(1990). Human resource management and the emergent strategy of small to medium-sized business units. The International Journal of Human Resource Management: Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 233-250.

Human resource management and the emergent strategy of small to medium-sized business units

This article argues that we can identify three phases of youth enterprise support in the last 25 years. The first of these, 'free-enterprise', is said to have occurred between 1975 and 1981. This period, a reaction to the problems of the 1970s, saw very limited support for enterprise among young people. In the second period, 'enterprise culture' (1981-91), we saw direct intervention by public, private and voluntary agencies to support enterprise among young people. This article argues that the impetus behind this was not ideological, but a pragmatic urge to reduce the endemic unemployment of the 1980s. The article also identifies a third phase, 'enterprising individuals' (1992 onwards) which has seen a greater focus on improving the entrepreneurial skills and abilities of young people. The first section of the article describes each of these three stages of enterprise support. In the second section, I consider empirical evidence on changes in the take-up of self-employment by young people over the last 25...

An Investigation into Enterprise Support For Younger People, 1975-2000:

This paper discuses the basic managerial deficiencies of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka with special reference to the SMEs in Ratnapura District The study is mainly based on primary data gathered from 57 of SMEs, which were selected from 287 SMEs using stratified random sampling method Data was gathered using a structured questionnaire and interviewing labourors, officers of various SME supportive organizations and observing SMEs The study was supplemented with the data collected from secondary sources as well Data was analyzed using qualitative and quantitative techniques The study found that even basic management functions like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling are not properly practiced in most of the SMEs Most SMEs do not have clear plans for future development, production process, marketing, financial activities etc Owners (entrepreneurs) of most of SMEs act as managers handling all the responsibilities, which are not delegated to others Therefore, most of the SMEs do not function efficiently due to the delay of decision-making process, poor organization, poor staffing, weak controlling and directing Financial management of most of the SMEs is found to be very weak Most SMEs do not calculate total expenses, total revenue, profit etc, for they do not keep any account systematically Most SMEs do not provide any welfare facilities and retirement benefits like EPF and ETF to encourage labourers Poor production planning and production process, weak practices of marketing and poor quality of the products are the other deficiencies of SMEs Performance of many SMEs is very poor due to the deficiencies in management Poor knowledge in management of entrepreneurs causes the managerial deficiencies Therefore, SMEs cannot judge problems and barriers coming from internal and external industrial environment The paper concludes that the growth of SMEs can be accelerated by developing managerial knowledge of entrepreneurs of the SMEs

/pdf/managerial-deficiencies-in-the-small-and-medium-enterprises-534n254gy1.pdf

Managerial Deficiencies in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka: An Empirical Evidence of SMEs in the Ratnapura District

There can be no doubt that the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) plays a pivotal role in most if not all economies, and that social policy makers have an interest in ensuring the viability of this sector of the economy, which plays a crucial role in the contract culture of national and international competitiveness. Quite apart from the essential symbiosis between the large multinationals and public limited companies and this sector, the sustainability of unemployment benefit payouts would be jeopardised should the sector experience a significant downturn. There are already worldwide concerns about the ability to continue to finance state pensions at anything like the present scale, and any loss of viability of the SME sector will simply exacerbate this situation. There are also useful reciprocations to be achieved by comparisons across sectors, including in significant areas such as internal control (Vinten, Lane, Hayes, 1996). The recent flurry of activity has included initiatives of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales 1996) and the information needs of owners (Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales 1996a), an Auditing Practices Board (1996) Practice Note, and a Department of Trade and Industry Consultation Document (DTI 1996).

People Management in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

The objective of this study is to assess factors which affect the performance of SMEs
in Nigeria. The literature shows that economic development, growth and poverty
alleviation are vitally linked with reliable and sustainable operations of SMEs. This is
particularly relevant to Nigeria which seeks to diversify its real sector by reducing
over-dependence on the volatile oil sector. In recognition of these problems the
Nigerian government set up the Small and Medium Industries Equity Investment
Scheme (SMIEIS) for SMEs. Nonetheless, as it is the case in many developing
countries, SMEs are faced with poor access to financial resources, and little
research seems to have focused on factors affecting the performance of SMEs in
Sub-Saharan African economies including Nigeria.
The study is primarily based on an extensive mail survey of 502 SMEs in Nigeria's
two regions and three main sectors (manufacturing, business services, and trade
sectors). Accordingly, a broad range of testable hypotheses have been formulated
which tend to capture peculiarities in the Nigerian economy using correlation and
logistic regression analysis. Access to finance, difficulties encountered, financing
decisions and desire for Islamic finance turned out to be the major factors affecting
regional and sectoral performance of SMEs.
The study reveals some significant differences in the regional performance of SMEs.
Most important amongst these differences are: ease of `access to finance',
`difficulties encountered' in the process, decisions about `accepting or rejecting' bank
financing, and the regional appeal of `Islamic finance' with its different financing
modes. It also reveals significant difficulties in obtaining external finance by the
entire survey respondents. The study concludes that characteristics internal to the
SMEs (like Firm age and size, location and legal form) and their owner-managers
characteristics (like education, experience and age) seem to determine the demand
for and use of external financing. It recommends policy makers and SME
stakeholders to review the existing SMIEIS policies which unduly exclude most
SMEs from having access to such finance.

Cyril Levicki

Papers

Small Business : Theory and Policy