How can SMEs benefit from big data? Challenges and a path forward

Big data is big news, and large companies in all sectors are making significant advances in their customer relations, product selection and development and consequent profitability through using this valuable commodity. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have proved themselves to be slow adopters of the new technology of big data analytics and are in danger of being left behind. In Europe, SMEs are a vital part of the economy, and the challenges they encounter need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. This paper identifies barriers to SME uptake of big data analytics and recognises their complex challenge to all stakeholders, including national and international policy makers, IT, business management and data science communities. The paper proposes a big data maturity model for SMEs as a first step towards an SME roadmap to data analytics. It considers the ‘state-of-the-art’ of IT with respect to usability and usefulness for SMEs and discusses how SMEs can overcome the barriers preventing them from adopting existing solutions. The paper then considers management perspectives and the role of maturity models in enhancing and structuring the adoption of data analytics in an organisation. The history of total quality management is reviewed to inform the core aspects of implanting a new paradigm. The paper concludes with recommendations to help SMEs develop their big data capability and enable them to continue as the engines of European industrial and business success. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

IASME: Information Security Management Evolution for SMEs

Most of the research in information risk and risk management has focused on the needs of larger organisations. In the area of standards accreditation, the ISO/IEC 27001 Information Risk Management standard has continued to grow in acceptance and popularity with such organisations, although not to a significant extent with SMEs. An interesting product recently developed for ENISA (European Nations Information Security Association) based on the Carnegie-Mellon maturity model and aimed at SMEs has not so far filled the gap. In this paper, a researcher and two practitioners from the UK discuss an innovative development in the UK for addressing the information assurance needs of smaller organisations. They also share their perceptions about the security of national information infrastructures, and concerns that SMEs do not get the priority that their position in the supply chain would suggest they should have. The authors also explore the development and roll out of IASME (Information Assurance for SMEs), which they have developed in the context of a tight market, where spare cash is in short supply, and many SMEs are still in survival mode. The question for the business is therefore not seen as “can we afford to spend on information security” but “can we afford not to spend…” As well as the effect on being able to do business at all of having an SMEs systems compromised, there are also matters of reputation, and the growing threat of fines as a result of not complying with laws and regulations. The paper concludes with achievements of real businesses using the IASME process to cost-effectively achieve information assurance levels appropriate for themselves

A hierarchy of SPI activities for software SMEs: results from ISO/IEC 12207-based SPI assessments

In an assessment of software process improvement (SPI) in 15 software small- and –medium-sized enterprises (software SMEs), we applied the broad spectrum of software specific and system context processes in ISO/IEC 12207 to the task of examining SPI in practice. Using the data collected in the study, we developed a four-tiered pyramidal hierarchy of SPI for software SMEs, with processes in the higher tiers undergoing SPI in more companies than processes on lower level tiers. The development of the hierarchy of SPI activities for software SMEs can facilitate future evolutions of process maturity reference frameworks, such as ISO/IEC 15504, in better supporting software development in software SMEs. Furthermore, the findings extend our body of knowledge concerning the practice of SPI in software SMEs, a large and vital sector of the software development community that has largely avoided the implementation of established process maturity and software quality management standards

Collaborative improvement as an inspiration for supply chain collaboration

The battlefield of competition is today moving from the level of\ud individual firms to the one of the extended enterprises, that is, networks of customers and their suppliers. This paper discusses how learning and continuous improvement today take place in processes based on daily collaboration at intercompany level, i.e. Extended Manufacturing Enterprises (EMEs). The purpose of the paper is to present a preliminary theory on Collaborative Improvement (CoI), i.e. continuous improvement at the EME level. Based on a literature review on Supply Networks, and Continuous Improvement and on evidence from two explorative case studies, the paper proposes a model for Collaborative Improvement in EMEs and discusses a research approach based on Action Research and Action Learning to further develop preliminary theory and actionable knowledge on how to foster and sustain CoI in EMEs

European experience and Ukrainian realities in the policy of financial support entrepreneurial sector

Aim/purpose – We want to provide recommendations to bridge the gap in access to financing of the entrepreneurial sector in Ukraine based on the analysis of European experience, EBF approaches, financial funds for SMEs and the current state of the credit market in Ukraine. Design/methodology/approach – We used the general scientific methods of knowledge, conceptual tenets of the theory of market economy, abstract logical analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, historical (to determine the nature and causes of bank investment in SMEs, refine categories and terms); formalization, systems analysis (to determine factors of investment banking, institutional and legal environment); statistical, retrospective analysis. The results of surveys conducted by the EBF on the issues of support and development of SMEs are used, own research of 120 Ukrainian SMEs, which was conducted during the period from January to July 2016. The nature of the research questions was reinforced by the decision to survey only SMEs. Independent reporting (from entrepreneurs or CEOs) was used to account for both business activity and the external sources of information. Findings – Policy initiatives should primarily be developed at the national level in the field of lending to SMEs based on the European experience and Ukrainian realities; it is necessary to develop an understanding of the need for access to certain types of information; SMEs are the main providers and the most valuable source of credit information. Research implications/limitations – When using the methods of calculation creditworthiness perhaps to take into account the methods for assessing the quality of management, the image of the enterprise, ISO certificates. Originality/value/contribution – Based on the cross-country comparison of the EU and Ukraine, highlight the necessity of focusing on some legal unification of SME lending procedures for the development of a culture of sustainable entrepreneurship on the European continent

Knowledge Management Maturity in Universities and its Impact on Performance Excellence "Comparative study"

The paper assesses Knowledge Management Maturity(KMM) in the universities to determine the impact of knowledge management on performance excellence. This study was applied on Al-Azhar University and Al-Quds Open University in Gaza strip, Palestine. This paper depends on Asian productivity organization model that used to assess KMM. Second dimension which assess performance excellence was developed by the authors. The controlled sample was (610). Several statistical tools were used for data analysis and hypotheses testing, including reliability Correlation using Cronbach’s alpha, “ANOVA”, Simple Linear Regression and Step Wise Regression. The overall findings of the current study suggest that KMM is suitable for measuring performance excellence. KMM assessment shows that both universities maturity level is in level three. Findings also support the main hypothesis and it is sub- hypotheses. The most important factors effecting performance excellence are: Processes, KM leadership, People, KM Outcomes. Furthermore the current study is unique by the virtue of its nature, scope and way of implied investigation, as it is the first comparative study in the universities of Palestine explores the status of KMM using the Asian productivity Model

ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks: a literature review

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a complex and vibrant process, one that involves a combination of technological and organizational interactions. Often an ERP implementation project is the single largest IT project that an organization has ever launched and requires a mutual fit of system and organization. Also the concept of an ERP implementation supporting business processes across many different departments is not a generic, rigid and uniform concept and depends on variety of factors. As a result, the issues addressing the ERP implementation process have been one of the major concerns in industry. Therefore ERP implementation receives attention from practitioners and scholars and both, business as well as academic literature is abundant and not always very conclusive or coherent. However, research on ERP systems so far has been mainly focused on diffusion, use and impact issues. Less attention has been given to the methods used during the configuration and the implementation of ERP systems, even though they are commonly used in practice, they still remain largely unexplored and undocumented in Information Systems research. So, the academic relevance of this research is the contribution to the existing body of scientific knowledge. An annotated brief literature review is done in order to evaluate the current state of the existing academic literature. The purpose is to present a systematic overview of relevant ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks as a desire for achieving a better taxonomy of ERP implementation methodologies. This paper is useful to researchers who are interested in ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Results will serve as an input for a classification of the existing ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Also, this paper aims also at the professional ERP community involved in the process of ERP implementation by promoting a better understanding of ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks, its variety and history

The Government and the Financial System : an Overview

This paper surveys the relationship between the government and the financial system in Japan, mainly from the viewpoint of financial stocks, to gain an overall perspective and identify where any problems lie. During this decade, it seems that the relationship between the government and the financial system in Japan has changed significantly. The government has generally become more deeply involved in the financial system. As a result it is no exaggeration to say that current Japanese financial system has become a financial system of the government, by the government, for the government. This was for the most part, promoted by the fact that there occurred a huge redistribution of wealth during the realignment process after the bursting of the bubble economy. Considering such circumstances, the aspects of of the government, by the government, and for the government will be surveyed in turn. Furthermore, postal system privatization will be discussed in terms of public debt management. Lastly, reference will be made to the possible problems accompanying the change in trend of investment-savings balances.financial system, government, Japan, Privatization, public debt management