Draft research proposal; 20 JAN 2013. Preliminary proposal for a 3 (max 4) year research project leading to a PhD. In preparation for the WION workshops on Advanced Purchasing Research and to be worked out in more detail as a PhD research proposal before MAY 2013. The research objective is to find out: …

Companies are on the verge to think about retention of older workers (workers above 50) in their company. Thus organisations, more specifically small and middle-sized enterprises (SMEs), are busy with the development of concepts how to make the time between 50 and retirement age of 65 or 67 for employees …

Small and medium-sized enterprises have found their way into multi-cultural relations to outsource or offshore their business processes. Relationships are built either from an economic or emotional point of view. Our study particularly focused on how SMEs owner/managers build, maintain, and –when necessary– …

There are current pressures to seek innovative solutions to problems associated with environmental sustainability, and in this context, it is likely that SMEs will have to collaborate with a wider variety of specialist partners. In 2009 three Dutch Universities joined with an Australian and Swedish University …

There is a strong need for successors in SMEs in Western innovative economies. This research paper investigates qualitatively if students change their entrepreneurial entry preference if they are presented different kinds of entrepreneurial entry options. We propose that students’ preferences are mediated …

Letting go of the firm or “my baby” as some entrepreneurs describe their creation, leads to a certain amount of stress (Rahim 1996, Kets de Vries 1999). Dealing with stress in singular events as the transfer of a business, is hardly been subject of research (Uy et al. 2012). Improving coping strategies …

This research focuses on exit choices within SMEs. In this study, “exit choice” refers to the decision to opt for either liquidation or sale of the firm. The predictions focus on human-capital and firm-resource variables. The hypotheses are tested on a set of 158 owners of small firms, the majority of …

SMEs within the rural Dutch municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug (UHG) are becoming increasingly aware of the need for sustainable ‘green’ business. Their sense of sustainability is strongly defined by the ‘green’ environment in which they live and work. They were seeking an entrepreneurial approach to …

Between 2009 and 2013 a project has been executed in the Utrecht region to strengthen the workplace innovation capacity of SMEs (My Company 2.0). The participating companies were asked to fill in a questionnaire on the workplace innovation capacity of the company at two moments: at the beginning (T0) …

In summary, state aid exists of government measures that provide a financial benefit to one or more undertakings or a certain industry, with the potential to distort competition or affect trade between MSs within the EU. The rules for state aid are laid down in Art. 107, 108 and 109 TFEU and the different …