Indonesia's small and medium-size exporters and their support systems

The authors survey a sample of 91 small or medium-size exporters of garments, rattan furniture, the two are reasonably equally mixed. About 75 percent of the entrepreneures in garments and rattan furniture, and carved wooden furniture (Jepara), and interview people in public and nonprofit agencies active about issues affecting small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Indonesia's garment industry is dominated by entrepreneurs of Chinese descent and the Jepara industry by pribumi (Indonesian Malays); in rattan furniture, the two are reasonably equally mixed. About 75 percent of the entrepreneures in garments and rattan furniture have some university education; less than half of those in the more traditional, skill-based Jepara industry do. In most of the firms, international marketing was handled exclusively through private channels, that is also how most firms acquired technological capability. But such channels appeared to be more readily accessible by larger firms, by educated entrepreneurs, and by non-pribumi who could take advantage of the extended-family network that connects ethnic Chinese in the region. Relying exclusively on private channels means running the risk that participation in export markets will be limited to a relatively narrow base of entrepreneurs. Pribumi and smaller firms relied heavily on collective marketing support provided with a"light touch"- for example, support for participation in trade fairs. The Ministry of Trade's international network of offices geared to providing information and facilitating transactions was of little use to the firms surveyed. Collective technology support also appeared to be somewhat more important for smaller, pribumi firms, although its impact was modest. Employing expatriates was a powerful mechanism for acquiring technological capability, especially in the rattan and garment sectors, although it was concentrated disproportionately among the non-pribumi entrepreneurs. Indonesia's collective institutions suffer from pervasive organizational weaknesses that limit their ability to help broaden the base of private entrepreneurship in small and medium-size firms. Public institutions generally lack the commitment, resources, and flexibility needed to provide quality support to SMEs, and the industry association often lack the professionalism and accountability needed to gain SMEs'confidence. But public support can be useful when it involves relatively simple services, such as support to organize local fairs, to facilitate participation in fairs abroad, or to use foreign private consultants.Microfinance,Small Scale Enterprise,Small and Medium Size Enterprises,Water and Industry,Public Health Promotion,Small Scale Enterprise,Private Participation in Infrastructure,Microfinance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Water and Industry

Technical and marketing support systems for successful small and medium-size enterprises in four countries

Studies of successful and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and their marketing and technical support systems were undertaken for Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. Three to four subsectors were examined in each country. The sample worldwide amounted to 445 firms. Mechanisms to support export marketing varied across countries and subsectors. How they varied depended greatly on whether SMEs operated within well-developed private networks. When market penetration begins, transaction costs are high and collective marketing support can be important. As markets"thicken,"initiatives by foreign buyers become more important. Generally the most effective collective marketing support was of the kind that can be provided more effectively by decentralized organizations - such as industry associations or local governments and chambers of commerce (support firms'participation in trade fairs, for example) - than by central government institutions. Private mechanisms were more important than collective mechanisms for helping firms improve their technological capability. Demand for collective mechanisms tended to be greater when technological requirements of production were complex or when the endowments of private technological networks in certain countries or industries were weak. Broad-based collective technical support facilitates the emergence of an information-rich environment for firms, and may be worth pursuing in many settings. Examples of such support include: 1) sponsoring courses in specialized topics; 2) facilitating the use of expert consultants (either directly, by making a consultant available to a broad array of firms, or indirectly, by providing financial support for the use of consultants); and 3) promoting information-sharing among firms. Countries that already have strong broad-based collective support and that are moving into technologically more advanced activities might consider"high-intensity"support, but should proceed with caution.Microfinance,Small and Medium Size Enterprises,Small Scale Enterprise,Markets and Market Access,Water Conservation,Microfinance,Private Participation in Infrastructure,Small Scale Enterprise,Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access

Examining users\u27 personal information sharing awareness, habits, and practices in social networking sites and e-learning systems

Reports of identity theft continue to be widely reported, while users continue to share an increasing amount of personal information online, especially within social networking sites (SNS) and e-learning systems (ELS). Research has suggested that many users lack awareness of the threats that risky online personal information sharing poses. However, even among users who claim to be aware of security threats, actual awareness is still lacking. Research indicates that users’ habits influence their practices. However, the relationship between habit and practices is not always clear. Habit theory has been validated across many disciplines, with very limited attention in Information Systems. Thus, the main goal of this study was to assess the influence of users’ personal information sharing awareness (PISA) on their habits (PISH) and practices (PISP), while comparing the three constructs between SNS and ELS. Empirical survey instrument was developed based on prior literature. A total of 390 responses were received, and path analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses. All three constructs demonstrated high reliability. Users’ habits were determined to have the strongest influence on their practices. Information gained from this study may help organizations in the development of better approaches to the securing users’ personal information

Adjustment and social choice

We discuss the influence of information contagion on the dynamics of choices in social networks of heterogeneous buyers. Starting from an inhomogeneous cellular automata model of buyers dynamics, we show that when agents try to adjust their reservation price, the tatonement process does not converge to equilibrium at some intermediate market share and that large amplitude fluctuations are actually observed. When the tatonnement dynamics is slow with respect to the contagion dynamics, large periodic oscillations reminiscent of business cycles appear.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Normal-Pressure Tests of Circular Plates with Clamped Edges

A fixture is described for making normal-pressure tests of flat plates 5 inches in diameter in which particular care was taken to obtain rigid clamping at the edges. Results are given for 19 plates, ranging in thickness form 0.015 to 0.072 inch. The center deflections and the extreme-fiber stresses at low pressures were found to agree with theoretical values; the center deflections at high pressures were 4 to 12 percent greater than the theoretical values. Empirical curves are derived of the pressure for the beginning of the permanent set as a function of the dimensions of the plate and the tensile properties of the material

Compressive Tests of a Monocoque Box

A monocoque box specimen of aluminum alloy was subjected to end compression and the strains in the stringers were measured up to loads at which permanent set became noticeable. The stringer strains at low loads agreed closely with those computed from the assumption of uniform stress distribution. Buckling of the 0.026-inch sheet between stringers and of the 0.075-inch shear web took place at stresses in accord with theoretical values. Permanent set became noticeable at a load of 115,200 pounds, corresponding to an average stringer stress of about 16,000 pounds per square inch. The measured average strain above the first buckling load was within 2 percent of the theoretical strain as calculated from the dimensions of the box and effective width formulas due to Marguerre and to Cox

Normal-Pressure Tests of Rectangular Plates

Report presents the results of normal-pressure tests made of 56 rectangular plates with clamped edges and of 5 plates with freely supported edges. Pressure was applied and the center deflection and the permanent set at the center were measured. For some of the plates, in addition, strains and contours were measured