Promotion of inter firm cooperation

Experience shows that the development of subcontracting arrangements between large firms and SMEs can give an incentive for large firms to provide financial, technical and other assistance to SMEs.

As a group, OECD countries also show high proportions of Internet access by enterprises, although differences persist among them as well as between SMEs and large enterprises.

In 1994, there were 2,188 registered businesses in the Territory, a drop of 3.8 per cent from 1993, of which retail trade accounted for 874, wholesale trade for 281, service establishments for 480 and transportation for 356 businesses.

One or more enterprises which already control at least one enterprise directly or indirectly acquire total or partial control of one or more enterprises

60. Support programmes should be designed to help promote inter firm linkages among SMEs and between them and larger firms so as to improve skills, business information and production, marketing and sales opportunities of SMEs through inter firm and market networks.

53. Governments can promote inter firm cooperation.

Although a large Japanese industrial concern, it...

(e) Pay The enterprise must remunerate the worker for the time spent on the job in the firm, while the National Employment Fund pays for the time spent on training

The leave is calculated cumulatively and is given to the woman in its entirety, regardless of the number of days actually used before the birth, with payment of pregnancy and maternity benefits for those time periods at the employer's expense, regardless of how long the woman has worked in the organization.

Important opportunities for innovation and for upgrading the technological capacity of enterprises can be seen in various emerging forms of cooperation among firms and between firms and R amp D institutions.

The resulting trend is towards oligopolistic competition and growing intra firm and inter firm competition.

Acquiring technological capacities involves time, effort, cost and risk, as well as complex interactions among firms and between firms and institutions.

6. The possible conflicts of interest between large firms and SMEs and the tendency for government dialogue with the business sector to be dominated by the interests of large firms represent a common problem.

Opening or maintaining a dialogue between the Government and enterprises was an important measure favouring the growth of enterprises.

A Roster of Good Practices in the Promotion of Business Linkages was prepared, outlining practical steps on how to initiate and develop linkages between foreign and local firms.

During the reporting period, the secretariat further advanced its work on linkages between foreign and local firms.

Although the concern was expressed in the context of B2B transactions, it may also be relevant in B2G environment.

The Business of Business is More Than Business

With respect to the types of enterprises, one may distinguish between informal sector enterprises, essentially microenterprises, and enterprises in the formal sector, which include some microenterprises, SMEs and large firms.

Rapid technological progress had revolutionized relations among firms and between them and other actors in the development process.

Some firms tend to attach greater importance than others to such matters as the use of local resources, decentralization of decision making, and recourse to subcontracting and other inter firm arrangements.

International competitiveness among firms is in fact significantly influenced by the national environments in which firms operate.

Limit access to a market or free competition among enterprises

Between spouses in married couples of farmers, the person who is responsible for the administration of the agricultural enterprise is the beneficiary.

20. Approximately 200 small business operations were severely affected by the volcanic crisis.

Mr. Toru Ueno, Principal Administrator, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development (CFE), Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SME) and Entrepreneurship Division, OECD

Studies of African and other countries show that inter firm or market networks have helped to provide business support services highly valued by SMEs.

Macroeconomic instability can also encourage inefficient behaviour which can stifle inter firm co operation and can reduce the willingness of larger firms to outsource inputs or contract services from SMEs.

Many such firms were family firms, which found it difficult to develop an entrepreneurial outlook.

UNCTAD's component included intensive training and business development services for more than 1,000 local companies, the establishment of TNC SME business linkages and the implementation of a business incubator.

Similarly, cooperation between SMEs, particularly those in the same sector and geographical area, could help to reduce the costs of EMS implementation.

I'm a corporate lawyer most of the time for an organization called Enablis that supports entrepreneurs in South Africa.

In South Africa, a special fund exists to promote inter firm cooperation.

In Zimbabwe, for example, the Small Business Support Unit of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) encourages participants of training, advisory and consultancy services to belong to the ZNCC or to other business organizations, so as to facilitate networking among entrepreneurs and the sharing of experiences among SMEs of the same trade.

These consequences have led to a situation where SMEs have been massively destroyed or are continually losing ground in terms of their competitiveness, giving rise to a missing or declining middle in the enterprise structure in these countries, accompanied by a corresponding expansion of the micro enterprise or survival sectors of the economy.

A labour contract cannot be cancelled by an employer while a worker is on leave, except when the business is being liquidated or the businessman is terminating his activities (article 46 of the Labour Code).

SMEs provide a breeding ground for entrepreneurs.

A range of government policies influences the behaviour of firms directly or through the market, institutions, infrastructure and inter firm relations.

During the reporting period, the SSE programme provided 1.4 million in loans to 123 enterprises, helping to create or maintain 432 jobs.

Networking within the Government as well as between the Government, business firms and civil society organizations ___________

The beginning of joint ventures abroad by manufacturing SMEs can be traced back to two different time periods depending on the size of firms (medium sized versus small enterprises).

For Asian SMEs, the period from establishment to first international activity is 0.7 years, compared with 3.9 years for large firms (UNCTAD 1998).

However, in this case also, the prerequisite was a fair partnership between firms from developed countries and those from developing countries.

Enterprise partnerships involving both local and foreign firms can help African enterprises achieve competitiveness in regional and global markets.