Zoekresultaten

Advisering van het midden- en kleinbedrijf. Wie wil voelen zal niet luisteren.

This relationship between external knowledge providers, e.g. consultants and academic institutions, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a difficult one. SME entrepreneurs think external advice is expensive, not required and/or not useful. In this paper these arguments are explored against the specific characteristics of SMEs. The argument of price probably tells more about the consultants’ inability to quantify the returns on their advice than about the cost of their services. Support policies enable free consults for SMEs on numerous topics, but the use of these facilities is relatively low. The suggestion that SME entrepreneurs do not need external knowledge is contradicted by their own assessment of their qualities. Typically the entrepreneurs lack expertise in supporting business functions like HR, IT, Finance and Legal. In SMEs these ‘blank spots’ are not compensated by specialist staff members because the of the scale of the organization. The argument that the advice of an external consultant is generally not useful raises the question whether the insights gained in several business sciences only apply to large companies. This seems unlikely. Given the characteristics of SMEs the difference is probably more the context in which the insights are applied than the content of the insights itself. From the analysis of the characteristics of SMEs the dominant influence of the person of the owner/director, together with the absence of specialist staff, appeared as two of the most significant differences between SMEs and large companies. Given the personal profiles of these owners/directors as studied by Blom (Blom, 2001), the external knowledge providers should realize the ‘three ways’ in consulting. The first ‘way’ is the way of thinking. For this way it was stated already that the content of business sciences is not likely to differ for SMEs. The second ‘way’, the way of working, represents for the way information is gathered and the entrepreneur and his staff is involved in the process of developing the advice. In this ‘way’ the consultant should allow for interaction and should make it fun for the participants. In this aspect, the process approach of consulting shows promising. The third ‘way’, the way of communicating, represents the way the knowledge is transferred from the advisor to the entrepreneur. In this ‘way’ it is crucial to acknowledge the different personal profiles of SME entrepreneurs and consultants and to adjust the communication accordingly. Taking the ‘three ways’ into account, the conclusion could be that the transfer of knowledge should be more the ‘sharing of experiences’. The Chair of Management Consulting will adjust her activities to explore this insight further.

Cybercrime during the COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in December 2019 and the restrictive measures that were implemented to slow down the spread of the virus have had a significant impact on our way of life. The sudden shift from offline to online activities and work may have resulted in new cybersecurity risks. The present study therefore examined changes in the prevalence, nature and impact of cybercrime among Dutch citizens and SME owners, during the pandemic. Qualitative interviews with ten experts working at various public and private organizations in the Netherlands that have insights into cybercrime victimization and data from victim surveys administrated in 2019 and 2021 were analyzed. The results show that there was only a small, non-statistically significant increase in the prevalence of cybercrime during the pandemic among citizens and SME owners. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic did have an impact on the modus operandi of cybercriminals: victims indicated that a considerable proportion of the offenses was related to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the case of online fraud. Moreover, the use of new applications and programs for work was associated with an increased risk of cybercrime victimization during the COVID-19 crisis. These results suggest that increases in rates of registered cybercrime that were found in previous studies might be the consequence of a reporting effect and that cybercriminals adapt their modus operandi to current societal developments.

Multi criteria decision making: A necessity for sustainable innovation.

The shift towards a more sustainable circular economy will require innovations. While SMEs can contribute to this development, financing innovations within SMEs is difficult. Various authors have not ed moreover that the concept of the circular economy has further increased the complexity of investment decisions concerning sustainable innovations, due to the multiple value creation and new business models involved . On the other hand

The relation between internationalisation and SMEs performance

The internationalisation of SMEs - Perspectives for the Northern Netherlands

Inaugural VisionProfessorship International Business

The habitual selection of SME funding in an increasingly diverse market

Over the past 10 years, different types of financing have become available in the Netherlands. It is now possible to combine bank loans, crowdfunding loans and risk capital. Moreover, fintech applications lower the threshold for applications and reduce response times from weeks to just days or even hours. Fraser, Bhaumik and Wright (2015) point out there is a lack of knowledge of the cognitive process involved in selecting SME financing. This paper looks into the selection process financial advisers use, against the backdrop of the growing range of funding possibilities. To assess this process, we try to understand dominant habits and related heuristics. Within our explorative study, 19 experienced and independent SME financial advisers were interviewed. The questions address their knowledge, skills, experiences and choices in the selection process on the financing or refinancing of working capital and growth. Taking a grounded theoretical approach, we use Atlas TI to label all answers and statements step by step. The findings suggest a strong bias of decision-making towards the more traditional banking products. Yet advisers state they are aware of, and familiar with, other solutions. We have also found that fintech solutions are hardly used to prepare financing solutions up front. Financial advisers estimate the likelihood of acceptance by a few financial providers they know well within their personal network. We suggest that there is a behavioural approach to financing in the day-to-day decisions made by financial advisers. As long as automated selections are not fully transparent and are unable to combine all types of financing up front, financial advisers will be guided by habit or by availability, confirmation and affect heuristics, rather than looking for new financing solutions and combinations.