► Innovation capacity and developed innovations in small enterprises are examined. ► Innovation patterns in manufacturing and service industries are compared. ► Results show slight differences ...between the manufacturing and service industries. ► Findings indicate significant differences across the sectors within these industries. ► Characteristics of small enterprises as innovators across the sectors are provided.
This paper explores what kinds of innovations have been developed in small manufacturing and service enterprises and what has been the degree of innovation capacity that small enterprises possess. In addition, it compares what differences there are across the manufacturing and service sectors. The empirical evidence is based on quantitative data gathered through an email questionnaire which yielded 708 qualified responses from the representatives of Finnish small enterprises with fewer than 50 employees. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. The evidence displays a rich diversity of innovation patterns in small enterprises. The empirical evidence demonstrates only slight differences between the manufacturing and service industries while it indicates significant differences across the sectors within these industries. The value of the present study lies in the better understanding of innovation development in small enterprises. The rich diversity of innovation patterns in small enterprises suggests that diversity should also direct the policies aiming at supporting innovation development in the context of small business. Finally, applying these results will provide more specific questions for studying the nature of innovation development in small enterprises.
Evidence exist that most small ventures fail at developing a successful business model (BM) to enhance their technological capability. Besides, the studies that were undertaken in low-income ...countries also have no capacity to demonstrate the processes in the articulation of a BM that failed to consider the opportunities of technology entrepreneurship. Therefore, this study analyzes the linkage between technology entrepreneurship and the BM toward small venture growth. To achieve this, data were collected using a questionnaire from 335 small manufacturing enterprises selected from Addis Ababa. The result indicates that BM influences venture's growth indirectly through technology entrepreneurship. To the small businesses facing the problems of resource scarcity and poor strategy development, designing appropriate BM is an opportunity and can be used as an input to the adoption of technology entrepreneurship. Besides, by capturing values from combining the factors of production and technology entrepreneurship, the BM organizes and orchestrates the incumbent assets and other resources that make enterprises grow more than their counterparts. As a result, small enterprises should try to exploit existing technological opportunities by developing technology-oriented BM and integrating with technology entrepreneurship.
This paper attempts to classify major errors affecting the security of information resources made by employees. Human factors that can be a direct cause of these errors were enumerated. The empirical ...part presents surveys conducted among small businesses in 2019 and 2022 related to the human factors discussed in the theoretical part. The study compared the results obtained before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A discussion related to the factors and the results was presented.
The main aim of the present research, conducted twice on a group of 287 small businesses in Poland, was to show changes in attitudes toward the security of intangible resources and how the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way of thinking of people responsible for information security in terms of behavioral security.
We analyze the risk attitude of women and men entrepreneurs in the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and investigate the factors that influence the risk attitude of MSE owners. The empirical ...analysis of the study consists of two parts. First, we use a moment-based approach to estimate the risk preferences of male and female entrepreneurs. Second, we estimate a regression model to understand the correlates of risk attitude and decompose the gender difference in risk aversion using the Oaxaca-Blinder technique. The results indicate that MSE entrepreneurs are risk-averse, with a relative risk premium of 1.5%. We also find that females are slightly more risk-averse than male entrepreneurs. Our regression estimates show that entrepreneurs’ risk attitude is significantly correlated with the age and experience of the entrepreneur, marital status, education level and financial literacy, wealth, sector, and business form. Furthermore, the predictor variables significantly explain the gender difference in risk aversion, while the unexplained component is insignificant. This suggests that the gender difference in risk aversion is due to disparities in socioeconomic factors than a biological difference in risk preference.
Governments seek to reduce pervasive firm informality for multiple reasons: taxes, firm growth, rule of law, and information. We conducted a randomized experiment in Malawi to test three alternatives ...to achieving these goals: a) helping firms obtain a business registration certificate that offers formal market access but imposes no tax obligations; b) helping firms obtain both business and tax registration; and c) supplementing business registration with a bank information session. We find incredibly high demand for obtaining a formal status that is separate from tax obligations, and very low take-up of tax registration. Business registration alone has no impact on formal market access or firm performance. However, combining registration assistance with the bank information session increases firm sales by 20 percent and profits by 15 percent. The results highlight the advantages of separating business and tax registration, but also the need to help firms benefit from their new formal status.
•Governments in developing countries face difficulties in getting firms to formalize.•Working with the government of Malawi we offered firms costless business registration.•Take up for business registration was high, but not for tax registration.•Only when registration was combined with business bank accounts did profits increase.•Unlike for many other firm interventions, this benefitted men and women equally.
•We examine the antecedents of early internationalization for small firms based in a small economy.•We focus on entrepreneurs’ attitudes and cognition as main explanatory factors.•Fuzzy set ...qualitative comparative analysis is used to explore configurations.•The results show three configurations of antecedents for early internationalization.
The literature on international business and international entrepreneurship provides multiple explanations for early internationalization. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, this study examines the antecedents of early internationalization for small firms based in a small economy, focusing on entrepreneurs’ attitudes toward the economic opportunities available in their domestic market, the risk of internationalizing, and the profitability of entering foreign markets. Three additional antecedents are examined: unsolicited orders, existence of underutilized capacity, and the behavior of competitors. The study uncovers three distinct combinations of antecedents that are equifinally linked to the early internationalization of small enterprises, and contributes to the literature through a multi-causal, configurational approach.
PDF
