An investigation into the current success factors for small and medium Essay

An investigation into the current success factors for small and medium enterprises in Thailand - Essay Example That is, identifying those characteristics of the enterprise relating to its management, relationships with other entities, contextual variables, etc. that either lead to or contribute in some way to the enterprise being successful. This research thus makes use of the construct of ‘success factor’, which is also mentioned in the hypothesis. The success factors themselves are qualitative because they are not quantifiable. These are possible underlying factors, which could indirectly contribute to the success of the SME based on the information gathered during the literature review. Examples are as a highly knowledgeable manager or a strong link to a supportive larger enterprise so they are not apparent as such. The success however, is measurable, for example, in terms of total sales growth, number of customers, and amount of profits as done by Vichitdhanabadee et al. (2009) or volume of exports. The major research question, which derives directly from the stated purpose o f the study, has been framed as follows: What are the underlying success factors for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand?The major hypothesis that will be tested in the quantitative phase of the study will be: There is a significant degree of positive underlying success factors that are contributing to the success of the SME. We assume that it is the preponderance of underlying success factors, such as those identified in Chapter One that lead to the success of a SME. A number of null hypotheses can be constructed, as in the two examples below, for testing the validity of the major hypothesis based on measurable quantities. There is no causal relationship between the value of capital and business performance. There is no causal relationship between the size of the enterprise in terms of the number of employees and total sales. 3.3 Research design and method This study will combine both quantitative and qualitative methods for the data collection and data analysis. It will thus take a mixed method approach, as il lustrated in Figure 1. These will then be compared and combined to construct a composite model of the study findings. This research design is shown in the figure below. It is to be noted that the quantitative phase will commence first followed by the qualitative phase. This will therefore be an explanatory sequential model. Figure 1: Mixed method (explanatory sequential) research design to be employed During the quantitative phase, data will be collected from the return of questionnaires from a mail-administered survey. During the qualitative phase, data will be collected by conducting a few case studies, which will involve carrying out interviews of Thai SME managers. In addition, some document analyses will also be conducted for gathering relevant information, such as from company profiles, reports and websites. The analysis of the quantitative data will be in the form of descriptive statistics of the data gathered from the survey. Descriptive statist

Economic Growth - Solow Growth Model and Beyond Essay

Economic Growth - Solow Growth Model and Beyond - Essay Example At the core of this model, it is a neoclassical aggregate production function that in most cases is similar to Cobb – Douglas model and this makes it possible for this model to be in contact with microeconomics. This model was established by Robert Solow and Trevor Swan in the year 1956 (Dimand and Spencer, 2008). Dimand and Spencer (2008) say that the version of Solow’s Growth model where savings are chosen optimally by utility maximization of the households is known as the Neoclassical Growth Model. The neoclassical model was an extension of Harrod – Domar model that was developed in 1946. It superseded Harrod – Domar model due to the characteristic mathematical attractiveness. In that sense, the model was a convenient start point for various extensions (Hendrik and Lewer, 2015). David Cass developed a solution for the growth model in 1965 with technological change and the growth in population (Jones, 1997). Jones (1997) observed that Solow and Swan did an extension of Harrod - Domar model, first, by the addition of labor as a factor of production. Secondly, they ensured that the capital – labor ratios were not in a fixed position like in Harrod–Domar model’s case. In a study carried out by Jones he recognized the modification that provided for a continual increase in capital intensity which could be distinguished from progress in technology (Jones, 1997). In this sense, they independently simplified the growth model. Solow’s model fitted the economic growth data that was available with some level of success. In the present day, his model is used by economists in the estimation of the separate effects on the economic growth of capital, labor as well as the technological change. The previous models that include the closed economy a nd small open economy models give a static observation of the economy at a given point in time. The Solow growth model allows us a dynamic view of how savings affects the economy over time. The