Barriers to SMEs growth: An Exploratory Study of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Manufacturing Sector

Afridi

et al. 2023

SPEE

The aim of this study is to investigate the ongoing energy management and energy efficiency practices in the industries of Peshawar division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The outcomes of this research shows that Khazana Sugar Mills, Caliph Pharmaceutical, Naguman Flour Mill have no or low awareness of energy management practices (awareness level mainly includes barriers to energy efficiency and drivers for energy efficiency) except FF steel mill. The major paces observed in lacking the awareness are (1) “understanding level of staff and workers about energy savings due to energy management practices” (2) “interest level of top managers for energy management implementation” (3) “awareness level regarding energy efficiency” (4) “lack of technical competence” (5) “use of standardized procedures”. When the industry managers were inquired about the relationship with energy service providers it is found that there is absolute absence of energy engineers, relationship with energy consultancies and long-term energy strategy in all the industries. It was also found that there is lack of using renewable energy technologies in all industries as they were relying upon using the generators during the blackout hours. In terms of percentage, the energy saving factor of 36 kWh/day has also observed with the replacement of fluorescent tube lights with light emitting diode (LED) tube lights. Proper maintenance and energy management practices in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC) would also save energy in a significant amount. The study shows that there is an overall improvement factor of 4% to 8% if the inclusion of energy management and energy efficiency practices would have been applied in all the stated industries.

Section: Industries In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Pakistanmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Factors Cause Weak Industrial Energy Management Practices?

Afridi

et al. 2023

SPEE

“…Of these, fiscal crises in key economies and high structural unemployment or underemployment have the greatest impact and likelihood of occurring. In Pakistan's manufacturing SMEs, environmental barriers such as unscheduled power failures, poor government support, political influence, seasonal effects and stringent government regulations are more common (Haleem et al, 2019). Other common external environmental barriers include limited access to finance, lack of economic incentive policies and fierce competition (Bajo et al, 2012;Agyapong, 2021;Onjewu et al, 2023).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the transcultural problem really matter? An integrated approach to analyze barriers to eHealth SMEs’ development

Zhao

Suklan

Liu

et al. 2023

IJEBR

PurposeIn a competitive environment, eHealth small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) barriers to survival differ from those of large enterprises. Empirical research on barriers to eHealth SMEs in less prosperous areas has been largely neglected. This study fills this gap by employing an integrated approach to analyze barriers to the development of eHealth SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data through semi-structured interviews and conducted thematic analysis to identify 16 barriers, which were used as inputs into total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) to build interrelationships among them and identify key barriers. Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) was then applied validate the TISM model and classify the 16 barriers into four categories.FindingsThis study makes significant contributions to theory by identifying new barriers and their interrelationships, distinguishing key barriers and classifying the barriers into four categories. The authors identify that transcultural problems are the key barrier and deserve particular attention. eHealth SMEs originating from regions with cultural value orientations, such as hierarchy and embeddedness, that differ from the UK’s affective autonomy orientation should strengthen their transcultural awareness when seeking to expand into UK markets.Originality/valueBy employing an integrated approach to analyze barriers that impede the development of eHealth SMEs in a less prosperous area of the UK, this study raises entrepreneurs’ awareness of running businesses in places with different cultural value orientations.

Int. j. bus. econ. aff.

“…Zeb and Ihsan (2020) examined the impact of innovation and entrepreneurship on the entrepreneurial performance of women-owned small and medium enterprises in Pakistan. Haleem et al (2019) investigated the barriers to SMEs' growth and to find out the issues faced by the manufacturing sectors of SMEs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Ali (2013) examined the impact of small and medium enterprises on poverty reduction and the economy of Pakistan from 1972-2008.…”

Section: Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

The Economic Impact of Covid-19 on Small and Medium Enterprises in District Swat

Rahman¹,

Hayat²,

Khan³

et al. 2022

The present study was undertaken for measuring the economic impact of the COVID-19 on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) with reference to District Swat. The Primary data was collected from all of the Tehsils of District Swat using a structured questionnaire. For this purpose a sample of 86 SMEs (20%) from all the manufacturing as well as services sector was selected. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics for selected variables through SPSS. According to the findings, majority of the enterprises faced financial issues for retaining their businesses after COVID-19 lockdown. Majority of the SMEs are owned by moderate level of educated people lacking business education and professionalism. Moreover, during COVID-19 SMEs were negatively affected in term of revenues, expenses and profit. In addition, SMEs were also having debt issues which elevated due to COVID-19 lockdown, resulting in taking loans through traditional mechanism to retain their businesses. Government relief programme was also believed as not sustainable/satisfactory by the significant portion during this period. While humanitarian support from landlords in term of rents waive-off was appreciated. Keeping in view its potential, this sector needs to be boosted through professional trainings on financial, management, leadership and other soft skills training program. Furthermore, relief by government support in term additional relief package and free interest loans are recommended.