Assessing Factors Influencing Solar Energy Adoption among Small and Medium Enterprises in Mzuzu City, Malawi

One of the many renewable energy sources that offer advantages is solar energy, which also lowers energy prices and promotes environmental sustainability and energy security. Despite these advantages, various barriers, such as installation costs, have prevented small and medium-sized enterprises from investigating this invention. Malawi has a significant energy shortfall such that most businesses have been hindered from their profit maximization goals. The “Photovoltaic systems” (PV) that transform sunlight into electricity are the subject of this study. This type of solar energy system is situated on the building’s roof and generally produces electricity for businesses and even homes. Solar energy offers a great impact to small and medium enterprises in Mzuzu city with a cost-effective and dependable alternative to energy that has the potential to change the game. Therefore the aim of the study was to identify factors that encourage the adoption of solar energy among small medium enterprises in the city of Mzuzu city. And to identify some of barriers faced when adopting solar energy among small and medium enterprises in the city of Mzuzu. The research approach employed in the study was a survey. A survey is a type of research methodology in which primary data is gathered from a sample using a questionnaire. When information is to be gathered from a wider sample, a survey is employed. A bigger sample size was needed in this study in order to facilitate hypothesis testing. It is advised to apply a logical approach while using the survey. The survey utilized a five-point Likert scale. The study used convenience sampling to select study participants. The sample size in this study was determined using Cochran’s sample size formula. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel were used for statistical analysis. About 97.2% of the participants were aware of solar as a source of energy compared to 2.8 % who were unaware. The majority of participants use solar energy for lighting only, seconded by those who use electricity. The least number of participants use solar energy for cooling only. The majority of participants 21.5% indicated partnership and collaboration as the most motivating factor for the adoption of solar energy. This was followed by technical expertise 19.1 % the least number of participants 10.8% expressed that policy and regulatory frameworks were associated with the adoption of solar energy. This study found that there are no statistically significant factors influencing barriers to the adoption of solar energy. The price of solar energy adoption was identified as the least factor associated with the acceptance or rejection of solar energy. Nonetheless, the reasons given by the homes that had embraced solar technology aligned with the findings of other studies. This survey also found that although the public was aware of solar energy, and technology, there were still a number of factors that mattered, especially for non-adopters.

Contract Mechanism of Water Environment Regulation for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Based on Optimal Control Theory

The small and scattered enterprise pattern in the county economy has formed numerous sporadic pollution sources, hindering the centralized treatment of the water environment, increasing the cost and difficulty of treatment. How enterprises can make reasonable decisions on their water environment behavior based on the external environment and their own factors is of great significance for scientifically and effectively designing water environment regulation mechanisms. Based on optimal control theory, this study investigates the design of contractual mechanisms for water environmental regulation for small and medium-sized enterprises. The enterprise is regarded as an independent economic entity that can adopt optimal control strategies to maximize its own interests. Based on the participation of multiple subjects including the government, enterprises, and the public, an optimal control strategy model for enterprises under contractual water environmental regulation is constructed using optimal control theory, and a method for calculating the amount of unit pollutant penalties is derived. The water pollutant treatment cost data of a paper company is selected to conduct empirical numerical analysis on the model. The results show that the increase in the probability of government regulation and public participation, as well as the decrease in local government protection for enterprises, can achieve the same regulatory effect while reducing the number of administrative penalties per unit. Finally, the implementation process of contractual water environmental regulation for small and medium-sized enterprises is designed.

Empirical Research on the Credit Demand and Credit Behavior of Small and Micro Enterprises

This article uses discriminant sampling method to select 1062 small and micro enterprises from 25 provinces in China. Researches were conducted on their credit demand and credit behavior, with the Probit model to carry out metrologic tests on influential factors of these enterprises' credit demand and credit behavior.The metrologic analysis shows: Literacy level of leader, asset size, annual revenue of the enterprises have significantly positive effects on the credit demand of these small and micro enterprises. Annual revenue has significantly negative influence on overall credit behavior and the occurrence of informal financial behavior, but significantly positive influence on the occurrence of formal financial behavior. Literacy level of staff and asset size of enterprises have significantly positive influence on the occurrence of the overall credit behavior of small and micro enterprises.

Fuzzy integral based measurement and assessment of medium and small enterprises'product innovation

A fuzzy integral based way of measurement assessment has been established by using linguistic varia-bles and combining fuzzy integral with hierarchy analysis for measurement of medium and small enterprises'product innovation. The conclusions drawn from analyses made with 20 medium and small enterprises providebases for governments to formulate applicable policies and for medium and small enterprises to enhance theirproduct innovation.

Digital Transformation of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Production Manufacturing

Industry 4.0 concepts have brought about a wind of renewal in the organization of companies and their production methods. However, this integration is subject to obstacles when it comes to Small and Medium sized Enterprises—SMEs: the costs of new technologies to be acquired, the level of maturity of the company regarding its level of digitization and automation, human aspects such as training employees to master new technologies, reluctance to change, etc. This article provides a new framework and presents an intelligent support system to facilitate the digital transformation of SMEs. The digitalization is realized through physical, informational, and decisional points of view. To achieve the complete transformation of the company, the framework combines the triptych of performance criteria (cost, quality, time) with the notions of sustainability (with respect to social, societal, and environmental aspects) and digitization through tools to be integrated into the company’s processes. The new framework encompasses the formalisms developed in the literature on Industry 4.0 concepts, information systems and organizational methods as well as a global structure to support and assist operators in managing their operations. In the form of a web application, it will exploit reliable data obtained through information systems such as Enterprise Resources Planning—ERP, Manufacturing Execution System—MES, or Warehouse Management System—WMS and new technologies such as artificial intelligence (deep learning, multi-agent systems, expert systems), big data, Internet of things (IoT) that communicate with each other to assist operators during production processes. To illustrate and validate the concepts and developed tools, use cases of an electronic manufacturing SME have been solved with these concepts and tools, in order to succeed in this company’s digital transformation. Thus, a reference model of the electronics manufacturing companies is being developed for facilitating the future digital transformation of these domain companies. The realization of these use cases and the new reference model are growing up and their future exploitation will be presented as soon as possible.

A Novel Lifecycle Model for Web-based Application Development in Small and Medium Enterprises

Software engineering＇s lifecycle models havc proven to be very important for traditional software development. However, can these models be applied to the development of Web-based applications as well？ In recent years, Web-based applications have become more and more complicated and a lot of efforts have been placed on introducing new technologies such as J2EE, PhP, and .NET, etc., which have been universally accepted as the development technologies for Web-based applications. However, there is no universally accepted process model for the development of Web-based applications. Moreover, shaping the process model for small medium-sized enterprises （SMEs）, which have limited resources, has been relatively neglected. Based on our previous work, this paper presents an expanded lifecycle process model for the development of Web-based applications in SMEs. It consists of three sets of processes, i.e., requirement processes, development processes, and evolution processes. Particularly, the post-delivery evolution processes are important to SMEs to develop and maintain quality web applications with limited resources and time.

Mechanism of Impact of Entrepreneurial Spirit on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Private Enterprises in China

As a necessary factor for a successful business,entrepreneurial spirit is an important means for enterprises to survive in the unstable environment of fierce competition. Under the circumstance of mass entrepreneurship and innovation,a large number of small and medium-sized private enterprises have emerged in all walks of life in China. This paper examines the differences in the definition of entrepreneurial spirit by different scholars,the influence of Chinese entrepreneurship on the development of small and medium-sized private enterprises,the origin of the spirit of private entrepreneurs with Chinese characteristics,and the disadvantages of the spirit of small and medium-sized private entrepreneurs in China. It is necessary to further improve entrepreneurial spirit to contribute to the development of small and medium-sized private enterprises and help China to build the national economic system.

STUDY ON MEASURE OF TECHNICAL INNOVATION ABILITY IN MEDIUM AND SMALL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES

Measure index system of technical innovation in medium and smallmanufacturing enterprises is established according to principles of exploration, adaptability,standardization, generalization, feasibility, comparability and combination of economic benefit andcontinual development. It includes index of technical innovation capacity, informationaladministration on technical innovation, and investment of technical innovation, economic benefit,green technical level, social contribution and other influential indexes. Approach to measure oftechnical innovation in medium and small manufacturing enterprises is presented based on combinationof grey relation and fuzzy hiberarchy analysis, and conclusions are drawn based on practicalanalysis of 20 medium and small enterprises, which provides the basis for the medium and smallenterprises to select technical innovation policies and the government to constitute relativepolicies.

Commercial Banks Responses toward Small and Medium Enterprises Survival in the Context of the COVID-19 in Africa

The African government has implemented measures to sustain an investable economic downturn as it navigates the fiscal effect of the viral spread of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).Consequently,commercial banks in Africa have come hand in hand toward support of SMEs activities by increasing their borrowing power and reducing interest rates.Despite all these measures the general performance of small and medium enterprises(SMEs)across Africa as pertains to revenues and profits has gone down.This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the measures undertaken by commercial banks to ensure proper running and continuity of activities in the SMEs sector in Africa.The research is founded on the theories of innovation diffusion and resource-based theory.This study will use a mixed research design,which will include descriptive and explanatory research.The proposed target population will be Africa’s thriving commercial banks.The primary and secondary data will be used from commercial bank reports and the central bureau of statistics reports across Africa.The data will be analyzed using a multiple linear regression model.The finding indicated that commercial banks in Africa have brought in solutions and measures to adapt to the crisis being implicated on the SMEs by the COVID-19 pandemic.Based on the findings of the desktop reviews,the study concludes that commercial banks have a significant influence on SMEs during this period of COVID-19,and with the assistance of the government,they have implemented more policies to support the activities of SMEs.

Mechanism of Interaction between Entrepreneurial Spirit and Growth of Small and Medium Sized Private Enterprises

In the context of government appeal of " mass entrepreneurship and innovation",all areas launched the movement of " mass entrepreneurship" and " grassroots entrepreneurship". As parts of vitality of China's market economy,small and medium sized private enterprises become grassroots of market competition in talents,funds,and technologies. This paper combined three levels of entrepreneurial spirit and small and medium sized private enterprises,studied acting mechanism of entrepreneurial spirit,discussed competitive power of small and medium sized private enterprises,and recommended that small and medium sized private enterprises should cultivate core competitive power,adapt to external environment,and create external environment support,to realize sound development.

The Importance of Cultural Intelligence for Leader to Communicate Effectively: Case Study in Micro Small Medium Enterprises

Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia play huge part of national economic development because MSMEs can reduce unemployment rate. But, it is not easy to manage MSMEs well so it can be sustainable. There are some reasons why MSMEs are difficult to sustain, i.e., good management people by communicate effectively. Authors believe that one of important ability that owners, as a leader, must have in order to communicate effectively is cultural intelligence. Even in MSMEs, cultural intelligence plays important part because employees in MSMEs are diverse. They come from different region (mean having different tradition) and have different level of education. Methodology that is used in this article is qualitative method, and techniques of data collection are interview and observation. Technique of choosing informant is purposive and convenience while data analysis is using content analysis. The result of this study shows that leaders in MSMEs already have cultural intelligence to communicate with their employee. Leaders who have cultural intelligence can choose right method to communicate effectively with their employee.

Data Mining for Small and Medium Enterprises: A Conceptual Model for Adaptation

The following paper explored data mining issues in Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs), firstly exploring the relationship between data mining and economic development. With SME’s contributing most employment prospects and output within any emerging economy such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Adopting technology will improve SME’s potential for effective decision making and efficient operations. Hence, it is important that SMEs have access to data mining techniques and implement the most suited into their business to improve their business intelligence (BI). The paper is aimed to critically review the existing literature on data mining in the field of SME to provide a theoretical underpinning for any future work. It has been found data mining to be complicated and fragmented with a multitude of options available for businesses from quite basic systems implemented within Excel or Access to more sophisticated cloud-based systems. For any business, data mining is trade-off between the need for data analysis, and intelligence against the cost and resource-use of the system put in place. Multiple challenges have been identified to data mining, most notably the resource-intensive nature of systems (both in terms of labor and capital) and the security issues of data collection, analysis and storage;with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) a key focus for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia businesses. With these challenges the paper suggests that any SME starts small with an internal data mining exercise to digitalize and analyze their customer data, scaling up over time as the business grows and acquires the resources needed to properly manage any system.

The role of e-readiness assessment criteria in accepting e-commerce for small and medium size enterprisesmDevelopment of technology acceptance model

This paper develops Davis technology acceptance model by adding two criteria of e-readiness assessment. For small and medium size enterprises, the paper evaluates the credit of developed model in studying the efficient factors in internet technology acceptance, which is one of the most applicable communication tools in e-commerce. The added factors, taken from models and means of e-readiness assessment, are ＂existing information technology infrastructures＂ as well as ＂organization＇s training＂. The authors study 45 small and medium size enterprises in the city of Tehran, which are active in information technology products and services. Using Lisrel structural equation modelling, it is shown that there is a meaningful relationship between the added factors and the variables indicating internet network usage. Therefore, the better factors of e-readiness assessment lead to the higher acceptance level of electronic communication tools in e-commerce.

A Model to Analyze Small and Medium Enterprises＇ Training Needs Related to the Internationalization

Formal training can play a particularly important role in supporting the internationalization of small and medium enterprises （SMEs）. However, the demand for education services by the latter still appears limited. This is due to known structural and cultural limits that are found widely in this type of business and to the fact that the provision of training---especially that which is funded^oes not seem to address adequately SMEs＇ needs; in many cases, such training is not stimulating, because it is perceived as too general. In fact, SMEs do not constitute a single homogeneous group and therefore assistance needs vary among the different types of firms. So, especially in relation to internationalization, it is clear that there are important differences to consider due to the variety of approaches and ways of developing this process. In order to optimize the resources to invest in the promotion of training, there is a need to find a proper balance between providing ＂viable solutions for all businesses＂ and offering ＂targeted responses and tailored services＂. In such a context, the main objective of this paper is to identify and systematize the variables that most influence the SMEs＇ training needs related to internationalization by taking into account the differences among them. To this end, an empirical analysis was developed involving a significant number of Italian SMEs by using a combination of qualitative research methods. The results show the critical issues faced by the investigated firms during their internationalization process and highlight some important variables that affect their training needs： export involvement, characteristics of the product/market, characteristics of the company, exporting strategy, and human resources. Based on these variables, the writers identified clusters of firms characterized by similar needs and problems to be faced.

The Requirements for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises in Croatia and the European Union

Small and medium enterprises are the main institutional medium of the European economy. This is also recognized by the government of the Republic of Croatia, which emphasizes their importance and values their dynamism and capability for revitalizing the Croatian economy, and supports this by ways of subsidies. But, for all the effort, the economic position of small and medium enterprises in the terms of globalization is becoming more complex and uncertain, limited by time and more demanding. This does not correspond with the thesis which states that in the environment and conditions of the modem market economy, which is dynamised by progress in science, technology, information and communication, entrepreneurship has manifested a progressive dimension with the character and needs of all economic activity, as well as a tendency to achieve set objectives and generate change. Recently, after the repeated recession, which was encumbered by the effects of the one before, the conditions of doing business and survival for small and medium enterprises have changed significantly in a negative sense. So, there is a justified cause for questioning earlier stances about small and medium enterprises and their capability to be a motor of development of the Croatian economy, as well as to reevaluate their influence in the context of GDP growth, to focus on the importance and prevalence of certain sectors of the economy, to critically evaluate economic measures which do not lead to a reduction in unemployment and to define the requirements for future development of the small and medium enterprises, which implicates the increased economic efficiency, quality and living standards.

Analysis of Core Competency Required for the Managerial Work Force of Small and Medium Enterprises in Taiwan

This study aims to probe into the core competencies, as should be possessed by the managerial work forces of firms, from the perspective of employers’ in small and medium enterprises. The findings can serve as references for planning core courses of employee training and labor employment. Based on the research purposes, this study adopted revised DACUM, conducted literature review, and applied a questionnaire survey. The subjects were the members of SMEs Honor Instructor Association of Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan, and the Society of Management Science. Random sampling was used, with the number of employees as the units. The valid return rate was 24.2%. After testing goodness of fit of K-S single samples, this study found that a corporate management work force should have 11 items of core competencies, and 35 items of secondary competency.

The Challenge of Implementing Information Security Standards in Small and Medium e-Business Enterprises

The dynamic nature of online systems requires companies to be proactive with thwarting information security threats, and to follow a systematic way for managing and evaluating the security of their online services. The existence of security standards is an important factor that helps organisations to evaluate and manage security by providing guidelines and best practices that enable them to follow a standard and systematic way to protect their e-Business activities. However, the suitability of available information security standards for Small and Medium e-Business Enterprises (e-SME) is worth further investigation. In this paper three major security standards including Common Criteria, System Security Engineering-Capability and Maturity Model and ISO/IEC 27001 were analysed. Accordingly, several challenges associated with these standards that may render them difficult to be implemented in e-SME have been identified.

Competition in Marketing： Survival Yardstick for Small and Medium Enterprises （SMEs） in Nigeria

The topic investigated competition in marketing as a survival yardstick for small and medium enterprises （SMEs） in Nigeria. The objectives addressed by this study were： （1） identifying different types and intensity of competition that SMEs are exposed to along the life-cycle portfolio in Nigeria; （2） quantifying the strength of SMEs vis-a-vis some foreign enterprises in terms of market competition; and （3） proffering solutions on how best they could match competitively these foreign enterprises. Relevant models and theories were employed in literature to evolve detailed analysis of issues relating to the variables used in terms of competition in marketing and survival of juice-producing SMEs. Two hypotheses were investigated through the survey of 20 prominent Ikeja based SMEs using Cluster sampling, 5-points Likert summated rating scale was adopted, while Yard＇s formula with 95% confidence level and 5% error tolerance was used. Alternative form validity of the instrument was measured at 0.63 while its reliability was measured at Cronbach＇s alpha of 0.70. Pearson＇s product-moment correlation was used in testing hypothesis 1 while standard multiple regressions were used to test hypothesis 2. Findings revealed that there was strong relationship between survival of juice-producing SMEs with forms of competition on a firm＇s life-cycle; while competition had positive effects on survival components for the enterprises. It was concluded that since competition subsists in any firm＇s life-cycle, strategies to support operations for survival must be adopted. It was recommended that operators of SMEs have to monitor and manage competition as it affects their businesses positively and/or negatively.

Research of E-commerce Application in Small and Medium Enterprises——A Case Study of Wenzhou

The paper analyzes the status quo of E-commerce application in Wenzhou＇s small and medium enterprises. This survey selects the 100 prominent small and medium enterprises covering chemical engineering, shoes, apparel, machinery, furniture, glasses, lighters, pen and pencil, electric and electronics as the investigating targets and issues the questionnaires to them. The result indicates that, the status quo of E-commerce application in Wenzhou＇s small and medium enterprises are worrisome, which is obviously way behind other cities. Based on that, the paper analyzes the reasons in combination with visiting them, and also proposes the corresponding strategies and predicts its prospect in the end.

Measuring the Degree of Innovation in Retail and Services Micro and Small Enterprises

Micro and small enterprises （MSEs） are considered the most dynamic and flexible arrangement of activity. In the economy, the foundation and development of these features is important for the creation of the so-called ＂normal＂ economic environment. The main objective of this research is to present a research model of innovation in MSEs to analyse： first, the degree of innovation of MSEs, and second, how the innovation is handled by existing MSEs as a result of its business environment. The research made is based on a sample of 550 MSEs distributed over six cities across the Brazilian State of Piaui. The data were collected using the Innovation Radar application, which is owned by the SEBRAE Local Innovation Agents program. Statistical techniques of descriptive, exploratory, and inferential nature were used for corresponding data treatment and results validation. The results obtained suggest that MSEs have innovation capacity between the ＂Little Innovative＂ and ＂Occasional Innovative＂ range, and also that the average and the distribution of innovation levels are similar amongst MSEs analyzed.