A fixed shaped beam antenna offers an excellent compromise between cost and system performance in high data rate systems operating in the frequency range of 565 GHz. Shaped Dielectric Lenses perform the task of collimation and shaping, along with physically small feed antennas, to obtain multiple and shaped beams in a fixed set of directions. Lenses are inherently broadband, easy to fabricate, have lower dimensional tolerances, cost effective and act as radome for the primary radiators that are embedded inside or placed behind the lens. Earlier techniques for the analysis of shaped dielectric lenses, employed ray tracing methods of GO and PO, that are valid only in the far field of a primary point source type of radiator. But the dielectric lens is in the near field of finite sized primary radiators oriented at different angles and at different distances from the lens center. In this paper we discuss, a new accurate analytical procedure for the radiation pattern of a spherical lens ...

Globalisation and production trends which comes from Western Europe make a situation in which the domestic universities and institutes are not able to transfer in commercial level in small and medium enterprises (SME's). Are there chance that technology parks in the future will be substitution for these organisations? Technology parks represent the place of SME's development, the place of the most direct technological transfer, where faculties and institutes gain their chance to present their scientific knowledge, adding a business spirit to their teaching role. New Technology Parks may really help the recovery of Bosnian economy, but a deep knowledge of the critical points of the local competitiveness is a must, has to be achieved before planning the technology park; a system of relationships: University/research + entrepreneur/industry + local government + bank/financial institutions must be defined; Both real estate and service strategies must be simultaneously planned ...

This study aims to analyse the competitiveness of the small and medium industries in East Java in the face of global economic openness. The method used is a cluster to find out the factors that influence the competitiveness of Small and Medium Industries (SME) by grouping them into groups based on similarity of characters. The use of the cluster method is carried out hierarchically, or processed through a series of successively fusing objects into groups. Based on the results of identification and analysis, then the conclusion, there are three cluster findings based on competitiveness categories. Cluster I is SME with low competitiveness, Cluster II is SME with high competitiveness, and Cluster III is SME with medium competitiveness. SME that have high competitiveness are SME that can increase efficiency in 2 fields, namely Production and Marketing. While SME that have medium competitiveness are SME that are superior in technology, so they can be classified in the creative industry.

"Gap between technology and information risks threaten Europe’s SMEs
• Decision makers in western European SMEs are agreed that information security is the highest risk to business. The top risk, identified by 66% of SMEs from a range of factors, is a breach of company-confidential information.

• However, technology itself is perceived to be a low risk aspect of business management for European SMEs, creating a risk gap between business information and the systems that manage it.

• Low employee morale is the top risk facing businesses in France, with 59% of SMEs rating it as a high risk.

• The highest risk in Germany, according to 70% of SMEs there, is a security breach, such as hacking into company-confidential information.

• The UK is more likely to cite challenges with customer payment (70%) and executive management team changes (70%) as higher risk factors than its European counterparts.

Security professionals and small- and mid-sized enterprise (SME) business leaders have a frustrating relationship; while information technology (IT) managers talk about security as a technology issue, that doesn’t connect with business leaders, who are more focussed on business information. In this study, McAfee closes the gap between these two communities. Using the data from more than 1,000 interviews with decision makers in the three major western European markets, we show how they see risk – and how that differs between countries.
The online interviews have been conducted for McAfee by Loudhouse Research, an independent consultancy based in the UK. In total, 1,005 decision makers in SMEs have given their opinions, in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The survey asks SMEs about their operational strategy and the risks that threaten their business. The survey identifies which of 24 risk scenarios, ranging from HR and finance, through to business information, are seen as high or low risk by decision makers."

The objective of the paper is to review the previous studies on factors affecting small business growth or performance for the period of 2006-2014. The review of the literature of factors affecting small business growth or performance based on the papers available in online and published in referred journals is focused. 34 papers are considered as the primary research topic. Each of the articles has been used as the unit of analysis. The four broad areas of factors has been focused namely owner-manager characteristics, characteristics of firm, financial factors and external environment. The paper provides some ideas and approaches used in the previous literature to describe small business growth and factors affecting the growth. The literatures suggest that there is no unified theory or model to describe small business growth. Although there are many studies on the issue, still the theory of small business growth is very fragmented and inconsistent. The new theoretical perspectives ...

The aim of this study is to examine the factors that lead to success or failure of small business in North East India. This study methodology is a survey research testing the SMEs of North East India regarding business success and failure with a sample of 50 small businesses (25 failed and 25 successful) to better understand the reasons of their success or failure using logistic regression statistical analysis. The model will also predict a new small firm will be successful or failure in future.

Exporting represents an entry mode into international markets that is less risky than more direct strategies, therefore, it particularly fits SMEs (small-medium enterprises) that generally have a few resources to invest. In the case of emerging markets because of the high psychic distance, SMEs tend to rely on their distributors for the business operations in the new market. However, even if this type of intermediary allows the access to the foreign distribution channel that is particularly complex in countries such as China, it can limit the control of the market and in some cases, the product expansion. Based on a qualitative research consisting of interviews and secondary data, we will present two original case studies of Italian firms operating in the Chinese market. It will be shown that in emerging markets, since distributors do not really analyze and know consumer expectations and behaviors, they may represent a barrier in the knowledge accumulation of foreign products in the new market. Managerial implications will be discussed on the extent to which SMEs are not able to replicate marketing strategies used in other countries, but they should define a clear strategy that involves their distributors in the process of knowledge accumulation and brand value creation in the foreign market.

High-tech innovative SMEs’ development plays crucial role in economic growth of every country. It creates new work places and infrastructure, motivates people for creating new ideas. At the same time, SMEs still face with a huge number of problems in the business performance. The purposes of the research are: to define main barriers for high-tech SMEs’ development in the 4th industrial revolution era (4IR); to work out recommendations for policy-makers towards intensification of SMEs’ potential.
For this purpose, the authors reviewed studies devoted to the SMEs’ innovative development and revealed that main barriers of SMEs’ development are related to inefficient government support in this sphere. In order to work out recommendations for Ukrainian policy-makers in the area of SMEs’ development, the authors conducted a survey of local high-tech SMEs and on the basis of SWOT-analysis distinguished the main directions for their further improvement. Finally, a set of recommendations for improving SMEs’ environment in Ukraine, taking into consideration the challenges of the 4th IR, was developed.

The aim of this paper is to determine whether Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could be described as 'bleak houses' or whether they have developed over the last decade into 'bright prospects' typified by human resource innovations. This study builds on empirical work (n = 1425) from ten years ago (1998), and re-examines the prospects of SMEs through the lens of human resource management (HRM) practices. Uniquely, the 2008 cross-sectional data provides for the large-scale tracking of strategic HRM practices. Specifically, 110 HRM practices over five traditional areas across 1230 SMEs are analysed. The prevalence, change, and patterning of HRM practices used by Australian SMEs in 2008 are investigated. It was found that SMEs need less of a make-over in relation to the adoption of HR practices, compared to a decade ago. From a practitioner viewpoint, the study provides cross-sectional benchmarking against the previous time-point, 1998, as well as extending that work with an examination of a more extensive range of new and emerging HRM practices. This project was conducted with a USQ research grant. Given the nature of our two-point longitudinal panel data, this research question uniquely investigates the extent of change in HRM practices over the last decade. Question 3. To what extent do key firm characteristics differentiate the patterning and prevalence of HRM practices?

Purpose–Since understanding the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of small businesses in any country requires investigating the terminologies used by their small businesses for such social practices, the aim of this paper is to gain an understanding of the common terminologies used by SME owners/manager/directors in a developing country, namely Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach–This is a quantitative study which used a sample of 100 small businesses is its survey.

Whilst there is no shortage of women at the micro-entrepreneur level, these are scarce at larger business levels in South Sudan. This article considers the possible causes of this scarcity, as well as potential methods of addressing this disparity based on Peace Dividend’s experience of financing and promoting medium sized entrepreneurs in South Sudan

Brands play a major role in differentiating one enterprise to another. At the beginning brands are used for large enterprises. But now a day it is also used for SMEs i.e.; small manufacturing enterprises. This research according to literature establishes the primary obvious and recessive factors of brand equity increment. This research focuses on the increment strategy of time honoured SMEs brand equity using empirical method. The objective of this paper was to gain better understanding of the brand for the existence of SMEs. Research finding pointed out of the impact and benefit of using network marketing. Word of mouth was also found to be an important component in the creation and establishment of SMEs brand. Lastly, results reflected the key played by the entrepreneur in establishing the SME brand.

Prompted by findings from the 2012 Kingston Smith funded national survey, Success in challenging times: Key lessons for UK SMEs, this new study focuses on the ways in which SMEs use and benefit from social capital is created through both offline activities such as networking events, and online activities including social media use. Offline and online networking activities are not mutually exclusive alternatives for SMEs. Successful SMEs network with a number of different communities, integrating a combination of both offline and online methods. SMEs’ websites are crucial and need to be optimised to improve search engine positioning. Social media sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn are used widely to both showcase the business and build relationships with customers, but are not considered a substitute for face-to-face networking. The most popular reason for SMEs using social media is to develop their business image or to market products. The fast, easy and low cost access to people ...

Employee buy-in is a key factor in ensuring small- and medium-size enterprise (SME) engagement with corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this exploratory study, we use participant observation and semi-structured interviews to investigate the way in which three fair trade SMEs utilise human resource management (and selection and socialisation in particular) to create employee engagement in a strong triple bottomline philosophy, while simultaneously coping with resource and size constraints. The conclusions suggest that there is a strong desire for, but tradeoff within these companies between selection of individuals who already identify with the triple bottomline philosophy and individuals with experience and capability to deal with mainstream brand management – two critical employee attributes that appear to be rarely found together. The more important the business experience to the organisation, the more effort the organisation must expend in formalising their socialisation programmes to ensure employee engagement. A key method in doing this is increasing employee knowledge of, and affection for, the target beneficiaries of the CSR programme (increased moral intensity).

This study proposes a framework for the adoption of Electronic Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM) information systems in Uganda. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. Primary data were gathered from Small and Medium Enterprises located in 30 districts of Uganda. A self-administered questionnaire was the main data collection tool. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data and refine the requirements for adoption of e-CRM information systems. The findings indicate that for successful adoption of e-CRM information systems, there should be user sensitization, training and infrastructure. There is also need for top management support and an e-CRM policy to guide usage. The most important features of e-CRM information systems were identified as the ability to ensure customer privacy, presence of a Frequently Asked Questions tool, and high speed. The proposed framework was developed based on Thong (1999) Technology Organizational Environmental Management (TOEM), with refined requirements from primary data. The developed framework was validated using a case study. Validation results indicate that the framework is applicable and can help improve the adoption of e-CRM information systems in Uganda.

Currently, many apparel companies are shifting toward the vertical integration, and accordingly, their production processes range from raw materials to ready-to-wear clothes. Fast fashion is a concept whereby retailers orientate their business strategies to reduce the lead time for fashion products to store. This is can be achieved by working on a system of in-season buying so that product ranges are consistently updated throughout the season. Since success depends on speed, in the apparel industry, fast fashion retailers must quickly respond to market demand. In addition, defining the target market is essential for running a successful fashion business. Without sufficiently analysing an appropriate setting for the target market, a company is likely to waste time, money, and resources; for instance, marketing to the wrong customers and communicating with those not interested in the products. Therefore, supply chain management has important roles in coordinating processes along the supply chain to reduce the lead time of finished goods and meet consumer demand. Small and Medium Enterprises face the challenge of learning to manage their financial performance and attain high profit without incurring redundant costs. Therefore, this research develops a model on supply chain of an SME apparel company in Indonesia and proposes a decision-support system that applies System Dynamics and helps the management identify the best business strategy.

ERP implementation issues have been given much attention since two decades ago due to its low implementation success. Nearly 90 percent of ERP implementations are late or over budget and the success rate with ERP implementation is about 33%. In China, the success rate of implementing ERP systems is extremely low at 10% [28] which is much lower than that in West countries. This study attempts to study critical success factors affecting enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation success in China with focus on both generic and unique factors. User satisfaction and White's ABCD classification method are used to judge whether an ERP system implementation is a success or a failure. Survey methodology and structural equation modeling technique of PLS-Graph are used to collect and analyze data. Discussions on the results of data analysis are made.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are very important actors of a modern society and economy. There are many surveys about SMEs all around the world. We know several theories about development and establishment of SMEs. But the other side the difficulties, bankruptcy are not as well developed theme. This article summaries the reasons and methods of finishing and closing business in Hungary.

Small and medium Enterprises (SME) plays a vital role in the economic development of country especially in the developing countries like Bangladesh. Keeping this concept an attempt has been made to survey the SME products of Bangladesh, study and improve the qualitative performance of a selected mechanical Engineering related SME product. The most difficult part of the project was the survey portion as related project/ research paper in this field is not relatively available. With almost effort lot of information has been gathered related to different range of SME products and related factors. For study and improvement of qualitative performance of cylinder and piston used in Conchi-4 R170 engine has been selected. On study it is formed that the local product quality effort was made for qualitative improvement but due to time constraint that could not be done. In subsequent projects steps may be taken for qualitative improvement using this analysis.

This case discusses issues of business strategies deployed by a small and medium enterprise (SME). Sedap Cookies Sdn Bhd. was established by Puan Nabilah and being assisted with his three children, Hazmir, Hazlan and Haris. Started from a small backyard operation, Puan Nabilah expanded her family business for international markets. From producing kuih, she diversified her expertise and hobby in cooking onto making cookies and a variety of noodles. Seeing a huge global halal market in front, Hazmir planned to produce crackers, which were predominantly manufactured by large non-Muslims confectionaries.

ERP is a software that functions to manage and integrate various operational activities in a business. With the development of cloud computing, ERP has become affordable software for SMEs. Currently there are so many ERP products on the market, where most SMEs do not have IT resources who understand how to choose the appropriate ERP product. One of the success of ERP implementation is determined in the product selection phase, therefore it is very important to know what factors must be considered when choosing an ERP product. In this paper, we follow the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) research method, reviewed 51 articles, to explore criteria of selection ERP in SMEs. This paper classifies the ERP selection factors into five factors and is grouped between developed and developing countries. ERP selection factors for developed and developing countries are quite different. But in general, the most important factor to be considered is business functionality.

An Educational ERP System is a solution developed to bring together the various modules and processes in an educational environment and also to improve the efficiency of such processes. This paper will examine the different ERP solutions in the market. The comparison is made on the basis of a number of factors such as, the technology used, whether or not the solution is made open source, cost of the solution and the corresponding features it provides. This comparison takes into consideration the various success factors for ERP solutions. We also provide various factors we have used in making our comparative study and provide a final summary stating a way to decide the preferences for different solutions in different scenarios.

Purpose – To increase understanding of the internationalization of family firms; to investigate how the framework by Bell et al. (2003) on the internationalization patterns of firms could explain the internationalization pathways taken by family-owned SMEs; to identify typical patterns and features in the various pathways taken by family-owned SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper reports findings from an in-depth multiple case study with eight Finnish family-owned SMEs.

Findings – The ownership structure had the most important role in defining the internationalization pathways followed by the family-owned SMEs: a fragmented ownership structure led to traditional internationalization pathway whereas a concentrated ownership base led to born global or born-again global pathways.

Practical implications – Family entrepreneurs should carefully consider the division of ownership and seek to build new relationships in foreign markets in addition to their primary cooperators.

Originality/value - In this study, we extend the integrative model of small firm
internationalization by Bell et al. (2003) toward family-owned SMEs. Secondly, this study highlights the most important dimensions in the different internationalization pathways of family SMEs. Thirdly, it integrates the ownership dimension within discussion on differing internationalization pathways. Fourthly, it utilizes a family business specific perspective (the
stewardship perspective), in order to understand the specific features of internationalization among family SMEs, and also how these features differ between family SMEs and other firms.

This paper assesses the innovation capability of firms in the Cable and Wire Manufacturing Industry in Nigeria, using a purposefully selected case firm. We explored the relationship between the innovative activities of the firm and explanatory variables established in the literature. Data for the study was collected through a structured questionnaire, relevant publications and focused discussions with key individuals. Our results show that the firm's performance is poor in terms of technological innovation. However, we found strong evidences of organisational and marketing innovation as well as significant benefits derived from the industry association. We therefore conclude, contrary to expectations, that it is very unlikely that the seemingly impressive performance of the firms in Nigeria's Cable and Wire manufacturing sub-sector can be adduced to technological innovation capability. Further studies are required to confirm this position.

This paper is about my sixteen week internship at Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center of Armenia (SME DNC of Armenia (hereinafter Foundation)) which is a part of my Bachelor studies of the 5th semester at the SRH University of Applied Sciences Berlin. The first section of my paper includes a detailed description about the work I have done during the internship, the responsibilities that I had and changes that I could bring to the Foundation. The second part is a study about consumer rights and anti-competitive agreements in the framework of SMEs. It reflects the knowledge and experience that I got during the internship.
The study consists from analysis, case studies and comparison of Armenian legislation system with the EU legislation system, how they protect consumer rights and prohibit anti-competitive agreements among entrepreneurs. I decided to show the main parts of the legislation systems, open the cases about anti-competitive agreements and market enforcement, than compare them to see that all in all the legislation systems work, but there is need to develop new enforcement mechanism, especially for Armenia. From my knowledge and experience I add some recommendations for the improvement of the field and development of the institutions that deal with those kind of problems.

The MSME sector is a nursery of entrepreneurship, often driven by individual creativity and innovation. SME sector is the most neglected and unorganized sector of the Indian economy. The very fact that 40% of exports in India come from SME sector shows that this sector has the maximum potential to create employment opportunities. But they lack in getting required support from the concerned Government Departments, Banks and other financial institutions and corporates, which is handicap in becoming more competitive in the national and international markets. SMEs meet difficulties in adapting their strategies to market changes, and in competing with big enterprises. Marketing management capabilities in terms of marketing research, marketing strategy, planning and implementation, control and evaluation play a key role in the SMEs performance in the market. The existing marketing strategies reached the saturation point, where new innovative strategies need to percolate.

""While a growing number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are making use of coaching, little is known about the impact such coaching has within this sector. This study sought to identify the factors that influence managers’ decision to engage
with coaching, their perceptions of the coaching ‘journey’ and the kinds of benefits accruing from coaching: organisational, personal or both. As part of a mixed methods approach, a survey tool was developed based upon a range of relevant management
competencies from the UK’s Management Occupational Standards and responses analysed using importance-performance analysis, an approach first used in the marketing sector to evaluate customer satisfaction. Results indicate that coaching had a
significant impact on personal attributes such as ‘Managing Self-Cognition’ and ‘Managing Self-Emotional’, whereas the impact on business-oriented attributes was weaker. Managers’ choice of coaches with psychotherapeutic rather than non-psychotherapeutic backgrounds was also statistically significant. We conclude that even in the competitive business environment of SMEs, coaching was used as a largely personal, therapeutic intervention rather than to build business-oriented competencies.""

This study fills the gaps in existing research on HRM in Australian SMEs by considering a wide range of standard human resource (HR) practices and some industrial relations practices. The small business sector has been regarded as the natural home for 'bleak house' human resource management practices typified by low uptake of human resource practices, little or no collective representation of employees and little or no employee participation. The results, reporting a national study (n = 1435) on human resource management practices in Australian SMEs, reveal a moderate take-up of human resource management practices. These findings by themselves do not support what Storey has called the 'bleak house' scenario in Australian SMEs. However, there are factors that may have a negative impact on the relative positive picture portrayed in this study, when the impact of organisational size, the presence of a HR manager and prevalence of a strategic plan on the uptake of HR practices in SMEs are considered, together with low unionisation, low employee participation and a low incidence of collective practices.

The article examines the impacts of organisational culture on the learning and development of tour guides. Drawing on a case study of a small, entrepreneurial tour company, the paper considers the nature of the organisation’s culture, the tours it provides, including their narrative contents and the processes of organisational learning and socialisation. The paper suggests that the development of a learning culture within such an organisation may benefit from the provision of appropriate learning opportunities among the guides and facilitators who coordinate guide development.

Given the uprising interest in the environmental responsibility issues among small businesses, the purpose of this paper is to design to probe into the relationship between stakeholders’ influence and environmental responsibility of Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs), and its consequent outcomes in an emerging economy. A sample of 110 MSME owners participated in this study. Data were collected by means of questionnaire designed to measure the 12 constructs of focus. In order to test the hypotheses and examine the relationships proposed in the research framework, structural equation modelling was performed using SmartPLS. This study revealed that among the primary stakeholders, only employees and customers significantly influenced environmental responsibility practices of MSMEs. Besides, it was found that environmental responsibility results in financial improvements and better relations with employees and customers. This study is limited to MSMEs in Malaysia. Despite the relatively low response rate, which is common in MSME research, the geographic and sector distribution of samples provides a basis for generalizability of the results. Since many MSME owners/managers are sceptical about the benefits of environmental practices, the findings of this study provided empirical support from an emerging economy about the positive outcomes of environmental practices. By examining the key determinants that foster environmental practices in MSMEs, the current study provides important insights for policy makers to encourage MSMEs to initiate such responsible practices, which can lead to environmental preservation. Other than enriching a systems-based view of firms’ environmental behaviour, this study empirically tests a research framework on role of stakeholders in determining environmental responsibility of small firms and their outcomes on firms’ performance.

"Since their inception, the vast majority of ERP systems have been implemented on premise. Traditional ERP systems provide various kinds of benefits such as a mature system functionality and abilities of greater customization and integration. In the past decade other software applications however have seen a shift to cloud computing that has become one of the fastest growing segments of IT industry. Moreover, cloud computing is a modern trend that reveals the next-generation application architecture. In this paper, based on a literature study, we identify and classify the benefits and drawbacks of cloud-based versus traditional ERP systems. Then we analyze and compare the features of cloud-based, hosted, and on-premises ERP. Finally, we discuss the revealed controversies of the previous research and reasons why or why not cloud-based ERP might be more of interest to SMEs than to large enterprises."

This paper presents proposed changes and extensions of EA framework TOGAF 9 made towards its broader coverage of enterprise reality and easier acceptance at public sector organizations and SME companies.
The first part of paper presents a proposal of minor extensions of TOGAF metamodel, caused by the requirement to capture objects knowledge assets of enterprise and then extend this approach to all corporate resources.
In the second part is a concept of the layered architecture of enterprise, originally developed for Czech Government EA, generalized and used to design radical innovation of TOGAF metamodel.
Expected further development of proposed modifications will include corresponding changes in methodology TOGAF ADM and increasing the importance of Enterprise Ontology in a holistic layer of architecture.

Keywords: Enterprise Architecture, TOGAF, Metamodel Extensions, Layered Architecture, Whole of Enterprise Architecture.