• Title/Summary/Keyword: Small Or Medium Sized Business

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An Empirical Approach to Evaluate Management Performance Using a Trading Area Analysis: Focus on Small and Medium-sized Retail Businesses

  • Bae, Jae-Ho
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.10 no.12
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    • pp.5-11
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    • 2012
  • Purpose - This paper proposes measurement models to evaluate the management performance of small and medium-sized retail businesses on the basis of a trading area analysis that compares their proposed revenue to actual revenue in the trading area. Research design, data, methodology - The study proposes measurement models consisting of five stages, namely: (1) district background survey, (2) customer survey, (3) competitor survey, (4) business district survey, and (5) business performance analysis. Results - To identify business districts easily, this study preferred a minor-adjusted method based on the Euclidean distance, as it is simple to employ for the small and medium-sized businesses. This model was applied to select coffee shops in Daejeon. Results indicated that although the targeted shop was not located in an appropriate location, actual sales were higher than expected. Conclusions - Small- or medium-sized retail businesses face difficulties regarding the economies of scale and brand recognition and must choose an appropriate location to ensure management stability. However, such businesses will find it difficult to evaluate their competitive edge accurately using a trading area analysis.

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Overseas Expansion Support to Small and Medium Enterprises: The Case of Japan and Germany (중소기업 해외진출지원에 관한 연구: 일본과 독일의 지원정책사례를 중심으로)

  • Koji, Yoshimoto;Bae, Il-Hyun
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.13 no.7
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    • pp.53-61
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    • 2015
  • Purpose - This research analyzes overseas expansion support systems for small- and medium-sized enterprises in Germany and Japan. Germany and Japan have developed overseas expansion support policies for such enterprises. The study then explores the implications for Korea and its local governments. Research design, data, and methodology - We did a comparative analysis of Japan and Germany and their support for overseas expansion of small and medium companies. Data were mainly collected from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan) and the Germany Trade and Invest (Germany) agency through statistics and literature surveys, and analysis studies. Results - First, human resources cultivation and funding support policies, which both Germany and Japan use as part of small- and medium-sized enterprise policies, should be modified to Korean circumstances and to reflect its own small- and medium-sized enterprise support needs. Second, both the German policies that support overseas expansion of small- and medium-sized enterprises and those of Japan's include the philosophy and methods that put an emphasis on these enterprises, despite the fact that there are big differences in the overseas policies in these two countries. Third, German and Japanese governments are embracing the idea that small- and medium-sized enterprises are key to their national economies and implementing policies based on the ratio occupied by these enterprises in the domestic consumption or GDP. In other words, Germany and Japan consider small- and medium-sized enterprises as central to their nation's industry, and assess them as economic industry that should definitely exist for the continued survival of big businesses, and not just as merely supplemental to big business. Fourth, whereas Germany emphasizes support to product exhibition in its overseas expansion support policies, Japan is providing integrated support containing foreign direct investment to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Fifth, there are differences in the overseas expansion support in Germany and Japan in terms of their support to big business. Whereas Germany considers support to big business unnecessary, Japan is implementing active support policies to areas corresponding to big business. Korea will have to benchmark the policies of Germany and Japan, and decide whether or not to give full support to small- and medium-sized enterprises, while excluding areas supporting big business. Conclusions - Based on this analysis of German and Japanese overseas expansion support policies, we need to choose the policies that will engender a solid outcome and derive modified policies for the circumstances of Korea. Additionally, we can use the comparison of the overseas support policies of Japan and Germany to choose small- and medium-sized enterprise overseas expansion support policies for Korea. However, we cannot provide specific overseas support policies by industry. This point will be referenced as a limitation of this study. In future research, we expect that some researchers will take an empirical approach to exploring Korean overseas expansion support through collecting cases of overseas support policies and interviewing policy authorities.

Performance Assessment Model Development for the Small and Medium Sized Firm's Resupporting Program (중소기업 재지원을 위한 성과평가모형 개발)

  • Jun, Soonyoung
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.13 no.12
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    • pp.5776-5785
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    • 2012
  • Government bodies offer various policies and programs to support small and medium sized enterprise. There's no only one business firm's performance model for the management performance assessment for the government's supporting and/or resupporting program. However assessment factor had been supposed to manage for the enterprise. Current assessment standards, that is Business Innovation Small and Medium sized firm Certification Model, Technology Innovation Small and Medium sized firm Certification Model, Productivity Management System Certification Model, Small and Medium Sized Firms of Korea Federation of Banks, and Business Performance of the State Owned Enterprise would be collected and then develop performance assessment model for the start-ups small and medium sized firms.

The Six Sigma Management Model for Small and Medium-sized Companies Using the Management by Process (프로세스 접근방법에 의한 중소기업형 6시그마 경영모형에 관한 연구)

  • Jung Dong-ho;Hong Sung-jo
    • Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.140-155
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    • 2004
  • Six Sigma Management has been introduced as a management strategy by leading companies and some small and medium-sized companies in Korea. But it is not easy for small and medium-sized companies to implement this new management system because of their business environment such as poor manpower or lack of time, etc. This paper proposes an effective implementation model of the Six Sigma Management for small and medium-sized companies using the management by process. First, We review the concept of Six Sigma Management and consider the problems of introducing the system for small and medium-sized companies. And then, Six Sigma Management model for small and medium-sized companies named SIX SIGMA-s is presented. Finally, we present a case study of applying SIX SIGMA-s for a medium- sized company.

Identifying business ethics components according to business area for small and medium-sized fashion companies (중소 패션기업의 업무영역별 비즈니스 윤리 요소 도출)

  • Kim, Soo-Kyung;Yoh, Eunah
    • The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.415-432
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    • 2019
  • The purpose of the present study was to generate a list of business ethics components according to business area for small and medium-sized fashion companies. Based on the literature review, 21 components of business ethics components were identified within five business areas. Ten CEOs(Chief Executive Officers) each participated in an in-depth interview, sharing ethical and unethical cases from their own businesses. Constant comparative analysis was used to generate important business ethics components from those cases. In results, important business ethics components for each business area are: 1) using human-friendly materials, strengthening sustainable technologies, using vegan materials, concerning safe process, and reducing waste in the material production and sourcing area, 2) enhancing an efficiency in design, developing recycle/reuse designs, avoiding to copy designs, and using messages for public interest in the product design area, 3) concerning fair-trade, reducing harmful substance, saving energy, and using ethical supply channels in the distribution and logistics area, 4) acquiring certifications, promoting consumer protection, avoiding exaggerative/false advertisements, and promoting social contributions in the management and marketing area, and 5) promoting workers' rights, complying with the law, and investing on employee educations in the labor management area. All of the ethical and unethical cases of the ten companies have involved aspects of the 21 components, thereby enhancing understandings on how each issue is being seriously considered and/or handled in the small and medium-sized fashion companies. Study findings may provide a basis for development of a research model for quantitative studies and/or educational programs related to business ethics in the fashion industry.

The Impact of Human Resource Innovativeness, Learning Orientation, and Their Interaction on Innovation Effect and Business Performance : Comparison of Small and Medium-Sized vs. Large-Sized Companies (인적자원의 혁신성, 학습지향성, 이들의 상호작용이 혁신효과 및 사업성과에 미치는 영향 : 중소기업과 대기업의 비교연구)

  • Yoh, Eunah
    • 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.

An Empirical Study on the Difference in Management Performance of Small-and Medium-sized Companies Due to the Types of ISO 9000 Quality Management Systems Certification Agencies (ISO 9000 품질경영시스템의 인풍기관 유형에 따른 중소기업 경영성과의 차이에 관한 실증연구)

  • Kim, Yeong-Gi;Park, Yong-Tae
    • Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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    • v.39 no.2
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    • pp.179-187
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    • 2011
  • Small- and medium-sized companies obtain ISO 9000 quality management systems as a way of adapting to the changes of business environment and improving their business performance. Certificates of ISO 9000 quality management systems have been granted to companies by either domestic or foreign certification agencies with different requirements and standards. This study empirically examined whether there are differences in business performance among small- and medium-sized companies that have obtained ISO 9000 quality management system from different types (domestic or foreign) of certification agencies. This study found that there are statistically significant differences in both qualitative and quantitative business performance among them. The findings of this study imply that companies considering ISO 9000 quality management systems be prudent in choosing the type of certification agency to maximize the expected benefits of ISO 9000 quality management systems. This study also provides the government agency regulating ISO 9000 quality management certification system with some valuable information that brings up the need for establishing and managing a more effective quality management certification system.

Market Expansion Strategies for Small or Medium-sized Construction Companies by Developing Quantitative Risk Assessment Model

  • Yoo, Jinhyuk;Koh, Seungyoon;Seo, Induck;Cha, Heesung
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2015.10a
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    • pp.742-743
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    • 2015
  • Korean construction industry has developed with national economy growth for a couple of decades. However, because of slump of real estate, the domestic construction industry was intimidated. In this situation, many construction company has no choice but to go abroad to find construction projects. However, almost small or medium-sized construction companies are very hard to operate their business because they have small funding ability and weak labor power. Therefore, this study aims to propose an assessment tool through analyzing risk factors of overseas construction projects for small or medium-sized companies by examining preceding research and interviewing industry experts. Weights of the risk factors are determined through the surveys of the industry practitioners. All of the data is configured into the assessment tool and this converts the quantitative information which leads to the optimal of strategies choice. This paper provides a quantitative measurement of possible performance and detailed assessment of each itemized risk factors. This assessment tool is qualified for industry experts so that it can safely be applied to the future projects. Ultimately, many small or medium sized construction companies will benefit from the tool proposed in this study to examine the potential of the overseas market expansion.

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An Evaluation of the Relationship between Origins of Corporate Competencies and Business Performance of Taiwan's SMEs

  • Tien, Shiaw-Wen;Wang, Ming-Lang;Tsai, Chih-Hung
    • International Journal of Quality Innovation
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    • v.6 no.3
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    • pp.153-172
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    • 2005
  • This study develops an exploratory model to evaluate the relationship between origins of corporate competencies and business performance, which targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan, analyzes 36 competence items in four functional dimensions: marketing, product design and development, manufacturing, and human resources management. The results from 760 valid samples from managers of Taiwan's SMEs reveal that in marketing competence and manufacturing competence were ranked high by Taiwan's SMEs managers. Elements contributed to manufacturing competence regarding reducing the number of suppliers has not been emphasized by Taiwan's SMEs managers. At the very top of the prevailing management competitive priority list are: (1) product or service quality, (2) timely delivery, (3) quality control improvement during the process, (4) increasing reliability of transportation, (5) introduction of new concepts and continuous improvement, and (6) improving after-sale services. The four competence dimensions are found highly correlated to business performance, which reflects the policy adjustments that Taiwan's small and medium-sized enterprises have made in the changing business environment to respond to the global market.

A Study on Strengthening Competitiveness of Logistics Firms - Local Companies approach - (물류기업의 경쟁력 강화를 위한 연구 -지역 기업을 중심으로-)

  • Kim, Ki-Hong
    • Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.123-128
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    • 2017
  • Logistics companies distinguish between medium-sized business and small business according to the size of enterprises. Of course, conglomerates are called global corporations. In this study, mid-sized companies over a certain size or more and those below are classified and decide the priorities among important factors to secure competitiveness in logistics companies are determined through AHP technique. Mid-sized companies are companies that can provide more than two logistics services. For example, they provide warehousing and transportation services in the same time. small companies are companies that can mostly provide one functional service. Warehousing, transportation, manpower, and information are listed as factors in this study. As a result of the study, medium-sized companies emphasized on the importance of transportation. When it comes to small companies, warehousing was emphasized as an important factor. Due to the simultaneous and contemporary service of warehousing and transportation in small-sized company, the reliable image of the company will be underestimated in case of delays in transportation. Competitiveness will also be weakened. Global corporations or conglomerates will start to consider relocating warehousing areas to others except for the central storage hub. They won't plan to invest directly, either. Therefore, it will be possible to secure competitiveness by providing the function of warehousing and to signed easily partnership.