Search Results (1,115)

Carbon emissions trading pilots are an essential environmental regulation tool for incentivizing companies to reduce carbon emissions and a critical initiative for achieving “dual carbon” targets. This study, based on 2366 observations of 169 high-carbon listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2009 to 2022, uses double machine learning analysis to examine the impact and mechanisms of pilot policy on the low-carbon competitiveness of high-carbon industry-listed companies. The empirical results show that, first, pilot policy significantly enhances the low-carbon competitiveness of high-carbon industry-listed companies, and this conclusion holds after considering a series of robustness checks. Second, mechanism analysis indicates that alleviating green financing constraints and enhancing total factor productivity are pathways through which pilot policy influences low-carbon competitiveness. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy effects are stronger for state-owned enterprises, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and companies in eastern regions. Further analysis reveals that pilot policy enhances low-carbon competitiveness and increase enterprise value. Based on the study’s conclusions, the government should ensure the incentivizing effect of pilot policy, promote expansion of the carbon emissions trading market, assist enterprises in overcoming green financing constraints, improve total factor productivity, and formulate tailored policies according to the development levels and resource endowments of regions and companies. Full article

In order to realise the efficient maintenance of industrial machines, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) need a system that utilises digital technology to handle everything from data collection to the visualisation of the collected data in an integrated manner. In this paper, an integrated monitoring platform using external sensor devices is proposed and implemented for the purpose of preventive maintenance of industrial machines. The proposed system performs edge processing to calculate features effective for monitoring on the sensor device, collects only the obtained features, and visualises them on a web server. In order to determine the features required by edge processing, a cycle waveform cut-out algorithm was proposed. As an evaluation experiment, the proposed system was used to detect the loosening of bolts on the support side of a ball screw. The results of the analysis showed that the dispersion value immediately after the start of uniform motion from the right end to the left end was valid, so the system was implemented as edge processing in the sensor device. In wireless transmission experiments on a testbed, an average of 20 consecutive cycles were used to achieve a 99.9% correct response rate and high detection accuracy, demonstrating the usefulness of the proposed system. Full article

Dependence on manual inspections for quality control often results in errors, especially after prolonged periods of work that heighten the risk of missed defects. There is no shortage of expensive commercial inspection systems that can carry out the quality control work satisfactorily. However, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often face challenges in adopting these new systems for their production workflows because of the associated integration risks, high cost, and skill complexity. To address these issues, a portable, cost-effective, and automated quality inspection system was developed as an introductory tool for SMEs. Leveraging computer vision, 3D-printed mechanical parts, and accessible components, this system offers a 360-degree inspection of production line products, enabling SMEs to explore automation with minimal investment. It features a brief training phase using a few defect-free parts to reduce the skill barrier, thus helping SMEs to transition towards smart manufacturing. These help to address the main technology adoption barriers of cost, risk, and complexity. The system’s performance was validated through repeated testing on a large sheet metal chassis installed in uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), confirming its effectiveness as a steppingstone toward more advanced smart manufacturing solutions. Full article

Small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) mining firms contribute to Chile’s economy. However, more support is needed to improve decision-making, mainly in a context where it is necessary for mining to operate sustainably. Loading and transportation are essential unit operations in mining. Solution-focused supplier companies are joining the market, making selection more difficult. This study suggests a hierarchical analytical process-based multi-criteria analysis. Among what stands out are its simplicity and clarity. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), used in several fields, is a flexible multi-criteria analysis system for complex decision-making. Its development used Expert Choice^® software. The results show that the most crucial criterion for selecting loading and transportation equipment suppliers is related to occupational safety and health. The most relevant components are the mortality, accident frequency, and severity rates. Operational indicators are the second most relevant criterion, enabling companies to be more productive and efficient in achieving their objectives. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that, even with variations in the criterion preferences, the fatality rate remains at the top of the hierarchy, showing the robustness of the model used. Contrary to what might be expected, criteria such as the supplier profile do not stand out among the critical factors for the sector. Full article

Ambidextrous innovation is key to the high-quality and sustainable development of enterprises, but it remains unclear how digital capabilities affect knowledge management and ambidextrous innovation in the digital economy era. Based on organizational learning theory, this paper explores the impact pathways of digital capabilities on knowledge management and ambidextrous innovation, while also analyzing the moderating effect of knowledge inertia. Empirical research on 253 technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) demonstrates that digital capabilities have a significant positive effect on both exploitative and exploratory innovation, and they influence both types of innovation through the mediating role of knowledge management. Furthermore, knowledge inertia negatively moderates the impact of digital capabilities on knowledge management and exploratory innovation. This study reveals the internal mechanism by which digital capabilities drive ambidextrous innovation through knowledge management, providing theoretical support for enterprises to deepen digitalization and carry out ambidextrous innovation. Full article

Design thinking is an innovative methodology that may be applied by small and medium enterprises which emphasizes a human-centered approach to problem-solving, facilitating the creation of novel solutions for complex and open-ended challenges like the development of new products. Despite its recognized importance in business and academia, many industrial SMEs struggle with applying design thinking in their product development processes. This research aims to identify the central characteristics of design thinking and its critical success factors to enable effective application by industrial SMEs. Based on a systematic search in the Scopus database (last searched 14 May 2024) for the relevant literature, which resulted in a selection of 30 published papers, with titles and/or abstract fields containing words of design thinking and small- and medium-sized enterprises in industrial sectors, and a bibliometric analysis of co-word occurrence using VOS Viewer (1.6.20 version), we construct a framework that identifies central characteristics, design thinking principles, criteria, phases, and tools, as well as four dimensions of critical success factors: strategy, culture, competences, and implementation. This finding is new as it applies to industrial SMEs, as compared to extant research’s more general orientation. The framework is presented in visual form to facilitate use in developmental workshops with SMEs and supporting actors. This paper ends with notes on limitations and proposals for further research. Full article

In the era of digital intelligence, sustainable ecological cooperation in cross-border integration has become a trend, and the willingness of sustainable cooperation is the key to stabilising the cooperative relationship between enterprises and partners and obtaining more profits. Due to the heterogeneity of enterprises, the sense of fairness of enterprises in a relatively disadvantaged position can only be improved to achieve the sustainable development of the cooperative relationship between the two parties. In the business ecosystem, there are some enterprises with obvious differences in resource endowment, market influence, innovation engines, and technology leadership, etc. Enterprises with core competitive advantages occupy the ecological high position and become the ecological core enterprises, while enterprises with relatively weak competitive advantages need to depend on the core enterprises in order to survive in the business ecosystem and become the ecological participating enterprises. This paper takes ‘core enterprise–participating enterprises’ as the main body, establishes a dynamic evolutionary game model to explore the factors affecting the two parties ‘willingness to sustain cooperation, and finds that the increase in the coefficient of willingness to sustain cooperation and the coefficient of maintaining the relationship between core enterprises and participating enterprises, as well as the decrease in the losses caused by opportunistic behaviours of the other party’s enterprises to their own enterprises, will promote the two parties’ willingness to sustain cooperation. In order to verify the connection between the numerical model derivation and the actual situation, we refer to the research of domestic and international scholars, design the scale, and finally obtain 242 valid questionnaires through the research of 263 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China. The results find that the sense of distributive fairness, procedural fairness, and interactive fairness positively promote the willingness to cooperate on a sustainable basis; the sense of contractual fairness increases the willingness to cooperate on a sustainable basis through the relationship value enhancement; and the risk of opportunism negatively moderates the relationship value’s impact on the willingness to cooperate on a sustainable basis. The findings can provide lessons for Chinese SMEs to achieve cross-border integration and for SMEs to improve their ability to manage partnership uncertainty. Full article

Intense market competition has driven small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector to collaborate and form supply chain coalitions, which can improve the information flow and resource sharing and significantly enhance supply chain management efficiency. However, the distribution of cooperative benefits poses a core challenge for the long-term stability of coalitions. This paper addresses the impact of dynamic changes in complex business environments by utilizing triangular fuzzy numbers to represent the value of coalition, effectively depicting the uncertainty and ambiguity in the cooperation process. Compared to traditional models (which do not use triangular fuzzy numbers), this model is better suited to dynamic changes, offering flexible response mechanisms that ensure adaptability and fairness in the decision-making process. In addition, considering the influence of each member’s weight in the coalition, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is used to determine the weights. With the goal of minimizing the dissatisfaction of enterprises in benefit distribution, a least square contribution with triangular fuzzy numbers is constructed to replace the marginal contribution of the classical Banzhaf value, and an improved Banzhaf value based on the player’s triangular fuzzy number-weighted excess contribution is proposed to arrive at a fair and reasonable benefit allocation strategy in order to enhance the long-term stability and cooperative benefits of coalition. By analyzing an example of the supply chain coalition, the effectiveness of the proposed improved Banzhaf value is verified, which satisfies the uniqueness, the individual rationality, and the group rationality. It not only promotes the level of risk management and decision making under the uncertainty conditions of complex business, but also deepens the theoretical foundation of cooperative game theory and expands its possibilities in practical applications and future development. Full article

In the competitive hospitality sector, the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is essential for enhancing operational efficiency and improving customer experiences. This study explores how key entrepreneurial traits—Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (ESE), and Perceived Business Performance (PBP)—influence managers’ attitudes toward adopting AI in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Ts research utilizes data from 287 respondents, gathered through field research with a survey designed to measure the relationships among constructs, employing structural equation modeling (SEM) for analysis. Results reveal that PBP and certain ESE dimensions, such as Initiating Investor Relationships and Developing New Products, have only a modest positive effect on AI adoption. In contrast, EO—specifically Proactiveness and Innovativeness—exhibits a weak negative impact. Importantly, none of these factors directly affect managers’ attitudes toward AI. Instead, this study highlights that managers’ positive attitudes are the strongest predictors of AI adoption, aligning with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The findings offer new insights into key entrepreneurial factors driving AI adoption and emphasize the need for targeted education and supportive policies to facilitate AI integration in hospitality SMEs. Fostering a positive perspective on AI is more important for adoption than overcoming skepticism, as negative attitudes do not influence AI adoption. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the world economy and global society. However, small- and medium-sized enterprises are among the most vulnerable and affected groups of businesses, and in some cases, life-saving interventions have resulted in serious existential implications. The difficulties of insufficient demand, non-negligible fixed costs, and inadequate financing are unsustainable for many firms. Thus, the main aim of this study is to evaluate the variables influencing business activities, apply macroeconomic variables to compare the business environments in fifteen European countries, and utilize appropriate statistical techniques to confirm the results. Significant differences exist in the business climate across selected European countries, as identified by the TOPSIS method, CPI, and GCI. Low levels of corruption, strong economic stability, and high competitiveness make countries like Germany and Austria attractive for business environments. Estonia is also a leader in technological innovation and low corruption. Conversely, Bulgaria and Romania are struggling with higher levels of corruption and reduced competitiveness, potentially impeding business endeavours. The Visegrad Group countries are in the middle of the spectrum, scoring average to good but with opportunities for improvement in corruption and innovation. Overall, the business climate in these countries is diverse, reflecting their unique economic, political, and social circumstances. Full article

Nowadays, businesses in Ukraine face new challenges that the world has never experienced before. Earlier, during the war, countries had to curtail their economic activities, everything operated for the sake of military needs. However, now, within hybrid wars, the country’s economy and its actors have to demonstrate rapid adaptive models and changes in strategies, and sometimes function without strategies at all. Advanter Group conducted a survey of 696 Ukrainian enterprises in the period from 20 December 2023 to 8 January 2024 (a year of full-scale aggression); a direct questionnaire method was used. Key hypotheses (10 hypotheses) regarding the resilience factors of Ukrainian businesses during the period of the full-scale invasion were tested using statistical analysis methods. Statistically significant differences were established in various aspects of the functioning of SMBs. Based on the research, it is concluded that reforms in the legal sphere, aimed at facilitating conditions for business and protecting the rights of enterprises, are an urgent necessity for the further development of the economy of Ukraine. Practical recommendations arising from the research are presented, including reducing the level of uncertainty for business, revising the tax system, creating incentives for the development of SMBs, and increasing the transparency and stability of the conditions for resource mobilization. Several key principles of the national policy aimed at facilitating conditions for the development of entrepreneurship and anti-corruption are also suggested. Full article

Selenium disulfide (often referred to as SeS₂) encompasses a family of mixed selenium-sulfide eight-membered rings, traditionally used as an anti-dandruff agent in shampoos. SeS₂ can be produced by reacting hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) with selenite (SeO₃²⁻) under acidic conditions. This chemistry is also possible with natural spring waters that are rich in H₂S, thus providing an avenue for the more sustainable, green production of high-quality SeS₂ particles from an abundant natural source. The orange material obtained this way consists of small globules with a diameter in the range of 1.1 to 1.2 µm composed of various Se_xS_8−x chalcogen rings. It shows the usual composition and characteristics of a Se-S interchalcogen compound in EDX and Raman spectroscopy. Since the mineral water from Bad Nenndorf is also rich in salts, the leftover brine has been evaporated to yield a selenium-enriched salt mixture similar to table salt. As the water from Bad Nenndorf—in comparison to other bodies of water around the world—is still rather modest in terms of its H₂S content, especially when compared with volcanic waters, this approach may be refined further to become economically and ecologically viable, especially as a regional business model for small and medium-sized enterprises. Full article

The article examines modern approaches to energy management in the context of the development of Industry 5.0 with a particular focus on cybersecurity. Key tenets of Industry 5.0 are discussed, including the integration of advanced technologies with intelligent energy management systems (IEMSs) and the growing need to protect data in the face of increasing cyber threats. The challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using solutions based on renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic farms, are also analyzed. The article presents examples of IEMS applications and discusses methods for securing these systems, offering an overview of cyber threat protection tools in the context of modern energy management. The analysis carried out provided information that will help businesses make rational decisions and contribute to shaping the state’s macroeconomic policy on cybersecurity and energy savings. The results of this research can also help develop more effective strategies for managing technology and IT infrastructure, which is crucial in the digital age of Industry 5.0. Full article

This scholarly investigation examines the efficacy of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in enhancing cash flow forecasting (CFF) among construction Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia, with a specific focus on fostering innovation for sustainable economic advancement. In so doing, it seeks to strengthen the long-term viability of SMEs within the rapidly growing Saudi construction sector, thereby contributing meaningfully to broader economic goals. A quantitative research methodology was employed, with empirical data gathered through a questionnaire survey administered to one hundred construction stakeholders within Saudi Arabian SMEs. Quantitative data analysis techniques were applied to elucidate key themes and pressing issues in current CFF practices. The findings highlight critical challenges faced by Saudi Arabian SMEs in cash flow management, notably a scarcity of financial resources, a lack of advanced CFF expertise, and resistance to technological adoption. Integrating BIM into CFF processes emerges as an effective solution, addressing these challenges by providing accurate, timely financial data, improving project planning and execution, and enabling more informed decision-making, thereby fostering sustainable business operations. The proposed BIM integration strategy offers a practical roadmap for SMEs to adopt BIM for enhanced CFF, aligning with and advancing the sustainable economic objectives outlined in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. By focusing on the unique context of Saudi Arabian construction SMEs and their specific cash flow management challenges, this study enriches the existing literature with substantive insights. It critically illustrates how BIM adoption can transform traditional financial management practices, presenting a robust framework for promoting sustainable economic development through innovation in CFF. Furthermore, these findings have significant implications for other developing economies seeking to leverage technological advancements as drivers of long-term growth. Full article

This paper introduces a novel methodology for measuring and decomposing multidimensional inequality, allowing for the breakdown of overall inequality into contributions from distinct dimensions. This approach offers valuable insights for sustainable business development by identifying economic sectors where Environmental, Social, or Governance (ESG) practices are most unequal and thus may benefit from policy intervention. Additionally, it explores the relationship between company size and sustainability, highlighting that the most concentrated sectors tend to exhibit the greatest ESG inequality. Applying this methodology to a sample of over 1000 small and medium-sized enterprises across various sectors in Italy, our analysis of the multidimensional index for 2022 reveals notable disparities in corporate financial performance and ESG adoption. Specifically, the manufacturing sector exhibited the highest inequality in financial performance, with an index of 0.77, indicating significant variation in financial health and firm size. Conversely, the financial services sector showed lower financial inequality, with an index of 0.23, suggesting more uniform outcomes. On the ESG front, the financial sector demonstrated the highest inequality, particularly in environmental and social dimensions, with an average Gini coefficient of 0.26, while the manufacturing sector displayed a more consistent ESG performance, with an average Gini of 0.19. These findings underscore sector-specific patterns in financial and ESG dimensions, providing a foundation for targeted interventions to reduce disparities. Full article