1522 research outputs found
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An Examination of the factors hindering Irish SMEs from going Global
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to investigate the barriers that hinder Irish SMEs from entering foreign markets. An analysis of these factors may identify why there are so few SMEs in Ireland engaging in exporting activity. This involves examining the owner/manager’s level of education, methods of selling product/service’s and the barriers to entering foreign markets. This study is unique as it is the first of its kind to investigate the topic of SME internationalisation in the South East region of Ireland and the country as a whole.
For the current study’s primary research a positivist methodology was employed using quantitative methods. The primary data for this research was ascertained using a survey based method administered to 224 SMEs, with a response rate of 37%. The survey method enabled the researcher to establish information as regards industry sector, levels of owner/manager education, understanding exporting, methods of selling products/services and barriers to entering foreign markets.
There are a number of important findings, which have emerged from the current research. Firstly the research findings have indicated that similarities do exist between exporting and non-exporting SMEs. Both groups of SME owner/managers had similar levels of education, reasons for wanting to enter foreign markets and the perceived barriers to going global. Another key fact found during the course of this current research was how many exporting and non-exporting SMEs did not understand the true meaning of the term exporting. While 100% stated they did understand the term only, 4% of exporting and 11% of non-exporting SMEs identified the term correctly. As regards education while Maslach (2005) stated that advanced education was needed to enter international markets, it was found that 69% of exporting SMEs entered foreign markets without having advanced education.
Previous literature has suggested that the SMEs most preferred method of selling was through word of mouth therefore, it was interesting to find, in this current study, that 64% of non-exporting SMEs used this method while only 26% of exporting SMEs utilised the same method. It was found that 63% of exporting SMEs preferred to
network their business as it provided them with more business contacts and linkages outside the firm.
Finally, this research has also identified that the perceived barriers of non-exporting SMEs to entering foreign markets are the same obstacles that exporting SMEs have overcome. Forfas (2004) stated that SMEs lacked the proper education in sales and marketing in order to enter foreign markets successfully. The current results supported this as both exporting and non-exporting SMEs cited lack of marketing as a barrier to going global. However, while exporting SMEs cited marketing as a barrier they still managed to enter foreign markets successfully therefore, it could be said that, there is no reason why all SMEs cannot enter international markets.
From the beginning, this research has set out to establish the factors that are hindering Irish SMEs from going global. The current research will therefore, add to the expanding body of literature on SME internationalisation, but more importantly it contributes to the developing field that is focussed on SMEs and exporting. This current research has highlighted the fact that similarities do exist between enterprises that export and those that do not engage in exporting activity. Therefore, this research has implications for researchers, enterprise support agencies, policy makers, providers and teachers of enterprise education, entrepreneurs and governments
Performance Analysis of AUTOSAR Vehicle Network Gateways
Get PDFModern vehicles use a variety of data networks to exchange data between their different control modules. These networks operate at different communication speeds to reflect the relative response times of the connected control units. For example, engine control units are connected to a high-speed network while comfort systems such as electric seats are connected to a low speed network. In addition, there are a number of different network operating principles, for example, event-driven and timetriggered.
Gateways are required to exchange data between these different vehicle networks. Gateways typically exchange messages between connected networks based solely on the destination and priority of the messages. Such gateways can result in unpredictable message delays depending on the network loading and vehicle operating conditions.
The aim of this research is to develop and evaluate a vehicle network gateway model based on a very general and well designed gateway structure from the automotive industry, which takes into account factors such as the purpose of network messages, vehicle operating conditions, network loading, bus topology and message streams.
The network gateway model is used to evaluate the relative performance of different gateway configurations
Some observations on the Lah and Laguerre transforms of integer sequences
Get PDFWe study the Lah and related Laguerre transforms
within the context of exponential Riordan arrays. Links to the
Stirling numbers are explored. Results for finite matrices are
generalized, leading to a number of useful matrix factorizations
Dissent, Protest and Transformative Action: An Exploratory Study of Staff Reactions to Electronic Monitoring and Control of Email Systems in One Company Based in Ireland
Get PDFAn email system is a critical business tool and an essential part of organisational communication. Many organisations have experienced negative impacts from email and have responded by electronically monitoring and restricting email system use. However, electronic monitoring of email can be contentious. Staff can react to these controls by dissent, protest and potentially transformative action. This paper presents the results of a single case study investigation of staff reactions to electronic monitoring and control of an email system in a company based in Ireland. The findings highlight the variations in staff reactions through multiple time frames of electronic monitoring and control, and paper identifies the key concerns of staff which need to be addressed by management and consultants advocating the implementation of email system monitoring and control
Learning about IT and learning using IT - A review of current practice on Higher Education AEC Programmes in Ireland
Get PDFThere is a debate concerning the appropriate extent, content and delivery of IT education for AEC programmes. The aim of the research work described in this paper was to generate information to assist the debate, specifically in Ireland, but the results and conclusions may also be of relevance to other countries.
A survey of the relevant Heads of Academic Departments in the Universities and Institutes of Technology was carried out in June 2006 with a response rate of 89%. The context to this survey has been the relatively unique development of Ireland over the past ten years (population, economy, IT, construction industry, and higher education) in comparison to other European countries. The recent implementation of the Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) and its relationship with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) for lifelong learning is also an important contextual issue for this research.
The survey results include the range of specific software training on the AEC programmes, as well as the extent of inclusion of basic IT training, understanding how computers work, understanding and writing computer programmes, consideration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the use of Learning Management Systems (LMS).
A further interesting feature of the survey has been the identification of the record number of students on higher education AEC programmes in Ireland
ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL FOR CONSTRUCTION COLLABORATION TECHNOLOGIES (CCT) IN SMALL TO MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN THE IRISH CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Get PDFThe problems associated with fragmentation of the construction process have been well documented. The adoption of Construction Collaboration Technologies (CCT)
has been posited as a solution to the poor levels of communication and information exchange between parties in the construction process. From an Irish context, the
potential benefits that CCT have to offer the construction industry are beginning to be realized. Indeed many of the leading stakeholders in the industry are now actively
involved in the work of the Construction Information Technology Alliance (CITA) in seeking to improve the use of ICT, including CCT. The problems of fragmentation
and resulting levels of poor communication and information exchange are not however, limited to the larger organizations. There is a distinct lack of empirical
research into the possibilities for the adoption of CCT within small to medium enterprises (SMEs) involved in project management roles in Ireland and elsewhere.
This paper reports upon ongoing research, the aim of which is to assess the potential use of CCT in SME project management organizations. The main focus of the paper
is a review of literature pertaining to CCT, specifically in the context of SMEs in the Irish construction industry, and outline the proposed future research. This research
will focus on an in-depth case study of a current construction project in Ireland where the lead project management responsibility and associated activities are being carried out by an SME without the use of CCT. This study will include structured interviews with the relevant staff in the project management SME and also with the other SME stakeholder organizations involved in the project. Each interview will include reference to their current use of ICT, their potential for adopting CCT and barriers to
such adoption. It is expected that a key outcome of the research shall be a proposed framework for the implementation of CCT in SMEs engaged in construction project management
Measuring Client Progression in Longitudinal Tracking Systems in Adult Guidance: An Irish Research Study.
Get PDFA Trust Overlay Architecture and Protocol for Enhanced Protection against Spam
Get PDFThe effectiveness of current anti-spam systems is
limited by the ability of spammers to adapt to new
filtering techniques and the lack of incentive for mail
domains to filter outgoing spam. This paper describes
a new approach to spam protection based on
distributed trust management. This is motivated by the
fact that the SMTP mail infrastructure is managed in a
distributed way by a community of mail domain
administrators. A trust overlay architecture and a new
protocol are presented. The TOPAS protocol specifies
how experiences and recommendations are
communicated between a spam filter at each mail
domain and its associated trust manager, and between
trust managers of different mail servers. A technique
for improving mail filtering using these trust measures
is also described. Initial simulations indicate the
potential of this approach to improve rates of false
positives and false negatives in anti-spam systems
A Discussion on Policy-based Management using Context Mobility in Ad-Hoc Networking
Get PDFMuch of the current research in the field of
Information and Communication Technology has focused on
pervasive and ubiquitous computing. It is an environment where
converging technologies and devices are distributed, highly
mobile and often intelligent. This discussion paper looks at using
Policy Based Network Management (PBNM) with Context to
simplify configuration management for mobile or ad hoc
networks