The business process optimization of offer management for investment goods in individual production – the case of a German medium-sized company

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.

As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia focuses on Vision 2030, there is an immediate need to establish some big manufacturing industries to create jobs and to generate revenue from non-oil sectors. Automobile is one such sector where demand is very high in the Kingdom. Local manufacturing can create a lot of jobs and revenue. This study tries to analyze the scope of automobile sector in the Kingdom. The objective here is to identify the functional value of cars, which can be useful for potential automobile manufacturers. A sample of population is asked about their satisfaction from cars based on five broad factors, namely safety, comfort, aesthetic, instrumentation and engine, through a recent primary survey conducted in 2018. Using structural equation modeling, the study finds that consumers in the Kingdom give maximum importance to the engine of the car. This finding would be helpful for designing the features of a local brand as per the preferences of the local market. Market dynamics indicates a strong consumer base. Future prospects are also promising, as there is strong domestic demand. This can be tapped if production is localized, leading to a development of an entire new manufacturing sector. Finally, the study discusses some feasible options for automobile manufacturing in the Kingdom.

A firm with proper cash flow management can increase its financial performance, while improper management might lead to financial failure. Therefore, it is significant for a firm to manage cash inflows and outflows properly. The current study investigates the effect of cash flow from operations (CFOs) on the financial performance of insurance and manufacturing companies in Saudi Arabia. The data were extracted from companies’ annual reports by considering Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) as dependent variables, CFOs as an explanatory variable, firm size (SIZE) and Leverage (LEV) as control variables, and an industry dummy. The results report a positive and significant association between financial performance (ROA and ROE) and operating cash flows (CFOs), and a negative association for SIZE and LEV. Therefore, the study concludes that the firms’ operating cash flows in the insurance and manufacturing sectors in Saudi Arabia affect financial performance.