Small Business Performance in Urban Tourism

Research findings indicate that the successful performance of small businesses is an important determinant of regional development. Successful business performance is affected by a number of firm-specific factors including human and social capital. Although, small and medium firms comprise the vast majority of the tourism production system, research on small business performance in tourism is rather limited. Drawing on recent advances and empirical evidence from enterpreneurship and small business literature we control first, for the role of human and social capital and second, for the role of owners'/managers' perceptions of place attractiveness over small business performance. We hypothesise that such perceptions should have specific effects on tourism business performance. Analysis is based on cross-sectional data gathered from face-to-face interviews with small tourism businesses owners/managers in Patras, Greece.

REKAYASA MODEL ALIANSI STRATEGIS AGROINDUSTRI SKALA KECIL (KASUS KLUSTER INDUSTRI TAHU)

Development of small scale agro industrial is strategic effort. Through agroindustry there will be constructed the increasing value-added. The aim of this study was to design model strategic alliance for small scale ‘tahu’ agroindustry. Data analysis methods for small scale ‘tahu’ agro industrial strategic alliance developments were: system analysis by need analysis, problem formulation and system identification; system structuration by interpretative structural modeling (ISM); internal and external factor by SWOT analysis; institutional performance analysis. The result of system structuration shows that key components in the objective element are capital access. The key components in the need element are cooperation among business units and integrated cluster policy. The key components in the constraint element are weak socio-economic institutional and limited access to capital. The key components in the stakeholder element are small scale ‘tahu’ agroindustry and local government. The key components in the activity element are formation of business groups. Institutional performance of the ‘tahu’ cluster was seen by the efficiency, equity and sustainability shows that institution does not function properly. Analysis of external and internal factors indicate that difficulty factor in the development of small scale ‘tahu’ agroindustry know not merely an internal factor of tahu agroindustry but also caused by other factors relation between other actors that have not been maintained. The model most appropriate strategic alliance is an established business groups through strategic alliances within the framework of business clusters

Sales Performance Management System (SPMS) for Independent Business Owner (IBO) / Nurul Izzati Mohd Yusoff

Measuring performance of sales is very important in every business especially with business that has many sales representatives. This project consists on developing a Sales Performance Management system (SPMS) for Independent Business Owner (IBO). This project is a prototype for the owner of any business to manage their agent’s sales performance. The project purposed to develop a system that can solve common problem of any business owner in measuring and managing the sales person of the company. The significance of this project development is to prove that even a small team of business can have a standardize platform to measure the performance of the business. The system developed using Waterfall methodology and only four main phases among of six from the methodology framework being used. The phases consist of; Requirements Gathering, Analysis, Design and Implementation. This project work can be further extended in the concept of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) elements and with any kind of technology aided tool to enhance the user experience and make it more interactive

Good Practices Preceding the Implementation of the System of Management of Environment, on Small and Medium Enterprises

The current and future economic context compel to ample reconsiderations related to the volume and content of the demarches carried out by organisations, in order to face the competition sharper and sharper and the more and more numerous rigors, among which the issue of environment is more than imperative. The good practices in environment management become more and more necessary and, fortunately, are supplied more and more often by organisations in SMEs category, which encounter highly valuable solutions in this context charged with convictions. This work features an exemplary performance of a small organisation that managed to settle an informal system of management of environment, built up with much rigour, involvement, respect for society and environment. The objectives of authors consist in offering good practices to business environment, from SMEs category, means of approaching in the analysis of environment practices and emphasizing the imperatives in this area of action, for organisations. The method of research included the consulting of some lists of specialised works, documentary study in the sites of the organisations from SMEs category and of the organisations in the field, adopting some established models of analysis (FMEA - Failure Modes and Effects Analysis), singularised application of method to the data concerning an organisation from German space. The results of authors’ demarche were materialised in both theoretical and practical considerations, presumptively useful for the specialists in the field of environment management, university environment and business environment.good practices, environmental performance, SMEs, system of management, quality

Sustainability of Small Businesses in Zimbabwe During the First 5 Years

Small businesses in Zimbabwe make up 94% of the country\u27s business population but only contribute 15% to the country\u27s economy due to a high failure rate during the first 5 years. The purpose of this descriptive multiple case study was to explore strategies and skills that may contribute to the sustainability of small businesses during the first 5 years. The study population consisted of 5 small business owners in Ntepe village in Zimbabwe who had sustained their businesses for the first 5 years of operations. The conceptual framework that grounded this study was management theory. The data collection process involved conducting semistructured interviews with small business owners. Data analysis involved the adoption of methodological triangulation, thematic analysis, and member checking to ensure reliability and credibility of the data collected. The data collected presented two main themes: developing leadership skills and planning for positive performance. Key attributes and skills of a small business leader include trustworthiness, ability to lead resolutions that solve problems, effective communication of quality expectations, development of customer focus, and ability to address the needs of employees. Planning for positive performance includes goal setting, creating policies and procedures, and developing a control system for financial activities. This study may contribute to social change by providing data on proven strategies used by small business managers to sustain their businesses during the first 5 years of operations. The community may benefit from owners being better prepared to sustain their small businesses, given that these businesses may then hire employees and contribute to the local economy

Identify The Big Five Personality Traits to Escalate Business Motivation In Food Technology Industry

The overall purpose of this research refers to the real case in Chixar's business which points out that the instability of motivation in doing business is an aspect that has also become a concern for internal business members, given the business conditions that had experienced pivoting before and the necessity to pursue sales targets that are quite high in the business. new to pivoting, internal business has a strong desire to improve business performance but it is necessary to support it with analysis of personality traits and motivation factors for Chixar business members as the main basis. Regarding small business aspects, the implementation of human resources management is not implemented properly considering that small businesses have fewer employees so they are not a main concern to be considered in internal business, but small businesses are often focused on the orientation of sales and business operations. Therefore, the author focuses on the scope of research in the application of human resources management in small business which includes aspects of personality traits and motivating factors for doing business. Personality traits are aspects that are owned by each individual and affect individual behavior based on personal desires towards an achievement or expected goals, personality is an absolute and stable aspect and variable possessed by individuals who are associated with working behavior, motivation and goal-orientation. The author uses the Big Five Personality Traits framework to identify and analyze the types of personality traits and factors that underlie Chixar business members. Self Determination theory as the framework basis of the motivation factor is divided into two, namely intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, both motivation factors are analyzed in depth on several sub-variables. Overall, the data analysis process was carried out using qualitative data methods with data collection processing stages which included individual assessment, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The results of data analysis show that there are differences in personality traits owned by Chixar business members and differences in extrinsic motivation factors despite the similarities that form intrinsic motivation. The results of the strongest and most implementable personality traits are Openness personality traits, the strongest intrinsic motivation factor is Relatedness factor and the strongest extrinsic motivation factor is Integrated Regulation. Regarding the findings, the author tries to recommend solution that it is necessary to implement a performance management system as the main implementation base for small businesses which includes establishing development objectives, communicating effectively, motivating employees, document performance, feedback, diagnosing performance problems and developing employees

Revising the existing Performance Indicator system for small water supply utilities in Japan

97.5% of the water utilities in Japan serve less than 50, 000 customers, and are called small water utilities. The Performance Indicator system in Japan, used to evaluate the performance of various aspects of the supply system, currently has 137 items, which are too many in number for the small utilities to adopt because of resource and financial constraints. The objective of this study is to, thus, revise the existing PI system to arrive at a reduced, relevant and practical structure that provides enough information to rationally evaluate small water supply systems in Japan. Principal Component Analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of the original data. The results suggest that only nine components, consisting of 33 items (called 9-cPIS), are sufficient for evaluating the small water utilities. The effectiveness of the 9-cPIS in benchmarking, evaluating business models, and the planning and management of the water utilities has been discussed further

A system dynamics approach for assessing SMEs' competitiveness

Purpose: The analysis of the interconnectedness between resources and capabilities, and the way businesses use them as competitive weapons is a central element of the strategic management literature. Finding the appropriate configuration of competitive pillars is particularly relevant for resource-constrained small businesses. Drawing on the resource-based view and the configuration theory, this study evaluates the effect of both competitiveness and the configuration of the competitiveness system on performance. Design/methodology/approach: An index methodology based on the configuration theory was used to compute the competitiveness index on a unique sample of 625 Hungarian small and medium-sized firms. The study hypotheses were tested via regression analysis. Findings: Results show that the impact of competitiveness-enhancing strategies is conditional on the configuration of the system of competencies. Low-competitive businesses benefit more from investments in the weakest competitive pillar, while strategies oriented to improve more than one competitive pillar yield higher competitiveness improvements among high-competitive businesses. Our findings also indicate that competitiveness positively impacts performance, and that the exploitation of competitive strengths leads to superior results among high-competitive businesses. Originality/value: By employing an index methodology, our analysis contributes to unveil how competitiveness impact business performance. The proposed analysis has value for scholars and strategy makers by showing how the configuration of the business’ competitive system—in terms of competitive strengths and weaknesses—conditions the generally positive impact of competitiveness enhancing actions linked to the acquisition or development of resources and capabilities.Preprin

Strategic Management Planning of Soybean Store Hadijanto Trisno With The Purpose of Developing Business and Facing Competition

Every development demand a change, include in business world.  Small businesses that are still using traditional management system face a challenge to maintaining the business continuity and facing competition in this modern era.  Soybean Store Hadijanto Trisno, a hereditary business is facing some issues in running the business, which are company doesn’t have functional division, lack of workers and transport during peak hours, and no database system. Those business issues are explored through internal and external factors. The external factor will be explored by using PEST analysis (Political Economic Social Technological) and Porter’s five forces model and internal factor will be explore by using Value Chain Analysis and functional area analysis such as organization structure , Marketing, Operations, Human Resources and Information Technology. All explorations will lead to implementation of strategic management. The recommended solutions for Soybean Store Hadijanto Trisno is to implement strategic management that adopted corporate growth strategy to improving their business, using cost focus business strategy to facing the competition, and implementing functional strategies to increasing performance and reach the efficiency.  Keywords: strategic management, business strategy, growth strategy

Benchmarking as a means of improving the financial wellbeing of organic dairy farms

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Benchmarking is an important management tool enabling the comparison of actual financial data on a similar basis. Currently there is little data available on the actual costs of farming to organic standards. Limited financial or incomplete management information tends to lead to poor decision taking. The objective of the exercise is to identify the practices, which lead to enhanced financial performance, either low costs of production or high levels of profitability. The identification of these most profitable practices enables informed decisions to be made about the way the farming business needs to change. The main problem areas include the collection of detailed information broken down into the required cost centres. The allocation of costs between enterprises on small and medium sized farms is often difficult. Obtaining either a large enough sample of farms, if the farming system is different, or a sufficient number of farms with a similar farming system is essential. Analysis is normally undertaken on a cost of production basis as this allows for better comparison between units of a different size. Finance costs are normally excluded, but depreciation charges are included to reflect the level of investment in the business. A realistic value of family labour needs to be included to allow for the production of a Comparable Farm Profit (CFP)