necessary to understand the process by which universities create regional benefits, specifically on the creation of third mission outputs, and the extent to which internal institutional configuration affects the production of these benefits. To cover this gap, this study focus on the UK Higher Education sector and investigates the role played by four elements of the universities’ structural configuration, namely steering core, administrative machinery, internal coupling and academic heartland, affect institutional performance in two different university models: the entrepreneurial university and the regional innovation system university mode

Top barriers and drivers to SME internationalisation

This report presents the main findings of work undertaken in 2007-2008 by the OECD Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship in the framework of its activity on SME Internationalisation. Internationalisation and international entrepreneurship among SMEs is a topic of considerable relevance, principally owing to the observed growth effects of cross-border venturing, and the demonstrated capacity of SMEs to drive economic development at national, regional and global levels. A new report presents an in-depth analysis of the top barriers to SME internationalisation identified in previous OECD-APEC research, and offers deeper understanding of the measures aimed at addressing top barriers. It also reviews recent work on the factors that drive the internationalisation of SMEs

Entrepreneurship Skills: Literature and Policy Review

BIS research paper no. 23

Quality modeling in electronic healthcare: a study of mHealth Service

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to radically transform health services in developing countries. Among various ICT driven health platforms, mobile health is the most promising one because of its widespread penetration and cost effective services. This paper aims to examine Quality Modeling in Electronic Healthcare by using PLS based SEM