Success Factors for Minority Small Business Sustainability

Minority small business owners significantly contribute to national and local economies. Only 50% of small firm owners sustain their businesses longer than 5 years. The purpose of the multiple case study was to explore the management strategies that minority small business owners used to sustain their businesses for longer than 5 years. The study\u27s population consisted of 4 minority small business owners in the midwestern region of the United States to explore management strategies necessary for maintaining minority small firm operations. The conceptual framework for the study was general system theory. Data sources included semistructured interviews, social media information, company documentation, and company website information. Based on the methodological triangulation of the data sources, analytical coding, and analyzing the data using a qualitative data analysis software, 3 themes emerged: networking with other small business owners, strategic planning, and building strong customer and employee relationships. The study findings might contribute to positive social change by providing knowledge about effective management strategies to minority small firm owners, thereby creating jobs, augmenting local and national economies, and increasing profitability

Organization Global Software Development Challenges of Software Product Quality

Leaders of global software development (GSD) processes in organizations have been confronting low software product quality. Managers of these processes have faced challenges that have been affecting customer satisfaction and that have resulted in negative social impacts on public safety, business financial performance, and global economic stability. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory multiple case study was to discover a common understanding shared by managers in Canadian GSD organizations of how to meet software product quality goals and enhance customer satisfaction. The conceptual framework for the study was based on Deming\u27s 14 principles of quality management. The purposeful sample included 30 knowledgeable participants who worked in Canada as GSD managers. Semistructured interviews conducted through telephone and audioconference tools, along with the review of related documents, were used to gather data. Eight themes emerged from the data analysis: developing a clear purpose and work principles, improving processes and employee skills, developing adequate personnel management strategies, promoting autonomy and personal worker development, formulating life cycle and development techniques, identifying challenges, formulating solutions, and focusing on product quality. The research findings have implications for positively influencing social change through the provision of methods and process knowledge to GSD organizational leaders. This information consists of best management and industry practices that can be applied to achieve software product quality and customer satisfaction, create management systems, maintain a competitive advantage, and prevent global software development project failures

Investigating different strategies for increasing sales and customer base

The study primarily discusses about the different strategies that the management of the company can implement in order to boost their customer base and net sales. The main aim of the research is to evaluate different strategies for increasing sales and customer base. A qualitative method was taken for this research, and data was collected with the help of primary and secondary methods. In the primary method, a semi-structured interview was conducted on the organisation’s premises with the store manager and other staff members. The secondary data was collected from books and the internet. The study has an emphasised focus on laying down several goals and objectives that the study plans to achieve. In this study, the researcher has tried to formulate the latest data and information about the company in order to provide the management with the latest insights about customer preferences and techniques that can be used for improving their decision-making process. The study has laid down processes and procedures that were followed in order to prepare the entire study. The key findings of the research are to introduce the new product, give some rewards points and add some more options for customers. The foremost recommendations for the organisation will be to improve communication with their customers, and to use PayWave service and wi-fi facility. Moreover, they should use social media and other platforms to advertise their products and add more features and varieties to the existing product to attract the attention of customers

Identify successful marketing communication strategies that apply to a small hair salon

A selected organisation provides hair dressing services and hair products to customers. The aim of this report is to analyse how the small hair salon could improve their marketing communication strategies in order to attract more customers and enhance the relationship between customers and the organisation. The approach to collecting information was to use a questionnaire with 50 participants, to gather primary information and to conduct a secondary research study. The result of this research was to decide that the role of a successful marketing communication strategy is to attract the customer to consume. In order to make the marketing communication strategy successful, it needs to choose a suitable channel that enables it to connect with the customer. New media is an effective channel that can promote the business to the customer and interact with them. New media is also suitable for a small business to use. A recommendation for the organisation is they create their own website page, Facebook page, YouTube video and WeChat group to promote themselves and interact with customers. Those channels are popular in New Zealand, with a high number of active users. Most the organisation customers like to use those channels too, so if the organisation applies those channels to their marketing communication strategy they will be able to attract customers and persuade them to consume more products

Examining the implications of the anti-money laundering and countering financing of Terrorism Act 2009 on New Zealand accounting firms

Money laundering is the act of introducing illicitly gained funds into the economy to assist in concealing their origin. On October 1 2018, it became mandatory for most New Zealand accounting firms to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. The purpose of this act is to help detect and deter money laundering within New Zealand. The AML/CFT Act creates additional requirements for accounting firms and has severe penalties for non-compliance. This led to the research question of ‘What are the implications of the AML/CFT Act 2009 on New Zealand Accounting firms?’ For this research, interviews were conducted with accounting firms to help identify the costs and implications associated with the AML/CFT requirements. The results revealed that despite the October 1 deadline, accounting firms are still implementing programs. The new requirements were unclear and underestimated by firms. Large money and time costs were reported by all the interview participants and they all feel that the new requirements are excessive. As the AML/CFT Act is still new, it would be beneficial to explore further research in the future that examines the actual impact of maintaining the AML/CFT programs

Strategic planning for a SME

The purpose of this research is to find competitive advantages for an organisation and prepare a long-term strategic planning for the SME. In a New Zealand context, small business enterprises play vital roles in business and the economic sector. However, most small business do not have specific competitive advantage and long-term strategies to compete in the market. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have been used as mixed method research. Interviews and surveys have been done. Using those methods, researchers are intended to use the most effective implementation methodology to find out the best solution to the problem and cause of a SME. Location and customer satisfaction have been identified as the prime factors for the firm to run the business successfully. The business has been operating smoothly without using any further strategies to compete in the market. Recommendations involve pricing, advertising and stock management

Sales training

This project involves discovering how sales training works and the impacts of sales training. The goal is to show how sales training can help a business grow and to set benchmarks in the market. After the negative impact in the performance of sales representatives of a national company in the sales industry, their management made decisions about changes which need to be taken to get good results from sales training. The method which has been used to complete this study is desktop training, which includes self-experiences and secondary data. It is necessary to have appropriate and successful training which delivers the best to the company. The main aim of this research is to study and analyse the training procedure and processes in a business, since the training process involves more activities that require mental strength with the willingness to perform well with learning. The overall study of the process includes investigating lack of training, practice time and overcoming doubts raised by the customer at the time of performing the job. Hence, it is recommended that businesses should deliver new strategies and conduct more training sessions and online modules, leading to the success and growth of employees

Small business preference for software package

Until late 2016, the majority of small business uses QuickBooks and Excel to do their accounting work. However, the functions of these accounting tools are insufficient, and also the demands of companies are increasing. It has become inefficient and antiquated to use the software. A small business looked for new accounting software, but found that choosing an accounting software system is not straightforward, as every software package consists of different functions for users. The aim of this research was to analyse small business’ perceptions and preferences for accounting software systems in New Zealand. This is followed by an analysis of why users might want to replace their previous accounting software systems. In addition, the requirements for selecting accounting software were analysed. The main method used was qualitative research. Three people were interviewed regarding the reason for replacing their previous accounting software system. The first interviewee had not changed their accounting software system previously, but their reason for replacing their current accounting software system was that their previous accounting software system lacked the functionality he wanted. The second interviewee said e she disliked that the system frequently crashed and that it lacked the features she wanted. The reason why the last interviewee changed her previous accounting software system was that MYOB system could not improve her work efficiency

Trust between service provider and customer in online environments

Nowadays online shopping is getting more and more popular in China. However, opportunities and challenges are coexisting, and the growth of e-commerce is also inevitable. In e-commerce online, trust has become a significant factor hindering development. A New Zealand organisation faces a lot of competitors. In order to increase its market share and remain competitive in the market, the organisation needs to have more loyal customers who repeatedly purchase their products. Therefore, the organisation should find an appropriate way to form or create trust with customers, to retain them. This research investigates how trust has been created in an online environment between an organisation and its customers. A qualitative method was adopted in this research and data collected using semi-structured interviews. The collected data was analysed adopting a thematic analysis method. The research findings show that a two-way communication system is the core factor in forming trust in the online environment. This research suggests that the organisation should consider two-way communication seriously, and develop that as a useful tool to build trust between them and customers; not just as a communication tool but as a tool for trust formation

Understanding customer satisfaction based on the way they evaluate service delivery

With the development of society, the service industry has become the pillar of the world economy. People's demand for service products is getting higher and higher because people are becoming increasing lazy. Through this research, an immigration organisation showed most customers are not satisfied with the price of service, so the aim of the research is to understand customer satisfaction through their interaction with the service provider. This paper used qualitative method and unstructured interviews. Six interviewees obtained through email were used. The results showed that most customers are satisfied with member engagement in service delivery and credibility of the business, and that the organisation should improve staff response to customers’ questions. There are some recommendations. Firstly, that the company needs to have a strategy for training staff to improve customer satisfaction. Secondly, the organisation needs to think about how they can improve credibility because it is essential to customer satisfaction. Finally, the company needs to improve communication quality to reduce customer waiting time by increasing staff numbers for customer satisfaction