• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.28-35
• /
• 2008

This study deals with an Excel-based scheduling system for a small and medium sized manufacturing factory without sufficient capability for managing full-scale information systems. The factory has the bottleneck with identical machines and unique batching characteristics. The scheduling problem is formulated as a variation of the parallel-machine scheduling system. It can be solved by a two-phase method: the first phase with an ant colony optimization (ACO) heuristic for order grouping and the second phase with a mixed integer programming (MIP) algorithm for scheduling groups on machines.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.12
• /
• pp.107-115
• /
• 2021

Currently, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are accounting for about 98% of the total number of enterprises in Vietnam. Each year, SMEs create over one million new jobs, utilize up to 51% of the labor force in the society, and contribute more than 40% of GDP to the country. The study aims to analyze factors affecting the management competency of directors in small and medium enterprises in Vietnam. To achieve these research objectives, quantitative and qualitative methods were used concurrently. 300 questionnaires were sent out, but only 276 were collected and used for the quantitative analysis through SPSS 20.0 software. Cronbach's Alpha, EFA, and regression were used to further confirm the research findings. The research findings show that all four proposed factors have impacts on the management competency of SME directors, among which enterprise features and specific policies for entrepreneur development in the locality have the strongest impacts, followed by personal features and business environment. The findings of this study suggest that managers need to focus on factors affecting the management competency of directors. This paper also provides new insight into the management competency of directors. Based on the findings, some recommendations are given for SMEs to improve management competency.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
• /
• v.9 no.7
• /
• pp.67-77
• /
• 2019

Many small and medium-sized enterprises are deploying Smart Factory without due consideration of the circumstances in which the entity is in or outside of the entity, such as environmental changes and the capabilities of its members. Therefore, utilization and effectiveness are also low after deployment. This study verifies 'the establishment of a Smart Factory through the environmental factors and absorption capabilities of small businesses' through empirical research. The survey was received by people working for small and medium-sized companies that have established Smart Factory. The results of the study showed that first, environmental factors within and outside the company had a positive effect on the absorption capacity within the company. Second, the absorption capacity within a company has had a positive effect on the deployment of a Smart Factory. Based on the above proof, it has been proved to be effective if the core areas of the Smart Factory are built on the basis of the company's internal and external environmental factors and absorption capabilities when constructing Smart Factory in small businesses. In the future, we will study the achievements of smart factory construction.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.13 no.11
• /
• pp.23-30
• /
• 2015

Purpose - Small- and medium-sized enterprises often rely on the owner's personal characteristics. This study aims to verify the impact of the awareness of such a business leader's sincerity and the sincerity of their leader-member exchange (LMX) on employee psychological ownership and organizational commitment. The findings offer clues to how small- and medium-sized company leaders should engage with employees. Research design, data, and methodology - A total of 289 valid questionnaires were examined using frequency, descriptive statistics, and correlation analyses and structured equation modeling. Results - Authentic leadership and LMX were both found to have a positive impact on each trust factor, each trust factor had a positive impact on psychological ownership and organizational commitment, and psychological ownership had a positive impact on organizational commitment. Conclusion - These results suggest that small- and medium-size company leaders should use self-awareness and self-regulation to encourage the recognition of their sincerity, and strive to achieve a positive relationship with employees. It also suggests that leaders should improve trust between employees and establish various strategies to enable employee psychological ownership.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.246-260
• /
• 2023

With the advent of COVID-19, the world economy has undergone enormous losses and unprecedented crises. Moreover, this pandemic has put a significant effect on all business organizations, comprising the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector. MSMEs have been continuing to develop business strategies and are eager to compete in the market. The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the full focus of MSMEs from 'business growth' to 'business survival' worldwide. E-commerce readiness plays a crucial role in a time of uncertainty and crisis during COVID-19 and affects the durability and sustainability of the business. This study attempts to study the readiness of online business and "E-commerce" adoption of MSMEs and its contribution to economic growth by utilizing both qualitative and quantitative techniques in the case of India. We use content analysis to determine the readiness of online business and Ecommerce in the post COVID-19 period. The result highlights the specific issues of this sector such as the shortage of resources and disruptions in the supply chain & logistical issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative analysis discloses that almost half of the respondents adopt online platforms along with additional challenges to sustain their business during the pandemic. This study utilizes annual time series data for the period from 1973-74 to 2017-18 to understand the long-run relationship between India's GDP and MSMEs units. By utilizing the co-integration technique, this study reveals that there is a long-run relationship between MSME units and the economic growth of this country.

• Knowledge Management Research
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.91-112
• /
• 2011

Most of enterprises use various applications for serving their routine business. One of most widespread applications is the enterprise resource planning (ERP). This paper focuses on open source ERP software and aims to find out what benefits it can bring to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) comparing to proprietary ERP. To serve the purpose, this paper introduces the successful adoption of open source ERP software through the case study of small Vietnamese firm. The results of this paper show the advantage of open source ERP software and the possibility of adoption for SME.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.329-338
• /
• 2021

The mobile payment system has not only changed the payment pattern but also has improved the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individuals' quality of life by saving their energy, reducing the risk of taking cash, and enabling them to give more time to businesses and do international business. Besides, with the current advancement in the Internet as well as the digital transformation, SMEs are being forced to adopt mobile payment systems (MPS). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of technological-organizational-environmental (TOE) determinants on the adoption of MPS and its impact on SMEs' firm performance operating in Ghana. This research employed a closed-ended questionnaire to collect data from January 2020 - April 2020. This study used a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach using SmartPLS 3.0 for path analysis of 145 responses. The findings of the study include the statistically significant effects of technological (relative advantage and compatibility), organizational (top management support and employees' readiness), and environmental (social influence and competitive pressure) factors on the adoption of MPS. Furthermore, this study also proved the positive and statistically significant effect of MPS on SMEs' performance. This study demonstrated that the TOE factor explains 70% variations in the adoption of MPS.

• Food Science and Industry
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.34-44
• /
• 2016

Given that fermented foods, such as kimchi and doenjang, are main food sources for high sodium intake in Korea, there have been needs to develop sodium-reduced kimchi and doenjang with the proper quality. However, small and medium sized business could not actively develop the sodium-reduced products due to lack of techniques and information as well as economical reasons. The most important aspects is to address food safety issues including microbial contaminations in sodium-reduced foods. Hurdle Technology, physical, biological, chemical control technique, would have to be preferentially considered to increase the hygiene safety standards in entire processing steps including raw materials, process water, manufacturing environments, and so on. Once the food hygiene level is stable, the next challenges are to improve the taste of the sodium reduced-products as well as to packaging and storage technologies. The development of a variety of sodium-reduced fermented foods would result in significant mitigation of sodium intake by Korean. This report provides the directions to develop sodium-reduced kimchi, doenjang or pickled food products for small and medium sized business, based on the technical consulting results of sodium reduction project supported by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2015.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.673-685
• /
• 2021

This study aims to determine theoretically the best workers layoff/training strategy that entrepreneurs should apply to manage the COVID-19 crisis successfully. It also examines the impacts of the Saudi government's emergency measures on firm performance. The paper develops a theoretical framework in which the optimal control technics is applied to model the entrepreneur's hiring, layoff, and training behaviors. The results show that, during the current COVID-19 pandemic, the entrepreneur should first lay off the less productive workers to reduce labor costs. As more and more inefficient workers quit and profit increases, the entrepreneur starts expanding his activity and training workers. In the long run, only the training activity allows the firm efficiency to grow at a constant rate. This finding suggests that the key to long-run economic recovery in Saudi Arabia will rely on training, innovation, and adaptability to the new digital environment. The paper also shows that the Saudi government initiative of covering 60% of salaries for the small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic will enhance training activities in small- and medium-sized enterprises and improve their efficiency in both the short and long run. This policy will also prevent Saudi entrepreneurs from laying off half of their staff.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.7
• /
• pp.161-167
• /
• 2021

Nowadays, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are placed among the key components of the economy in both developed and developing countries. They are internationally known as the driving force based on their enormous contributions to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generating new employment. They are generally presumed as the leader of environmental sustainability, economic prosperity, and innovation, particularly for the economy of developing countries such as Vietnam. However, SMEs have difficulty in raising capital, as well as access to credit. One of the reasons is that there are inadequacies in accounting information quality in SMEs as well as the provision of accounting information and accounting information confidentiality. The main objective of this study was to identify, evaluate, and measure the attributes of accounting information quality of SMEs in Hanoi. The study was based on a field survey using a semi-structured questionnaire on a sample of 150 accountants. The study has identified and measured six (6) attributes of accounting information quality of SMEs that have great effects on accountants. There is, statistically, no significant difference in the level of accounting information quality of SMEs in Hanoi from these different business areas. There is no, statistically, significant difference in the level of accounting information quality of SMEs in Hanoi between the mentioned three groups of the job description. Based on the findings, some recommendations are given for SMEs to improve accounting information quality.