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An empirical study of the barriers to innovation for small and medium sized enterprises in the midlands
Get PDFIn this thesis the author hopes to look at the various barriers that affect small and medium sized enterprises in the Irish market today. He will outline these barriers and also look at how these small businesses are coping with being innovative in the current recession that Ireland has found itself in, as a result the business in the small\ud
and medium sized sector are suffering more in comparison to the larger businesses.\ud
The research methodology being carried out will consist of both quantitative and\ud
qualitative research. The author will carry out qualitative research by carrying out a\ud
number of face to face interviews, as well and interviews over the phone with a\ud
number of small and medium sized enterprises that are based in the midlands area.\ud
By carrying out questionnaires, and surveys to obtain the relevant information\ud
needed, the author will be doing quantitative research
Is entrepreneurship prohibitive in the current economic environment in Ireland?
Get PDFIn Ireland entrepreneurship has played a central role in the development of the Irish economy with many of the opinion that it played a significant role in the creation o f the ‘Celtic Tiger’. \ud
Accordingly, entrepreneurship has a key role to play in the Government’s drive to ensure the future growth and prosperity of the country. In the last number of years the Irish economy has seen an increasingly rapidly hanging economic and business environment fraught with\ud
negative attitudes towards success. While it is evident that entrepreneurs in Ireland are not short on personal drive and commitment the author concludes from her analysis that these entrepreneurs require some additional support in assisting them to overcome the barriers and difficulties that they now face due to the\ud
current economic climate. This dissertation investigates if entrepreneurs in Ireland perceive that they need more government support to undertake an entrepreneurial\ud
career. The focus therefore is on the issue of entrepreneurship; in particular, on the support mechanisms available to both existing and\ud
start- up business. The author used a number of methodologies in order to address the objectives. Literature on SMEs in Ireland was reviewed; alongside this the author also investigated international literature on entrepreneurs, paying particular attention to the internal characteristics of entrepreneurs and on the factors that motivate them to establish and expand their businesses. A key element o f the study was to obtain the views o f entrepreneurs on the issues being addressed by the author. Indepth personal interviews were held with six entrepreneurs in Co. Galway. This research highlights the need for more government support to encourage the innovation and risk taking o f entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs interviewed have indicated that currently entrepreneurship is prohibitive and all believed that the government needs to do more to create an environment that is more conducive to\ud
job creation
The opinions and perceptions of insolvency practitioners in relation to the reform of the bankruptcy act 1988
Get PDFThe current economic crisis has had a damaging effect on businesses. Many directors \ud
and sole traders have found their debts accumulate to an unmanageable level as a \ud
result. Considering the large amounts of money in question these cases will ultimately \ud
lead to personal bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Act 1988. However, this legislation \ud
was enacted in a time when very little credit was extended to individuals. Many \ud
commentators believe there is a need to reform this legislation. It is criticised for \ud
being outdated and irrelevant in this credit society. \ud
This thesis explores current bankruptcy legislation in order to find out why there is a \ud
need for reform. It discusses the issues surrounding the current legislation, which is \ud
largely unused by over indebted individuals. Furthermore, it discovers whether the \ud
legislation proposed by the Law Reform Commission provides the solution to these \ud
current issues and if not, what provisions would be suitable. As the proposed \ud
legislation is more lenient on the debtor, this thesis will also explore whether this will \ud
create any issues. \ud
The results, based on interviews with eight insolvency practitioners, reveal there is \ud
indeed an urgent need to reform this legislation. It is punitive, unfair and restricts \ud
bankrupts from re-entering the business community and contributing to the economy. \ud
At a time when entrepreneurship is vital in Ireland’s road to recovery, this is a \ud
fundamental flaw with the BA 1988. The findings also found that the interviewees \ud
believe the proposed law is suitable for the most part but, at times unrealistic and in \ud
need of some minor adjustments. The proposed Bill is not expected to be published \ud
until 2012 and when this will be enacted is uncertain
Information communication technology and higher education institutions: evidence from students in the north west of Ireland
Get PDFThe way in which students learn is changing all the time and Information \ud
Communication Technology (ICT) is now a major element. In this research \ud
project ICT and the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) are examined from \ud
different angles such as use within the classroom, changes in ICT and the need \ud
for training for students with regards to the use of ICT and VLE. \ud
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The research methodology represents the student views towards ICT and VLE. It \ud
aimed to establish if students felt they needed training overall how they perceive \ud
ICT and how important they value it. The data collection method was a survey of \ud
two hundred and thirty eight students within a public Higher Educational \ud
Institution (HEI) in the North-West of Ireland and supplemented with an experts \ud
review of the findings. \ud
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The findings suggest that student view ICT as being important, many will \ud
continue to use ICT in their future careers. The data collected would also suggest \ud
that students are satisfied with the training they receive for ICT and for the \ud
knowledge of the VLE but they would require more practical experience training \ud
for using the VLE. \ud
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The author would like to hope that this paper identifies recommendations for HEI \ud
management and course delivers along with identifying areas of further research \ud
in the field
An investigation into environmental sustainability in third level colleges in Ireland
Get PDFThe global drive toward sustainability is well under way. Academic institutions have\ud
an important role to play in this shift towards sustainability. Third level educational\ud
establishments, as part o f the wider public sector in Ireland, are now expected to\ud
become exemplar organisations, leading the way in environmental sustainability. As\ud
someone who works in an Institute o f Technology in Ireland, I have taken a keen\ud
interest in the linkage that exists between the demands and targets that are being set\ud
for the wider public sector in relation to energy efficiency and environmental\ud
sustainability, and the response o f the individual institutions concerned. Many\ud
individual environmental protection measures are being adopted by colleges and\ud
universities; however, a more systematic approach to achieving environmental\ud
sustainability and reducing environmental impacts o f their activities is preferable.\ud
This thesis sets out to establish whether or not third level colleges in Ireland are in\ud
fact embracing environmental sustainability or if they are exemplar organisations. It\ud
also seeks to establish what the drivers and benefits o f environmental sustainability\ud
are for the sector and what barriers exist to achieving the goal o f environmental\ud
sustainability. It does this by performing a comprehensive literature review, and by\ud
presenting the findings o f a comprehensive college campus environmental\ud
sustainability survey targeted at the Institutes o f Technology in Ireland. The survey\ud
clearly shows that despite the existence o f many individual environmental\ud
sustainability initiatives throughout the sector, there is a distinct lack o f any formal\ud
systems to address these issues, despite the clear evidence that such systems have\ud
many benefits. The other barriers to achieving environmental sustainability that\ud
emerge from the survey include human, financial and technical resource constraints\ud
and senior management leadership. This work recommends that colleges should\ud
adopt a formal Environmental Management System, with the An Taisce Green Flag\ud
College system being recommended as the m ost appropriate route for a third level\ud
college in Ireland to take to achieve the goal o f campus environmental sustainability.\ud
It incorporates all o f the elements o f a traditional environmental management system\ud
in addition to curriculum development and the involvement o f the w ider community
The role of customer centricity in medical device innovation : an Irish Perspective
Get PDFThe objective of this study is to investigate the perspective of Irish medical device\ud
companies on customer centric innovation. There is considerable growing emphasis\ud
on innovation in the medical technology (med tech) sector as a means of securing\ud
industry growth in Ireland. This shift in business orientation is not overtly coupled\ud
with calls for increased customer focus. Innovation as a business strategy is all but\ud
futile unless it can be commercially expressed and the only means to assure this is to\ud
develop new products that meet validated customer needs - the essence of customer\ud
centricity.\ud
The research technique employed is in-depth interviewing; this was conducted among\ud
industry leaders from ten medical device companies operating in Ireland. These\ud
included five foreign direct investment companies and five indigenous companies.\ud
The research findings demonstrate a commitment to customer centric innovation\ud
practices and a general understanding of the importance of accurately defining\ud
customer needs through user-involvement in med tech innovation. This research\ud
indicates that different activities are employed by different companies in\ud
implementing customer centric innovation, but that there is room for improvement in\ud
how companies and the industry in general execute these activities. Customer\ud
centricity is accepted as a means to generating competitive advantage but it is\ud
recognised as a complex process that requires consideration for a broad range of\ud
stakeholders ranging from clinicians, payers, patients to mention a few. The most\ud
significant deficit identified in terms of customer centricity in innovation practice is\ud
the gap that exists between the clinical community and the medical technology\ud
industry in Ireland.\ud
This research concludes that customer centric innovation is perceived as an important\ud
influence in the success of medical technology innovation among Irish based\ud
companies; that it is being practised in day-to-day business activities but that\ud
improvement in this area will be necessary to sustain the industry’s overall success
Addressing engineering teaching issues in online distance learning
Get PDFEfforts by IT Sligo to transfer courses into an online distance learning format since 2002 ran into\ud
three significant obstacles, namely the expense of developing learning materials for niche\ud
areas, an inability to teach mathematical topics using asynchronous communication techniques,\ud
and a requirement to facilitate hands-on practical laboratory sessions. The first two of these\ud
obstacles were addressed relatively quickly by the use of existing learning materials and by the\ud
use of synchronous conferencing systems for live online teaching. This approach along with\ud
attendance at the Institute for practical laboratory sessions, led to rapid growth of online courses\ud
within the country, but restricted the recruitment of international students. This final obstacle is\ud
now being addressed through the EU funded project entitled Knowledge and Innovation\ud
Transfer in Engineering (KITE). The IT Sligo element of the project is to investigate, develop\ud
and invest in systems to deliver “practical” subjects online. To date this has resulted in the\ud
development of a facility to allow remote access to laboratories where students can both control\ud
and monitor physical equipment. Early testing with students has shown remote access to be\ud
extremely effective and popular, with students able to access equipment at any time during the\ud
day or night, and work is underway to increase the range of physical equipment available to\ud
distance learners
Age, growth and reproductive biology of Plaice, (Pleuronectes platessa L.) in Irish waters, 2003-2005
Get PDFThe current study presents data on age and growth for plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) sampled\ud
between November 2003 and February 2005 in ICES areas Via (northwest coast of Ireland), Vila (Irish\ud
Sea), Vllg (Celtic Sea), VDj (southwest coast of Ireland) and VHb (west coast of Ireland), and data on\ud
the reproductive biology and maturity of plaice in ICES area Vllb (west coast of Ireland). This is the\ud
first detailed account of the biology of plaice for some of these areas. It is intended that this study will\ud
improve understanding of the life cycle of plaice and help fisheries scientists to better predict the effect\ud
of fishing effort on Irish plaice stocks. The overall length range found for plaice was 9-51.99cm TL,\ud
with a length range of 9-5 lcm TL for females and 9-40cm for males. In all ICES areas the length range\ud
for female fish was larger than for male fish. The age range of plaice sampled during this study was 1 to\ud
16 years. In all ICES areas females had a greater range in ages and fish in the larger age groups. From\ud
analysis of length and age data it was concluded that there was a significant difference (P=0.000) in\ud
growth rate of males and females between ICES areas sampled in March 2004. The highest rate of\ud
fishing mortality was determined for ICES area Via (F=1.06) and the lowest for ICES area Vila\ud
(F=0.56). In each ICES area male and female plaice have fully recruited to the population by age 4, with\ud
the exception of females in ICES area Via, for which a tr value of 5 years was determined. Length at\ud
first maturity (L50%) was determined to be 23cm and 21cm for males and females respectively. Age at\ud
first maturity (A50%) was determined to be 3 years for both males and females. It was found that males\ud
and females in ICES areas Vllb, Vila and Via are well above the length and age at first maturity when\ud
they are recruited to the fishery. In ICES area Vllb female plaice spawn from November to March, with\ud
peak spawning occurring in February, and male plaice spawn from November to April, with peak\ud
spawning occurring in November. Spawning females had an age range of 2 to 10 years and spawning\ud
males had an age range of 2 to 7 years. From the oocyte length frequency distributions, it was\ud
determined that the plaice is a determinate batch spawner.\ud
During this investigation a total of 177 ovaries and 127 testes were staged using both macroscopic and\ud
histological criteria. The overall percentage of maturity stages which compared favorably between the\ud
two assessment methods was 22.03% for female plaice and 37.80% for male plaice. In general, the\ud
findings of this study indicate that there was a very poor match between the macroscopic and\ud
histological assessment methods. Given that the histological determination of these stages is based on\ud
the observation of a distinct set of developmental features, it is expected that it would be more accurate\ud
to use histologically assessed gonads to calculate the annual percentage maturity assessment. The\ud
biology of plaice in the areas studied is compared with previous studies of plaice in Irish and European\ud
waters
What are the issues facing small accounting practices in the north west of ireland? an exploratory study
Get PDFBusinesses all around the globe has been faced with many issues and challenges as a\ud
result of the downturn in the economy. This research project focuses in on the rural area\ud
of the North West of Ireland to see what issues small accountancy practices (SAP’s) are\ud
being faced with currently in 2011. The issues that they are currently being faced with are\ud
caused by many factors such as the stricter regulations and laws put in place by the\ud
governing bodies and as a result of their main clients facing issues also.\ud
The findings of this project show the main issues facing SAP’s in the North West of\ud
Ireland and discusses the strategies which these SAP’s have put in place to try to reduce\ud
the impact these changes have on their company
Performance comparison of enterprise applications on mobile operating systems
Get PDFDue to the advances in mobile phone technology, Smartphones have the ability to access web services within applications the user interacts with to retrieve and send information from and to web services. As Smartphones have grown in popularity, the utilisation of both new web services and web services already in place will also grow. This paper provides a comparison of the two main types of web services, SOAP and REST. We evaluate the performance of using SOAP and REST on a smartphone. The tests performed include the time taken to perform a web service call, the RAM used making a web service call and the data transmitted and received while making a web service call