Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Central and Eastern Europe at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s were characterised by many people exposed to hazardous working conditions. Statistics recorded a considerable increase in the number of occupational diseases. They also showed that it was more dangerous to work for a small company. The transition from planned to market economy has brought ...

This is one of three Issue Briefing Notes produced by a partnership of six sustainable development-oriented non-governmental organizations, including three international organizations and three organizations based in developing countries. The Issue Briefing Notes present a general overview of three issues that deserve particular attention in discussions on the possible development by the Intern...

The paper contains a description of a research conducted in collaboration with some Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs program Romanian students, concerning the use and implementation of ICT (Information and Telecommunication Technology), especially in distance managing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The paper is a response to the nature of contemporary business management, with the constant...

In China, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) tend to be slow in adopting and exploiting information technology (IT) as a means of enhancing their sustainability. It is vital for such firms to adopt IT in order to keep up with an IT-based global business environment. Otherwise, they may find themselves at a severe competitive disadvantage. This paper provides an insight into the low adoption of...

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are normally required to attain dynamic success targets by improvement of their processes, products and services. One way to achieve this could be through quality initiatives and innovation in processes, products and services. In a knowledge based economy, use of quality measures alone may not bring competitive advantage due to severe resource constraints. Th...

The adoption of e-business by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in construction lags other service and product businesses within the building sector. Twenty SMEs were studied to establish the drivers and barriers to e-business adoption within construction. Empirical techniques included interviews and repertory grids for business web site assessment. Data were transcribed and analysed using cl...

Software Process Improvement (SPI) of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is gaining momentum in software research and industry. It is recognized that in most countries software industry is composed of a scheme made up mainly of SMEs. This paper condenses efficient Software Engineering practices that will help a SME make tangible improvements in finite time. A practical and easily applied mechanism...

In small countries such as New Zealand, small to mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) are defined as enterprises employing 19 or fewer employees. Small enterprises are defined as those employing zero to five full-time employees (FTEs) (often called microbusinesses), and medium-sized enterprises as those employing six to nineteen FTEs. Other countries, such as the United States and European countries,...