This research project provides a detailed analysis of small and medium size firms in Tobago by justifying author’s interest in whether small and medium size firms contribute to trading and business in Tobago. The chapter defines aims and objectives are clearly stated in the chapter to give an idea about how the research is conducted and which areas are particularly analysed.
Small and medium size enterprises fall under the category of rapidly growing businesses providing maximum work opportunity to nation’s citizens (Duval and Utoktham 2014). Large MNCs are usually not high in number due to unstable and slow economy but small and medium size firms under a limited financial capital find it convenient to operate business in Tobago (Bahaw 2017). Thus, it is highly necessary to perform a research on how SMEs have become a backbone of Tobago’s GDP and trading.
Trinidad and Tobago introduces initiatives to secure funding for small and medium size enterprises by contributing a significant percentage to GDP as well as providing work for a large part of the workforce. As per the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC), there were above 20,000 SMEs running operation in the nation as of 2012. Ramkissoon-Babwah (2012) mentioned that a small business in Tobago and Trinidad is defined as having a staff 6 and 25 employees and sales up to TT$5m to TT$ ($770,000), but a medium size enterprise in Tobago has 26-50 employees and sales up to TT$10m ($1.5m) (Lewis, Pun and Lalla, 2005). On the basis of such criteria, the Central Statistics Office anticipates that above 80% of all registered business in the nation are SMEs. However, it is also identified that even though SMEs contribute a lot to the GDP of T&T, small and medium size firms do not have much influence on the economy because the economy is mainly dominated by petroleum businesses (Lewis and Jordan 2008).
The recently formed government in Tobago has vowed to enhance the support for SMEs. The Ministry of Finance particularly noted that SMEs have been generating a significant proportion of new employment opportunities in the nation and that remain attractive to the new generation who are interested in innovation and Information Technology. Nonetheless, Lashley (2016) commented that as SMEs often suffer from lack of financial support and training and the government mentioned that it would ensure appropriate funding for the state institutions such as the National Enterprise Development Company (NEDCO) and this institution is mainly responsible for promoting an entrepreneurial culture among the youth of the nation (Ngoasong 2014). In addition, it has also been identified that the government is also continuing the Fair Share program and designed to give micro enterprise as well as cooperative access to public procurement opportunities. Artana et al. (2007) mentioned that governments departments are required to create small business platform designed to encourage SME involvement.
PESTLE analysis
Political: Due to persistent governmental initiatives towards the growth and development of Small and medium size firms, Tobago is enjoying a challenge-free trading environment barring the political stand aside (I?can,. Ersar? and Naktiyok 2014). The country is more after the freedom of civilians; thereby, the number of entrepreneurs is increasing in the nation with their small and start-up businesses.
Economic: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tobago’s nominal GDP is considered to increase at a CAGR of 3.8% from its 2015 level of TTD 150.247 billion and reach TDD 195.033 billion 2022 (Kaya and Koch 2015). Due to the entry of foreign investors and development of small firm like Digicel, the economy in Tobago is healing faster than the status recorded in the last decade.
Social: As put forward by Krausmann, Richter and Eisenmenger (2014), Tobago is widely known as the home of lively living, with the carnivals, steel bands. In addition, the island lies close to coast of Venezuela which attracts many foreigners and the nation lives with an advanced and mixed culture.
Technology: When it comes to technology, it is worth mentioning that Tobago had progressed a lot. Due to entry of small and medium size business, the technology is rapidly being used (Bahaw 2017). This is because; the small and medium size firms adopt technology to cut their operation cost such as labour cost and reach the mass audience.
Legal: Being an emerging nation with respect to trading, Tobago is much concerned about the trading regulation such as Public Private Partnership 2006 (PPP) states that implementation and Regulation must prescribe the framework and the parameters under which the private partnership could operate (Belias and Koustelios 2014).
Environmental: Tobago is famous for its greenery and Tobago has some largely wooded areas which include a protected rainforest and beaches (Bamiatzi and Kirchmaier 2014). The government of the nation is highly concerned about the environmental resources.
SWOT analysis
|
Strength v Tobago’s GDP is supposed to grow at a CAGR of 3.8% by 2022 (Kaya and Koch 2015) v Unemployment rate is only 4.1% v Tobago has estimated population of 1.37 million in the year 2016 which is supposed to increase and it increases the workforce capacity of the nation (Bamiatzi and Kirchmaier 2014) |
Weaknesses v Not all Tobago is striving economically; there is a large gap which separates the wealthy and poor v Tobago is surrounded by crimes caused by drug trafficking v High salary cost compared to Latin America, Colombia which could prevent IT firms who are seeking cost arbitrage |
|
Opportunities v Tobago has developed its trading relationship with the United Kingdom and the country is looking forward to expand its trade relationship with developing nations like the United State and China (Artana et al. 2007) v The local ITO sector (Information Technology Outsourcing) is small but they are able to deliver high value ITO services to the global nations v Local universities in Tobago have raised the voice for ITeS sectors by designing and providing focused courses and they ensure a sustainable talent pool. This is a significant opportunity for SMEs as they can rely on the regional labours instead of investing in the global talent |
Threats v The foreign trades in Tobago often gets into trouble due to regional pirated groups who attack the supply chain network of goods carrying through the sea. Such incident often leads to killing. Consequently, foreign labours usually do not step to Tobago (Bahaw 2017) v As some social factors such as sustainability, diversity, healthcare and fair taxation being imposed by the government as well as lobbied into significant terms for large corporations, the small and medium size firms are getting choked (Lashley (2016). v Large corporations and the governments tend to hire third party sourcing agencies, whose purpose is to minimize the power of small business vendors and commoditize their products and services. This is because the large corporation is able to increase the rate of GDP |
Framework 1: SWOT
The current state of trading in Tobago implies that SMEs are rapidly growing and contributing a significant percentage to the GDP. Even though the other sector such as Food and Beverage and Information Technology industry are playing a great role in creating work opportunity for the people in Tobago, SMEs are not lagging behind whatsoever, as overall contribution of SMEs to GDP is significantly high (Grazzi et al. 2016). This finding creates the significance of performing a research on this context. Moreover, the study helps to learn how small and medium size businesses are going to help Tobago in enhancing or creating a healthy balance in the economy. The following are some of the major areas can be derived from the research:
The research aims to analyse the small and medium size firms in Tobago and following objectives are formed to meet the stated research aim.
This is conducted considering the present and growing presence of SMEs in Tobago with the focus of extracting the findings related to GDP contribution and economy development. A secondary analysis has been performed by sorting some particular journals on the presence and impact of SMEs. Research follows the documentation analysis which includes the sources of reports, newsletter and publication. To implement this process, first all materials, documents and descriptive statistics have been read and presented.
This chapter looks at the existing studies on the impact of small and medium size enterprise. The discussion and analysis in the chapter helps to understand the growing presence of SMEs in Tobago. This chapter also pays attention to the government’s initiatives in supporting the SMEs. The literature reviewed in this chapter is a mixture of academic journals and books.
This chapter mainly presents the type of research techniques applied to perform the research. Data collection process, limitations and ethical framework for the research have also been discussed in the chapter.
This chapter provides the findings of secondary research and provides an analysis of the secondary data. The data has been presented with tables and graphs.
This chapter provides a comprehensive conclusion about the theory and secondary research together and provides a clear insight about the impact of SMEs in Tobago in the recent time. This chapter also provides the limitation and other difficulties faced during the making of the dissertation.
The literature review has been performed with focus of extracting the growing impact of small and medium size business in Tobago. This chapter reviews the existing papers to find the growth and barriers experienced by SMEs in Tobago. The analysis has been supported with reliable evidences and numerical data set. To conduct the review, 20 different journals and books have used in the discussion. The major focus of the literature is on SME business development in Trinidad and Tobago.
A study performed by Lashley (2016), has mentioned the fact that small and medium size organizations are more likely to adopt organic culture compared to big organizations. The author has mentioned that a small number of people are conventionally united under a common belief as well as values, which refers to the fact that in SMEs dynamic organizational culture seem to be easier. The owner has the highest influence with respect to the beliefs and values on the businesses and this is probably the biggest reason a high attention has been given to the research on SMEs. On the other side, Nathai-Balkissoon and Pun (2016) mentioned that each organisations has its own culture but the major element of an effective corporate culture is the organizational mission, work environment, management style and recruitment policies. However, Ramkissoon-Babwah (2015) performed a research and mentioned that the fact that small and medium size firms are usually comfortable with sharing an equal amount of job responsibilities among themselves which is similar to the characteristics of the clan culture in which the operations developed on the collaboration.
In this context, Duval and Utoktham (2014) commented that members tend to share common characteristic and observe themselves as the part of their big family who are highly involved. This is one of the major characteristic usually followed by the small and medium size organizations. For example, Tom’s of Maine- a maker of all-natural hygiene products; thus, to develop the bran, the owner Tom Chappel insisted on developing respectful relationship with the employees, customer suppliers and market environment itself. (Ramkissoon-Babwah and Mc David 2014)
Recently formed government in Trinidad and Tobago created the scope for the establishment of SMEs. Hossein (2015) provided the fact that in October, 2015 budget speech, Ministry of Finance mentioned the fact that small and medium size organizations have been creating a significant proportion of new employment opportunities in the nation, which remains a good news for the coming generation because the rate of education is increasing rapidly in Tobago and those fresh talents can find their platform to develop their career. Laing and Lewis (2017) particularly mentioned that governments are required to generate windows for small businesses to promote the SMEs participation. The financial review presentation occurred in April, 2016 did not make any further policy announcements. Verbano, Crema and Venturini (2015) mentioned that NEDCO, an agency established in 2002 to support nation’s SMEs, operates a series of different programmes and one of which is familiar as Entrepreneurial Training Institute and Incubation Centre, which emphasizes on providing entrepreneurial and marketing training and basic support as well as providing start-up firms on-site IT (Campopiano, De Massis and Chirico 2014).
On the other side, Cagno and Trianni (2014) mentioned that one of the major barrier to SME growth is the availability of financing. On the other side, Bamiatzi and Kirchmaier (2014) performed a research and found that almost 11% of the SMEs start-up usually come from the banking system but almost 70% comes from personal and family saving. On the other hand, Ismail and King (2014) performed a research and found that a major problem is that SMEs inability to communicate business models, plans to banks and inability to involve in a structured technique to review and price the credit risk. However, Nathai-Balkissoon and Pun (2016) mentioned that one attempt to address the gap started in 2014 at the time when Inter-American Development Bank approved a $150,000 grant to enable CariCRIS to expand its SME rating service. Hence, the use of CariCRIS credit rating was meant to enhance the assessment of default risk; thus, increasing efficiency of SMEs lending for banks and increasing access to finance for Tobago’s SMEs (Sheehan 2014) .
There is usual perception among several analysts in the nation that SMEs in Trinidad and Tobago have much to provide with respect to diversifying the economy as well as developing emerging business and employment opportunities but they are usually held back by a risk-averse as well as widely conservative business culture. According to the Wainwright Iton, CEO of the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission (TICSEC), agreed it could be difficult to promote emerging businesses to list on the stock exchange (Khan. Siriram and Greigg 2014).
In such context, Jamaican stock exchange had been more successful in the recent time, providing newly listed organizations’ adequate tax breaks. Lashley (2016) particularly mentioned that organizations listed on Jamaica’s junior Market get a five year exemption from the corporate tax, which is followed by a heavily discounted rate over the last few year. Nonetheless, a similar programme in T&T has not been much successful, Hossein (2015) mentioned that people act entrepreneurial from corporate tax. In addition, World Bank estimated that the global crowd-funding market could reach $90bn-95bn by 2025 (Krausmann, Richter and Eisenmenger 2014). An article in the TTSEC quarterly newsletter published in the fourth quarter of 2025 recognized a set of different techniques, guiding that equity crowd the-funding as presently defined in US as well as Canadian regulations could be worth in-depth investigation (Hickson and Ellis 2014).
Studies in many literature have found the small business create a significant percentage of new emerging jobs. Pablo-Romero and De Jesús (2016) argued that small business usually become labour intensive instead of capital intensive. Employment scope created by small business give T&T an economic advantage over some other Caribbean nations, particularly in the manufacturing as well as retail sector. Small organizations are more likely to employ less skilled workers as well as individual with no prior work experience and such employment practice generally benefits the economy in two ways- such as small business employ workers who could have otherwise have difficulty in securing jobs; thus, the duration of transitional unemployment among these individuals (Ramkissoon-Babwah 2012). On the other hand, employment of these workers increases their productivity by giving them on the-job training and work experience.
High worker productivity
As put forward by Allahar and Brown (1995), a small firm typically has less-diffused ownership and a less complex organizational structure and the chance is high that business owner is directly involved in management. Consequently, owners and managers could more easily observe and ensure productivity of workers. Hence, Bohušová and Blašková (2013) argued that small business have lower productivity compared to the larger ones as reflected in comparatively lower wages and fringe benefits by the small business owners to their employees compared to the large organizations. Additionally, the author has also mentioned that these business are less likely to observe and experience the cost savings linked with producing on a large sale vis-à-vis economies of scale.
Minimization of Unemployment
As mentioned by Khan Siriram and Greigg (2014), small business plays great role and carries the potential to a necessary role in unemployment reduction Trinidad and Tobago. Short-term temporary job creation scheme such as Community Enhancement Partnership Employment Programme and Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) are inadequate in dealing with in-depth and long-term issues faced by majority of unemployed. Thereby, the growth of small businesses in Tobago is effectively suited to deal with sustainable employment generation as well as long-term growth initiatives compared to these temporary employment programmes. Nonetheless, Hossein (2015) arguably cited that two possible disadvantages of small business policies as an aspect of unemployment management is the tome sand for any job creation is relatively long. Here, public works programs for instance could provide boost to employment. Small business policies would do least to help the most depressed regions, where demand is weakest and there is a historical dependence on big employers.
According to Hickson and Ellis (2014), Gross Domestic Product to make a significant contribution to GDP mainly as their large high numbers and income generation impact in the form of wages and salaries paid to the employees and profits received by entrepreneur. Hence, the author has also pointed out the fact that small business play a great role in serving localised market. In addition, with respect to intermediate goods/value added, several small business exist to serve specific demands as in case of consumer goods for which considerable diversity of taste exist. Longmore, Jaupart and Cazorla (2014) also mentioned that small firms are significant suppliers of specialized intermediate goods and goods used in the production of others goods. Therefore, it can be mentioned that small business have great impact on manufacturing sector as it usually relates to the overall GDP contribution. The following figure shows the contribution of small and medium size firms.)
As provided in the figure above, the leading contributor to gross output which aggregate sales/revenue made as well as value added for the year 2003 was the assembly type and related to industries sub-sector, with about TT$241million in combined ales and a value added of $TT 76 million (Lashley 2016). Nonetheless, the care should be taken in interpreting these figures, particularly, it relates to the economic impact, because of the possible error of over-estimation. This particular flaw is identified due to the capital intensive or tech-heavy nature of this sub-sector, whereby, the business that qualify as small business enterprise under CSO’s data used may not qualify under the assets size and sales categories.
As put forward by Longmore, Jaupart and Cazorla (2014), Trinidad and Tobago is one of the 10 nations identified by World Bank in its “Doing Business 2015” report as having enhanced the most with respect to the ease of doing business through 2013-2014. According to the report, overall ranking of Trinidad and Tobago increased by12 spots over the previous year which makes the nation one of the top 10 most enhanced. Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago made positive changes in three significant areas in 2013 -2-14 and they made it easier to start a business, to obtain credit as well as resolve insolvency. Lewis and Jordan (2008) mentioned that government’s new online platform for business reduced the registered time from 38 days to 14.5. Meanwhile, credit bureaux in Tobago recently cover about two-thirds of adult population, aligned with the norms in OECD nations. Throughout Latin America and the Caribean, the corresponding figure remains around 39%. Eventually, in accordance with the World Bank Report, the new solvency law “strengthened protection of secured creditors’ rights in insolvency proceeding, giving greater flexibility in enforcement actions.
While comprehensive data is not available to permit a particular anticipation of the influence of new SME expansion need, the evidence is that there has clearly been a strong growth in the SME sector over the last couple of years. Ramkissoon-Babwah (2012) mentioned the fact that NEDCO programme has developed a client base of 56000 businesses as well as advanced close to TT $100 million in loans to different sectors with the inclusion of light manufacturing, food and agro-processing and services. In this context, Globalization as well as trade liberalization are presenting new opportunities and barriers for small business development. Nonetheless, in the case of Trinidad and Tobago, small and medium size firms, till now have to contribute more relevant activities to Caribbean development, they require a more outward oriented strategy demanding more clear export opportunities to take part in the production chain with the produces abroad.
According to Epstein (2018), the internal environment of the firm is conceptualized as the corporate environment that has the specific implications on the business functionalities. The business leaders or the managers need to review the performance of the associated employees and identify the internal strategic factors. These internal strategic factors are mostly known as the strengths and weaknesses of the company that decide the business potentiality to deal with the external competitiveness. Rahim et al. (2017) explained that identification of the internal strengths and weaknesses determine whether the company has the capability to participate in a competitive environment. Various reasons are discussed by the research scholars to identify the internal strategies that have the clear impact on the business. Bahaw (2017) pointed out that the internal environment of the company generally include the capabilities, resources, and competencies, which are often conceptualized as the resource based view approaches. This RBV approaches determine that the company need to prioritize the resources more than the industry structure for gaining and sustaining the secured position in a competitive environment. The major concerns associated with the RBV approach is the resource and the organisational capabilities. According to Saridakis et al. (2018), the company can divide the resources by concentrating on three major aspects, such as the tangible assets, intangible assets, and organisational capabilities of combining these assets. The exploration of the theoretical concerns will present the ideas regarding the impact of the internal sources on business functions. The internal environment of the business is categorized into several dimensions, such as finance, marketing, information system, and human resource. The further section of the study will explore their impacts on SME’s.
According to Farooq and Mertzanis (2017), marketing is a concept of defining, anticipating, and meeting the needs of the customers by offering the suitable goods or services. The extensive research on this segment highlights that the marketing process within a firm depends on seven basic functionalities. These basic functions are customer analysis, product sales, product or service planning, pricing structure, distribution strategy, market research, and opportunity analysis. For example, cottage industry focuses on the customer segments at the initial stage. The products or the services offered by the cottage industry need to evaluate the information gathered from the extensive market research. Ogutu and Kihonge (2016) argued that marketing process within a firm depends on four pillars, such as target market, integrated marketing, customer needs, and ability to generate profits. SMEs need to concentrate on these aspects to secure their competitive position for a longer time.
Financial aspect of the company is another most considerable internal business concerns that have the clear impact on the firms’ abilities. According to Boschmans and Pissareva (2018), in order to implement the effective strategy, the business management needs to identify the strengths and weakness of the financial resources of the firm. The financial environment of an organisation depends on the three major decisions, such as financing, investments, and dividend. Financial decision is mostly known as the capital budgeting, which determines the allocation of the capital resources to the product, project, and assets. Investing decision is determining the relevant capital structure that is necessary for organizing the business functions. The third decision is dividend decision, which is concentrates on the issues like earning percentages paid to the shareholders, insurance of the shares, and dividends paid over the stability. These basic decisions are developing the entire financial environment in a systematic way.
According to Kaya and Koch (2015), business operation is the crucial part of the internal business environment. The operational process converts the logistics input into the final product. Business operations determine the use of the machineries, combining, and maintaining the equipments. In the Cottage Industry, the maintenance of the products and production process is essential. It is noticeable that the production operations generally represent the larger portion of the human resource management and associated assets. Especially, in the small and medium sized firms, the majority of the profits are generated by allocating the assets into the appropriate business operations (Farooq and Mertzanis 2017). In fact, majority of the costs are invested for the operational processes. Therefore, business operation is a considerable strategic force influencing business functions.
One of the most important internal factors of the firm is the human resource management. It is noticeable that the professional and personal skills of the employees as well as the employer create the higher efficiency of the global competitiveness. The involvement of the adequate ad high skilled human resource support helps in organizing the business functionalities (Saridakis et al. 2018). The performance efficiency of this workforce helps in achieving the competitive advantage in this challenging business world. Therefore, it is necessary to concentrate on the development of the better human resource management that can ensure the better performance management. The performance parameter of the human resources creates the significant impact on the organisational sustainability.
The above discussion determines the internal segmentations that have the clear impacts on the business. The small and medium sized enterprises need to consider these segments for sustaining their competitive position. It is noticeable that majority of the SMEs face trouble in investing more capitals to compete with the larger firms. The lack of capital resources can sometimes be much challenging for the SMEs (Boschmans and Pissareva 2018). In such cases, the effectiveness of the human resource department would be much necessary. Organizing the business functionalities in a systematic way will be helpful for the retaining the competitive position and generate profits in a considerable way. Hence, the practices of making the most fruitful approach and sustaining the competitive position are necessary for the SMEs. The influence of the internal environment needs to be utilized in a positive way for ensuring success for the future prospects.
The above presented literature helps to note the fact that although the papers have presented the findings that SMEs in Tobago in the recent time have observed a rapid growth but the papers did not say much about the hotel and cottage sector. It is true that SMEs have a great contribution to the GDP growth but due to resources crisis and unstable economy, the nation is not able to expand the cottage industry. The papers have mentioned the fact that governments of Tobago is effectively backing up the small sector but it is found that presently governments are not paying much attention to the SMEs in cottage sector. In addition to this, in small and medium size firms organize different sort of organizational culture and leadership style but the existing papers have only mentioned about family based culture in SMEs in the cottage sector. On the other side, it is also identified that SMEs in the cottage sector are lagging behind with respect to technology and digitalization but existing papers did not mention the fact that small firms find new ways to grow and expand their business with the help of technology. Moreover, the papers lack proper case examples of small and medium size firms in Trinidad and Tobago.
The research philosophy that will be selected in this research is intended to facilitate the researchers to use effective research paradigm. Research philosophy is deemed to be of four types such as positivism, realism, interpretive and pragmatism (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). For the reason that the current research will analyse the internal an external environment of the SMEs in cottage industry of Tobago, positivism research philosophy was employed. Employing this philosophy has facilitated the researcher in attaining suitable research results through linking the theories and models employed within the literature review section (Lewis 2015). Positivism serves as the most important philosophy in extracting most useful responses from the survey participants in this research. Positivism philosophy is also deemed to be most effective method for the reason that the study employed quantitative research method.
The researcher with the support of research onion can attain effective results by means of employing effective research tools (Alvesson and Sköldberg 2017). Moreover, research onion employed in this study can also serve as an effective way through which the researcher can attain suitable outcomes through accomplishing six different tasks. The six layers present in the research onion are directly associated with the research process as well as techniques which might be used by the researcher (Flick 2015). In addition, the research onion aspects used has facilitated in effective implementation of research strategy, philosophy, approach, techniques and time horizon.
The research methodology that will be used in this research has facilitated the researchers in following a specific path that can further facilitate in adding validity of the study (Vaioleti 2016). Research methodology that has been used in the current research has facilitated in obtaining better opportunities that further has enhanced authenticity of research results attained by the researcher. In the current research qualitative and quantitative research methodology was employed. Qualitative data was gathered based on which interviews have been carried out (Panneerselvam 2014). Moreover, primary and secondary research methodology has been employed in which secondary data has been gathered from most authentic sources such as government websites and journal articles. In quantitative research method questionnaire has been developed that has facilitated in gathering numerical data for analysis of research results.
Research approach serves as the most vital step in carrying out a research in order to arrive at actual and desired research results (Choy 2014). In such context, deductive research approach was used in this study that has facilitated the researcher in recognising all the steps for carrying out the desired activities associated with the study. Deductive research approach was implemented in this research for the reason that it facilitates in scrutinising the existing models and theories associated with the research through attaining help from the collected data (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). For the reason that positivism research philosophy is associated directly with quantitative data analysis, deductive research approach has been considered as among the most important approach in attaining suitable results from the research. This approach can facilitate in evaluating the ways in which internal and external factors present within the SMEs in cottage industry enhances employee motivation (Brannen 2017).
Positivism can be explained as a philosophical theory which indicates that certain knowledge is focussed on natural process along with their relations and properties. For this reason, information gathered from sensory experience, interpreted by means of logic and reason serves as an effective source of all positive knowledge (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). Employing this philosophy has facilitated the researcher in attaining suitable research results through linking the theories and models employed within the literature review section. Positivism serves as the most important philosophy in extracting most useful responses from the survey participants in this research. Positivism philosophy is also deemed to be most effective method for the reason that the study employed quantitative research method (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). This research philosophy has been used in this study as it describes an approach to research on society that particularly focuses on scientific illustrations like experiments and statistics.
Realism research philosophy focuses on the idea of independence of reality from the human perception. Such philosophy is focussed on the assumption of scientific approach to the knowledge development (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). Realism philosophy that is implemented in the research can be divided into two groups such as direct and critical. It is known that research philosophy has a set of characteristics that encompass epistemology, axiology and ontology. Considering the same, the philosophy of realism is implemented within the objects associated with research. This research philosophy is used in case of qualitative research in which direct realism can be explained as the aspects observed and it portrays the world by mean of personal human senses (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). Critical realism also argues that humans experience certain illustrations from the real world. Based on critical realism philosophy images and sensations of the real world might be deceptive and might not portray the real world.
The research philosophy that will be selected in this research is intended to facilitate the researchers to use effective research paradigm. Interpretive research philosophy is focussed on the understanding of experiences as well as recognition of the individuals Interpretive research can be understood as a research paradigm which is relied on the anticipation that social reality is not objective or subjective (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). This is also shaped by human experiences as well as the social contexts. This is the reason for which interpretive research philosophy is best suited in its socio-historic context through reconciling the subjective interest from the observed data. Interpretive research is employed with the qualitative research that is shaped by human experience as well as social contexts (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). This is the best possible research philosophy for the reason that the interpretive researchers observe the social reality as being incorporated in socio-historic context by reconciling the subjective interpretations of several participants.
Pragmatism research philosophy includes both the philosophies related with interpretive and positivism in order to attain increased accuracy of the research results (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). This research philosophy can be explained as a deconstructive paradigm which advocates the implementation of mixed research methods and also focuses on analysing the aspects that works on decoding truths regarding the research questions under research. This research also can be explained as a philosophical movement which encompass those that claim that a proposition or ideology is real. This is possible in case the research is completed satisfactorily and the meaning of a proposition is observed to be present in practical consequences of accepting it (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). Pragmatic researchers offer themselves enough freedom to employ any type of research methods, procedures and techniques related with the qualitative and quantitative research. In this type of research it is also relied that all the research techniques used in pragmatism philosophy has its limitations and in this distinct approaches might be complementary.
Qualitative and quantitative data collection process has been used in this research. Quantitative data in this research indicates the fraction of information that might be analysed in order to analyse the information gathered with respect to the research results. The quantitative data will be gathered from questionnaire surveying which data will be gathered regarding human perception concerned with specific research information (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). Secondary data will be gathered from several authentic websites, government sources, journals and peer reviewed articles and books. This will also make sure that the qualitative data which is gathered for the secondary sources will be relevant and autistic sources in order to gather valid conclusions on the research. Qualitative data was gathered based on which interviews have been carried out (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). Moreover, primary and secondary research methodology has been employed in which secondary data has been gathered from most authentic sources such as government websites and journal articles. In quantitative research method questionnaire has been developed that has facilitated in gathering numerical data for analysis of research results.
The research strategy selected within the research offers the researchers with a chance of guiding the investigation in the direction of attaining a particular objective focussed on the research objectives (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). Research strategy facilitates the researcher in providing the reference through decreasing the targeted results in which the existing part of the overall research is performed on a predefined goal. Research strategy that can be employed in the research might be three types such as explanatory, exploratory and descriptive. In the current research explanatory research design is implemented for the treason that it facilitates the researcher’s n explaining the cause effect relationship (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). This also focuses on forecasting the likely future research outcomes. This research strategy is also employed for the reason that it is basically performed in identifying the causes behind the research along with the issues that is confronted within the research results.
Questionnaire design will be developed in a manner that it is effective enough in gathering suitable response from the managers and the employees operating within the cottage industry in Tobago (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). The questionnaire will be segmented into two parts that will include questions for the managers and another set of questions for the employees. The questionnaire that will be prepared to for gathering responses from the managers and the employees will include both the close and open ended questions. The close ended questions will include three major questions focussed on organizational transition, culture, employee motivation and the leadership style (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). The open ended questions also included questions on company policy, job profile and work environment that impacts employee motivation. It will also encompass questions on organizational culture, incentives offered by the management in increasing the motivation of the employees.
Sampling serves as a technique based on which the target respondents are chosen from a huge population (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). Simple random sampling technique was employed in this research in analysing the performance of the small and medium sized companies in the cottage industry. This sampling technique is used in selecting the respondents for the survey for the reason that it offers equal change to the respondents to get selected. Focussed on this technique, 5 managers and 45 employees from organizations operating in the cottage industry of Tobago are selected. Moreover, it has also been evaluated that quantitative analysis requires a huge sample size for gathering as well as evaluating the responses of selected respondents. For the reason that quantitative data was needed in gathering suitable research results simple random sampling method facilitated in collecting responses from large sample size (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017).
For collecting relevant data regarding the motivation of employees within the cottage industry of Tobago, interview has been carried out with the managers of the selected companies in Tobago. The interview contained open ended questions that has facilitated in attaining organizational transition, culture and improved employee motivation within the companies of cottage industry.
Data collection regarding the culture, leadership and employee motivation factors within the cottage industry of Tobago has been carried out through offering questionnaires to the selected employees. Close ended questionnaire was prepared for them that has facilitated in attaining suitable response on their viewpoints regarding leadership culture and motivational factors followed in their organizations and their effectiveness.
This chapter provides the findings and analysis of secondary data on SMEs in Tobago. A secondary analysis has been performed by collecting the secondary data from the journal articles and books. To make the analysis meaningful and comprehensive, thematic data analysis method has been applied. Likewise, the analysis has been conducted by liking the secondary data with the findings found in the literature review.
Qualitative Data
1.How do you tend to manage cultural change over the next three years?
According to one of the managers of a hotel in Tobago, cottage industry is one such industry in the recent time that have observed a dynamic marketing environment where market needs and demands are rapidly changing as the trend. Thus, it is certain that implementation of change remain as the opportunity for business growth. Presently, the business in the sector is following its existing culture of making the most out of its small workforce considering the investment it makes but when it comes to the completion of factory based manufacture, it bears the loss of its production due to limited workforce. However, when it comes to cultural change in the operation in the cottage industry, it is identified the sector is lagging behind with respect to technology. While many small and medium size firms have adopted technology in their operation to speed up the growth of the operation, businesses in the cottage sector are still following the existing trends of managing operation. Thus, if any cultural change is required to be implemented in the coming years, technology implantation should come first in the priority order. In addition to this, the cottage industry also needs to adopt the corporate culture of running operation, as a business with family ambience may not sustain when the competition arrives in the sector. According to the managers, in implementing the organizational operation, each member has to take a large set of job duties and responsibility to achieve the organizational goal. Furthermore, as the need for development, the organization in the cottage industry need to develop or arrange employee education program such training and development program, which could help employees to learn new skills and knowledge.
2.How do you plan to bring in organizational transition in Tobago cottage industry?
One of the managers of a small firm mentioned the fact the competitiveness is embodied in the characteristic of the organization such as the current efficiency as well as effectiveness of the utilization of the resources, the intention and the capability to link with profitability to growth of capacity and the ability to modernize to enhance technology and organization. The manager has also mentioned the fact that competitive advantage, which should be measured with respect to the rivals in the market and it is highly determined by the efficiency and effectiveness of the markets. According to the managers, entrepreneurship, the launch of a new productive combination and innovation are the major driving forces that continually generate new competitive advantage and opportunity for profits and growth.
A manager of another middle size firm in Tobago concurs with the view that competitiveness is usually generated at the firm level; however, that is partially obtained from a systematic context and emerges from complex patterns of interactions between the agenesis, the governments and other parties and will thus demonstrate different forms in society. In the literature, it was found that strategies of SME development are generally based on the context and country and each nation will have its own barrier, opportunity, and priorities for change. In such case, the availability of resource may vary by nation; thereby, the outcome achieved could be different. The manager have revealed the fact that the peace and stability remain the key requirement for the development of small and medium size and for attracting the foreign investment. The findings of this article also show that war and crime remain as the major deterrents of private investment particularly for the foreign investors. Thereby, such data points clarify the fact that small and medium size organizations in Tobago need a crosscutting strategy as the success here mostly depend on the ability of government to execute sound microeconomics policies, the ability of the stakeholders to enhance microeconomic business environment and the capability of SMEs to carry out the competitive practices and the strategies. So, effective policies usually come in cluster; thereby, development of SME strategies should be integrated into the wonder national development strategy
3.How leadership style followed within the organization help you in increasing employee motivation?
One of the managers in of a small start-up firm in the cottage industry has mentioned that most of the small organizations follow the cliché of maintaining a healthy and friendly work culture with the focus of developing an effective teamwork culture. The organization has a firm belief that sharing responsibilities among the team members often help to enhance the organizational productivity. However, friendly approach of a leader with an open management style makes things easier for all. Thus, most of the small firms prefer to implement a democratic leadership style aligning an open communication method, where employees can come up to the leader and discus their issue faced in the workplace. Leaders often set success examples by being open and flexible with the situation to make employees understand the importance and purpose of work responsibility. The leaders take the responsibility of making manageable mutual acceptance a significant priority to make sure everyone in the team has taken part in the task. The manager of the organization has also mentioned the fact that as the number of employees in the small firm is usually less, chances of emotional issues are often there which could lead to conflict. Thus, leaders apply the conflict resolution skills. However, the leader must have to gain such skills because conflict in the workplace is inevitable.
Interview Analysis
Theme 1: “Organizational cultural change”
There could be several reasons why the culture of a firm needs to be changed and these reasons may include lack of morality, lack of job meaning and changes in the business. There could be some incidents where the organization itself prefers to implement organizational change for the betterment of business and the community it serves. There could be some scenario where the business, for example, needs to incorporate Information Technology, so in that case, the organization must needs to apply structural change dividing IT department as well as catering to training and development. On the other hand, organizational change sometimes remains as the opportunity for business growth. One of the managers have mentioned that
“Cottage industry is one such industry in the recent time that have observed a dynamic marketing environment where market needs and demands are rapidly changing as the trend. Thus, it is certain that implementation of change remain as the opportunity for business growth”
Even though the fact mentioned by the manager is not directly about cultural change but it is worth mentioning that any internal change can impact organizational existing culture. For example, if a business in the cottage sector applies digital marketing or IT, its family based work culture need to be changed because here one individual cannot supervise IT functions, and all members involved in the business must know the use of IT. However, the implementation of change can bring effective return to the business. In this context, Belias and Koustelios (2014) fostering the capacity to carry out genuine change is highly important as completion becomes global in the long future.
Theme 2: “Key to Success: Organizational Transition and Managing Employee Emotions”
According to Bamiatzi and Kirchmaier (2014), the studies across many industries suggest that the rated of failure change initiatives such as reengineering projects, implementation of strategic plans and IT systems, merger acquisition remains a shocking 70%. However, the manager of a small business in Tobago has mentioned that “the most general influencer to determine success or failure of change initiatives is people”.
This means that when people are properly engaged with change, they stand against it but when people let go of what could be left and could sense meaning and find out what is new, they could gain the ability of initiating and creating sustainable change. This lesson teaches managers how to deal with the internal process and the human process that has been repeatedly recognized as the missing relation in failed change efforts in business. Another significant key success factor is facilitating communication during the whole process and this can be done by every communication vector possible with the inclusion of process like emails, hall meeting, one to one chatting and small group meeting. So it can be ascertained that communication is a significant practice is implementing internal change in the organization. Notwithstanding, Cagno and Trianni (2014) argued that in a small business, communication remains in the activity queue because small business or the organizations in the cottage industry are mostly family based.
Theme 3: “Impact of leadership on employee motivation”
As stated by I?can, Ersar? and Naktiyok (2014), leadership is conceived as a technique where on or more people could create impact on or influence a group of person to move in a proper direction. This means that the leader certainly has an important role on the performance of its followers by motivating them. Nonetheless, it is highly important for the leader to know which particular method works better to motivation; for example, some employees are simply motivated by job security, while others are by transparent company policies, power, recognition, compensation. Conversely, there is a category of employees who are intrinsically motivated and enjoying their job. However, there could be many situations where the employees lack motivation because for example, they find a communication gap in their leader’s role and consequently, they do not find it easy to share their workplace issues with their leaders. This fact clarifies that poor communication skill of a leader can negatively impact the employees. Notwithstanding, if a business has effective communication between the leaders and followers, work responsibilities are done effectively. One of the managers have a medium size firm have mentioned in the interview that
“The organization has a firm belief that sharing responsibilities among the team members often help to enhance the organizational productivity”
However, sharing responsibility can only be possible when there is a proper communication between the team members and to build such healthy communication gap, the leader needs to come up and take initiatives of interacting with employees on a frequent basis.
Implication of the analysis
The analysis of the interview helps to observe that the fact that there are three significant aspect involved in organizational change- such as people management, leadership and culture development and these three elements altogether contribute to business growth. When a business is supposed to implement change, it is certain that leadership plays a great role in implementing the same. The following chart shows the influenced of each element in organizational cultural change derived from the analysis above.
1.Do you think that the leaders in cottage industry can introduce new ways of thinking to bring in organizational change?
Graph 2: Leadership initiatives in the cottage industry
Findings and Analysis
The above mentioned graph helps to observe that almost 34% of the respondents have mentioned that they agree with the fact that leaders in the cottage industry can introduce new ways of thinking to bring in suitable organizational changes and almost 26% of the respondents strongly agree with the context. However, almost 22% of the respondents have mentioned that they do not agree with the fact that leaders can bring new ways of applying change in the sector. The graph indicates that almost 18% of the respondents have mentioned that they strongly disagree with the fact.
In the study performed by Bahaw (2017), it was found that mall firms in the cottage industry usually prefer to develop a healthy and friendly work culture to avoid unnecessary workplace issues and hazard among the workers because employees in such business receive a family feel. The employees are given the maximum authority to perform their job responsibility in a timely manner. This mean even though employees tend to work under family culture but employees are treated ass the family members. However, the major disadvantages of such culture is the expected barrier in business expansion and employee base is limited. Thus, it is highly necessary for the leaders to bring in new changes and make the business sustainable. In addition, the findings of the literature also mention the fact that the leaders should take the responsibility of setting goals, guiding team discussion as well as making the financial decisions bit the leaders must have to acknowledge the fact that co-workers can have valuable insight into a managerial function. Thu, leaders consult them when required. Consequently, the leaders can gain creative input and fresh ideas that may not usually come up when the leader works alone in a business. Thus, when the leader is supposed to apply new ideas or ways of operating the business, he/he should be aware of the fact that the process could become dangerously slow if the leader involves the team member in every business decision. So, the leader needs to judge carefully about the moment of adopting an autocratic approach.
2.Do you think that the organizational culture help in terms of performance improvement?
Graph 3: Organizational culture contributing to performance improvement
Findings and Analysis
The graph presented above helps to observe the fact that almost 34% of the respondents agree with the fact that organisational culture can positively contribute to organizational performance development. Likewise, almost 30% of the respondents have mentioned that that organizational culture has a strong influence on the performance. On the other side, almost 16% of the residents have mentioned that organisational culture has no influence on organizational performance and almost 20% of the respondents strongly with the fact.
According to Bohušová and Blašková (2013) organizational performance depends on several factors including leadership, workforce capability and organisational culture. The authors have also mentioned that if the culture of the organization is not aligned with the work purpose and organizational goals, the employees often get distracted from the flow of operation. In addition, the culture of the organizations may have a strong impact on the performance when the employees tend to work towards the organizational goals and mission. However, receiving a desired output from employees could be challenging if employees needs and demands are not met adequately. Employees lack motivation when they do not receive adequate benefits from their employer. In addition to this, leaders contribute or play a great role in managing or developing the organizational culture. According to findings of the existing papers, there could be many situations where, due to improper leadership style, employees are not able to deal with the work challenges and workplace issues remain undiscovered and unresolved. Therefore, when developing an organizational culture for the betterment, the employer must align leadership, employee motivation with organizational goals.
3.Leaders are interested in providing incentives that can motivate employees towards accomplishing their assigned task?
Graph 4: Leaders’ initiatives motivating in employees
Findings and Analysis
The graph and table help to observe that almost 24% of the respondents have mentioned that incentives structure can help to motivate employees with respect to accomplishment of tasks and similarly almost 30% of the respondents also have the same opinion about the context. However, almost 26% of the respondents have a contradictory view about the fact while 20% of the total respondents strongly disagree with the context.
A study performed by Belias and Koustelios (2014) indicates that employee motivation is a significant factor contributing to the overall organizational development. Thus, employee incentives and pay structure are also the significant elements which must be included in employee motivation approaches. According to Herzberg’s two factor theory, pay structure should be adequate as well as reasonable enough and it should be equal and competitive to others in the same industry (Sinha and Trivedi 2014). When the organisation demand additional output from the employees, it is certain that employee want the same in return. Moreover, when the employees are provided with appropriate monetary and non-monetary benefits, they become more responsible towards their job responsibilities. Particularly, in the cottage industry, business is generally constrained in a small workforce where each member in the team is having a large set of responsibilities. So, when the employees are not paid off the required benefits, the employers may have to face the negative consequences such as poor productivity, limited growth and high employee turnover. Therefore, it can be mentioned that incentives and other additional pays can have a positive impact on the employees which can be reflected on employee performance and organization’s overall productivity. In addition to this implication, some other case examples found in the literature indicate that leaders alone usually do not take this responsibility of designing the pay structure or the incentive policies, which means when designing the same, corporate or industry policies are incorporated. However, in the case of cottage industry, leaders and managers themselves make their own policies.
Graph 5: Motivational factors
Findings and Analysis
Almost 38% of the respondents have mentioned that work environment, job environment and company policy are the significant motivational factors often influencing the employees and likewise, almost 22% of the respondents have the similar view on this context. On the other side, almost 18% of the respondents have mentioned that job profile, work environment, do not fall under the category of motivational factors. Likewise, almost 22% of the total respondent have this same contradictory view about the context.
Even though, the data points mention about some particular factors as the motivation but the literature has a broad view about motivation. According Raziq and Maulabakhsh, (2015) work environment, to some extent, motivate employees about the job and their work responsibilities but work profile does not have any direct influence on motivation. Employees get motivated when they receive proper amount of benefits including both monetary and non-monetary but job profile remain as the core organizational function which is not related to employee motivation (I?can, Ersar? and Naktiyok 2014). Notwithstanding, work environment is a part of employee motivational factor; this means if the employees get to work in a healthy culture – such as open communication style, they start spending more time on work.
Conclusion
The chapter sums up the information gathered from the literature study as well as the primary data collection process. The study explores the impacts of the external and internal business environment on SMEs in Tobago. With the special reference of the Cottage industry, the study explored the business process undertaken to achieve the competitiveness. This chapter of the study will identify whether the information obtained through the literature study and the primary data collection process has met the predetermined objectives or not. The links would be created between the objectives, literature, and the primary data collection result. Based on this assessment, the preferable recommendations will also be provided. The future scope of the research will be discussed to understanding the relevancy of this entire research process.
Objective 1: To analyse the recent impact of small and medium size enterprise in Tobago
Small and medium sized enterprises have been struggling with the challenging business environment. Especially, in the post globalisation era, the SMEs are competing with the larger firms. The larger firms have the adequate capital and human resources for developing the business operations. The small and medium sized organisations need to focus more on the human resources and the operational activities for participating in this competitive landscape. It is noticeable that the SMEs have to deal with the continuous forces from both the external and internal environment. The information gathered from the literature study indicates the challenges from the government rules and regulations on business practices of the SMEs have the significant impact on the business operations. The primary questionnaire also reflects that SMEs often face the challenging situations due to the rules and policies imposed by the government. The government rules and organisational structure in the SMEs in Tobago also have the considerable impact in such context. Therefore, the objective of analysing the impacts created on the SMEs in Tobago is achieved in this research study.
Objective 2: To evaluate the role of internal and external forces in SMEs development in the nation
The internal and external business segments have the significant impact on the business operations. Considering the current competition in the business world, it can be inferred that the business companies need to concentrate more on the innovative business practices for gaining competitive advantage. Especially, SMEs need to pay attention towards both of the internal and external environment. As stated in the literature review, small business have lower productivity compared to the larger ones as reflected in comparatively lower wages and fringe benefits by the small business owners to their employees compared to the large organizations. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the opportunistic scenario that can turn out to be much profitable for the upcoming future. On the other hand, he literature study also states that identification of the internal strengths and weaknesses determine whether the company has the capability to participate in a competitive environment. Evaluating the internal strengths and opportunities create the more sustainable position in a competitive landscape. It also evaluates the business potentiality to deal with the constant competitions from the external market.
The information obtained from the primary data collection process indicates that the development of the internal operational activities and segments help in dealing with the challenges from the external market. The development of the effective leadership skills and skilled human resource management can be helpful in such context. The leaders take the responsibility of making manageable mutual acceptance a significant priority to make sure everyone in the team has taken part in the task. It is also notified that the organization has a firm belief that sharing responsibilities among the team members often help to enhance the organizational productivity. Hence, coordinating with the associated human resources will be effective enough to deal with the external competitions. Therefore, it is proved that the external and internal environment create the significant impact on the business functionalities of the SMEs. The objective for this segment is thus achieved.
Objective 3: To analyse the future scope for SMEs in Tobago
The discussion in this research study explores the idea of the business operations undertaken by the SMEs. It is noticeable that the SMEs have been dealing with both the internal and external business forces that are much challenging for them to sustain their competitive position. However, the ideas obtained from the literature study indicate that the SMEs in Tobago have been adopting more innovative approaches for strengthening their competitive position. On the other hand, it is also noticeable that the development of the efficiency level of the human resources will be helpful enough in driving the innovative practices within the business organisation. The data collected from the survey process also indicates that the leaders have been focusing on developing more innovative approaches to motivate the employees and enhancing their performance level. Primary research process also highlights that the overall ranking of Trinidad and Tobago increased by12 spots over the previous year which makes the nation one of the top 10 most enhanced.
The ideas derived from the literature study and the primary data collection process develops the idea of the future prospects of the SMEs in Tobago. The business potentiality to compete in a challenging scenario is quite remarkable. While many small and medium size firms have adopted technology in their operation to speed up the growth of the operation, businesses in the cottage sector are still following the existing trends of managing operation. Therefore, it can be inferred that the objective is stated through the research done on literature review and primary data collection process.
The study explores the ideas of the impacts created by the internal and external environment on SMEs. The study explained the challenges faced by the SMEs in Tobago. Identifying the challenges observed in the primary and secondary researches, the following recommendations are provided:
Conducting the entire research is not an easier process for a researcher. Many of the concerns are encountered in gathering the adequate data. The first limitation identified in this research is the time constraints. If the time boundary were eliminated, more information could have been included in this specific research process. On the other hand, there is no appropriate source of validating the sources used for this research study. The lack of relevant sources of ensuring authenticity of the data is thus considered as an observable limitation. Moreover, the biased responses of the participants created the significant barriers in analysing the data appropriately. Therefore, these constraints made the study quite limited.
The information derived from the literature review and the primary data collection process can be used as secondary information for the similar research study in future. The information will help in strengthening the analytical skills to create in-depth analysis of the subject matter. The way of data collection method would be presented more accurately in future. While conducting the entire study the researcher would like to focus on extending the time schedule so that the data and information can be gathered more effective way. On the other hand, extended time schedule is more effective in conducting the entire study in a systematic manner.
References
Allahar, H. and Brown, D., 1995. Trinidad and Tobago’s credit guarantee programme-lessons from five years’ experience. Small Enterprise Development, 6(3), pp.45-54.
Alvesson, M. and Sköldberg, K., 2017. Reflexive methodology: New vistas for qualitative research. Sage.
Artana, D., Auguste, S., Moya, R., Sookram, S. and Watson, P., 2007. Trinidad and tobago: Economic growth in a dual economy. Growing Pains, p.365.
Bahaw, P., 2017. Innovation Implementation by SMEs in Trinidad and Tobago. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 13(10).
Belias, D. and Koustelios, A., 2014. The impact of leadership and change management strategy on organizational culture. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 10(7).
Bamiatzi, V.C. and Kirchmaier, T., 2014. Strategies for superior performance under adverse conditions: A focus on small and medium-sized high-growth firms. International Small Business Journal, 32(3), pp.259-284.
Boschmans, K. and Pissareva, L., 2018. Fostering Markets for SME Finance.
Brannen, J., 2017. Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research. Routledge.
Cagno, E. and Trianni, A., 2014. Evaluating the barriers to specific industrial energy efficiency measures: an exploratory study in small and medium-sized enterprises. Journal of Cleaner Production, 82, pp.70-83.
Campopiano, G., De Massis, A. and Chirico, F., 2014. Firm philanthropy in small-and medium-sized family firms: The effects of family involvement in ownership and management. Family Business Review, 27(3), pp.244-258.
Choy, L.T., 2014. The strengths and weaknesses of research methodology: Comparison and complimentary between qualitative and quantitative approaches. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(4), pp.99-104.
Duval, Y. and Utoktham, C., 2014. Enabling participation of SMEs in international trade and production networks: Trade facilitation, trade finance and communication technology (No. 146). ARTNeT Working Paper Series.
Epstein, M.J., 2018. Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
Farooq, O. and Mertzanis, C., 2017. Media independence and crime as an obstacle to firms’ business operations. Research in International Business and Finance, 41, pp.79-89.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. Sage.
Grazzi, M., Pietrobelli, C., Crespi, G., Tacsir, E., Vargas, F., Mohan, P., Strobl, E., Watson, P., Jung, J., González-Velosa, C. and Rosas-Shady, D., 2016. Firm Innovation and Productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Engine of Economic Development.
Hickson, B.G. and Ellis, L.A., 2014. Factors affecting construction labour productivity in Trinidad and Tobago. The Journal of the Association of Professional engineers of Trinidad and Tobago, 42(1), pp.4-11.
Hossein, C.S., 2015. Government-owned micro-bank and financial exclusion: a case study of small business people in east Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies/Revue canadienne des études latino-américaines et caraïbes, 40(3), pp.394-410.
Ismail, N.A. and King, M., 2014. Factors influencing the alignment of accounting information systems in small and medium sized Malaysian manufacturing firms. Journal of Information Systems and Small Business, 1(1-2), pp.1-20.
I?can, O.F., Ersar?, G. and Naktiyok, A., 2014. Effect of leadership style on perceived organizational performance and innovation: the role of transformational leadership beyond the impact of transactional leadership–an application among Turkish SME’s. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, pp.881-889.
Kaya, D. and Koch, M., 2015. Countries’ adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs)–early empirical evidence. Accounting and Business Research, 45(1), pp.93-120.
Khan, Z., Siriram, K. and Greigg, K., 2014. Fiscal incentives promoting REEE measures in Trinidad and Tobago. World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 11(3), pp.196-213.
Krausmann, F., Richter, R. and Eisenmenger, N., 2014. Resource use in small island states: Material flows in Iceland and Trinidad and Tobago, 1961–2008. Journal of industrial ecology, 18(2), pp.294-305.
Laing, C. and Lewis, A., 2017. Exploring clustering as a destination development strategy for rural communities: The case of La Brea, Trinidad. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 6(3), pp.184-195.
Lashley, J.G., 2016. SME and Entrepreneurship Policies in the Caribbean. In Government, SMEs and Entrepreneurship Development (pp. 105-120). Routledge.
Lashley, J.G., 2016. SME and Entrepreneurship Policies in the Caribbean. In Government, SMEs and Entrepreneurship Development (pp. 105-120). Routledge.
Lashley, J.G., 2016. SME and Entrepreneurship Policies in the Caribbean. In Government, SMEs and Entrepreneurship Development (pp. 105-120). Routledge.
Lewis, A. and Jordan, L.A., 2008. Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago: carving a niche in a petroleum?based economy. International journal of tourism research, 10(3), pp.247-257.
Lewis, W.G., Pun, K.F. and Lalla, T.R.M., 2005. An AHP-based study of TQM benefits in ISO 9001 certified SMEs in Trinidad and Tobago. The TQM magazine, 17(6), pp.558-572.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.
Longmore, R., Jaupart, P. and Cazorla, M.R., 2014. Toward economic diversification in Trinidad and Tobago. The World Bank.
Marczyk, G., DeMatteo, D. and Festinger, D., 2017. Essentials of research design and methodology. John Wiley.
Nathai-Balkissoon, M. and Pun, K.F., 2016. Factor Analysis of Elements Influencing Occupational Safety and Health Management System Development in Trinidad and Tobago. West Indian Journal of Engineering, 38(2).
Ngoasong, M.Z., 2014. How international oil and gas companies respond to local content policies in petroleum-producing developing countries: A narrative enquiry. Energy Policy, 73, pp.471-479.
Ogutu, V. and Kihonge, E., 2016. Impact of business incubators on economic growth and entrepreneurship development. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 5(5), pp.231-241.
Pablo-Romero, M.D.P. and De Jesús, J., 2016. Economic growth and energy consumption: The energy-environmental Kuznets curve for Latin America and the Caribbean. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 60, pp.1343-1350.
Panneerselvam, R., 2014. Research methodology. PHI Learning Pvt.Ltd..
Rahim, N.F.A., Jaafar, A.R., Syamsuddin, J. and Sarkawi, M.N., 2017. Internal Control System and Hazard Identification of Operational Risk in Malaysian Conventional Banking. Int. J Sup. Chain. Mgt Vol, 6(2), p.215.
Ramkissoon-Babwah, N. and Mc David, J., 2014. Selecting the right clients for a business incubator–Lessons learnt from the National Integrated Business Incubator System (IBIS) in Trinidad and Tobago. Journal of small business and entrepreneurship development, 2, pp.13-26.
Raziq, A. and Maulabakhsh, R., 2015. Impact of working environment on job satisfaction. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, pp.717-725.
Ramkissoon-Babwah, N., 2012. An entrepreneurship education model for Trinidad and Tobago. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 3(3), p.307.
Ramkissoon-Babwah, N., 2015. The dynamics of women entrepreneurs in Trinidad and Tobago-Motivations, challenges and recommendations to support their entrepreneurial development. International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies, 3(1), pp.33-42.
Saridakis, G., Lai, Y., Mohammed, A.M. and Hansen, J.M., 2018. Industry characteristics, stages of E-commerce communications, and entrepreneurs and SMEs revenue growth. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 128, pp.56-66.
Sinha, K. and Trivedi, S., 2014. Employee engagement with special reference to Herzberg two factor and LMX theories: A study of IT sector. SIES Journal of Management, 10(1), pp.22-35.
Sheehan, M., 2014. Human resource management and performance: Evidence from small and medium-sized firms. International Small Business Journal, 32(5), pp.545-570.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Vaioleti, T.M., 2016. Talanoa research methodology: A developing position on Pacific research. Waikato Journal of Education, 12(1).
Verbano, C., Crema, M. and Venturini, K., 2015. The Identification and Characterization of Open Innovation Profiles in I talian Small and Medium?sized Enterprises. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(4), pp.1052-1075.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download