Recent years have seen the world economy wreaking havoc among businesses large and small. As such, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing multiple challenges. This study examines the ...effect of SME owners’/managers’ awareness of customer relations and the management thereof; the perceived value of good customer relations; customer relationship management in practice; and the business systems required to foster proper customer relations on the strength of relationships between customers and SMEs. A survey questionnaire was hand-delivered to 300 SMEs operating in the Tshwane metropolitan area in Gauteng, South Africa. A total of 276 useful responses were returned to the researcher, representing a response rate of 92 per cent. IBM SPSS Statistics Version 28 was used to perform descriptive as well as inferential analyses of the quantitative data. Most responding SMEs (83.5%) believed that their customer relationships were strong to very strong. It was found that participating SME owners/managers regarded perceived value of good customer relationships as the only construct that has a significant influence on strong customer relationships. Good relationships with customers were regarded as a mechanism for survival and increased sales, and the owners/managers of the participating SMEs believed that their customers would visit their establishments and buy merchandise regardless of price and quality if sound relationships were in place.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative approach for the strategic design of public–private partnerships (PPP) and private finance initiatives (PFI) based on ontology.
...Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a historic approach, it introduces a posteriori knowledge, deriving from the scheme’s stakeholders at the construction and implementation phase of PPPs. Continuous failures of these collaboration schemes and initiatives underline the necessity for a novel project structure. The conceptual argument is based both on empirical and epistemological approaches. It integrates the value-added (VA) of the ontological theory in the PPP/PFI business strategy.
Findings
The research emphasises contemporary design gaps of their current structure and proposes an ontological redesign. The proposed redesign produces a conceptually innovative scheme, which enhances the VA business strategies and their objectives to the structure of these collaborating schemes.
Practical implications
The ontological design of this paper is useful for academics and business consultants around the world and especially in Europe for the successful growth and development of such dynamic collaborations.
Originality/value
Enterprise ontology bridges conceptual and structural gaps of strategic objectives, which are primarily responsible for the failures of PPP collaboration.
Electronic (e−) invoices potentially enhance environmental sustainability in several stages from production of paper to its usage. This study investigates empirically to what extent a set of firm ...characteristics and external factors associate with the probability to send e-invoices and with the intensity of usage, based on a representative survey of approximately 1500 Swedish firms. An invoice is considered electronic when it is exchanged in an automated system between the buyer and the seller. The analysis includes firms with one employee or larger across all industries except, agriculture, fishery, forestry, public administration and defence. Descriptive statistics show that 42 per cent of the firms in 2016 send e-invoices. By use of a two-part model, estimation results reveal that both internal and external factors are associated with the e-invoice behaviour. The probability of adoption is significantly higher for firms with government sector clients and a large number of invoices. The intensity estimation exhibits a reverse pattern, where the number of e-invoices is most strongly associated with the invoice pattern. Another internal factor of importance for the extent of e-invoices is the level of labour productivity. Construction firms have the highest probability to adopt e-invoices and manufacturing firms scale-up the usage. Besides this, neither industry affiliation nor size-class is crucial. When size-class is estimated separately, it appears that medium-sized and large firms strongly associate their invoice adoption with type of client, while the extent of the activity is solely related to internal factors. For micro enterprises and small firms, kind of client is the most important aspect at all.
•Electronic (e−) invoices potentially enhance environmental sustainability.•Still only two out of five firms e-invoice their clients to some extent.•Two-part model estimations employed.•Probability to send e-invoices mainly relates to external factors (government sector clients).•Intensity of e-invoicing primarily associated with internal factors.•Policy measures to increase e-invoicing possibly more effective on the demand side.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore a sustainable hierarchical framework for the business environment in smart cities. However, this hierarchical framework must consider unnecessary ...attributes and interrelationships between criteria to capture the difference between smart cities and traditional cities.
Design/methodology/approach
Hence, the fuzzy set theory is used for screening unnecessary attributes, the decision-making and trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is applied to manage the complex interrelationships among the aspects and attributes and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is used to divide the hierarchy and construct a hierarchical theoretical framework. Ultimately, this research is applied to develop a sustainable hierarchical framework of the business environment in smart cities.
Findings
The results show that traditional social problems are still at the core of business environment development in smart cities, new smart opportunities may be discovered, but they are still limited by traditional social factors, the economy is still the main aspect of the business environment and there are still obstacles to solving social problems with smart technologies.
Originality/value
This theoretical hierarchical framework aims to guide smart cities toward sustainability. This study also proposes creating a predictable business environment by improving administrative efficiency, transparency, social mobility and infrastructure services and cultivating new business opportunities with intelligent technology.
Accounting information systems (AISs), the core module of any enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, are usually designed as centralised systems. Nowadays, the continuous development and ...applications of blockchain, or more broadly—distributed ledger technology (DLT), can change the architecture, overcome and improve some limitations of centralised systems, most notably security and privacy. An increasing number of authors are suggesting the application of blockchain technologies in management, accounting and ERPs. This paper aims to examine the emerging literature on this field, and an immediate result is that blockchain applications can have significant benefits. The paper’s innovative contribution and considerable objective are to examine if blockchain can be successfully integrated with AIS and ERPs. We find that blockchain can facilitate integration at multiple levels and better serve various purposes as auditing compliance. To demonstrate that, we analyse e-procurement systems and operations using case study research methodology. The findings suggest that DLT, decentralised finance (DeFI), and financial technology (FinTech) applications can facilitate integrating AISs and ERP systems and yield significant benefits for efficiency, productivity and security.
The extant literature on cross-national differences in approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has mostly focused on developed countries. Instead, we offer two inter-related studies into ...corporate codes of conduct issued by developing country multinational enterprises (DMNEs). First, we analyse code adoption rates and code content through a mixed methods design. Second, we use multilevel analyses to examine country-level drivers of differences in code content—specifically, elements of a country’s National Business System (NBS). We find that DMNEs are much more likely to adopt a code of conduct than their domestic counterparts; however, this does not translate into greater code comprehensiveness. We also find support for the ‘substitute view’ of CSR in developing countries, i.e. that MNEs from poorer countries and from countries with lower governance effectiveness tend to express more comprehensive commitments. However, this dynamic does not extend to a country’s labour system; instead, CSR appears here to match the efficiency of a country’s labour market, thus reflecting the ‘mirror view’ of CSR.
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BFBNIB, CEKLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the sustainability practices of Islamic and conventional banks, with the aim of evaluating whether their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ...strategies converge or diverge in response to formal and informal institutions in an emerging country.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on institutional theory, this study contextualizes the competitive scenario through the National Business System (NBS) framework, and showcases the CSR strategies employed by large conventional and Islamic banks in Turkey. CSR patterns are examined from different angles such as motivations, strategy, actions and institutional results.
Findings
Within the same institutional environment, Islamic and non-Islamic banks combine convergent and divergent models to accommodate institutional realities in their CSR policies. Islamic banks exhibit an implicit commitment to CSR that is mostly based on informal institutions, whereas conventional banks use explicit CSR strategies as a means to fill the voids in formal institutions. In addition, philanthropy-oriented CSR prevails in Islamic banks, as opposed to the CSR actions associated with core business that are followed by conventional banks.
Social implications
An increased focus on formal institutions and explicit CSR actions by Islamic banks may further contribute to social well-being in emerging countries.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the paucity of research, from an institutional perspective, related to CSR practices amongst Islamic and conventional banks in emerging countries.
The paper provides an overview of the development of the national business systems approach to the study of organizations. The first section outlines the approach taken to understanding national ...business systems and their relationship to organizations. It notes the creative tension which existed within the approach between ideal types of national systems and specific empirical studies which were more actor centred and concerned with change and process in institutions and organizations. The second section focuses on a series of concepts and debates which emerged from the growing interdisciplinary nature of the debate on comparative capitalisms. These debates have shifted the focus of discussion away from typologies and more towards issues of change and process and the interaction of national contexts and international processes. The third section illustrates this new focus through analysing the contribution of the national business systems approach to the study of multinationals and international institutions. It argues that the national business systems approach is central to understanding the interaction between organizations, national contexts and international flows of capital, labour, technology and knowledge and international rule systems for coordinating these flows.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between business process management (BPM) and company performance. The research focuses on the instrumental aspect of core business processes and ...its controlling activities in small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) to identify the relationship to company performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The results presented in this paper are based on a survey of Slovene SMEs. A questionnaire was distributed to 3007 SMEs via e-mail and a response rate of 5.42% was achieved. The financial data of companies over a six year period as derived from the publicly available financial reports of SMEs along with an industry-specific financial risk measure and other financial data were used for the company risk-adjusted performance measures of relative residual income (ROE-r) and risk-adjusted ROE (ROE-a) calculation.
Findings
The results show that instrumental aspects of core business process controlling activities are related to risk-adjusted company performance measures ROE-r and ROE-a. Companies with lower ROE-r and ROE-a have been perceived to be more focused on the instrumental aspect of BPM. Presumably due to the small sample, the results of a non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test did not statistically confirm the developed hypothesis: “the instrumental aspect of controlling as a core process management activity has a statistically significant impact on company risk-adjusted performance measures such as ROE-r and ROE-a.” Despite this, the results show a possible negative correlation between risk-adjusted performance measures and BPM, which opens possibilities for further research.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the purposed study model is that the paper have studied only control activities of core business processes and relate it to company risk-adjusted performance measures. The study has been limited by the SME sample and the use of a survey as a research instrument. An additional limitation of the research is the degree of reliability implied by the assumptions of the models used to estimate the required return on equity and risk. Results concern investors, managers and practitioners to start BPM improvement initiatives, to set BPM priority measures and to set priority management decisions and further actions.
Originality/value
This paper presents the unique findings from an investigation of the instrumental aspects of BPM practices and their relationship to company risk-adjusted performance measures in SMEs. This paper developed a measurement instrument for measuring the instrumental aspects of BPM use. An additional original contribution is the use of company risk-adjusted performance measures such as ROE-r and ROE-a, which take into account the required profitability of companies in different industries according to the risk and allows comparable results of companies from different industries. The approach is innovative and interesting as regards researching the factors that affect the profitability of companies that operate in different industries.
Institution building and institutional voids Puffer, Sheila M.; McCarthy, Daniel J; Jaeger, Alfred M
International journal of emerging markets,
01/2016, Volume:
11, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present a comparative analysis of institutions and institutional voids in Russia, Brazil, and Poland over the decades of the 1980s through to 2015. The paper ...asserts that Russia and Brazil could learn much from Poland regarding formal institution building and formal institutional voids that cause problems like corruption and limit economic growth.
Design/methodology/approach
– A comparative case study approach is utilized to assess the relative success of the three emerging market countries in transitioning to a market economy, viewed through the lens of institutional theory.
Findings
– Poland’s experience in building successful formal institutions and mitigating major institutional voids can be instructive for Russia and Brazil which have shown far less success, and correspondingly less sustained economic growth.
Research limitations/implications
– This paper demonstrates the value of applying institutional theory to analyze the progress of emerging economies in transitioning to a market economy.
Practical implications
– This country comparison can prove valuable to other emerging economies seeking a successful transition to a market economy.
Social implications
– Since institutions are the fabric of any society, the emphasis on institutions in this paper can have positive implications for society in emerging markets.
Originality/value
– This paper is an original comparison of two BRIC countries with a smaller emerging economy, utilizing institutional theory. Factors contributing to Poland’s success are compared to Russia and Brazil to assess how those countries might be positively informed by Poland’s experience in building and strengthening sustainable formal institutions as well as avoiding institutional voids and their associated problems.
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