This paper evaluates the progress of the Administration and Management of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) undergraduate program (ADPymes) at BenemA©rita Universidad AutA³noma de Puebla. We survey a sample of undergraduate students who are halfway into this academic program. The goals is to determine the level of critical factors for success (FSC), Independence and Formation, that students have acquired when they are half-way into their academic program. We also seek to evaluate their perception regarding becoming entrepreneur, and their ability to develop strategies to create a path forward focused and oriented to local needs. Through a qualitatively and quantitative analysis, we determine students’ interest, challenges and critical factors for success (CFS). We offer strategies to support students in acquiring skills and knowledge in the ADPymes program.
Patient satisfaction is a useful metric for evaluating service quality in healthcare organizations. This study examined total quality management as a factor mediating the relationship between customer expectations and satisfaction. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to inpatients undergoing treatment at a tertiary-level hospital in Vietnam during April 2018. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed using AMOS 25.0 (The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25.0) software to determine the relationships among the latent variables of the proposed model. Customer expectations had a significant effect on total quality management and customer satisfaction, while total quality management had a positive influence on satisfaction. Thus, total quality management plays a mediating role in customer expectations and satisfaction. This study has significant implications for service organizations, indicating that patient expectations and service quality should be considered when aiming to increase customer satisfaction.
The creation of pro-forma financial statements presents a challenge for entrepreneurs without extensive training in finance and accounting. This paper is the third in a series that provides tools to assist managers with creating these estimates. The approach requires users to estimate only management variables. The template completes all other necessary calculations. This paper extends earlier work by introducing additional automation. Specifically, the template here automates tax and cost of capital calculations.
Employees’ job satisfaction plays an important role in strengthening their relations with an organization. This phenomenon carries more significance in the aviation industry due to the involvement of heavy investment and high competition. The present study aims to identify critical factors that affect the satisfaction level of employees’ at major Middle Eastern airports. Data were collected from 406 respondents with the help of a questionnaire comprised of thirty questions, divided into seven major categories. Respondents were responsible for providing ground services to passengers at the airport. A Likert type scale was used to evaluate answers varying from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Validity and reliability tests were applied to ensure the suitability of data and authenticity of responses. Data were analyzed with the help of independent sample T-tests, ANOVA and Regression analysis. Results of the study are beneficial for leadership of the aviation industry, who can use these factors to develop improvement strategies. These strategies will not only enhance the satisfaction level of their employees, but also improve the productivity and profitability of their respective organizations.
This research examines the relationship between self-efficacy, embeddedness in terms of fit with an organization’s aims and required skills, linkages to others in the firm, feelings of affinity for the community (or the sense of sacrifice that might accompany leaving it) and both objective and subjective elements of career success. This research enhances organizational research by demonstrating the mediating effect of embeddedness on the self-efficacy and career success relationship. This research uses data from a convenience sample of 303 working adults to test its hypotheses. The findings indicated that embeddedness differentially mediated the self-efficacy – career success relationship. This research takes the information and discusses its implications for practice and theory, its relevant strengths, weaknesses and future research directions.
The investigation measures the competencies and abilities of intrapreneurism with a population sample of 235 students. The students attend a master's program in the Accounting and Administration Faculty (FCA) of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua (UACH). A survey was conducted in which the following constructs were evaluated: Opportunities Promoter, Proactivity, Flexibility, Business Driver and Risk Assumption. The methodological approach was of a mixed nature including an applied, field test with bibliographic support. The design was non-experimental, transactional and descriptive. Principal components analysis was used. Competencies and intra-entrepreneurial skills were classified into 5 levels. Results show that 7.55% of the students surveyed had a very low level of competencies and intrapreneurial skills, 11.21% had a low level, 18.40% had a medium level, 22.59% had a high level and 40.25% had a very high level. This research is relevant since identifying intrapreneurial skills and competencies in workers generates new projects in organizations
Developing pro-forma financial statements and associated financial analysis is an important undertaking for new and existing business alike. This paper reports user experiences with a spreadsheet-based method for developing pro-forma financial statements as developed in Jalbert (2017). The paper also presents improvements and enhancements to the template. The forecasting approach reported on here requires users to simply enter their firm-specific figures. As such it is particularly useful for individuals without extensive training in finance. The tool does not require programming or the use of plug figures and does not result in circular references which are all common to other tools. The template provides a powerful tool for entrepreneurs and for teaching management, accounting and finance courses. The tool is suitable for both novice and advanced users
The Resource-Advantage Theory of Competition states that a comparative advantage in resources leads to a competitive advantage in the marketplace. This research aims to expand this theory by including the role of innovation, particularly environmental innovation, as a moderating variable in the relationship between resources and competitive advantages. Empirical evidence of this moderating effect is obtained through factor and regression analyses with survey data collected from 130 small agricultural businesses located in Oaxaca, Mexico. This is a traditional sector in an emerging economy. Theoretical implications include the importance of environmental issues in competition as well as the applicability of this framework to the agricultural sector. Practical implications for small agricultural businesses are related to the effectiveness of environmental innovation in the enhancement of competitiveness through both cost reduction and value added.
The incorporation of technology in all aspects of our lives has transformed the way of doing things, in form and substance. In recent years, the number of internet users has increased considerably both in Europe and in the rest of the world. It is necessary to acquire perspective to understand the phenomenon of access to digital technologies. This research examines technology use in 28 European Union countries, using a principal components methodology. Eighteen variables were examined, one for each objective that the population between 16 and 74 years old has when using the internet. The results indicate that countries using the most digital technology were Holland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark and Estonia. Countries with low utilization were Romania and Bulgaria
Over the past couple decades as the accountability of corporate executives has been increasingly scrutinized, the popular business press contains numerous accounts of both corporate and personal spending excesses that have caught the attentions of shareholders, public policy makers, and the public at large. Conspicuous consumptions by corporate managers raises a wide range of issues. This paper attempts to provide some needed balance in understanding managers’ behaviors by drawing some examples from both the historic and more contemporary literature on conspicuous consumption. In this paper, we first demonstrate that conspicuous consumption of corporate leaders can be justified from economic, marketing, and philosophical perspectives. Second, we present a religious perspective in order to provide a contracting view of the morality of conspicuous consumption. Our analysis concludes by offering a perspective rooted in balancing property rights, efficiency, and equity.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) constitute a significant part of the Moroccan economy. Nowadays, Moroccan SMEs compete in a globalized, fierce and challenging environment. To face this challenge, it became essential and primordial for SMEs to optimize their business practices. One of the ways to do so is through “Performance Measurement”. This paper investigates current performance measurement practices and their maturity level in Moroccan SMEs. The paper is directed towards understanding the drivers and barriers of performance measurement practices within the Moroccan SMEs context. Based on a review of the literature, a survey in Moroccan SMEs is conducted to describe the maturity level of Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) in Moroccan SMEs and to explain how some organizational contingency factors influence this maturity level. Results show a significant link between some considered-specific factors and PMS adoption.
The changing and globalizing environment in business has resulted in increasing competition in markets and sectors. These factors drive the search for better strategic management tools that increase business results. SMEs are at the center of these changes with management needs and problems. These SMEs search for human capital with appropriate profiles and competencies that match the management requirements. The existence of this competitive gap is a barrier that impacts the survival and growth of SMEs. The present research proposes a model of managerial competencies and its implementation process. This model is easy to understand for SMEs, to increase the development of specific managerial competencies. The impact reduces the mortality rate and increase business as a result. The research methodology was exploratory, descriptive and propositional. The sample size was determined from a stratified probabilistic sampling with a 95% confidence level. The research instrument was applied to 371 partners and managers. The validity and reliability of the instrument was determined by Alfha de Cronbach with a score of 0.86. We propose a model of management competencies and its implementation is established with its own design. The methodology is new, non-theoretical in application, easy to understand, useful to SMEs, easy to use, and promotes the development of specific managerial competencies. The model is selected by the manager or partner. The model seeks to impact the stability and survival of SMEs in the Municipality of Saltillo in the State of Coahuila
Past researchers have examined the influence of sales events on multitude of variables. However, there exists a gap with regards to specific examination of the influence of sales events on consumer participation in sales events and their expectations from the sales events. In this study, we examine the relationship between consumers’ participation in a given sales event and their expectations of savings from that event in North American context. Research findings indicate that only 11 sales events have a high realization rate of expected savings. Based on research findings, we proffer several recommendations for the retail managers.
This research evaluates and categorizes individual characteristics and abilities that higher education researchers should possess in a knowledge economy. We examine a sample of 319 participants dedicated to the investigating processes from public and private higher education institutions in Puerto Rico. A multivariable analysis is used in which technical successive fractural analysis, cluster, and manova analysis were applied to explore and confirm the principle relevant factors in the abilities and skills studied. From the sample, the researchers identified two groups of students that showed significant differences in their responses and how they categorized their abilities. Student subgroup 1 viewed first-priority to be to adjust to change, add value to society and the economy, in addition to having the ability to seek for funding to support their investigations. Student subgroup 2 considered first-priority to adjust to change, add value to the economy and society and become entrepreneurs. Furthermore, this investigation found that professors considered the most relevant category to be multidisciplinary and practical and that results should be disseminated. They have also balance benefit to the economy and society with quality of life
Distributors are agents of a manufacturer who supply products to other businesses that sell to end users or delivers products straight to end users. They play a significant role as a link between the manufacturer and its final consumers. A company’s success or failure predominantly depends on its distributors’ performance. Therefore, an important responsibility of a manufacturer is to invest heavily to support its distributors and make them highly satisfied. This research explores key factors that influence satisfaction of distributors in Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry of Bangladesh. Data was collected via structured questionnaire and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 20. We examine relationships among the constructs, which include Distributor’s perception of Manufacturer’s attitude, Strength of Manufacturer’s brand and Distributor’s current economic outcomes as independent variables or predictors and Distributor’s overall satisfaction as the dependent variable. The results provide evidence to support the hypothesized relationship and provide useful information for firms in formulating strategies to satisfy its distributors thereby developing long-lasting and profitable relationships
This study was carried out to ascertain whether personnel serving their mandatory year of service in Ghana were satisfied with the quality of service provided by the Ghana National Service Scheme. The satisfaction of service personnel was measured by employing the gap model and factors influencing the personnel’s satisfaction were also determined by factor analysis based on principal component extraction using Oblimin with Kaiser Normalization rotation method. The results indicated that service personnel were satisfied with the empathy, assurance and responsiveness aspects of service delivery. Alternatively, service personnel were not satisfied with the tangibility and reliability dimensions which had a negative gap score. Some of the key factors which significantly contributed to service personnel’s satisfaction included the willingness of National Service Scheme staff to answer personnel questions and the ability of staff to quickly respond to the needs of personnel. Developing training policy for staff of the scheme was recommended as one of the measures to deal with these important aspects of quality service delivery. This study is among the foremost attempts to use the SERVQUAL model to examine the service quality of public service organizations in Ghana.
Meta-analysis is a statistical technique that allows one to combine the results from multiple studies to glean inferences on the overall importance of a certain phenomenon. This study employs a substantive metaanalysis approach to quantitatively summarize the results of empirical studies of the direct impact of products’ warning labels on consumers’ recall. When all the available estimates are combined and averaged, there seems to be a genuine and positive effect of warning labels on consumers’ recall (average effect size = 0.34, aggregate n = 1882). The findings of this study significantly refine the body of knowledge concerning the impact of products’ warning labels on consumers’ recall, and thereby offer an improved conceptual framework for marketers and warning label designers
The Government of Kenya entered in a concessional agreement with Rift Valley Railways (RVR) in 2006, under the build-operate-transfer financing arrangement, to boost economic growth. However, 10 years later, RVR’s performance failed to meet performance targets, due to financing and technical capacity constraints, as per anecdotal reports. This article examined the influence selected macro-economic factors on the project’s financing. We sourced primary data from 348 staff of key stakeholders. We applied Relative Importance Index to rank the factors based on their importance; besides, we applied Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance (W) to determine the degree of agreement among participants. Findings show that inflation rates ranked highest, scoring an index of 0.8; followed by interest rates (0.7), debt ratio (0.6) and taxation burden (0.6). The study obtained a strong level of concordance in perceptions regarding influence of macro-economic factors on the project’s financing, which was also statistically significant at 0.01 error margin (W = 0.833, X2 = 41.8223, df = 3 & p-value = 0.000). Besides financial and technical capacity, stakeholders should consider macro-economic environments, when evaluating RVR’s performance. The study suggests the need for appropriate adjustments of the monetary, fiscal, taxation and domestic borrowing policies, among other interventions.
This study extends prior research regarding country compliance with international anti-human trafficking policies by empirically exploring how country corruption and economic freedom interact to impact compliance. It is posited that efforts to reduce corruption in countries that enjoy greater economic freedom will have a smaller marginal impact on policy compliance compared to nations with lower levels of economic freedom. In other words, there is inverse relationship between corruption and compliance with anti-human trafficking policies that decreases in the extent of a country’s economic freedom. Using data from 140 countries, empirical evidence in this study supports this hypothesis
