Sustainability motivations and practices in small tourism enterprises in European protected areas

A survey of around 900 tourism enterprises in 57 European protected areas shows that small firms are more involved in taking responsibility for being sustainable than previously expected, including eco-savings related operational practices but also reporting a wide range of social and economic responsibility actions. Two-step cluster analysis was used to group the firms in three groups based on their motivations to be sustainable. Business driven firms implement primarily eco-savings activities and are commercially oriented. Legitimization driven firms respond to perceived stakeholder pressure and report a broad spectrum of activities. Lifestyle and value driven firms report the greatest number of environmental, social and economic activities. No profile has a higher business performance than average. The study has implications for policy programmes promoting sustainability behaviour change based primarily on a business case argument

Study on the Impact of Economic Instability in Mehedinti County SMEs Management

The existence of a powerful sector of small and medium enterprises represents a sine qua non condition of Romania’s economic surviving in a turbulent economic environment. In this context, this research paper intends to present some relevant aspects regarding the evolution of Mehedinti county’s small and medium firms, as well as the identification of some management’s action directions in order to transform crisis effects in opportunities. Based on a systematic analysis of the collected and available data, we want to provide a benchmark of current practices established on the collective experience of the SMEs management field. On the basis of our researches despite the fact that most companies were affected by global crisis, we intend to highlight some important aspects of the SMEs managerial strategic approaches for a sustainable regional development.SMEs management, managers’ behaviour, regional development, economic crisis

Social Responsibility Concerns of SMEs in Romania, from the Perspective of the Requirements of the EFQM European Excellence Model

The paper highlights some of the results obtained within a questionnaire-based survey conducted in the SMEs from Romania, the objectives being measurement of the degree to which these enterprises fulfil the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) requirements regarding the social responsibility and measurement of the impact that the implementation of a quality management system according to the ISO 9001 standard has on the degree of fulfilment of these requirements. The research was carried out on a representative sample of SMEs from Romania, in the period 2007-2010, with data being processed from 918 filled-in questionnaires. The results of the research show that SMEs in Romania are especially concerned with reducing and preventing health and occupational safety risk. In contrast, SMEs are less concerned with: the active involvement in the community life, the assessment of the community’s perception on the organization’s social impact and the use of performance indicators related to this impact. However, it was confirmed that the implementation of a quality management system according to the ISO 9001 standard had a positive impact on the ability of SMEs in Romania to fulfil the requirements of the EFQM Excellence Model related to social responsibility. This work received support from CNCSIS –UEFISCSU, through the ID_856 PNII – IDEI research project, code 273//2007.social responsibility, the EFQM Excellence Model, quality management system, SMEs

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges

Critical Factors for New Product Developments in SMEs' Virtual Team

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as an engine for economic growth all over the world and especially for developing countries. During the past decade, new product development (NPD) has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued survival of SMEs. On the other hand, the rapid rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past decade, so this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. Virtual team can be a solution to answer the requested demand. However, literature have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general, whereas NPD in SME’s virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. This paper aims to bridge this gap by first reviewing the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors of NPD in virtual teams. The statistical method was utilized to perform the required analysis of data from the survey. The results were achieved through factor analysis at the perspective of NPD in some Malaysian and Iranian manufacturing firms (N = 191). The 20 new product development factors were grouped into five higher level constructs. It gives valuable insight and guidelines, which hopefully will help managers of firms in developing countries to consider the main factors in NPD

Challenges and success factors for implementation of lean manufacturing in European SMES

Small and medium-sized enterprises are crucial to value creation in the European economy. The SMEs need continuous improvement initiatives to stay competitive. However, SMEs are less likely to implement lean practices compared to larger companies. Limited research exists on the factors that are vital for succeeding with Lean implementations in SMEs. A case study of Norwegian and Belgium SMEs has been conducted in the European research project ERIP (European Regions for Innovative Productivity). Six critical success factors are suggested, which correspond well with previous research: 1) Ensure strong management involvement. 2) Develop thorough employee participation. 3) Allocate sufficient time for preparing the organisation. 4) Focus on creating motivation to complete initiatives. 5) Build competence internally in the organisation. 6) Establish a performance evaluation system