Small businesses make up some 90-95 percent of all global firms. Many undervalue the importance of information and communication technology (ICT). Within the small business segment there can be significant differences amongst the avid early adopters of ICT and the laggards. Research on early adopters tends be more prevalent as they are perceived to have a more interesting and positive story. However, late adopters and 'laggards' also have their own interesting stories that are under-reported. Small Business and Effective ICT draws on research undertaken over several years and documents the adoption/use of ICT across 'better' users of ICT (Leaders), typical ICT users (Operationals) and late adopters (Laggards). The findings are presented using a re-formulation of the LIASE framework which addresses a number of areas that include ICT literacy (L), information content/communication (I), Access (A), Infrastructure (I), Support (S) and Evaluation (E). Some 60 businesses were investigated in Australia and the UK, with each business presented as a concise vignette. The vignettes serve to show that small businesses are not as conservative in their use of ICT as the literature suggests, with examples of innovative uses of ICT in small businesses provided. Lessons for the effective use of ICT by small businesses are presented. The research design, methods adopted, presentation of findings through the vignettes, and 'take away' lessons have been written in manner to appeal to a broad range of readers including academics, researchers, students and policy makers in the discipline.

A new analytical approach to small firms' cases, which * Uses rich primary source data on modern small businesses * Combines business strategy and industrial organization * Presents detailed Profiles on diverse small businesses * Shows how successful small businesses achieve competitive advantage * Considers both extended rivalry and financial structure * Shows how to `ground' small business theory in reality Profiles in Small Businesses has a companion volume Small Business Enterprise by Gavin Reid (also published by Routledge, Hb: 0-415-05681-0: GBP45.00) which contains a full analysis (ranging from econometrics to the ethics of competition) of the larger sample of small businesses from which the Profiles are drawn.

This new volume in the "Advances in Management Information Systems" series presents the latest cutting-edge knowledge in IT outsourcing. As part of the growing business trend to outsourcing various operations, IT outsourcing both determines the governance of a vital organizational function and influences the processes of exploitation and exploration in all other functions of an enterprise. In keeping with the mission of the "AMIS" series, the editors of this volume have framed the domain of research and practice broadly. "Information Technology Outsourcing" provides leading edge research on both the variety of decisions regarding the outsourcing of IS services and the management of the relationship with service suppliers.

Innovation manifests itself as a key driver of improved productivity and sustainable growth in today's global economic landscape. This book * brings together perspectives and case studies from across the world; * discusses frameworks and actual conditions required for innovation; and * examines a variety of themes, such as technology innovation, research & development, team and human resource management, product and process creativity and entrepreneurship development to augment strategic and competitive advantage. It will prove essential to those in business and management, entrepreneurship, economics and development studies, particularly those interested in innovation, strategic planning and business leadership.

Organizations today have access to vast stores of data that come in a wide variety of forms and may be stored in places ranging from file cabinets to databases, and from library shelves to the Internet. The enormous growth in the quantity of data, however, has brought with it growing problems with the quality of information, further complicated by the struggles many organizations are experiencing as they try to improve their systems for knowledge management and organizational memory. Failure to manage information properly, or inaccurate data, costs businesses billions of dollars each year. This volume presents cutting-edge research on information quality. Part I seeks to understand how data can be measured and evaluated for quality. Part II deals with the problem of ensuring quality while processing data into information a company can use. Part III presents case studies, while Part IV explores organizational issues related to information quality. Part V addresses issues in information quality education.

Introductory Mathematics and Statistics sixth revised edition is the only Australian text that covers the basics of mathematics with full statistical coverage. Croucher demonstrates the relevance of mathematics and statistics in making decisions in day-to-day commercial situations. Numerous contemporary examples and pictorial presentations of data are provided to illustrate real world application of statistics. The content has been thoroughly revised and updated in 2016 to provide modern data and a detailed description of difficult concepts. Introductory Mathematics and Statistics 6e revised provides an effective grounding of mathematical and statistical methods.

* Reveals the unacknowledged truth behind organizational resilience: it's not about 'grit' or cybersecurity * Explores the four essential organizational components of resilience -- crews, capital, culture, and leadership * Maps 14 distinct elements of resilience that can be used as a framework that any organization can replicate * Includes real-world insights from leaders at organizations such as NBCUniversal and The Ohio State University

Despite providing us with a good understanding of how firms use certain mechanisms to benefit from open innovation strategies, current research provides only limited insights into how barriers internal to the firm may hamper knowledge transfer and limit effective utilization of external knowledge sources. The Influence of Internal Barriers on Open Innovation proposes a dynamic perspective that addresses this gap and aims at stimulating this discussion in two ways. First, by looking at how the way firms structure their internal (innovation) activities may (unintentionally) create barriers to the incorporation of external knowledge. Second, by reflecting on how internal barriers might be coupled to firm decisions aimed at the optimization of innovation processes, like the balance between exploration and exploitation strategies. The chapters of this book provide detailed conceptualization and investigation of organizational characteristics and practices that influence internal barriers to open innovation. The diverse set of studies described in the chapters of this book will help open innovation scholars to better understand the challenges that firms face when dealing with internal barriers that affect their external knowledge search and knowledge sourcing. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Industry and Innovation.

Business Analytics for Decision Making, the first complete text suitable for use in introductory Business Analytics courses, establishes a national syllabus for an emerging first course at an MBA or upper undergraduate level. This timely text is mainly about model analytics, particularly analytics for constrained optimization. It uses implementations that allow students to explore models and data for the sake of discovery, understanding, and decision making. Business analytics is about using data and models to solve various kinds of decision problems. There are three aspects for those who want to make the most of their analytics: encoding, solution design, and post-solution analysis. This textbook addresses all three. Emphasizing the use of constrained optimization models for decision making, the book concentrates on post-solution analysis of models. The text focuses on computationally challenging problems that commonly arise in business environments. Unique among business analytics texts, it emphasizes using heuristics for solving difficult optimization problems important in business practice by making best use of methods from Computer Science and Operations Research. Furthermore, case studies and examples illustrate the real-world applications of these methods. The authors supply examples in Excel (R), GAMS, MATLAB (R), and OPL. The metaheuristics code is also made available at the book's website in a documented library of Python modules, along with data and material for homework exercises. From the beginning, the authors emphasize analytics and de-emphasize representation and encoding so students will have plenty to sink their teeth into regardless of their computer programming experience.

Principled Persuasion in Employee Communication highlights a new but significant dilemma for organisational leaders. Will they continue on the same track that, since the nineteenth century, has led them to exert increasing control over their employees? Or will they take another path, one that leads towards a new type of working environment where the culture encourages freedom of communication and movement? This book argues for an approach to employee communication that sets out to liberate employees from the stifling constraints that organisations continue to impose on them. Principled Persuasion is so-called because it uses persuasive techniques, based on clear principles, to create new, forward-looking organisational cultures. It sets out to increase employee happiness and minimise the harms done to employees at work. It grounds itself on a strong ethical base composed of fundamental, universal principles. It introduces a new approach to the use of language, not only calling for more clarity and meaning in organisational communication, but also for a more conscious use of rhetorical techniques to change vocabulary, metaphors and internal dialogue for the better. Make no mistake, most organisations have totally underrated the strategic importance of employee communication. Principled Persuaders understand that the key to dealing with the unpredictable events about to unfold in the twenty-first century will be a new way of communicating with the workforce. The flexibility, adaptability and innovation that will be needed to survive and prosper in coming decades can only be achieved by liberating employees, not imprisoning them further in established systems and processes.

How can managers analyze their current and future business strategies? This textbook introduces the fields of business analysis and strategic management to provide students with an understanding of the key questions that need to be asked to understand an organization's options. The second part of the book provides tools and techniques to help organize and improve corporate strategy. Uniquely, the authors provide resources to assess aspects of strategic goals which are sometimes overlooked such as financial performance, ethical and environmental considerations and business models. They cover a diverse range of companies from Supermarkets like Aldi and Tesco to Caermory Whiskey and Chinese manufacturing. This textbook is perfect reading for students who want to apply strategic thinking to organizations and benefits from the inclusion of new case studies throughout the text as well as 10 extended cases in a separate section.

How can managers analyze their current and future business strategies? This textbook introduces the fields of business analysis and strategic management to provide students with an understanding of the key questions that need to be asked to understand an organization's options. The second part of the book provides tools and techniques to help organize and improve corporate strategy. Uniquely, the authors provide resources to assess aspects of strategic goals which are sometimes overlooked such as financial performance, ethical and environmental considerations and business models. They cover a diverse range of companies from Supermarkets like Aldi and Tesco to Caermory Whiskey and Chinese manufacturing. This textbook is perfect reading for students who want to apply strategic thinking to organizations and benefits from the inclusion of new case studies throughout the text as well as 10 extended cases in a separate section.

While there is a vast amount of literature examining firm's networks from an industrial organization perspective, the financial implications of networking remain underexplored. This book fills this gap, by investigating the phenomenon of business networks in the context of management and governance processes, and the related effects on interactions with the financial system in general, and credit institutions in particular. Networking is examined both from the demand (firms) and supply (banking institutions) perspective, thus, the book offers several contributions. It outlines the critical issues connected to business aggregations from the point of view of the management of information flows, and addresses the problem of identifying the role of banking ecosystems, in light of the transformations taking place in the financial industry, considering the growing complementarity between bank and market instruments in corporate financing. It explores the problem of identifying rating models for business networks, as well as, for individual participants on a stand-alone basis. Further, the book analyses a sample of networks in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and profiles a number of specific business cases. The book will be of particular interest to researchers and scholars in the field of banking and finance but also entrepreneurship and small business management. It will also find an audience among scholars from a wide array of additional fields, working on the relationship between financing concerns and growth opportunities.

Knowledge management (KM) - or the practice of using information and collaboration technologies and processes to capture organizational learning and thereby improve business performance - is becoming one of the key disciplines in management, especially in large companies. Many books, magazines, conferences, vendors, consultancies, Web sites, online communities and email lists have been formed around this concept. This practical book focuses on the vast offerings of KM solutions-technology, content, and services. The focus is not on technology details, but on how KM and IT practitioners actually use KM tools and techniques. Over twenty case studies describe the real story of choosing and implementing various KM tools and techniques, and experts analyse the trends in the evolution of these technologies and tools, along with opportunities and challenges facing companies harnessing them. Lessons from successes and failures are drawn, along with roadmaps for companies beginning or expanding their KM practice. The introductory chapter presents a taxonomy of KM tools, identifies IT implications of KM practices, highlights lessons learned, and provides tips and recommendations for companies using these tools. Relevant literature on KM practices and key findings of market research groups and industry consortia such as IDC, Gartner and APQC, are presented. The majority of the book is devoted to case studies, featuring clients and vendors along the entire spectrum of solutions: hardware (e.g. handheld/wearable devices), software (e.g. analytics, collaboration, document management) and content (e.g. newsfeeds, market research). Each chapter is structured along the "8Cs" framework developed by the author: connectivity, content, community, commerce, community, capacity, culture, cooperation and capital. In other words, each chapter addresses how appropriate KM tools and technologies help a company on specific fronts such as fostering adequate employee access to knowledge bodies, user-friendly work-oriented content, communities of practice, a culture of knowledge, learning capacity, a spirit of cooperation, commercial and other incentives, and carefully measured capital investments and returns. Vendor history, product/service offerings, implementation details, client testimonials, ROI reports, and future trends are highlighted. Experts in the field then provide third-party analysis on trends in KM tools and technique areas, and recommendations for KM practitioners.

This volume shows that in today's globalized world, clusters are an important factor in explaining the different growth rates of firms, cities and regions. Drawing on the expertise of an international contributor team, it covers topics such as clusters and small and medium-sized enterprise competitiveness, innovation and science parks, clusters and multinationals, and information and communication technology clusters. It reveals great diversity in terms of the origin of clusters, the organizational relationships at play, and the characteristics of the firms involved. Taking lessons from a rich variety of literature and empirical cases, the book provides valuable insights for regional development and industrial policy. Economic Clusters and Globalization will be of interest to scholars and policymakers in economic geography, regional studies, entrepreneurship and international business.

Strategic Renewal is an original research anthology offering insight into a subject area which, although critical for the sustained success of organizations, has received relatively little attention as distinct from the more general phenomenon of strategic change. Firstly, by providing a summary of the literature, this research anthology helps graduate students and new researchers grasp the current state of affairs in the field. Secondly, this research anthology will help update the knowledge base of the existing researchers in the field. By bringing together various studies, the research anthology determines the core concepts of the field and elucidates the key gaps and future research areas. Through contributions building on the knowledge bases of other disciplines, this research anthology develops an interdisciplinary research agenda, giving the reader an in-depth understanding of the mediating, moderating, and antecedent variables concerning strategic renewal. Strategic Renewal aims to provide a state-of-understanding to the subject, as well as a clear picture of the cross-disciplinary landscape that informs the subject. Thus, this research anthology is essential reading for managers, consultants, and other practitioners, as well as students and scholars of business.

Throughout the industry, financial institutions seek to eliminate cumbersome authentication methods, such as PINs, passwords, and security questions, as these antiquated tactics prove increasingly weak. Thus, many organizations now aim to implement emerging technologies in an effort to validate identities with greater certainty. The near instantaneous nature of online banking, purchases, transactions, and payments puts tremendous pressure on banks to secure their operations and procedures. In order to reduce the risk of human error in financial domains, expert systems are seen to offer a great advantage in big data environments. Besides their efficiency in quantitative analysis such as profitability, banking management, and strategic financial planning, expert systems have successfully treated qualitative issues including financial analysis, investment advisories, and knowledge-based decision support systems. Due to the increase in financial applications' size, complexity, and number of components, it is no longer practical to anticipate and model all possible interactions and data processing in these applications using the traditional data processing model. The emergence of new research areas is clear evidence of the rise of new demands and requirements of modern real-life applications to be more intelligent. This book provides an exhaustive review of the roles of expert systems within the financial sector, with particular reference to big data environments. In addition, it offers a collection of high-quality research that addresses broad challenges in both theoretical and application aspects of intelligent and expert systems in finance. The book serves to aid the continued efforts of the application of intelligent systems that respond to the problem of big data processing in a smart banking and financial environment.

This book captures a range of important developments that have occurred in Information Systems over the last forty years, with a particular focus on India and the developing world. Over this time, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Information Systems (IS) have come to play a critical role in supporting, complementing and automating managerial decisions, shaping and transforming industries, and contributing to deep societal and economic change. This volume examines a range of topics for those interested in the adoption and use of these technologies across varied situations. It combines empirical studies on the application and impact of IS with commentaries, debates and insights on the transformative role that IT and the IT industry have played, and continue to play, within India as well as globally. The book draws attention to issues and challenges that organizations grapple with in tech-enabled environments, and provides insights on the role of automation and computational techniques. It explores the global impact of the technology revolution on economic growth and development, electronic globalization, and the wider opportunities and challenges of a hi-tech world. The chapters cover various themes such as e-government in India, internet-based distribution systems, internet banking, and use of collaborative IT tools and functions to support virtual teams in the software industry and the business process outsourcing industry. Other chapters focus on methodological advances, such as systems thinking which finds applications in organizational decision-making, and the use of fuzzy logic. This volume will interest professionals and scholars of information technology and information systems, computer studies, IT systems, economics, and business and management studies.

This book provides new insights into how the concept of bricolage is used to foster research on social entrepreneurship. The contributors assess the relevance of the concept from a theoretical point of view, questioning the concept and its relationships with similar concepts or theories, like those of effectuation and improvisation; use the concept of bricolage to study processes by which social entrepreneurs make their business grow; and investigate the diversity of social entrepreneurial situations and, as a consequence, the variety of forms (and effects) of bricolage practices. The primary objective of this book is thus to shed light on bricolage in social entrepreneurship, especially at the intersection of different levels of analysis and in different contexts. It takes stock of existing research at the intersection of both concepts and looks at future research avenues. This book was originally published as a special issue of Entrepreneurship and Regional Development.

Firm growth. This concept has interested researchers for generations. Economists have sought to predict and measure firm growth using a host of different variables, while strategic management scholars depict growth as the result of clever analyses and rational resource exploitation. Entrepreneurship scholars - ever engrossed by successful start-ups - have pondered why growth sometimes comes fast and sometimes never at all, while the field of business history has given countless examples of growing firms in a range of different settings. Yet despite research across fields, our knowledge of how growth in a firm actually comes about is limited and we still know little about the process. This book offers a new reading of economist Edith Penrose's The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. The bold statement is that although Penrose's work - across fields and generations - is amongst the most quoted on firm growth, the basic points of her work have yet to be realized and explored empirically. Essentially, growth is created by a dynamic interrelation between the firm's self-conception and its image of context. Based on these two subjective categories, the firm makes decisions and its actions lead it to develop along a particular path. To Penrose this is the basic engine that drives the growth and development of firms. This book discusses how the engine of firm growth can be captured in empirical analysis using interpretative theory and narrative methods inspired by recent streams of research in business history.

Globalization, consumerism, legislation and human rights issues impact on workplace demographics, changing the very nature thereof. It is of strategic importance to ensure that the benefits of diverse viewpoints and stakeholders are leveraged. However the underlying worldviews of economists, business leaders and consultants are often informed from a Western paradigm and solutions proposed and interventions facilitated are not integrated, integral, systemic or congruent with the containing environment or ecology. In Inclusive Organizational Transformation, Dr Rica Viljoen acknowledges that diversity of thought presents both gifts and challenges to leadership in multi-national organizations. The existential question with which an individual is confronted impacts on his or her worldview. By continuously applying a specific worldview, certain gifts manifest. These are called Human Niches. Here, Inclusivity is positioned as a radical transformational methodology with the purpose of unleashing the benefits of engagement and diversity of thought. The process of Inclusivity enables organizations to optimize the gifts of and contributions from a diverse workforce and unleash tacit knowledge. Case studies from Ghana, South Africa, and one where the same strategy had to be implemented in Australia, Peru and Tanzania are included and insights gained from the dynamics observed are shared. A synthesis of Inclusivity is presented in a model, meta-insights are derived and the prerequisites for Inclusivity on individual, group and organizational domain are illustrated.

The book is distinct as it critically revisits what is 'social' in an enterprise without being limited by theoretical definitions Each chapter includes several case examples from international and well-renowned organizations to depict the dimensions and dilemmas a social enterprise can assume in practice It adopts a pragmatic hands-on community-based approach to drive in the message of social entrepreneurship Online resources include chapter by chapter PowerPoints slides, a video overview and additional case studies.

First published in 1973, this title examines the development patterns of small businesses. It considers why people found firms; the factors that contribute to entrepreneurial success; problems of management succession and inheritance; the strengths and weaknesses of family firms; the reasons why small firms are taken over; and the social, economic and managerial context of their growth, decline, and revival. Based on a survey of sixty-four firms, each employing fewer than five hundred people, in engineering, hosiery, and knitwear, and on the records of 370 similar organisations, a striking gap in performance and management attitudes emerges as between dynamic, mostly founder-run firms and stagnant, mostly inherited ones. Where many books are either minutely specialised or highly abstract and over-generalised, Jonathan Boswell's work is practical and diagnostic, probing the inner recesses of the small firm sector. With particular relevance to the difficulties faced by entrepreneurs in today's economic environment, this title advances selective measures to deal with old firms and inheritance, and a wide range of policies to encourage new entrepreneurship.

Written for first-time buyers who have never owned a property or had a mortgage, rather than buy-to-let investors. Provides a holistic view of the property purchase process, and examines several key aspects: property, mortgages, and legal considerations. Written by academics who have extensive practical experience in property and mortgages.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.