Code of ethics for SMEs: substantiating the necessity and willingness to implement in Ukraine

Risk management is one of the prominent issues which are pivotal to the success of a business and may adversely affect profitability if not properly practised. Therefore, the main objective of this paper was to determine risk management practices in manufacturing SMEs in Cape Town. The research conducted was quantitative in nature and constituted the collection of data from 74 SME leaders, all of whom had to adhere to a list of strict delineation criteria. All data collected were thoroughly analyzed through means of descriptive statistics. From the findings made, it is clear that SMEs in the manufacturing sector do in fact understand risk management initiatives applicable to ‘manage’ their respective businesses towards sustainability, but not to a large extent. It was found that respondents are unaware of the elements which make risk management effective, which ultimately aids to the development of problems for SMEs. All employees, managers and owners must coordinate their efforts together to identify and manage organizational risks within their ambit to obtain total risk coverage, as well as provide assurance that these risks are effectively managed from a coordinated approach. Further studies may be carried out to identify measures that can be taken to improve the effectiveness of risk management practices in SMEs.

Understanding the role of the determinants of the ethical decision making in business organizations has become increasingly appealing to the field of business ethics. Various ethical decision making models put more emphasis on a narrow set of determinants. In concert with other contextual factors, these determinants appear to drive the ethical decision making in business organizations. However, in the literature there seems to be room for a more holistic set of determinants, which can explain effectively and holistically the diverse ethical rationales underlying the decision making more effectively. In this paper, the authors set out several ethical models and extract the predominant determinants. After portraying the main literature, the authors conclude that the most recent models are based on the first generation of ethical models, which tend to be more theoretical than empirical. They note the lack of empirical research in this area, which can be explained by both the nature and the intricateness of business ethics. They find that empirical analysis, when it exists, tends to focus on specific variables. The authors highlight at the end of the paper the need for integrative ethical models, which tackle not only the “how” but also the “why” of ethical decision making.

The poor performance of female entrepreneurs, exemplified in their inability to realize their full potential and compete fairly with their male counterparts owing to financial illiteracy, motivated this study. Therefore, this study examined the effect of financial literacy on business performance among female micro-entrepreneurs. Using the survey research design, data were collected from 247 female entrepreneurs from six states in the North-Eastern region of Nigeria. The hypotheses developed for the study were tested using path modeling-structural equation modeling with the aid of SmartPLS software version 3.2.7. The result revealed that all proxies of financial literacy (financial education, cash forecasting, and bookkeeping have significant effects on business performance of female entrepreneurs. Additionally, the paper revealed that financial education contributed more to the variance in business performance of the female micro-entrepreneurs, this was followed by bookkeeping practices, while cash-forecasting has the least effect on the variance in business performance. This implies that financial education is essential for the success of female micro-entrepreneurs. Thus, this study advocates the need for continuing trainings and workshops for female micro-entrepreneurs on financial concepts such as bookkeeping, cash forecasting, and market volatilities.