• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.23
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• pp.1-23
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• 2007

Small and Medium Business Associate has supporting small and medium business and private business for establishment business and sales increasing with various policy since 2005. Arousing the interesting on customer relationship management, small and medium business and private business have recognized the necessity of the concept and introduction the CRM. This study suggested the effectiveness of the CRM throughout real cases of the CRM for small and medium business managers in order to rising sales in such an environment. The case of this study tried to figure it out to accomplish manager's ends of small and medium business to get successful business results based on innovative volition and mind trying to change. The owner who has experience 12 years in meat sales was analyzed the results of aptitude test that the business is highly appropriate to him in personality and aptitude. As also saw the strength and opportunity of SWOT analysis, he has an excellent talent for friendship, knowledge of searching Internet and organizing information, and learning ability. This study provided a marketing policy, ideas of customer services and system remodeling to improve relationship with customer, and a division diagnosis of business activities. The owner has an excellent friendship, so that this study suggest to remodel interior inside store clearly and sanitary displaying on products, to introduce aggressive and concentrated marketing strategies, and to recognize the important of public relation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.41-47
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• 2012

To adapt to a rapidly changing business environment, introduction of new management techniques and innovative activities are crucial. In the case of small and medium companies, the compensation for scarce management resources and sustainable development can be obtained from advantage of management consulting. In this study, we propose the enterprise process evaluation model for small and medium business consulting, which can deploy the process improvement activities with considering the process maturity level within an organization. The process evaluation area of proposed Small and Medium Business, Staged Maturity Model (SMB-SMM) consists of four following parts: supply management, demand management, business management, and research and development (R&D) management. For each area, we set goals and also define the practices to achieve their goals respectively. By applying the SMB-SMM model to the small and medium sized companies, the process maturity level can be defined. And then to overcome the gap between the goals and evaluation results, the customized management consulting activities can be drawn from the predefined consulting approaches from the SMB-SMM.

• IE interfaces
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.418-426
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• 2007

This study is to suggest the government's support direction for the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) by examining the relations among technology level, innovation factors, entrepreneur's characteristics, and start-up reasons. The management bottlenecks and the necessary fields of government's support are also investigated across the company's growth stages. Empirical analysis was conducted based on the 318 Korean SMEs' data receiving the Venture and/or Inno-biz certification. Results show that managing difficulties of the company have typical pattern according to the stage of growth. The characteristics of an entrepreneur such as age, education background and past experience affect the early stage of starting business. We also found that the technology level is closely connected with operational innovation activities and circumstances, entrepreneur's characteristics, start-up motives, and technological innovation activities.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.162-179
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• 2024

With the acceleration of China's urbanization process, the economic development and market potential of small and medium-sized cities have been constantly enhanced, with the urbanization competition having been caught in the vortex of homogenization. However, small and medium-sized cities are exposed to limited resources and funds, and therefore need to be more flexible and innovative in the strategy implementation, while urban brand communication is one of the key factors to promote the competitiveness of cities. Taking the small and medium-sized cities in China as the research objects, this study, based on the domestic and foreign theories about the brand communication of small and medium-sized cities, as well as other city-related theories, analyzes textual materials about the current situation and new changes in brand communication of small and medium-sized cities with grounded theory, reflecting on the problems in brand communication in China's small and medium-sized cities. Combining the basic elements of urban brand communication, a model for constructing brand communication strategies for small and medium-sized cities is further proposed, so as to provide the differentiated and distinctive strategies for the construction and communication of urban brands in small and medium-sized cities in China, as well as provide a new perspective and strategy on how to enhance the competitiveness and contribute to the sustainable economic development of small and medium-sized.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.81-88
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• 2014

Purpose - Entrepreneurship promotion is emerging as an important economic growth agenda. However, in Korea, entrepreneurship has weakened because of the collapse of the venture bubbles of the 2000s and the global economic recession in 2008, which have induced the business community to choose stability over risk. The Korean government has been implementing several support projects to inspire and promote youth entrepreneurship through various means including financial assistance; however, the perpetuation rate of young entrepreneurship is still low as compared to advanced economies such as the US and EU. This case study focuses on the Youth Start-Up Business Support Program of the Small & Medium Business Corporation, and explores practical alternatives. Further, it aims to suggest managerial factors and a conceptual model for change management factors affecting the business performance creation of a startup company, based on the Small and medium Business Corporation's young venture startup fund. Research design, data, and methodology - Many studies examine the current progress and issues of startup firms, for example, a lack of systematic cultivation of entrepreneurship and startup business training, lack of commercialization funding for youth startup businesses, lack of mentoring, and inadequate infrastructure. From prior research, we address four factors, namely, personal managerial capabilities, innovative business model, sufficient cash flow, and social network, affecting startup companies' business performance. This study involved a sample survey of 200 young entrepreneurs to investigate casual relations between the four factors and business performance. A regression analysis was used to verify the hypotheses. Results - First, in relation to differences in the founder's personal characteristics, age, sales amount, and number of employees significantly impact business performance. Second, regarding the causal relation between the four factors for creating business performance, an innovative business model and social networking have supported the hypotheses, revealing that the more that a start-up founder has an innovative business model and social networking, the more the start-up firms are likely to have better performance (e.g., sales volume, employment, ROE, ROI, etc.). Although the founder's competency and sufficient cash flow have no significant relationship with business performance, the mean value was higher performance for high founder's competency and sufficient cash flow. Conclusions - This study provides basic data on policy support strategies of the Small and Medium Business Corporation, to help young entrepreneurs achieve their start-up business goals. It shows that young entrepreneurship startup firms should strive to explore ideas to satisfy customers' needs, and that changes in customer value and the continuous innovation of business model differentiation are required to actively respond to change management. Moreover, at the infant startup stage, they should activate social network programs to share information, thereby offsetting resource scarcity and managing business risk. Further, the establishment of a long-term vision and the implementation of training programs in related specific fields should be supported to strengthen founders' personal capabilities.

• Korean small business review
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.19-37
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• 2009

The purpose of this research is to explore differences between small and medium-sized companies and large-sized companies in the impact of human resource innovativeness(HRI), learning orientation(LO), and HRI-LO interaction on innovation effect and business performance. Although learning orientation has long been considered as a key factor influencing good performance of a business, little research was devoted to exploring the effect of HRI-LO interaction on innovation effect and business performance. In this study, it is investigated whether there is a synergy effect between innovative human workforce and learning orientation corporate culture, in addition to each by itself, to generate good business performance as well as a success of new innovations in the market. Research hypotheses were as follows, including H1) human resource innovativeness(HRI), learning orientation(LO), and interactions of HRI and LO(HRI-LO interaction) positively affect innovation effect, H2) there is a difference of the effect of HRI, LO, and HRI-LO interaction on innovation effect between large-sized and small-sized companies, H3) HRI, LO, HRI-LO interaction, innovation effect positively affect business performance, and H4) there is a difference of the effect of HRI, LO, HRI-LO interaction, and innovation effect on business performance between large-sized and small-sized companies. Data were obtained from 479 practitioners through a web survey since the web survey is an efficient method to collect a national data at a variety of fields. A single respondent from a company was allowed to participate in the study after checking whether they have more than 5-year work experiences in the company. To check whether a common source bias is existed in the sample, additional data from a convenient sample of 97 companies were gathered through the traditional survey method, and were used to confirm correlations between research variables of the original sample and the additional sample. Data were divided into two groups according to company size, such as 352 small and medium-sized companies with less than 300 employees and 127 large-sized companies with 300 or more employees. Data were analyzed through t-test and regression analyses. HRI which is the innovativeness of human resources in the company was measured with 9 items assessing the innovativenss of practitioners in staff, manager, and executive-level positions. LO is the company's effort to encourage employees' development, sharing, and utilizing of knowledge through consistent learning. LO was measured by 18 items assessing commitment to learning, vision sharing, and open-mindedness. Innovation effect which assesses a success of new products/services in the market, was measured with 3 items. Business performance was measured by respondents' evaluations on profitability, sales increase, market share, and general business performance, compared to other companies in the same field. All items were measured by using 6-point Likert scales. Means of multiple items measuring a construct were used as variables based on acceptable reliability and validity. To reduce multi-collinearity problems generated on the regression analysis of interaction terms, centered data were used for HRI, LO, and Innovation effect on regression analyses. In group comparison, large-sized companies were superior on annual sales, annual net profit, the number of new products/services in the last 3 years, the number of new processes advanced in the last 3 years, and the number of R&D personnel, compared to small and medium-sized companies. Also, large-sized companies indicated a higher level of HRI, LO, HRI-LO interaction, innovation effect and business performance than did small and medium-sized companies. The results indicate that large-sized companies tend to have more innovative human resources and invest more on learning orientation than did small-sized companies, therefore, large-sized companies tend to have more success of a new product/service in the market, generating better business performance. In order to test research hypotheses, a series of multiple-regression analysis was conducted. In the regression analysis examining the impact on innovation effect, important results were generated as : 1) HRI, LO, and HRI-LO affected innovation effect, and 2) company size indicated a moderating effect. Based on the result, the impact of HRI on innovation effect would be greater in small and medium-sized companies than in large-sized companies whereas the impact of LO on innovation effect would be greater in large-sized companies than in small and medium-sized companies. In other words, innovative workforce would be more important in making new products/services that would be successful in the market for small and medium-sized companies than for large-sized companies. Otherwise, learning orientation culture would be more effective in making successful products/services for large-sized companies than for small and medium-sized companies. Based on these results, research hypotheses 1 and 2 were supported. In the analysis of a regression examining the impact on business performance, important results were generated as : 1) innovation effect, LO, and HRI-LO affected business performance, 2) HRI by itself did not have a direct effect on business performance regardless of company size, and 3) company size indicated a moderating effect. Specifically, an effect of the HRI-LO interaction on business performance was stronger in large-sized companies than in small and medium-sized companies. It means that the synergy effect of innovative human resources and learning orientation culture tends to be stronger as company is larger. Referring to these result, research hypothesis 3 was partially supported whereas hypothesis 4 was supported. Based on research results, implications for companies were generated. Regardless of company size, companies need to develop the learning orientation corporate culture as well as human resources' innovativeness together in order to achieve successful development of innovative products and services as well as to improve sales and profits. However, the effectiveness of the HRI-LO interaction would be varied by company size. Specifically, the synergy effect of HRI-LO was stronger to make a success of new products/services in small and medium-sized companies than in large-sized companies. However, the synergy effect of HRI-LO was more effective to increase business performance of large-sized companies than that of small and medium-sized companies. In the case of small and medium-sized companies, business performance was achieved more through the success of new products/services than much directly affected by HRI-LO. The most meaningful result of this study is that the effect of HRI-LO interaction on innovation effect and business performance was confirmed. It was often ignored in the previous research. Also, it was found that the innovativeness of human workforce would not directly influence in generating good business performance, however, innovative human resources would indirectly affect making good business performance by contributing to achieving the development of new products/services that would be successful in the market. These findings would provide valuable managerial implications specifically in regard to the development of corporate culture and education program of small and medium-sized as well as large-sized companies in a variety of fields.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.411-422
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• 2021

Technological adaption and innovative activities foster small and medium enterprises (SMEs) growth, especially women-owned SMEs in Pakistan, However, the impact of technological adaption and innovative activities on SMEs growth in the context of Pakistan has been examined by very researchers. This study aims to identify the effect of technology and open innovation policies on the growth of women-owned SMEs and the present trends and management challenges for successful full implementation of open innovation. The study considered a sample of 693 women enterprises located in different cities in Pakistan. Open innovation is measured through eight innovative practices, reflecting the exploration and exploitation of technology in SMEs. Study findings revealed that women enterprises were involved in several open innovation policies during the last five years. Moreover, the study indicated no significant differences between manufacturing and service SMEs regarding open innovation practices; however, women enterprises are more impressively engaged in open innovation practices. Findings also reveal that women-owned SMEs follow open innovation, mainly for market-related intentions, to compete with competitors and meet customers' demands. Thus, it is suggested that government policy relating to thriving SMEs owned by women should be innovation-oriented. The study contributes to the theoretical and practical implications. Further, the study is helpful for SMEs, researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.25-31
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• 2015

Purpose - This study aims to measure the influence of the positive psychological capital (PPC) of business workers by using innovative work behavior (IWB) and the influence of Leader-member exchange (LMX) and Member-member exchange (MMX) in this relation and investigating the directional efforts of small and medium company leaders and members. Research Design, Data, and Methodology - This study selects PPC as an integrated superior concept to establish research models and hypotheses of the influence of PPC on IWB, and the influence of LMX and MMX in these relations. Of the questionnaires distributed, 373 valid questionnaires were collected in total. Results - It was confirmed that the PPC of workers has a statistically significant influence on LMX, MMX, and IWB. Moreover, LMX and MMX have similar influence on worker life satisfaction with life satisfaction and innovative work behavior having different dimensions. Conclusion - To enhance IWB, worker PPC is very important as it has significant influence on the relations with leaders. However, it is also notable that positive relations with colleagues did not influence IWB.

• Korean small business review
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.79-97
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• 2019

This study investigates the effect of the organizational preparedness for corporate entrepreneurship(OPCE) on innovative behavior, with a focus on the mediating role of resilience. Building on literature regarding the OPCE and resilience, hypotheses are developed and tested using data collected from 217 middle managers in South Korean small and medium-sized enterprises. Results show that the OPCE has both direct and indirect effects on the consequence. Resilience is also found to be positively associated with innovative behavior. It also find that resilience mediates the relationship between OPCE and innovative behavior. These findings suggest that the perception of middle managers on OPCE contributes to developing their resilience, which in turn encourages them to act entrepreneurially. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and suggestions for future studies are presented.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.345-352
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• 2021

Guided by a resource-based theory, this study is the first one that takes a quantitative approach to identify determinants of competitiveness of women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. The study employs time series data of Vietnamese SMEs extracted from the Vietnam Small and Medium Enterprises Survey conducted biennially from 2005 to 2015 in ten Vietnamese provinces. Firm competitiveness hereby is indicated by revenue, market share, profitability, and export volume. The research reveals a number of determining factors, of all, research and development, labor skills, business environment, technology investment are the most important factors, followed by capital and headcount. It is indicated that the determining factors have different influences on competitiveness obtained by different measurements. Therefore, it is based on specific targets and situations to make wise business decisions. The authors also make comparisons among groups of women-owned enterprises divided by their firm age, location, ownership, export, age, and educational background of business owners. The findings serve as critical empirical evidence and provide policy recommendations for improving the competitiveness of women-owned SMEs in Vietnam. The recommendations range from technology support, education and professional support for female entrepreneurs, access to capital and human resources to business environment improvement.