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This article talks about growing small businesses in a recession and examines management strategies that made the company grow. Recessionary periods are accepted tough for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to survive and grow, yet some do. SME performance is discussed associating with different factors including barriers, business characteristics, owner-manager lifestyle and networks. Prior studies have a significant contribution in exploring aggregate SME growth phenomena, but there is a little understanding of how SMEs grow in the recessionary periods. This study used a pluralist methodology with the participant action research as a primary approach, case study as a design and mix-method strategy to collect and analyse data. The research is dominant by qualitative research where such data were collected from a series of informal interviews and observation. Similarly, quantitative data such as business records and financial information were gathered from primary and secondary sources. The case study firm implemented two management strategies: learning in the organisation and restructuring the organisation to achieve growth during the recession of 2008-2009. Even though the precise impact of these strategies is challenging to establish, both learning and restructuring strategies were making the firm grow in the recession of 2008-2009. Since SMEs operate in a context, any "ready-to-use" and "one-size-fits-all" strategies and advice do not help individual businesses grow. This paper will be of interest to all the people who are involved in making the SMEs grow in recessionary periods.

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In general standardization and maintenance of a building, numerous plans, procedures, and guidelines are essential for the appropriate management of such structure to meet expectations and withstand any form of problems that may erupt from its usage. In situations of employing inadequate and improper maintenance architecture in the management of the building services, the outcome leads to the compromise of the purpose of design of such building, thereby causing dissatisfaction to the users(occupants). The dissatisfaction of occupants often leads to complaints that increase the maintenance cost. The main focus of this paper suggests the appropriate use of the maintenance planning process to avoid accruing extra costs on maintenance both from the housing provider and user. This paper further highlights the effectiveness of the maintenance planning process and the significance of occupants’ satisfaction with maintenance provided in their homes. In achieving the objective, a survey was conducted and data gathered were analyzed using analytical tools such as frequencies and ANOVA. The study reveals the level of satisfaction of occupants with maintenance issues in the property and satisfaction with the safety measures put in place within the building. Finally, the result generated from the survey recommends the proper use of the maintenance planning process to avoid accruing extra costs on maintenance while prioritizing maximum customer satisfaction.

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