Contextual determinants of employee motivation

Informal Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in their respective economies over the world particularly in the African continent. This paper reviews various theories on SMEs towards understanding the potential of the informal sector in the context of African countries. The paper uses a theoretical approach for the purpose of assessing the challenges that have affected the development of the informal SMEs sector over the years in both the developing and developed world. Economically developing countries in Africa pose unique challenges to informal SMEs development compared to the developed countries. The paper reviews the theories that define the rise to informality in Africa by identifying the key determinants for the emergence of informal SMEs. A conceptual framework for assessing informal SME’s potential for Africa is developed. The conceptual framework is based on the Fishbone diagram developed by Kaoru Ishikawa (1986). This paper discusses the intricacies of the applicability of the proposed conceptual framework to assess the potential of the informal SMEs in Africa and the way forward for the formalization debate.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMEs in Georgia, identify the challenges of SMEs in pandemic conditions, and analyze government economic policy measures. For this purpose, 102 small and medium entrepreneurs from different regions of Georgia were interviewed. The survey was conducted by sending a questionnaire through digital channels. The results were processed using data analysis, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and presented graphically. As a result, key challenges and development directions that are typical for SMEs operations in Georgia during the pandemic were identified. For 60.8% of surveyed SME owners, lockdown is the main challenge. Sales volume of 45.1% of SMEs decreased. In addition, 39.3% of the surveyed SME owners increased the innovative capabilities of a company and 37.2% increased the sales volume of a company through digital channels. The main challenge of the pandemic, lockdown, gave impetus to a change in entrepreneurial behavior. In a pandemic, entrepreneurial activity has become more favorable through digital channels. During the pandemic, there is a need to continue the government’s program of tax incentives and subsidies for SMEs. In addition, the government should promote education in the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology.

Human resources at different levels are the executives of organizational tasks toward excellence. Missing the track of human resources will leave the organization behind. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of SHRM components on organizational excellence. The study was applied to industrial organizations in Industrial City in Northern Jordan. A quantitative approach was used to accomplish the objectives. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire was composed of three parts: the first part designed to collect demographic data, the second part designed to collect information about SHRM (recruitment, training, development, and career development), the last part designed to collect information about organizational excellence. A simple random sample of 120 organizations’ managers was studied. The results showed that the data collection tool was reliable. The results showed that training was of high concern by managers to reach excellence, followed by organizational development, then career development, and the least evaluation was for recruitment. The SHRM components affect the components of organizational excellence (customer satisfaction, technology deployment, product quality, and competitiveness) (p < 0.05). Recruitment was the highest contributor to organizational excellence related to technology deployment, product quality, and competitiveness, but customer satisfaction was affected by development and career development. The study recommended that the organization connect the SHRM strategy with the other organization activities that lead to excellence with the recruitment process’s concentration as it affects the products of the organizations.