A Study on Factors Affecting the Internationalization Process of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

AbstractAs a result of the rapid prevalence of Information Technologies, disappearance of the borders between countries as a sequel of globalization and the fast increase in the number of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME)s, products and services similar to each other are emerging. Within such a context, firms are striving to increase the demand for their products and gain attention through differentiation both in local and global markets. Due to its important role in international trade of countries, SMEs are being considered as major role players in economies and therefore became an attractive area to explore by researchers. The literature on the internationalization of firms is predominantly build on research from the US and western European countries while there is a few number of research conducted in Turkey (Bal and Kunday, 2014; Şengüler, 2013; Koçak and Abimbola, 2009; Çavuşgil, Knight and Üner, 2011). The internationalization of SMEs has been mostly investigated within the marketing literature and there is a lack on this subject within the Management and Organization literature. Setting out from this need, the aim of this paper is to investigate the entrepreneurial skills of the entrepreneur who founded the SME, the motive of the entrepreneur for starting the business, the innovativeness of the firm, and the relationship of these factors with the internationalization of firms. The sample of the research consists of entrepreneurs who have been reached via the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study in 80 countries between the years 2000-2012. Hierarchical Regression Model was used to test the hypotheses at macro level including data from each country. Research findings and implications are presented and discussed

The Moderating Role of Human Capital on the Relationship between Business Intelligence Capabilities and Business Intelligence Success

Business intelligence (BI) system is at the heart of the management information system of any organization due to its important role of understanding the environment and support decision-making process. However, BI is meaningless without the users who read and interpret outputs and add knowledge in it. This makes human capital is a vital component of BI process. The aim of this empirical study is to investigate the moderating role of human capital on the relationship between BI capabilities and BI success. A survey was conducted to 196 employees working at different companies and using BI Tools. The findings indicated that BI capabilities had some effect on BI success. Accordingly, organizational BI capabilities have a positive relationship with BI success with respect to risk factor value as well as technological BI capabilities such as internal data sources and internal data reliability. Research results also showed that data types, namely qualitative data and BI success have negative and moderate relationship.  Furthermore, partial support was found for the moderating role of human capital on the relationship between BI capabilities and BI success. Managerial implications for practitioners and theory are discussed. Research findings contribute to practice by providing information for users and managers of BI to consider human factors while assessing BI success. Keywords : Business Intelligence, Business Intelligence Capabilities, Business Intelligence Success, Human Capita

Nanoscale coatings in food packaging for extended protection against microorganisms

Today, several packaging materials have been produced to preserve the quality of food products, prevent their spoilage and protect them against external factors for transporting food safely to consumers. On the other hand, the materials used in the production of packaging materials pose a significant risk to environment and human health. In addition, significant quality losses occur during the period from post-harvesting of fruits and vegetables to handling due to the microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi leading to the food spoilage. These losses during harvesting and post-harvesting affect our economy in a negative way. Therefore, new package materials are required in order to reduce the quality loss of food products during storage and transportation. A potential solution is in coating the surfaces with water-based nanotechnologic material providing elastic and glassy layer in nanoscale. This approach reduces the diseases of fruits and vegatables after post-harvesting and extend the self-life of food products. The colorless, oderless and non-toxic Trialkoxysilane Functionalized Quaternary Ammonium compound form nanolayers on the surfaces and inhibit the growth of microorganisms. This solution provides the highest level of antimicrobial protection and offers new solutions by reducing the risks to human health and the environment. This patented compound, Antimic® can be coated on the surfaces of packaging materials: paper, carton, glass, plastic, wood and metal. In addition, Antimic® can be applied in food stores by spraying technique. Pilot scale studies have shown that post-harvesting diseases of fruits and vegetables can be controlled