The Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises in Adverse Economic Environments

Poufinas, Thomas; Galanos, George; Papadimitriou, Pyrros

doi:10.4236/tel.2018.813175

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Kaufmann et al (2012) give examples of acronyms of SMEs like "heart of an economy" or "Gold Dust for an efficient economy". For example, Poufinas et al (2018) say that "SMEs are the backbone of most economies and in particular of the economies of the European countries". According to statistics, they represent 99% of all businesses in the European Union (EU).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information sharing in the context of business cooperation – as a source of competitive advantage

Myšková¹,

Kuběnka²

2019

Journal of International Studies

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One of the problems that SMEs are facing in the long run is lack of external information to assess opportunities and threats in their business environment. This is due to specific management system of SMEs, where management levels are merged, as stated in the article, and management often focuses only on addressing current issues and fails to adequately respond to changes in the business environment. One way of acquiring relevant information about the external environment is mutual information sharing in the context of SMEs cooperation or in cooperation with a large company. The conducted empirical research mapped the levels of management in one of the distribution networks in Czech Republic and focused on defining the areas that need information support, determining their significance from the point of view of participating companies, and their willingness to provide information. Outcomes have shown the need for external information for SMEs, but information sharing between SMEs focuses only on some areas-customerrelated information and information about existing competitors is preferred. From the viewpoint of the manufacturing company, it was found that the information provided by distributors helped to supplement data available to management of the company. So far, the issue of information sharing has been largely addressed at the supply chain level, so this empirical research of the entire sector of competing firms is unique and, stemming from Porter's Five Forces analysis and frequency analysis, brings in new information.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information sharing in the context of business cooperation – as a source of competitive advantage

Myšková¹,

Kuběnka²

2019

Journal of International Studies

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“…The notion of competitiveness is commonly used in present-day economics, albeit without a clear definition or interpretation. A universally acceptable (or consensual) definition of this category is absent; this is partly due to the fact that competitiveness can be studied at several different levels: of a country, region (Amaral and Salerno, 2019;Simionescu, 2016), sector, industry (Bednarz, 2013;Marakova et al, 2016), clusters (Ryzhkoval andProsvirkin, 2015), and enterprises (Kuźmiński et al, 2020;Shevchenko, 2019;Poufinas et al, 2018), all while using a broad range of measures and indicators.…”

Section: Instruments Of Competition As Dimension Of Enterprise Competitivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competition Instruments Applied by Large Enterprises during the Crisis Triggered by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Duda¹,

Wolak-Tuzimek²,

Wójtowicz³

2021

ERSJ

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Purpose: This paper is intended to examine the effects of the crisis that was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the selection of instruments of competition used by enterprises. A research hypothesis (H1) is advanced: at the time of the crisis that was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises have employed new key instruments of competition in order to attain a better competitive standing in the market. The concept and nature of competitiveness are discussed, and instruments of competition are detailed as a dimension of competitiveness. Design/Methodology/Approach: The theoretical section of the paper is based on a comprehensive review of leading specialist literature. The hypothesis is verified by means of exploratory factor analysis, which serves to detect an optimal group of main factors and explicate correlations between observable variables. The number of factors is determined using the Cattell's scree criterion and Kaiser criterion. Findings: The paper contains the results for a group of 253 large Polish enterprises. A factorbased model of competition instruments that have been used by enterprises at the time of the crisis that was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is constructed by using exploratory factor analysis. Three factors are defined: the product, quality, and distribution that are currently being applied by enterprises. Distribution is identified as a new key instrument of competition, while the utilisation of Internet channels allows for maintaining one's competitive status in the market. Practical Implications: The results may be taken advantage of by entrepreneurs. They constitute indications for selecting competition instruments during the crises. Originality/Value: The paper contains the authors' original research into a representative group of large enterprises that can be generalised to the entire population assuming a level of confidence of α = 95% and maximum error of β = 6%.

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“…In recent decades, there has been a resurgence of interest in their ability to contribute to creativity, economic growth, and job creation. SMEs currently substantially contribute 55 percent to gross domestic products (GDP) and 65 percent of the workforce in the developed countries, and more than 90 percent of employment and 70 percent of GDP in emerging economies (Poufinas, Galanos & Papadimitriou, 2018). Globally, SMEs experience higher market challenges, which are exacerbated by inequality in access to cutting-edge innovations resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of entrepreneurial capabilities in small and medium enterprises’ competitiveness in Lagos State

Ogunkoya

Agbaje

2021

IJ-SS

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Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are the foundation of any economic activity. As issues arise in the environment, there is a need to incorporate or optimize several other new capabilities to explain small and medium enterprises' competitiveness. The study aims to investigate entrepreneurial capabilities and SMEs' competitiveness in Lagos state. It employs a survey research design. Cross-sectional data from the primary source were collected through the means of a validated and reliable questionnaire. A sample of 400 respondents was purposefully drawn from the population. The data were analyzed using ordinary least square statistics. The results show that entrepreneurial networking is the most significant driver of SMEs' competitiveness, followed by entrepreneurial networking and then by proactiveness. The study concludes that entrepreneurial capabilities are critical to SMEs' competitive advantage. It recommends that entrepreneurs should develop their capabilities to be able to achieve competitiveness. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Capabilities; Proactiveness; Marketing Orientation; Networking, SMEs.

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The Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises in Adverse Economic Environments

Cited by 17 publications

References 13 publications

Information sharing in the context of business cooperation – as a source of competitive advantage

Information sharing in the context of business cooperation – as a source of competitive advantage

Competition Instruments Applied by Large Enterprises during the Crisis Triggered by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Role of entrepreneurial capabilities in small and medium enterprises’ competitiveness in Lagos State

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