Small businesses, businesses with 20 or less personnel, account for a significant proportion of economic activity and it is the economic sector that employs the most people in OECD countries. Small businesses are fundamentally different than larger organizations in their operations and decision-making processes. Business intelligence (BI) is the current approach to management decision support i...

This paper uses a novel recursive meta-profiling technique where profiles from one set of objects dynamically change the representation of another set of objects. Two profiling schemes evolve in parallel influencing each other through indirect recursion, and is demonstrated with the help of a yelp.com dataset consisting of businesses and reviewers. A business is represented by static informatio...

This paper presents the findings of a survey of 237 high tech small and medium sized businesses based in the UK. The survey is part of an ongoing comparative study of high tech small businesses in the UK and Japan. The paper describes the growth, innovative activity and market structure of businesses studied. Based on characteristics of the businesses and their CEOs five ‘types’ of high tech sm...

Cloud computing promises to bring substantial benefits to how organizations conduct their businesses and the way their services reach out to potential consumers. Cloud computing is a welcome initiative for small businesses that cannot afford to invest in ICT infrastructure but need to benefit from the rewards of conducting business online. In developing economies, there are challenges that face...

A major flood in 1997 forced the evacuation of Grand Forks, North Dakota and caused damage of USD 1 billion. Despite this recent disaster there is only marginal evidence of an increase in disaster recovery planning by businesses that experienced the flood. This finding is consistent with the results of other business-related disaster research. Statistical tests of survey results from 2003 indic...

In this study we explore the concept of business model and its essential elements in software business. There are no rigorous previous definitions or descriptions of the term business model in the context of software businesses in existing academic literature. Hence, a conceptual definition was found essential. Furthermore, there is a clear managerial need for constructs that help understanding...

INTRODUCTION The global nature of pr duct and service markets, technology and competition has increased business requirements for flexibility, quality, cost-effectiveness and timeliness. As a key resource for meeting these requirements, information technology (IT) has been revolutionizing business practice. While there has been considerable research into the way in which large businesses use th...

ideas, facts, knowledge, wisdom No legal rights Ideas reduced to practice Possibly patents, trade secrets, etc. Information Expression of ideas, creativity, etc. Possibly copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, etc. Data Representation e.g. in binary form No legal rights, but possibly technical protection, e.g. encryption Physical medium Embodiment Possibly property rights, technical protection F...