BUILDING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH MARKETING, MANUFACTURING AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY: A CASE STUDY OF METAL PRODUCT SMEs IN TEGAL

This research investigates how the marketing strategy, manufacturing strategy and environment management create SMEs competitive advantage that will improve SMEs business performance. It gives both theoretical and managerial implications about steps must be taken by SMEs to improve their business performance through the competitive advantage gained from the marketing strategy, manufacturing strategy, and the ability to manage the environment. This research includes a data set from 121 SMEs. Results show that the manufacturing and environment management strategy positively affects SMEs competitive advantage, and the competitive advantage also positively affects SMEs business performance. Marketing strategy implemented didn’t affect the competitive advantage. This research proved that for now, the competitive advantage of metal product SMEs in Tegal lay on their ability to create product in accordance with consumers want. Metal SMEs always maintain their flexibility and product quality with competitive prices. To gain the competitive advantage, SMEs must have the ability to adjust with political and economics transformation such as general election or city major and governor transformation. Because of its flexibility, metal SMEs in Tegal can easily adjust with the transformation of political and economical climate. The last thing that must be noted from this research is that metal SMEs in Tegal didn’t implement the marketing strategy well because of the job-order system. The competitive advantage will be more perfect if the company also have superb marketing strategy

Role ambiguity and job performance of employees in the service sector SMEs in Malaysia

Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the economic development of Malaysia, of which the majority are in the service sector.Employees of the service sector SMEs have often been associated with low level of job performance and past research has shown that there are many factors that can contribute to employee poor performance such as role ambiguity.Thus the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between role ambiguity and job performance of employees in the service sector SMEs in Malaysia.1500 questionnaires were distributed and 300 were returned resulting in a 20% response rate.The result revealed that there was a significant relationship between role ambiguity and job performance of employees

Current Approaches Regarding the Knowledge Management Impact on SMEs Performance

Managing knowledge is a critical capability for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to master because it helps them leverage their most critical resource. Organizational knowledge is the most salient resource at the disposal of SMEs in terms of availability, access, and depth. Successful SMEs are those who can leverage their knowledge in an effective and efficient manner, so as to make up for deficiencies in traditional resources, like land, labor, and capital. The purpose of this article is to identify the knowledge management impact on SMEs performance and to compare knowledge management in SMEs with knowledge management in large companies. The research discovered that SMEs do not manage knowledge the same way as larger organizations.knowledge management, performance, SMEs.

Internationalisation, cultural distance and country characteristics: a Bayesian analysis of SME's financial performance

Relying on the accounting data of a panel of 403 Italian manufacturing SMEs collected over a period of 5 years, we find results suggesting that multinationality per se does not impact on the economic performance of international small and medium sized firms. It is the characteristics of the country selected i.e. the political hazard, the financial stability and the economic performance that significantly influence SMEs financial performance. The management implication for small and medium sized firms selecting and entering new geographic markets is significant, since our results show that for SMEs it is the market selection process that really matters and not the degree of multinationality

Innovation in Nigerian SMEs: types and impact

This paper seeks to explore the types of innovation that are predominant in SMEs in developing countries and to investigate the impact of these innovations on different dimensions of firm performance based on an industry-wide innovation survey carried out in Nigeria in 2007. Although innovation is important for superior firm performance, our result found that the type of innovation that SMEs pursue is not a critical consideration in their performance. While there was no difference found in the focus of SMEs on either of product or process innovations, evidence showed that SMEs would focus more on incremental product and process innovations. Incremental innovation was found to be very important for Nigerian SMEs and a significant predictor of product quality and not of revenue. The authors conclude that SMEs chooses to pursue such innovations that most fit their strategies and available resources. Such level of innovation affords Nigerian SMEs to more extensively exploit the domestic market but cannot support extensive new product development required to enter export markets.innovation; small and medium enterprises; Nigeria; impact

Stakeholders' Impact on Turnaround Performance: The Case of German Savings Banks

This study explores how savings banks as powerful stakeholders of SMEs in Germany assess turn-around performance. It tests the impact of the support provided by German savings banks and distressed SMEs’ actions with survey data from corporate advisors. The results show that structural and continuing support foster turnaround performance. This support is conducive in the initial stage of turnaround but negligible in the recovery stage. Contributing to stakeholder theory and turnaround management, the findings shed light on the factors that motivate a selected stakeholder’s involvement and SMEs’ ability to engage in actions fostering this stakeholder’s support for a turnaround

Management practices and SME performance

We examine the association between management practices and SME performance in Britain over the period 2011 -201 5, using a unique dataset which links survey data on management practices with firm performance data from the UK’s official business register. We find that SMEs are less likely to use formal management practices than larger firms . However, such practices appear to have demonstrable benefits for those SMEs who use them, being positively associated with firm survival, growth and productivity. Our results add further weight to policy initiatives which seek to encourage SMEs to improve their management skills and capabilities

A Comparison of the Performance of SMEs in Korea and Taiwan: Policy Implications for Turbulent Times

A comparison of the role and performance of SMEs in Korea and Taiwan during the 1990s and early 2000s shows that the reputation for SMEs to be flexible in the face of adversity is well deserved, but should not be take for granted. Both Taiwan and Korea have built much of their economic success on SMEs. Both economies are very open to external shocks; both were affected by the 1997 Asian Crisis, and to a lesser extent, the "tech wreck" of 2001. Both economies have faced the need to restructure their industrial competitiveness, and both have active policies to support entrepreneurship and SMEs. Within this broad context of similarities, there are also some differences in approach and structure. All of this can give a better understanding of how managers and policy makers can help to create jobs and build a more competitive economy. SMEs provide about 80 percent of private sector employment in both economies, so SME performance is an important economic and social issue. The paper shows, for example, that Korean SMEs were subject to rather bigger devaluation shocks and currency volatility than their Taiwanese counterparts. However SME exporters in both economies showed considerable resilience in the face of shocks and SMEs in both economies have significantly improved their liquidity and debt ratios since 1997, suggesting they are better prepared now than before. They have done so in the face of a sharp decline in bank lending to SMEs. Over the decade there has been a steady structural decline in the importance of manufacturing SMEs in both economies. The paper examines the relative performance of SMEs in Taiwan and Korea over a turbulent decade, and it examines the SME policies and initiatives adopted. It seeks to extract some lessons for other economies seeking to develop an entrepreneurial and resilient SME sector in the face of global turbulence.small and medium enterprises, Taiwan, Korea, performance