Search results for "small business"
showing 10 items of 44 documents
Financing successful small business projects
2014
Purpose – The current credit rationing strongly influences the viability of SMEs innovation projects. In this context, the practice of screening borrowers by project success probability has become a paramount consideration for both lenders and firms. The aim of this paper is to test the screening role of loan contracts that consider collateral-interest margins simultaneously. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents an empirical analysis that uses a unique data set composed of 323 bank loans granted by 28 banks to SMEs backed by a Spanish Mutual Guarantee Institution. Findings – The results show that appropriate combinations of collateral and interest rates can distinguish between…
THE INDICATORS OF LOCUS OF CONTROL IN THE SMALL BUSINESS CONTEXT
2000
There have been divergent opinions as to the suitability of the various indicators of locus of control in business management research. This study examines how the indicators of internal locus and strategic locus of control function in the small business context. The study examines first the interrelations between these indicators and then relation between each of the indicators and the firm's strategic factors. The indicators of locus of control differed from each other in their relation to external control. The indicator of strategic locus of control correlated with the firm's targets, strategic decision-making and success. On the other hand the indicator of internal locus of control is …
Life-cycle effects in small business finance
2017
This paper studies the life-cycle profiles of small firms’ cost and use of credit using a panel of Finnish firms. The choice of method matters for the conclusions drawn about the relationship between firm age and financing costs; the cross-sectional age profiles of financing costs are hump-shaped and consistent with hold-up theories, whereas methods that control for cohort fixed effects demonstrate that the financing costs decrease monotonically as the firms mature. The life-cycle profiles of the use of credit also indicate that firms are more dependent on financial intermediaries in the early periods of their lives. Furthermore, the cohorts born during recessions pay higher financing costs…
Entrepreneurship: Concepts, Theory and Perspective. Introduction
2007
The creation of a country’s wealth and dynamism depends upon the competitiveness of its firms and this, in turn, relies fundamentally on the capabilities of its entrepreneurs and managers.
Tunisian start up support systems : what challenges facing young graduates entrepreneurs? : Sfax case study
2015
In this dissertation we identify the determinants of the longevity and the probability of survival of small businesses created by young graduates benefiting from bank loans at enhanced rates. The focus is on the policy impact of public support for the creation of companies. The data are based on a survey conducted in 2013 under the tutelage of the University of Sfax (Tunisia) of a cohort of 160 companies five years after they were first formed. The response rate was 81.25%. After discussing the issue of the survival of newly-established companies and the factors that promote their survival, we use duration models specifically the Cox model (1972). This analysis allows us to shed light on a …
From Rationality to Emotionally Embedded Relations: Envy as a Signal of Power in Stakeholder Relations
2015
Although stakeholder salience theory has received a great deal of scholarly attention in the business ethics and management literature, the theory has been criticized for overemphasizing rationality in managerial perceptions. We argue that it is important to better understand what socially constructed emotions signal in business relations, and we posit the role of envy as a discursive resource used to signal and construct the asymmetrical power relations between small business owner–managers and their stakeholders. Our study is based on a qualitative study on discursive accounts elicited from 33 interviews with small business owner–managers in Finland. Our study makes two primary contributi…
SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT POLICY IN LATVIA
2016
Economic growth is the important factor for improving competitiveness and to ensure the availability of financial resources at all stages of business development. The authors explore European Union activities to promote the development of small and medium enterprises, the Latvian business environment, the regulatory framework, the accounting regulatory framework for small and medium enterprises. The research study included an assessment of the business environment in the international context for the years 2010 – 2016, national support programmes providing financial resources, their availability and tax policy guidelines for small and medium enterprises. The research study results are summa…
The Role of the Internet in Overcoming Information Barriers: Implications for Exporting SMEs of the East African Community
2012
Small and medium-sized enterprises play a significant role in the East African Community, contributing highly to the national income and employing a significant number of people. Exportation provides a great opportunity for these enterprises to expand their businesses and improve their performance. However, they encounter a number of information- related barriers before and during exportation. Based on literature, this paper identifies these barriers and discusses how the internet could be used to reduce them. Based on the internet, international business and small business literature, the paper provides propositions and develops a model that will be useful for future studies in this area.
Master International Franchising in China: The Case of the Athlete’s Foot
2016
Franchising in China is a relatively new and growing phenomenon, which has gained momentum since the 1990s. Among the franchising pioneers in China are large and well-known food and beverage brands, such as KFC and McDonald’s. Less well known, but equally important, are the non-food retailing and service industries, which also made inroads in China using franchising. One such example is the case of the Athlete’s Foot Company. This American company has been a major competitor in the athletic shoes and sportswear sectors globally, made early entry into China using master international franchising, and, consequently, ran into problems indicative of the issues companies that expand internationa…
Life-cycle effects in small business finance
2017
This paper studies the life-cycle profiles of small firms’ cost and use of credit using a panel of Finnish firms. The choice of method matters for the conclusions drawn about the relationship between firm age and financing costs; the cross-sectional age profiles of financing costs are hump-shaped and consistent with hold-up theories, whereas methods that control for cohort fixed effects demonstrate that the financing costs decrease monotonically as the firms mature. The life-cycle profiles of the use of credit also indicate that firms are more dependent on financial intermediaries in the early periods of their lives. Furthermore, the cohorts born during recessions pay higher financing costs…