By assessing four cases, this paper develops propositions about the transfer of employee oriented corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices within multinational SMEs. Specifically we explore whether an individual owner-manager can add value within a foreign subsidiary by means of normatively-based, employee-oriented CSR. Based on four case-studies we suggest that not only motives but also the skills of the owner/manager as an institutional entrepreneur are critical in dealing with institutional variance.
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Creative SMEs are heavily focusing on the creating process designing new products and services. Consequently, their managers tend to loose contact with crucial management issues. Especially their knowledge of the financial aspects of their business can be so limited that they fail to connect with the financial viability of their business, which can lead to serious business problems. This paper draws on a number of studies that examine the role of outsiders -contracted professional service providers- in relation to business success of SMEs. In the light of the potential growth of Flemish creative SMEs on international markets the question can be raised as to what extent outsiders, and more specifically financial service providers like accountants and banks, contribute to the export success of these firms. In this paper therefore the role played by accountants and banks was explored to solve export-related questions by small furniture designers in Flanders, Belgium. Export can be considered as the most successful growth and therefore raises interesting management issues for creative SMEs. Little is known about the content and intensity of services of accountants and bank employees in relation to export-related questions of owner-managers of small creative firms. In order to examine the fit between supply and demand the focus is on outsider contribution during six phases of export.
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Every year I talk to many entrepreneurs about business transfers and acquisitions. Only rarely do they tell me that it was a cinch. Buying or selling a business is complex. For a start, a business should be shipshape from an organizational and administrative perspective, while several legal and fiscal matters also affect the transaction. Moreover, many parties are involved in a business transfer: the buyer and the seller, of course, but also the employees, the spouse and/or family of the entrepreneur, the customers and suppliers. Emotions and trust also play a central role in selling a firm. Many owner/managers find it hard to abandon their business. The fact that a transaction of fixed assets may also be involved is another complicating factor. Is it a good thing to include fixed assets in the sale, or in fact the reverse? Considering that most people find it quite hard to sell their own house, engaging an estate agent to do it for them, it is understandable that buying and selling a business is a transaction fraught with difficulties.
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