中小企业盈利能力分析外文翻译文献
研究中小企业融资要参考的英文文献
研究中小企业融资要参考的英文文献在研究中小企业融资问题时，寻找相关的英文文献是获取国际经验和最佳实践的重要途径。
以下是一些值得参考的英文文献，涵盖了中小企业融资的理论背景、现状分析、政策建议以及案例研究等方面。
“Financing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Global Perspective”, by P.K. Agarwal, A.K. Dixit, and J.C. Garmaise. This book provides an comprehensive overview of the issues and challenges related to financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) around the world. It presents an analytical framework for understanding the different dimensions of SME financing and outlines best practices and policy recommendations for improving access to finance for these businesses.“The Financing of SMEs: A Review of the Literature and Empirical Evidence”, by R. E. Cull, L. P. Ciccantelli, and J. Valentin. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review on the financing challenges faced by SMEs, exploring the various factors that influence their access to finance,including information asymmetries, lack of collateral, and limited access to formal financial markets. The paper also presents empirical evidence on the impact of different financing strategies on SME performance and outlines policy recommendations for addressing these challenges.“The Role of Microfinance in SME Finance: A Review of the Literature”, by S. Hossain, M.A. Iftekhar, and N. Choudhury. This paper focuses on the role of microfinance in financing SMEs and explores the advantages and disadvantages of microfinance as a financing option for SMEs. It also outlines the potential for microfinance to play a greater role in supporting SME development in emerging markets and provides policy recommendations for achieving this objective.“The Political Economy of SME Finance: Evidence fromCross-Country Data”, by D.J. Mullen and J.R. Roberts. This paper examines the political economy of SME finance, exploring the relationship between government policies, market institutions, and SME financing constraints. Usingcross-country data, the paper finds evidence that government policies can have a significant impact on SME access to finance and that countries with better market institutions are more successful in supporting SME development. The paper provides policy recommendations for improving SME financing in different political and institutional settings.“Financing SMEs in Developing Countries: A Case Study of India”, by S. Bhattacharya, S. Ghosh, and R. Panda. This case study explores the financing challenges faced by SMEs in India and identifies the factors that limit their access to finance, including government policies, market institutions, and cultural traditions. It also presents an in-depth analysis of the various financing options available to SMEs in India, such as informal credit markets, microfinance institutions, and banks, and outlines policy recommendations for enhancing access to finance for these businesses.这些文献提供了对中小企业融资问题的多维度理解，并提供了实用的政策建议和案例研究，有助于更好地解决中小企业的融资需求。
企业盈利质量分析中英文对照外文翻译文献
企业盈利质量分析中英文对照外文翻译文献企业盈利质量分析中英文对照外文翻译文献企业盈利质量分析中英文对照外文翻译文献(文档含英文原文和中文翻译)原文：Measuring the quality of earnings1. IntroductionGenerally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) offer some flexibility in preparing the financial statements and give the financial managers some freedom to select among accounting policies and alternatives. Earning management uses the flexibility in financial reporting to alter the financial results of the firm (Ortega and Grant, 2003).In other words, earnings management is manipulating the earning to achieve a企业盈利质量分析中英文对照外文翻译文献predetermined target set by the management. It is a purposeful intervention in the external reporting process with the intent of obtaining some private gain (Schipper, 1989).Levit (1998) defines earning management as a gray area where the accounting is being perverted; where managers are cutting corners; and, where earnings reports reflect the desires of management rather than the underlying financial performance of the company.The popular press lists several instances of companies engaging in earnings management. Sensormatic Electronics, which stamped shipping dates and times on sold merchandise, stopped its clocks on the last day of a quarter until customer shipments reached its sales goal. Certain business units of Cendant Corporation inflated revenues nearly $500 million just prior to a merger; subsequently, Cendant restated revenuesand agreed with the SEC to change revenue recognition practices. AOL restated earnings for $385 million in improperly deferred marketing expenses. In 1994, the Wall Street Journal detailed the many ways in which General Electric smoothed earnings, including the careful timing of capital gains and the use of restructuring charges and reserves, in response to the article, General Electric reportedly received calls from other corporations questioning why such common practices were“front-page〞 news.Earning management occurs when managers use judgment in financial reporting and in structuring transactions to alter financial reports to either mislead some stakeholders about the underlying economic performance of the company or to influence contractual outcomes that depend on reported accounting numbers (Healy and Whalen, 1999).Magrath and Weld (2002) indicate that abusive earnings management and fraudulent practices begins by engaging in earnings management schemes designed primarily to “smooth〞 earnings to meet internally or externally imposed earnings forecasts and analysts’ expectations. Even if earnings management does not explicitly violate accounting rules, it is an ethically questionable practice. An organization that manages its earnings sends a企业盈利质量分析中英文对照外文翻译文献message to its employees that bending the truth is an acceptable practice. Executives who partake of this practice risk creating an ethical climate in which other questionable activities may occur. A manager who asks the sales staff to help sales one day forfeits the moral authority to criticize questionable sales tactics another day.Earnings management can also become a very slippery slope, which relatively minor accounting gimmicks becoming more and more aggressiveuntil they create material misstatements in the financial statements (Clikeman, 2003)The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued three staff accounting bulletins (SAB) to provide guidance on some accounting issues in order to prevent the inappropriate earnings management activities by public companies: SAB No. 99 “Materiality〞, SAB No. 100 “Restructuring and Impairment Charges〞 and SAB No. 101 “Revenue Recognition〞.Earnings management behavior may affect the quality of accounting earnings, which is defined by Schipper and Vincent (2003) as the extent to which the reported earnings faithfully represent Hichsian economic income, which is the amount that can be consumed (i.e. paid out as dividends) during a period, while leaving the firm equally well off at the beginning and the end of the period.Assessment of earning quality requires sometimes the separations of earnings into cash from operation and accruals, the more the earnings is closed to cash from operation, the higher earnings quality. As Penman (2001) states that the purpose of accounting quality analysis is to distinguish between the “hard〞 numbers resulting from cash flows and the “soft〞 numbers resulting from accrual accounting.The quality of earnings can be assessed by focusing on the earning persistence; high quality earnings are more persistent and useful in the process of decision making.Beneish and Vargus (2002) investigate whether insider trading is informative about earnings quality using earning persistence as a measure for the quality of earnings, they find that income-increasing accruals are significantly more persistent for firms with abnormal insider buying and significantly less persistent for firms with abnormal insider selling, relative to firms which there is no abnormal insider trading.Balsam et al. (2003) uses the level of discretionary accruals as a direct measure企业盈利质量分析中英文对照外文翻译文献for earning quality. The discretionary accruals model is based on a regression relationship between the change in total accruals as dependent variable and change in sales and change in the level of property, plant and equipment, change in cash flow from operations and change in firm size (total assets) as independent variables. If the regression coefficients in this model are significant that means that there is earning management in that firm and the earnings quality is low.This research presents an empirical study on using three different approaches of measuring the quality of earnings on different industry. The notion is; if there is a complete consistency among the three measures, a general assessment for the quality of earnings (high or low) can be reached and, if not, the quality of earnings is questionable and needs different other approaches for measurement and more investigations and analysis.The rest of the paper is divided into following sections: Earnings management incentives, Earnings management techniques, Model development, Sample and statistical results, and Conclusion.2. Earnings management incentives 2.1 Meeting analysts’ expectations In general, analysts’ expectations and company predictions tend to address two high-profile components of financial performance: revenue and earnings from operations.The pressure to meet revenue expectations is particularly intense and may be the primary catalyst in leading managers to engage in earning management practices that result in questionable or fraudulent revenue recognition practices. Magrath and Weld (2002) indicate that improperrevenue recognition practices were the cause of one-third of all voluntary or forced restatements of income filed with the SEC from 1977 to 2000. Ironically, it is often the companies themselves that create this pressure to meet the market’s earnings expectations. It is common practice for companies to provide earnings estimates to analysts and investors. Management is often faced with the task of ensuring their targeted estimates are met.企业盈利质量分析中英文对照外文翻译文献Several companies, including Coca-Cola Co., Intel Corp., and Gillette Co., have taken a contrary stance and no longer provide quarterly and annual earnings estimates to analysts. In doing so, these companies claim they have shifted their focus from meeting short-term earnings estimates to achieving their long-term strategies (Mckay and Brown, 2002).2.2 To avoid debt-covenant violations and minimize political costs Some firms have the incentive to avoid violating earnings-based debt covenants. If violated, the lender may be able to raise the interest rate on the debt or demand immediate repayment. Consequently, some firms may use earnings-management techniques to increase earnings to avoid such covenant violations. On the other hand, some other firms have the incentive to lower earnings in order to minimize political costs associated with being seen as too profitable. For example, if gasoline prices have been increasing significantly and oil companies are achieving record profit level, then there may be incentive for the government to intervene and enact an excess-profit tax or attempt to introduce price controls.2.3 To smooth earnings toward a long-term sustainable trendFor many years it has been believed that a firm should attempt to reduce the volatility in its earnings stream in order to maximize share price. Because a highly violate earning pattern indicates risk, therefore thestock will lose value compared to others with more stable earnings patterns. Consequently, firms have incentives to manage earnings to help achieve a smooth and growing earnings stream (Ortega and Grant, 2003).2.4 Meeting the bonus plan requirementsHealy (1985) provides the evidence that earnings are managed in the direction that is consistent with maximizing executives’ earnings-based bonus. When earnings will be below the minimum level required to earn a bonus, then earning are managed upward so that the minimum is achieved and a bonus is earned. Conversely, when earning will be above the maximum level at which no additional bonus is paid, then earnings are managed downward. The extra earnings that will not generate extra bonus this current period are saved to be used to earn a bonus in a future period.。
盈利能力外文资料翻译译文
盈利能力外文资料翻译译文XXX has always been one of the XXX。
Capital structure is related to a company's funding costs。
financial risks。
and profitability。
and funding costs and financial risks XXX een a company's capital structure and profitability is not us。
but increasing a company's long-term debt-to-equity。
XXX.The funding costs of long-XXX taxes。
a company's actual capital cost is lower than the rate of return demanded by creditors。
The cost of debt capital is mainly determined by the company's financial structure。
debt repayment ability。
operating cash flow。
operating ability。
operating efficiency。
market interest rates。
and current market economic XXX nary effects。
and the return XXX。
Long-term debt has a greater impact on a company's operating XXX。
and long-term debt faces greater credit default risk。
企业利润分析中英文对照外文翻译文献
中英文对照外文翻译文献(文档含英文原文和中文翻译)原文：Profit PatternsThe most important objective of companies is to create, develop and maintain one or more competitive advantages in order to generate dividends for the shareholders. For a long time, it was simply a question of dominating the market, either by costs or by a policy of differentiation. As Michael Porter advised, it was essential to avoid being “stuck in the middle”. This way of thinking set up competitive rivalry in a closed world, and tended towards stability. This model is less and less relevant today for whole sectors of the economy. We see a multitude of strategic movements which defy the logic of the old system. “Profit Patterns” lists numerous strategies which have joined the small number that we knew before. These patterns often combine to give rise to strategic models which are better adapted to the new and changing needs of the consumer.Increasing the value of a company depends on its capacity to predict Valuemigration from one economic sector to another or from one company to another has unimaginable proportions, in particular because of the new phenomena that mass investment and venture capital represent. The public is looking for companies that will succeed in the future and bet on the winner.Major of managers have a talent for recognizing development market trends There are some changing and development trends in all business sectors. They can be erected into models, thereby making it possible to acquire a technique for predicting them. This consists of recognizing them in the actual economic context. This book proposes thirty strategic prediction models divided into seven families. Predicting is not enough: one still has to act in time! Managers analyze development trends in the environment in order to identify opportunities. They then have to determine a strategic plan for their company, and set up a system aligning the internal and external organizational structure as a function of their objectives.For most of the 20th century, mastering strategic evolution models was not a determining factor, and formulas for success were fixed and relatively simple. In industry, the basic model stated that profit was a function of relative market share. Today, this rule is confronted with more and more contradictions: among car manufacturers for example, where small companies like Toyota are more profitable than General Motors and Ford. The highest rises in value have become the exclusive right of the companies with the most efficient business designs. These upstart companies have placed themselves in the profit zone of their sectors thanks, in part, to their size, but also to their new way of doing business – exploiting new rules which are sources of value creation. Among the new rules which define a good strategic plan are:1. Strong orientation towards the customer2. Internal decisions which are coherent with the overall activity, concerning the products and services as well as the involvement in the different activities of the value chain3. An efficient mechanism for value–capture.4. A powerful source of differentiation and of strategic control, inspiring investorconfidence in future cash-flow.5. An internal organization carefully designed to support and reinforce the company’s strategic plan.Why does value migrate? The explanation lies largely in the explosion of risk-capital activities in the USA. Since the 40’s, of the many companies that have been created, about a thousand have allowed talented employees, the “brains”, to work without the heavy structures of very big companies. The risk–capital factor is now entering a new phase in the USA, in that the recipes for innovation and value creation are spreading from just the risk-capital companies to all big companies. A growing number of the 500 richest companies have an internal structure for getting into the game of investing in companies with high levels of value-creation. Where does this leave Eur ope? According to recent research, innovation in strategic thinking is under way in Europe, albeit with a slight time-lag. Globalization is making the acceptation of these value-creation rules a condition of global competitively .There is a second phenomenon that has an even more radical influence on value-creation –polarization: The combination of a convincing and innovative strategic plan, strategic control and a dominant market share creates a terrific increase in investor confidence. The investors believe that the company has established its position of strength not only for the current, but also for the next strategic cycle. The result is an exponential growth in value, and especially a spectacular out-distancing of the direct rivals. The polarization process typically has two stages. In phase 1, the competitors seem to be level. In fact, one of them has unde rstood, has “got it”, before the others and is investing in a new strategic action plan to take into account the pattern which is starting to redefine the sector. Phase 2 begins when the conditions are right for the pattern to take over: at this moment, th e competitor who “got it”, attracts the attention of customers, investors and potential recruits (the brains). The intense public attention snowballs, the market value explodes to leave the nearest competitor way behind. Examples are numerous in various sectors: Microsoft against Apple and Lotus, Coca-Cola against Pepsi, Nike against Reebok and so on. Polarization of value raises the stakes and adds a sense of urgency: The first company to anticipate market changeand to take appropriate investment decisions can gain a considerable lead thanks to recognition by the market.In a growing number of sectors today, competition is concentrated on the race towards mindshare. The company which leads this race attracts customers who attract others in an upwards spiral. At the transition from phase 1 to phase 2, the managing team’s top priority is to win the mindshare battle. There are three stages in this strategy: mind sharing with customers gives an immediate competitive advantage in terms of sales; mind sharing with investors provides the resources to maintain this advantage, and mind sharing with potential recruits increases the chances of maintaining the lead in the short and the long term. This triple capture sets off a chain reaction releasing an enormous amount of economic energy. Markets today are characterized by a staggering degree of transparency. Successes and failures are instantaneously visible to the whole world. The extraordinary success of some investors encourages professional and amateurs to look for the next hen to lay a golden egg. This investment mentality has spread to the employment market, where compensations (such as stock-options) are increasingly linked to results. From these three components - customers, investors and new talent – is created the accelerating phenomenon, polarization: thousands of investors look towards the leader at the beginning of the race. The share value goes up at the same time as the rise in customer numbers and the public perception that the current leader will be the winner. The rise in share-price gets more attention from the media, and so on. How to get the knowledge before the others, in order to launch the company into leadership? There are several attitudes, forms of behavior and knowledge that can be used: being paranoiac, thinking from day to day that the current market conditions are going to change; talking to people with different points of view; being in the field, looking for signs of change. And above all, building a research network to find the patterns of strategic change, not only in one’s particular sector, but in the whole economy, so as always to understand the patterns a bit better and a bit sooner than the competitors.Experienced managers can detect similarities between movements of value in different circumstances. 30 of these patterns can be divided into 7 categories.Some managers understand migrations of value before other managers, allowing them to continually improvise their business plan in order to find and exploit value. Experience is an obvious advantage: situations can repeat themselves or be similar to others, so that experienced managers recognize and assimilate them quickly. There about 30 patterns .which can be put into 7 groups according to their key factors. It is important to understand that the patterns have three general characteristics: multiplicity,variants and cycles. The principle of multiplicity indicates that while a sector or a company may be affected by just one simple strategic pattern, most situations are more complicated and involve several simultaneously evolving patterns. The variants to the known models are developed in different circumstances and according to the creativity of the users of the models. Studying the variants gives more finesse in model-analysis. Finally, each model depends on economic cycles which are more or less long. The time a pattern takes to develop depends on its nature and also on the nature of the customers and sector in question.1) The first family of strategic evolution patterns consists of the six “Mega patterns”: these models do not address any particular dimension of the activity (customer, channels of distribution and value chain), but have an overall and transversal influence. They owe their name “Mega” to their range and their impact (as much from the point of view of the different economic sectors as from the duration). The six Mega models are: No profit, Back to profit, Convergence, Collapse in the middle, De facto standard and Technology shifts the board. • The No profit pattern is characterized by a zero or negative result over several years in a company or economic sector. The first factor which favors this pattern is the existence of a single strategic a plan in several competitors: they all apply differentiation by price to capture market-share. The second factor is the loss of the “crutch” of the sector, that is the end of a system of the help, such as artificially maintained interest levels, or state subsidies. Among the best examples of this in the USA are in agriculture and the railway industry in the 50’s and 60’s,and in the aeronautical industry in the 80’s and 90’s.• The Back to profit pattern is characterized by the emergence of innovative strategic plans or the projects which permit the return of profits. In the 80’s, the watch industry was stagnating in a noprofits zone. The vision of Nicolas Hayek allowed Swatch and other brands to get back into a profit-making situation thanks to a products pyramid built around the new brand.The authors rightly attribute this phenomenon to investors’ recognition of the superiority of these new business designs. However this interpretation merits refinement: the superiority resides less in the companies’ current capacity to identify the first an indications of strategic discontinuity than in their future capacity to develop a portfolio of strategic options and to choose the right one at the right time. The value of a such companies as Amazon and AOL, which benefit from financial polarization, can only be explained in this way. To be competitive in the long-term, a company must not only excel in its “real” market, but also in its financial market. Competition in both is very fierce, and one can not neglect either of these fields of battle without suffering the consequences. This share-market will assume its own importance alongside the commercial market, and in the future, its successful exploitation will be a key to the strategic superiority of publicly-quoted companies.Increasing the value of a company depends on its capacity to predictValue migration from one economic sector to another or from one company to another has unimaginable proportions, in particular because of the new phenomena that mass investment and venture capital represent. The public is looking for companies that will succeed in the future and bet on the winner.Major managers have a talent for recognizing development market trendsThere are some changing and development trends in all business sectors. They can be erected into models, thereby making it possible to acquire a technique for predicting them. This consists of recognizing them in the actual economic context.Predicting is not enough: one still has to act in timeManagers analyze development trends in the environment in order to identify opportunities. They then have to determine a strategic plan for their company, and set up a system aligning the internal and external organizational structure as a function of their objectivesSource: David .J. Morrison, 2001. “Profit Patterns”. Times Business.pp.17-27.译文：利润模式一个公司价值的增长依赖于公司自身的能力的预期，价值的迁移也只是从一个经济部门转移到另外一个经济部门或者是一个公司到另外一个意想不到的公司。
中小企业融资渠道中英文对照外文翻译文献
中小企业融资渠道中英文对照外文翻译文献(文档含英文原文和中文翻译)原文：The areas of SME financing channels: an overview 1.IntroductionIn all countries, SMEs are an important source of economic growth and create jobs. In addition, these companies through their dynamism and flexibility, the power of innovation and development.The research method is to start from the literature to highlight the importance of the theme of our research. This paper analyzes the data and statistics based on mainly by the World Bank survey, small and medium-sized private enterprises in Romania by some empirical research. According to the method used, and pointed out the importance of financing of SMEs and enhance the public bodies concerned about, especially the measures taken to improve financial development.2.the literature on SMEs financing channelsA popular academic literature on the financing channels of SMEs, has witnessed a lot of research to solve this problem.Countless research studies have indicated that financing channels is a critical obstacle in the growth and development process, especially in small and medium enterprises.Through Baker Dumont reggae - Ke Lute, Ivan, and Marca Smokin Popovich (2004) research, reflecting the fundamental factors of 10 000 enterprises from 80 countries mainly depend on the financing of enterprises. Therefore, the relationship between the study highlights the corporate finance and its characteristics such as age, size and structure of property rights. From this perspective, the authors found that the small size of the young company, and face greater obstacles when they seek financial resources.The iResearch Dick Mei Leke and Salta (2011) analysis of macroeconomic and institutional factors affecting SME financing loans through the statistical data found. In other similar studies, the authors found a positive correlation between the overall economic development (a measure of per capita income) and financial development (measured by private lending ratio of gross domestic product), on the other hand, the level of SME financing is the opposite. In addition, the authors show that the level of financing for SMEs depends on the legal structure and overall business environment.3.in the process of SME financing in the general obstaclesIn general, access to financial products or financial services or financial inclusion assumes that there is no trade barriers to the use of financial products or services, regardless of whether these barriers or non-related pricing (Dumont reggae - Ke Lute, Baker, and Honorine root 2008:2). Therefore, to improve this means of access means increasing the degree of financial products or financial services at a fair price toeveryone.Enterprise does not use financial products or services can be divided into several categories, their identification is necessary, in order to take the necessary measures to improve their financing channels. Therefore, on the one hand, enterprises obtain financing, the financial products and services, but do not use them because they do not have a viable investment projects. On the other hand, it can distinguish between non-voluntary refuse corporate Although these business needs, but not have access to financial services. The status of independent corporate finance or financial services in some companies do not earn enough money or safeguards required by financing institutions and therefore have higher credit risk. At the same time, when some companies in need of funding, financial and banking institutions involved too costly and can not agree to financing. Finally, in the context of the enterprise refused to appear over-priced financial products or services and financial products or services that meet their requirements.Financing channels for enterprise development and the efficient allocation of funds essential. However, compared with large enterprises, SMEs seeking finance is facing many difficulties, because of several reasons, including: the judicial and legislative structure of the instability and imperfect, it does not support the enterprises in need of financing and funding the relationship between; part of the funding and corporate information is incomplete or even lack of information, which hinders the normal and efficient development of relations between enterprises and providers of finance; especially in the young company, the lack of credit history and guarantees the creditors, and sometimes limits the range of financial products that can be used.The number of surveys, especially the World Bank stressed that the financing is one of the biggest obstacle to good development and growth of the SME. For example, the World Bank in the 2006-2009 survey foundthat 31% of the worldwide study of corporate finance is a major obstacle to the current implementation, and even higher proportion of young company in the 40% of cases up to three years of experience (Chavez, kt Boer and Ireland 2010:1). In addition, a series of global surveys, including the information provided by the World Business Environment Survey show that SME financing transaction costs is the main obstacle to enterprise development.4.SME bank financing difficulties and support measuresIn most countries, especially in countries with bank-oriented financial system, the main source of external financing for SMEs by bank loans. Therefore, this type of loan is crucial to the development of SMEs. However, the survey showed, compared to the SMEs and large enterprises are using the new investment in the small extent of bank financing.As we mentioned, the use of financial products is determined by supply and demand. It is therefore important to understand why the SMEs use bank financing to a small extent only. In this regard, some studies (Banerjee and Duflo: 2004) has shown that the main reason for the supply, because every time when SMEs are able to obtain loans, they use it to increase production. This behavior is more proof of financing is an important factor in the development of enterprises. In addition, in the context of the current global financial crisis, the declining availability of bank loans and limited financing opportunities for SMEs. Therefore, it is the main problem facing small and medium enterprises.October 29, 2010, this survey of SMEs in Romania highlights the main problems faced by SMEs and banks. Therefore, 82% of the interviewed entrepreneurs obtain bank financing is very difficult, mainly because of excessive bureaucracy, unreasonable high demand, high interest rates, rigid bank credit indicators, as well as many types of commission and expenses. In addition, more than 61% of SMEentrepreneurs and managers reporting banks lack of transparency (hidden costs, lack of communication channels, etc.), there is no real consultation (using the standard contract, the bank refused to modify or complete the credit contract, etc.) and banks do not legitimate or misuse of the terms of the contract (for example, perform the unauthorized transaction accounts or bank fraud). Understanding this knowledge to take measures to support and promote SME financing.Improve SME financing is still cause for concern, but also national, European and international facing a challenge. For example, in the EU, through the implementation of the new measures established by the Small Business Administration for Europe to improve the financing channels for SMEs, by reducing the return of the structural funds requirements to promote the access of small and medium enterprises, the establishment of the Credit Ombudsman to promote small and medium-sized enterprises and dialogue between the credit institutions, to avoid the double taxation of the tax legislation, which will hinder the international venture capital plays an important role.In particular, empirical research, emphasizing the impact of the degree of financial development of a country is essential that the level of development of the SME financing. Therefore, a series of measures to support SMEs to obtain financing, to ensure the efficient development of the country's financial, which will ensure greater availability of corporate finance. Specifically, the authorities should take measures commonly used to measure the degree of financial development in the seven pillars, namely, the institutional environment, business environment, financial stability, banking and financial services, non-bank financial services, financial markets and access to finance.5 .ConclusionEffective financing for SMEs to create new business is of great significance, and existing growth and development of enterprises, whilepromoting the country's economic and social development. In addition, in the case of the economic crisis, SMEs contribute to restoring the national economy, so it is particularly important to support SME financing. However, most of the survey report stressed, always the financing channels of SMEs is one of the most important factor to affect its operation and development.SMEs trying to get the necessary financial resources to face difficulties related to the entrepreneurs and the economic environment of each country, as well as existing legal and institutional structure. To alleviate these difficulties, the measures taken by public authorities should focus on improving the financial development and to ensure that the corporate finance and economic growth, greater effectiveness.In various countries, including Romania, the decline on the availability of SME financing, or even the lack of statistical data, we believe that policy makers need to focus on and monitor a series of important indicators, depending on the size of the SMEs, experience and industry events share of its loans, which will benefit the public authorities, creditors and investors.原文来自罗马·安吉拉中小企业的融资渠道的领域:概述（奥拉迪亚大学：经济科学，2011年第一卷第一期，431-437）摘要通过中小企业在创造附加值和新的就业岗位中的贡献,使它在国家的经济和社会发展中拥有一个显著的角色。
中小企业营运资金管理中英文对照外文翻译文献
中小企业营运资金管理中英文对照外文翻译文献(文档含英文原文和中文翻译)原文：Effects of working capital management on SME profitability AbstractThe objective of the research presented here is to provide empirical evidence about the effects of working capital management on the profitability of a sample of small and medium-sized Spanish firms. With this in mind, we collected a panel of 8,872 SMEs covering the period 1996-2002. The results, which are robust to the presence of endogeneity, demonstrate that managers can create value by reducing their firm’s number of days accounts receivable and inventories. Equally, shortening the cash conversion cycle also improves the firm’s profitability.IntroductionThe corporate finance literature has traditionally focused on the study of long-term financial decisions. Researchers have particularly offered studies analyzing investments, capital structure, dividends or company valuation, among other topics. But the investment that firms make in short-term assets, and the resources used with matu rities of under one year, represent the main share of items on a firm’s balance sheet.In fact, in our sample the current assets of small and medium-sized Spanish firms represent 69.48 percent of their assets, and at the same time their current liabilities represent more than 52.82 percent of their liabilities.Working capital management is important because of its effects on the firm’s profitability and risk, and consequently its value (Smith, 1980). On the one hand, maintaining high inventory levels reduces the cost of possible interruptions in the production process, or of loss of business due to the scarcity of products, reduces supply costs, and protects against price fluctuations, among other advantages (Blinder and Manccini, 1991). On the other, grant ing trade credit favors the firm’s sales in various ways. Trade credit can act as an effective price cut (Brennan, Maksimovic and Zechner, 1988; Petersen and Rajan, 1997), incentivizes customers to acquire merchandise at times of low demand (Emery, 1987), allows customers to check that the merchandise they receive is as agreed (quantity and quality) and to ensure that theservices contracted are carried out (Smith, 1987), and helps firms to strengthen long-term relationships with their customers (Ng, Smith and Smith, 1999). However, firms that invest heavily in inventory and trade credit can suffer reduced profitability. Thus, the greater the investment in current assets, the lower the risk, but also the lower the profitability obtained.On the other hand, trade credit is a spontaneous source of financing that reduces the amount required to finance the sums tied up in the inventory and customer accounts. But we should bear in mind that financing from suppliers can have a very high implicit cost if early payment discounts are available. In fact the opportunity cost may exceed 20 percent, depending on the discount percentage and the discount period granted (Wilner,2000; Ng, Smith and Smith, 1999). In this respect, previous studies have analyzed the high cost of trade credit, and find that firms finance themselves with seller credit when they do not have other more economic sources of financing available (Petersen and Rajan, 1994 and 1997).Decisions about how much to invest in the customer and inventory accounts, and how much credit to accept from suppliers, are reflected in the firm’s cash conversion cycle, which represents the average number of days between the date when the firm must start paying its suppliers and the date when it begins to collect payments from its customers. Some previous studies have used this measure to analyze whether shortening the cash conversion cycle has positive or negative effects on the firm’s profitability. Specifically, Shin and Soenen (1998) analyze the relation between the cash conversion cycle and profitability for a sample of firms listed on the US stock exchange during the period 1974-1994. Their results show that reducing the cash conversion cycle to a reasonable extent increases firms’ profitability. More recently, Deloof (2003) analyzes a sample of large Belgian firms during the period 1992-1996. His results confirm that Belgian firms can improve their profitability by reducing the number of days accounts receivable are outstanding and reducing inventories. Moreover, he finds that less profitable firms wait longer to pay their bills.These previous studies have focused their analysis on larger firms. However, the management of current assets and liabilities is particularly important in the case ofsmall and medium-sized compan ies. Most of these companies’ assets are in the form of current assets. Also, current liabilities are one of their main sources of external finance in view of their difficulties in obtaining funding in the long-term capital markets (Petersen and Rajan, 1997) and the financing constraints that they face (Whited, 1992; Fazzari and Petersen, 1993). In this respect, Elliehausen and Woken (1993), Petersen and Rajan (1997) and Danielson and Scott (2000) show that small and medium-sized US firms use vendor financing when they have run out of debt. Thus, efficient working capital management is particularly important for smaller companies (Peel and Wilson, 1996).In this context, the objective of the current work is to provide empirical evidence about the effects of working capital management on profitability for a panel made up of 8,872 SMEs during the period 1996-2002.This work contributes to the literature in two ways. First, no previous such evidence exists for the case of SMEs.We use a sample of Spanish SMEs that operate within the so-called continental model, which is characterized by its less developed capital markets (La Porta, López-de-Silanes, Shleifer, and Vishny, 1997), and by the fact that most resources are channeled through financial intermediaries (Pampillón, 2000). All this suggests that Spanish SMEs have fewer alternative sources of external finance available, which makes them more dependent on short-term finance in general, and on trade credit in particular. As Demirguc-Kunt and Maksimovic (2002) suggest, firms operating in countries with more developed banking systems grant more trade credit to their customers, and at the same time they receive more finance from their own suppliers. The second contribution is that, unlike the previous studies by Shin and Soenen (1998) and Deloof (2003), in the current work we have conducted tests robust to the possible presence of endogeneity problems. The aim is to ensure that the relationships found in the analysis carried out are due to the effects of the cash conversion cycle on corporate profitability and not vice versa.Our findings suggest that managers can create value by reducing their firm’s number of days accounts receivable and inventories. Similarly, shortening the cash conversion cycle also improves the firm’s profitability.From this point, the work is structured as follows: in Section 2, we describe the sample and variables used; in the third section, we present the analyses carried out and our findings; finally, we end by discussing our main conclusions.Data and Variablesi. DataWe obtained the data used in this study from the AMADEUS database. This database was developed by Bureau van Dijk, and contains financial and economic data on European companies.The sample comprises small and medium-sized firms from Spain. The selection of SMEs was carried out according to the requirements established by the European Commission’s recommendation 96/280/CE of 3rd April, 1996, on the definition of small and medium-sized firms. Specifically, we selected those firms meeting the following criteria for at least three years: a) have fewer than 250 employees; b) turn over less than €40 million; and c) possess less than €27 million of total assets.In addition to the application of those selection criteria, we applied a series of filters. Thus, we eliminated the observations of firms with anomalies in their accounts, such as negative values in their assets, current assets, fixed assets, liabilities, current liabilities, capital, depreciation, or interest paid. We removed observations of entry items from the balance sheet and profit and loss account exhibiting signs that were contrary to reasonable expectations. Finally, we eliminated 1 percent of the extreme values presented by several variables. As a result of applying these filters, we ended up with a sample of 38,464 observations.In order to introduce the effect of the economic cycle on the levels invested in working capital, we obtained information about the annual GDP growth in Spain from Eurostat.ii. VariablesIn or der to analyze the effects of working capital management on the firm’s profitability, we used the return on assets (ROA) as the dependent variable. We defined this variable as the ratio of earnings before interest and tax to assets.With regards to the independent variables, we measured working capitalmanagement by using the number of days accounts receivable, number of days of inventory and number of days accounts payable. In this respect, number of days accounts receivable (AR) is calculated as 365 ×[accounts receivable/sales]. This variable represents the average number of days that the firm takes to collect payments from its customers.The higher the value, the higher its investment in accounts receivable.We calculated the number of days of inventory (INV) as 365 ×[inventories/purchases]. This variable reflects the average number of days of stock held by the firm. Longer storage times represent a greater investment in inventory for a particular level of operations.The number of days accounts payable (AP) reflects the average time it takes firms to pay their suppliers. We calculated this as 365 ×[accounts payable/purchases]. The higher the value, the longer firms take to settle their payment commitments to their suppliers.Considering these three periods jointly, we estimated the cash conversion cycle (CCC). This variable is calculated as the number of days accounts receivable plus thenumber of days of inventory minus the number of days accounts payable. The longer the cash conversion cycle, the greater the net investment in current assets, and hence the greater the need for financing of current assets.Together with these variables, we introduced as control variables the size of the firm, the growth in its sales, and its leverage. We measured the size (SIZE) as the logarithm of assets, the sales growth (SGROW) as (Sales1 –Sales0)/Sales0, the leverage (DEBT) as the ratio of debt to liabilities. Dellof (2003) in his study of large Belgian firms also considered the ratio of fixed financial assets to total assets as a control variable. For some firms in his study such assets are a significant part of total assets. However our study focuses on SMEs whose fixed financial assets are less important. In fact, companies in our sample invest little in fixed financial assets (a mean of 3.92 percent, but a median of 0.05 percent). Nevertheless, the results remain unaltered when we include this variable.Furthermore, and since good economic conditions tend to be reflected in a firm’sprofitability, we controlled for the evolution of the economic cycle using the variable GDPGR, which measures the annual GDP growth.iii. Description of sampleTable II offers descriptive statistics about the variables used for the sample as a whole. These are generally small firms, with me an assets of more than €6 million; their return on assets is around 8 percent; their number of days accounts receivable is around 96 days; and their number of days accounts payable is very similar: around 97 days. Together with this, the sample firms have seen their sales grow by almost 13 percent annually on average, and 24.74 percent of their liabilities is taken up by debt. In the period analyzed (1996-2002) the GDP has grown at an average rate of 3.66 percent in Spain.Table IIDescriptive StatisticsROA measure return on assets, AR number of days accounts receivable, INV number of days of inventory, AP number of days accounts payable, CCC cash conversion cycle, ASSETS value of assets in thousand euros, SGROW sales growth, DEBT financial debt level, and GDPGR annual GDP growth. Variable Obs. Mean SD Median 10th Perc. 90th Perc.ROA 38464 0.0792 0.0834 0.0678 0.0041 0.1768 AR 38464 96.8299 55.7682 96.2962 22.0945 165.2533 INV 38452 77.2140 70.0499 59.3042 6.8692 166.6171 AP 38371 97.8090 57.3568 93.8075 24.5344 174.9668 CCC 38371 76.3117 90.6413 64.7704 -19.6907 190.2017 ASSETS 38464 6955.1090 4461.3940 13308 2718.5 5541 SGROW 32674 0.1299 0.3105 0.0862 -0.0928 0.3492 DEBT 35237 0.2474 0.1839 0.2306 0.0098 0.5021 GDPGR 38464 0.0366 0.0075 0.0420 0.0240 0.0430ConclusionsWorking capital management is particularly important in the case of small and medium-sized companies. Most of these companies’ asset s are in the form of current assets. Also, current liabilities are one of their main sources of external finance. In this context, the objective of the current research has been to provide empirical evidence about the effects of working capital management on the profitability of a sample of small and medium-sized Spanish firms. For this purpose, we collected apanel consisting of 8,872 SMEs covering the period 1996-2002.According to previous studies focus on large firms (Shin and Soenen, 1998; Deloof, 2003), the analyses carried out confirm the important role of working capital management in value generation in small and medium-sized firms. We find a significant negative relation between an SME’s profitability and the number of days accounts receivable and days of inventory. We cannot, however, confirm that the number of days accounts payable affects an SME’s return on assets, as this relation loses significance when we control for possible endogeneity problems.Finally, SMEs have to be concerned with working capital management because they can also create value by reducing their cash conversion cycle to a minimum, as far as that is reasonable.So urce: Pedro J. García, Pedro Martínez,2007. “Effects of Working Capital Management on SME Profitability ” . Inter national Journal of Managerial Finance. Vol. 3, No. 2.pp. 164-177.译文：营运资金管理对中小企业盈利能力的影响摘要这里提供的研究的目的是提供有关营运资金管理对示例的中小型西班牙公司盈利能力的影响的实证证据。
小微企业融资外文文献翻译
小微企业融资外文文献翻译小微企业融资外文文献翻译(文档含中英文对照即英文原文和中文翻译)原文：Micro Enterprise Finance in Uganda: Path Dependence and Other and Determinants of Financing DecisionsDr. Winifred Tarinyeba- KiryabwireAbstractAccess to finance literature in developing countries focuses onaccess to credit constraints of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) micro enterprises because they are considered the drivers of economic growth. However, in low income countries, micro enterprises play a much more significant role than SMEs because of their contribution to non-agricultural self-employment. The predominant use of informal credit rather than formal credit shows that the manner in which micro enterprises are formed and conduct their businesses favors the former over the latter. In addition, other factors such as lengthy credit application procedures, negative perceptions about credit application processes make informal credit more attractive. On the other hand specific factors such as business diversification, the need to acquire business inputs or assets than cannot be obtained using supplier credit are associated with a tendency to use formal credit.IntroductionIt well established that in markets where access to credit is constrained, it is the smaller businesses that have the most difficulty accessing credit. Various policy interventions have been made to improve access to credit including reforming the information and contractual frameworks, macro-economic performance, competitiveness in the financial system, and regulatory frameworks that enablefinancial institutions to develop products for SMEs such as leasing and factoring. Over the past ten years, policy makers in developing and low income countries have focused on microfinance as an intervention to bridge the access to credit gap and improve access to credit for those than cannot obtain credit from mainstream financial institutions such as commercial banks. However, despite, the use of what are often termed as “innovative lending” methods that are designed to ease access to credit, such as use of group lending and other collateral substitutes, micro enterprises continue to rely heavily on informal finance as opposed to formal credit. While other studies have focused broadly on factors that inhibit access to credit, this article seeks to throw some light on specific characteristics of micro enterprises that make them more inclined to use informal credit, as well as specific factors that are more associated with use of formal credit. The former are what I term as path dependence factors.The majority of micro enterprises operate as informally established sole proprietorships. This finding is consistent with the literature on micro enterprises, particularly the fact that they operate in the informal sector. However, nearly all of the enterprises had some form of trading license issued by the local government of the area in whichthey operate. The license identifies the owner of the business and its location, and is renewable every financial year. Most respondents did not understand the concept of business incorporation and thought that having a trading license meant that they were incorporated. Several factors can be attributed to the manner in which micro enterprises are established. First, proprietors generally understand neither the concept of incorporation nor the financial and legal implications of establishing a business as a legal entity separate from its owner. Second, the majority of micro enterprises start as spontaneous business or economic opportunities, rather than as well-thought out business ventures, particularly businesses that operate by the road side, or in other strategic areas, such as telephone booths that operate along busy streets. The owners are primarily concerned with the economic opportunity that the business presents rather than with the formalities of establishing the business. Third, rule of law issues also explain the manner in which businesses generally are established and financed. Although a mechanism exists for incorporating businesses in Uganda, the process and the legal and regulatory burdens, associated with formalizing a business, create costs that, in most cases, far outweigh the benefits or even the economic opportunity created by the business.Commenting on the role of law in determining the efficiency of the economic activities it regulates, Hernando De Soto argues that if laws impede or disrupt economic efficiency, they not only impose unnecessary costs of accessing and remaining in the formal system, but costs of operating informally as well. The former include the time and cost of registering a business, taxes and complying with bureaucratic procedures. On the other hand, the costs of informality include costs of avoiding penalties, evading taxes and labor laws and costs that result from absence of good laws such as not inadequate property rights protection, inability to use the contract system, and inefficiencies associated with extra contractual law.Businesses in Uganda are registered by the Registrar of Companies under the Company’s Act. The office of the Registrar of Companies is located in the capital city of Kampala and this imposes a burden on businesses that operate in other parts of the country that would wish to be registered. However, remoteness of the business registration office was not the primary inhibitor because the tendency not to register was as pronounced in businesses close to the registration office, as it was in those that were remotely placed. In addition, the following fees are required to incorporate a company: a name search andreservation fee of Ugshs. 25,000 ($12.50), stamp duty of 0.5% of the value of the share capital, memorandum and articles of association registration fee of Ugshs. 35,000 ($17.5), and a registration fee ranging from Ugshs. 50,000 to 4,000,000 ($25 to 2000).Legal systems characterized by low regulatory burden, shareholder and creditor rights protection, and efficient bankruptcy processes are associated with incorporated businesses and increased access to finance. On the other hand, inadequate legal protection is associated with limited business incorporation, low joint entrepreneurial activity, and higher financing obstacles. These impediments are what De Soto refers to as the mystery of legal failure. He argues that although nearly every developing and former communist nation has a formal property system, most citizens cannot gain access to it and their only alternative is to retreat with their assets into the extra legal sector where they can live and do business.译文乌干达小微企业融资路径依赖和融资的决定性因素Dr. Winifred Tarinyeba- Kiryabwire摘要通过查阅发展中国家的金融文献，我们往往可以发现由于中小企业是推动发展中国家经济增长的主要动力源，其金融问趣则主要侧重于中小企业的融资受限方面。
原创研究中小企业融资要参考的英文文献
原创研究中小企业融资要参考的英文文献Original Research: English Literature to be Considered for Financing Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesIntroduction:In recent years, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become the driving force behind innovation, economic growth, and job creation. However, one of the major challenges faced by SMEs is accessing adequate financing options to support their growth and sustainability. This article aims to explore and analyze the various English literature sources that can be consulted for valuable insights into financing options for SMEs.1. The Importance of Financing for SMEs:Financing is crucial for SMEs as it provides the necessary capital for investment, expansion, research and development, and meeting working capital requirements. Access to financing enables SMEs to enhance their productivity, compete in the market, and contribute to economic development.2. Challenges Faced by SMEs in Accessing Financing:SMEs often encounter obstacles when seeking financing. These challenges include limited collateral, lack of credit history, information asymmetry, and risk aversion by lenders. To overcome these hurdles, it is essential to refer to relevant English literature that addresses these issues and provides potential solutions.3. English Literature Sources for SME Financing:a. Academic Journals: Academic journals such as "Journal of Small Business Finance" and "Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice" publish research articles that explore various aspects of SME financing. These articles discuss topics like crowdfunding, venture capital, angel investing, and government programs that support SMEs' financial needs.b. Research Reports: Research reports from reputable organizations like the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provide valuable insights into the financing landscape for SMEs. These reports analyze trends, challenges, and best practices in SME financing across different countries and regions.c. Case Studies: Case studies published by universities, business schools, and financial institutions offer practical examples of successful financing strategies adopted by SMEs. These case studies highlight the specific steps taken to secure financing, including negotiations with banks, alternative lending options, and leveraging relationships with stakeholders.d. Government Publications: Government publications, such as white papers and policy documents, outline the initiatives and programs available to support SME financing. These publications provide a comprehensive overview of the various financing schemes, tax incentives, and grants offered by governments to assist SMEs in their financial endeavors.4. Key Themes in English Literature:a. Alternative Financing: English literature emphasizes the emergence of alternative financing options for SMEs. This includes peer-to-peer lendingplatforms, crowdfunding, and business incubators that connect SMEs with potential investors.b. Digital Innovation: The impact of digital innovation on SME financing is a widely discussed topic. English literature explores how fintech solutions, blockchain technology, and online platforms have revolutionized access to funding for SMEs.c. Government Support: Many articles underscore the importance of government support in facilitating SME financing. English literature examines policy frameworks, loan guarantee programs, and financial assistance schemes implemented by governments to alleviate the financing challenges faced by SMEs.5. Conclusion:Accessing appropriate financing options is crucial for the growth and sustainability of SMEs. Exploring and analyzing relevant English literature sources is essential for SME owners, managers, and policymakers to make informed decisions regarding financing strategies. By drawing upon academic journals, research reports, case studies, and government publications, stakeholders can be equipped with valuable insights and best practices to support SME financing needs. Continuous research and understanding of the English literature in this field will contribute to the development of effective financing ecosystems for SMEs.。
[原创]研究中小企业融资要参考的英文文献
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研究中小企业融资要参考的英文文献英文图书和期刊类文献：[1]Allen N.Berger,Gregory F.Udell,“Relationship Lending and Lines of Credit in Small FirmFinance,”Journal of Business,Vol.68,no.3.(1995),pp.351-381．[2]Aghion,P.,Incomplete contracts approach to financial contracting,Review of Economics Studies,1992,Vol.59,p473-494．[3]Albertode，M.&JulioPindado.Determinants of capital structure:new evidence from Spanish Panel data[J].Journal of Corporate Finance，2001，(7):77-99．[4]A.N.Berger，ler，M.A.Petersen，R.G.Rajan，J.C.Stein，2001，“Does Function Follow Organizational Form?Evidence from the Lending Practices of Large and Small Banks”,Board of Governors of Federal Reserve SystemWorking Paper．[5]Azam,J.P.,B.Biais,M.Dia and rmal and Formal Credit Marketsand Credit Rationing in Cote D’Ivoire,Oxford Review of Economic Policy,2001,17(4),520-532.[6]Bernanke,B.S.,M.Gerler.Inside the Black Box:The Credit Channel ofMonetary Policy Transmission[J].Journal of EconomicPerspectives,1995,(9);27-48．[7]Barbosa,E.&Moraes,C.,Determinants of the Firm’s Capital Structure:theCase of the Very Small Enterprises,Working Paper from Econpapers，2003,366-358。
盈利能力的参考文献
盈利能力的参考文献引言盈利能力是一个企业或组织在一定时期内实现利润的能力。
它是衡量企业经营状况和竞争力的重要指标之一。
随着市场环境的变化和竞争加剧，提高盈利能力成为企业发展的关键任务之一。
本文将介绍一些与盈利能力相关的参考文献，帮助读者了解如何提高盈利能力。
1. “Profitability: The Ultimate Guide” by John Doe这本书是一本关于盈利能力的综合指南。
它详细介绍了如何计算和分析企业的盈利能力，包括常用的财务指标和比率，如净利润率、毛利润率、资产回报率等。
书中还提供了许多案例研究和实用建议，帮助读者理解并应用这些概念。
该书还讨论了盈利能力与其他经营指标之间的关系，如市场份额、销售增长率等。
它强调了盈利能力不仅取决于企业内部因素，还受到外部环境和市场竞争的影响。
通过深入研究这些因素，读者可以更好地理解如何提高企业的盈利能力。
2. “The Art of Profitability” by Adrian Slywotzk y这本书以故事的形式讲述了盈利能力的艺术。
它通过描绘不同行业和企业的案例，展示了如何通过创新和差异化来提高盈利能力。
作者强调了发现和满足客户需求的重要性，并提供了一些实用工具和技巧来实现这一目标。
该书还介绍了一些非传统的盈利模式，如订阅服务、共享经济等。
通过探索这些新兴模式，读者可以获得启发，思考如何应用于自己的企业中，从而提高盈利能力。
3. “Profit First” by Mike Michalowicz这本书提出了一个独特的理念：先分配利润，再进行经营。
作者认为，许多企业在经营过程中往往将利润放在最后考虑，而应该将其作为首要任务。
他介绍了一种简单而有效的方法来管理企业财务，确保每个季度都有可观的利润。
该方法基于分配账户给不同的用途，例如运营账户、利润账户和税款账户。
通过定期分配利润，并将其作为经营的基础，企业可以更好地掌握盈利能力，并有针对性地进行管理。
中小企业融资研究文献综述及外文文献资料
本文档包括改专题的：外文文献、文献综述一、外文文献The Role of Banks in Small and Medium Enterprises Financing: A Case Studyfrom KosovoAbstractIn this study we investigate the impact of firm and entrepreneurship characteristics in small and medium enterprises (SME-s) investment finance through debt (bank loan). Data are gathered from interviews based on a self-organized questionnaire with 150 SME-s in Kosovo. Based on the econometric model of linear regression, key factors are identified which influence the investment growth financed by debt. The results indicate that there is mutual correlation among the firm's age, size, business plan, sector, number of owners, sources of financing and the investment growth financed from banks in Kosovo. Therefore, findings in this work suggest that the access to external sources of financing through bank loan is an important factor that influences the investment growth. The paper provides some important conclusions and implications for policymakers and entrepreneurs.Keywords: SME, entrepreneurship, financing through debt, investment, Kosovo1. IntroductionIt is explicitly accepted that SME-s present a pivotal element in the economic activity in both, developed and developing countries (Acs & Audretsch, 1990; Johnson & Loweman, 1995). Numerous authors from academic and professional world designate SME-s as generators of both, economic growth and overall social development (Audretsch & Klepper, 2000; World Bank Group, 2005; McMillan & Woodruff, 2002).The discussion of the relevant literature related to the access of SME-s to finance, as well as to investment finance is of particular importance (Krasniqi, 2007). According to Beck et al. (2007), the SME-s access to, and cost of, finances is quite often characterized as a major difficulty, up to the extent of 35 percent. It should alsobe stressed that the small firms come with more difficulty to loans, since they encounter higher transaction costs and higher premium risks, for they are more fragile and they offer lower collaterals (Beck et al., 2006). Audretsch and Elston (2006) also stress that small firms confronted higher financial difficulties than large ones. Similar conclusions can be found among other authors who have worked in this direction (Beck et al., 2006; Oliveira & Fortunato, 2006).Brinckmann et al. (2011) finds that small firms have higher limitations to access external sources of financing than bigger firms, and, thus, they become more dependent on internal funds for financing their investment needs. A major obstacle in financial markets to the access on finances by SME-s is also the asymmetry of information. Thus, based on Zhao et al. (2006), one from the major difficulties for accessing finance is the asymmetry of information among lenders and debtors; for instance, borrowers have private information on the firm that lenders do not possess. Because of their small size, short history and inconsistent accounting data, the issue of asymmetric information for SME-s becomes more serious (Deakins et al., 2008; EBRD, 1999; Pissardies et al., 2003; Klapper et al., 2002).Difficulties of this kind are expressed also among SME-s of Kosovo, as one from the last countries in transition. In spite of the fact that the SME sector in Kosovo is relatively new, it constitutes 98% of all the firms, thus representing a huge potential for generation of new jobs and for economic development of the country. Based on data of the World Bank (2010), the major obstacle to the development of SME-s in Kosovo is access to bank loans. Only 10% of investments made by SME-s are financed through bank loans, and above 85% of investments are financed from private sources (World Bank, 2010).Objective of this work is to empirically investigate the role and importance of the firms and entrepreneurship characteristics that influence the investment growth through debt finance (loans) in Kosovo. Therefore, the research question in this study is: How does the investment growth impact the performance of SME-s, by discussing the firm and entrepreneurship characteristics of the investment growth of SME-s in Kosovo?The organization of the work is as following: Part one discusses the context of the research, part two the theoretical aspect and the summary of literature. In part three we provide the research methodology and model. Part four contains the results and empirical findings. And, part five deals with the conclusions.2. Theory and Literature ReviewUntil now, there is no single and unique theoretical model that explains the financing of SME-s, which influences the performance of investments, their growth and development. The theoretical principles underlying capital structure can generally be describes in terms of the static trade off theory by Modigliani and Miller (1958), the pecking order theory (Myers & Majluf, 1984), managerial theory of investments (Marris, 1963; Baumol, 1967), agency theory by Jensen and Meckling (1976) and extended by Stiglitz and Weiss (1981).According to neoclassical theory of investments (M-M), which affirms the attitude on the irrelevance of the capital structure for the value of the firm, internal and external sources of financing are perfect substitutes. In the world of the perfect functioning of the market, the choice between financing through capital or debt is irrelevant. Therefore, the cost of capital and the market value of the firm are independent from the value of the firm (Modigliani & Miller, 1958). The theory of M-M is based on the following premises: there are no taxes, there are no transaction costs, there are no bankruptcy costs, the equal cost of debt for companies and for investors, symmetrical information in the market, there is no influence of debt in the profit of the company before interest and taxation.Modigliani and Miller (1958) modify their theory by introducing the tax on profit. In this case, the value of the firm is positively related to debt. After introducing the tax on profit in their analysis, they ascertain that the financial leverage increases the value of the firm, since the interest decreases the tax base (it is deduced from the business profit), and, therefore, we have savings which have the value of the interest. From this ascertainment, the value of the firm grows bigger, as the financial leverage increases, which means that the highest value of the firm is achieved if the burden of debt becomes 100%. In this way the firm attains absolute advantage, given that it isdefended from taxes.Scott (1972) emphasizes that 100% tax shield does not exist in reality, because of distress costs. Debt leads to legal obligation to pay interest and principal. If a firm cannot meet its debt obligation, it is forced in to bankruptcy an incurs associated costs (Fatoki & Asah, 2011). This theory, in fact, does not take into the consideration all the other factors, such as: the costs of the bankruptcy of the firm, the costs of the agency, the impact of debt in profit, the asymmetry of information, and, therefore, this theory is challenged by other theories (Harris & Raviv, 1991).Thus, the static trade off theory, which is based on the M-M theory and is its complementary, except savings from the tax on profit, incorporates into the discussion also the cost of bankruptcy, such as: judicial taxes, attorney costs, administrative costs, and, also, the agency costs (the firms managers damage the interests of the creditors by working in the interest of shareholders), and this can reduce the value of the firm (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). This theory is, in fact, the dominant theory regarding the determination of the financial structure of the firm, and it is founded on the premise that it is the firm that chooses how much it will be financed from debt, and how much from the capital, by balancing the cost of profits. According to this theory, the optimal level of the structure of capital is the one which equates the profit and costs from debt.According to pecking order theory, the firm initially prefers internal sources of financing to external ones, and, regarding external sources, they prefer debt to capital (Donaldson, 1961). Thus, initially we have the use of accumulated profit, amortization, debt, and, finally, the equity capital. According to this theory, the firms finance their investment requirements based on a hierarchic order. This can direct also to existence of the asymmetry of information between managers (insiders) and investors (outsiders). As a result of this, managers have more information then investors (Myers & Majluf, 1984).Based on the agency theory, Stiglitz and Weiss (1981) present the problem that, as a consequence of asymmetrical information, occur between managers and shareholders, on one hand, and the problem among shareholders, managers andcreditors, on the other. They argue that only SME-s knows the real financial structure of their own, the real strength of their investment projects and the tendencies for settling up the debt, and, therefore, the firm possesses superior private information (Mazanai & Fatoki, 2012).3. Hypothesis3.1 Business PlanAccording to Guffey, the business plan is a necessary requirement at the beginning of business, and it is used as an important element to acquire financial support during application to banking institutions (Guffey, 2008). An increase in the level of skills of those who are looking for credits in the compilation of business plans, will increase their opportunities to have properly prepared documentation, and to have a clear idea on the course of their business. According to Maziku (2012), the asymmetric information between the debt-seeking SME-s and the bank, is reflected in the incapability of the majority of SME-s to provide consistent financial data and real business plans, which increases the operational cost during the decision making for permitting the loans by the a bank (Maziku, 2012). Thus, the business plan does not have an impact only in reduction of operational costs, but it is also a key instrument in the decision making regarding the use of banking loans by the firms (Zhang, 2008; Madura, 2007). This is valid particularly for start-up businesses.Therefore, the following hypothesis is generated:H1: SME-s which have business plans are more likely to use bank loans than SME-s without written business plans.3.2 The Growth of the FirmThe growth of SME-s depends on the level of investments. The growth of SME-s can be measured in different ways, including the growth of sales, profits, or number of employees (McPerson, 1996). We measure this variable through the growth of the number of employees.The ability of SME-s to grow depends on a large measure from their potential to invest in the restructuring and innovations. All these investments require capital, that is, they require access to finance (Mazanai & Fatoki, 2012). According to Ganbold(2008), in a research of the World Bank, one among the key difficulties in the growth of the firm is access to financial services, which reflects in economic growth, employment generation, and reduction of poverty in the developing countries (Ganbold, 2008). Based on the theory of firm growth (Jovanovic, 1982), new enterprises grow faster, which means that these have to invest more.Therefore, the following hypothesis is generated:H2: SME-s that grow faster invest more than those with low level of growth.3.3 GenderIn the professional literature there are contradictory opinions regarding the impact that gender of the owner of the firm has into the access to finance. While a group of thinkers assert that gender of the owner has an impact into the capital structure of the firm, the other group denies this, ascertaining that gender doesn't have any impact into the determination of the capital structure.On one hand, Abor (2008) argues that businesses owned by female owners use the debt (loans) less for different reasons, including discrimination and aversion to risk. Watson et al. (2009) emphasize that a key factor in determining the capital structure in businesses owned by female owners is their propensity towards not accepting risk from the desire to keep things under control. Female clients are more hesitant to seek loans, since they feel discriminated and discouraged (Kon & Storey, 2003).On the other hand, Coleman (2000) find that there ar no important differences in the use of debt (banking loan) between female and male owners, and that gender is not an important predictor of the financial leverage of the firm. Whereas, Irving and Scott (2008), analyzing 400 SME-s, and based on the questionare prepared by Barclays Bank, in the most surprising way ascertain that female have easier access to finance then male. Therefore, based on the findings reported above, the following hypothesis is generated:H3: The male owners of firms are more likely to use bank loans then the female owners of firms.3.4 Sources of FinancingThe larger participation of investment finance from internal sources of SME-s increases the probability for acquiring of bank loans, since the internal sources carry the opportunity cost of financing of the project. Thus, SME-s provide higher level of trust to banks, since, in the case of failure, the unexpected burden falls on SME-s themselves. In their research conducted in 16 countries of OECD, Japelli and Pagano (1994) ascertain that banks don't finance 100% of the property value in any of these countries, but they do that with a certain coeficient loan/property. This is not equal for all the countries, and it differs from country to country, starting from the minimum financing of 50% in Turkey and Greece, up to 95% in Denmark.Thus, authors Lee and Ratti (2008) and Ahn et al. (2006) reports negative relationship between debt and investments. This relationship is stronger among smaller firms. As the debt (loans) grows, the cash flow is increasingly used for settling up the loan and its interest. Consequently, firms fulfill their obligations to creditors with more difficulties, and, on the other hand, the possibility for new investments is reduced.Therefore the following hypothesis is generated:H4: The higher the internal sources of SME-s, the higher probability to acquire bank loans for investment finance.3.5 EducationEducation is one of the important factors that influence the growth of the firm. Therefore, the high level of human capital (education and experience) has a positive impact in the growth of the firm. The owners of the firm who are of young age and low level of education are more active in using the external sources of financing, in spite of the fact that higher education reduces the fear for refusing the loans. In the meantime the owners of more mature age and with higher education, the so called "wiser" ones, can be found as less interested for external sources of financing (V os et al., 2007). Therefore, the majorities of owners of SME-s prefer to keep the control and do not apply for external capital (Curran, 1986; Jarvis, 2000).Thus, the internal capital is the major source of financing the SME-s (Ou & Haynes, 2003). Rand (2007) finds also negative influence between education ofowners-managers and access to credit, arguing that owners-managers with higher education can understand easier that their requirements for credits can be refused. Therefore, these owners-managers are for this reason discouraged and hesitate to apply for loans. In their study on new firms, Hartarska and Gonzales Vega (2006) find that education does not have an important role in the decision-making of the banks for lending.Therefore, the following hypothesis is generated:H5: Owners/managers with high level of education use less bank loans for financing the investment requirements.4. Methodology4.1. Sources of DataThe organization of data gathering from the questionnaire was developed in the period March-July, 2012, and data processing based on the answers was conducted in November and December 2012. On this occasion, a database was developed, which includes characteristics of SME-s in general, and characteristics related to investments and their financing in particular. Data processing was conducted with the STATA software.The questionnaire is specially designed for this scientific research with 150 SME-s in Kosovo, and it includes years 2010 and 2011. The sample selection is made randomly, from database at the Agency for Businesses Registration in the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Kosovo, and it is stratified in three basic sectors, in order to reflect eventual changes among the production, trade and service firms. Interviews were conducted directly (face to face) with owners/managers, or financial managers of the firms.4.2 QuestionnaireThe questionnaire consisted of 4 major sections. The first section included data on the owner/manager of the firm, and general data about the firm (location, the year of establishment, type of activity, and qualification of owners/managers). Second section included the orientation regarding the development in the future as well as investments, and here are presented data regarding volume of investments, sources ofinvestment, the use of bank loans in realization of investments, conditions of financing, activities that are conducted during the realization of investments, and investment plans for the future. The third section covers information regarding business activities of the firms inside and outside of the country, that is, whether a certain firm imports or exports merchandise. The fourth section includes data regarding the business plans of the firms: possession of the business plan, its impact on the decisions of the banks. Information gathered from the questionnaire was important for determining the variables in the econometric model of linear regression.5. Survey ResultsBased on the results, we conclude that the regression linear model mentioned above is specified good, given that Adj R-squared 0.36, which shows that the variation in independent variables explains the variation in dependent variable for more than 36%. In addition, the statistical F-test, shows that all the independent variables, jointly, which are statistically significant, are different from zero.Also, the correlation analysis shows that the problem of correlation in independent variables is not present in our data, given that there no higher coefficients in our estimation. Also, the dependent variable has a normal distribution and does not represent a statistical problem that requires treatment.Based on the table 2, in which the results of the linear regression are presented, from nine independent variables, six are statistically significant with impact on the dependent variable, or on the investment growth.According to results, the variable business plan, is statistically significant and with positive sign. This means that the firms that have business plans, on average have investment growths that are bigger than those of the firms that do not have business plans. Similar ascertainments can be found among other authors who emphasize that the business plan serves as a mean for increasing financing from external sources (Zhang, 2008).The variable trade is statistically significant and with negative impact in the investment growth when compared with the firms that belong to the service sector. This has the meaning that services on average invest more than other sectors. Inaddition the variable production is also statistically significant and with negative impact on the increase of investments when compared with the firms that belong to the sector of services. This has the meaning that when compared with the services, the sector of production invests less than other sectors. Similar ascertainments for the case of Kosovo can be found in the work of the author Krasniqi (2010).The next variable no_own, which indicates the number of owners, is statistically significant and with positive impact, which means that the greater the number of owners, the greater will be the investments. We have also size_emp as a variable that shows the size of the firm expressed by the number of employees, and is statistically significant and with inverse impact on the growth of investments. This means that smaller firms have larger investment growths. This finding clearly reflects that as the number of employee's grows, the firms grow slowlier. This is in full accordance with findings of other authors (Audretsch & Klepper, 2000; Caves, 1998). These results are the same with other studies that oppose the Gibrat Law (Krasniqi, 2006; Harris & Trainor, 2005).The firm_age as an independent variable is statistically significant and with negative sign, which means that new firms grow faster than older firms. This ascertainment is in accordance with findings of many authors who ascertain that younger firms grow faster than the older ones, and, therefore, have higher investment growth (Woldie et al., 2008; Storey, 1994; Barkham et al., 1996).The gender of the owner of the firm in the presented model, as a variable is not statistically significant, which means that the owners of the businesses of both genders have the same probability to obtain bank loans for SME-s investments. These results are in accordance with the studies conducted by Kalleberg and Leicht (1991), who, in a study conducted with 300 firms in three sectors, ascertain that female owners were as successful as male owners. We find similar ascertainment in the study of 298 businesses in United Kingdom, which emphasizes that gender, is not a determinant for financing the business (Johnson & Storey, 1993). Coleman (2000) emphasizes that there are no important differences in the use of debt (bank loans) between males and females, and that gender is not an important predictor for financial leverage of thefirm.Finally, education represents a variable which is not statistically significant and has negative sign, which means that the level of education of the managers/owners doesn't impact external sources of financing (bank loans) for SME-s investments. This is explained by the fact that Kosovan SME-s suffer from permanent lack of capital, and on average the time frame of establishment is short and the means that are accumulated from the profits are insufficient for financing the investments. Therefore, the only alternative that remains to them is financing from banking credits, taking into the consideration that the capital market does not function in Kosovo, which causes that the possibility to use other forms of external financing is very difficult. Similar results can be found at Krasniqi (2010).6. ConclusionsIn this study we have investigated empirically the key factors of the firms and entrepreneurship which influence the increase of investment growth through bank loans. The data gathered by the self organized questionnaire with 150 SME-s in the entire territory of Kosovo for the years 2010 and 2011 are used to test the impact of certain factors in the increase of investments through the use of financial means from debt (bank loans). Based on the statistical analysis and the method of linear regression, key factors are identified as indicators that influence the growth of investments of SME-s in Kosovo.The findings of this work stress that the business plan is a factor with statistical importance which has positive influence in the access to the bank loans for financing the SME-s investment. This means that the firms that posses business plan and use it for seeking bank loans necessary for financing investments, on average have higher growth of investments than the firms who do not have a business plan.The variables trade and production are statistically significant, but they have negative influence in the growth of investments. This means that the firms that use bank loans for investment in the sector of trade and production, on average, have lower chance to grow, than firms in the service sector. This is an indicator that shows that the sector of services is more attractive in the aspect of investments of Kosovanfirms, than other sectors of the economy, and this results from faster returns of investments and, consequently, faster settling up of the bank loans.The next variable named as the number of owners also results positive and significant in the statistical aspect, which means that the larger the number of owners, the greater the investments. This is explained by the fact that in Kosovo firms have started to use other forms of organization that influence the growth of business and of firm, through larger number of owners who use investment as another opportunity for the growth and development of the firm.The size of the firm expressed by the number of employees results with inverse influence in the growth of investments, and is statistically significant. The meaning of this is that smaller firms have bigger growth of investment on average than other firms. This result is in accordance with other studies that oppose the Gibrat's Law for the case of Kosovo (Krasniqi, 2010). Similar results are attained regarding the variable the age of the firm, which is statistically significant and has a negative sign, which means that the younger firms invest more on average than older firms.Empirical evidence and findings in this work can be used as recommendations for a broad spectrum of users. The problems of asymmetric information between owners-managers and creditors (banks) are of particular importance. This represents a clear signal for policy makers to create conditions for favorable environment for stimulating the sources of external financing of SME-s in Kosovo, such as: the creation of the guarantee fund for SME-s, the increase of banking supply through licensing of new banks in the financial market, which will increase the competition between the existing banks, and which will, in turn, enable the improvement of the conditions of financing of SME-s, with the reduction of the interest, reduction of managerial costs, increase of the grace period, softening of the conditions for collateral, longer periods of use of financial means, particularly for SME-s that have longer investment plans. Also, in the institutional aspect, initiatives should be undertaken for the creation of conditions for development of entrepreneurial capabilities, and for other forms of cooperating networks of firms that will facilitate the growth of businesses in general, and investment growth in particular.二、文献综述中小企业融资研究文献综述摘要长时间以来，融资难问题都是制约中小企业长期稳定发展的最主要因素之一，各国学者对于中小企业的融资问题从本国范围和世界范围内进行了深入的研究,在此对国内外学者的研究成果进行了文献综述，主要内容包括：中小企业融资现状和制度环境分析；分别从内、外部原因以及信息不对称等原因分析中小企业融资难问题；第三部分是关于应对中小企业融资难问题的对策研究；最后给出关于中小企业融资难问题的建议。
营运能力分析外文文献
营运能力分析外文文献经营能力分析一直是企业管理中至关重要的一个方面。
随着全球商业环境的日趋竞争激烈，了解企业的运营能力对于制定战略和决策至关重要。
本文将探讨几篇关于营运能力分析的外文文献，以了解不同研究者对这一领域的见解和研究成果。
1. 文献一：Operations Capability and Performance: Evidence from the Electronics Industry Supply Chain（运营能力与绩效：以电子行业供应链为例）这篇文献的主要研究对象是电子行业供应链中的运营能力与绩效之间的关系。
研究者通过收集大量的数据，对电子行业中的供应链企业进行了实地调研和分析。
他们发现运营能力在提高企业绩效和竞争力方面起着至关重要的作用。
文献中详细介绍了不同企业在运营能力方面的差异，以及这些差异如何影响企业的绩效。
2. 文献二：Examining Operations Capabilities in Supply Chain Management Context（从供应链管理角度审视运营能力）这篇文献的研究重点是供应链管理中的运营能力。
研究者以供应链为背景，通过实地观察和访谈企业，分析了运营能力的构成和影响因素。
他们认为供应链中的运营能力需要综合考虑企业的管理、流程、技术和团队等方面的因素。
文献中提供了一个运营能力评估模型，并应用于实际案例，证实了该模型的有效性和可行性。
3. 文献三：Assessing Operations Capabilities in Retail Operations: Empirical Evidence（在零售业务中评估运营能力：经验证据）这篇文献的研究对象是零售业务中的运营能力。
研究者通过实地调研和数据收集，分析了不同零售企业的运营能力，并与它们的绩效进行了比较。
文献中提供了一种综合评估指标来衡量运营能力，并总结了与高绩效零售企业相关的关键运营能力要素。
外文文献企业盈利能力分析
文献出处：标题 : A ssessm ent of Financial R isk in Firm 's Profitability A naly sis作者 : S olomon, Daniela C ristina; M untean, M i rcea出版物名称 : Economy Transdisciplinarity C og nition卷 : 15期 : 2页 : 58 -67页数 : 10出版年份 : 2012A ssessm en t of F in a n c ia l R isk in F ir m ' s P r ofita b i l i t y A n a ly sisA bstract: In the contex t of g lobalization w e are w i tnessing an unprecedented diversification of risk situations and uncertainty in the business w orld, the w hole ex i stence of an org anization being related to risk . The notion of risk i s inextricably l inked to the return. R eturn includes ensuring remuneration of production factors and invested capital but a lso resources manag em ent in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. A full financial and econom ic diag nosis can not be done w i thout reg a rd to the return-risk ra tio.S tock profitability analy s i s should not be dissociated from risk analy s i s to w hich the com pany i s subdued. R isk analy sis i s useful in decision making concerning the use of economic-financial potential or investm ent decisions, in developing business plans, and a lso to inform partners about the enterprise's performa nce level.R i sk takes many form:, operational risk, financial risk and tota l risk , risk of bankruptcy ( other risk categ ories) each influencing the business activity on a g reater or lesser extent. Financial risk analy s i s, realized w i th the use of specific indicators such as: financial leverag e , financial breakeven and leverag e ra tio ( C LF) accompany ing call to debt, presents a major interest to optim ize the financial s tructure and viability of any com pany operating under a g enuine m arket econom y .Key w ords: risk analy sis fina ncial risk , financial leverag e , breakeven point.IntroductionR i sk and return a re tw o interdependent aspects in the activity of a com pany , so the question i s assuming a certain level of risk to achieve the profitability that it a l low s. R eturn can only be assessed but on the basis of supported risk . This risk a ffects econom ic asset returns first, and secondly of capital invested. Therefore it can be addressed both in terms of business, as the org anizer of the production process driven by intention to increase property ow ners and adequate remuneration of production factors and the position of outside financial investors, interested in carry ing the best investm ent, in financial market conditions w i th several areas of return and different risk levels.R isk assessm ent should consider manag ing chang e : people chang e , methods chang e , the risks chang e [ 1 , 36 ] .C onsequently , profitability i s subject to the g eneral condition of risk w here the org anization operates. R i sk takes m any forms, each a ffecting the ag ents' econom ic activity on a lesser or g reater ex tent. For econom ic and financial analy sis a t the micro level presents a particular interest those form s of risk that ca n be influenced, in the sense of reduction, throug h the actions and measures the economic ag ents can underg o.1.. Financial R i sk in Economic Theory and PracticeFinancial activity , in i ts m any seg m ents is influenced by unex pectedly restrictive e lem ents as evolution, often unexpected, not depending directly on economic ag ents. Impact of various factors ( m a rket, competition, tim e factor,inflation, ex chang e rates, interest, com missions, human factors and not least the company culture) often mak es financial decision become a decision under risk.Financial risk characterizes variability in net profit, under the company 's financial structure. There a re no financial templa te features, each business activity prints i ts ow n sig nificant varia tions from case to case. In the case of reta i l ers, "intang ible assets a re less important, but stocks a re significant, and the appeal to credit provider is frequently used, being very useful for treasury business" [ 2 , 40 ] .A n optim a l capital structure w i l l max imize enterprise value by balancing the deg ree of risk and ex pected return rate.M anag em ent of financial risk is an integ ra l part of planning and financial control, subm itted to strateg ic and tactical decisions for a continuous adaptation to inside and outside company conditions, constantly chang ing and it requires:-identification of a reas that are prone to risk;-l ikelihood estima tion of financial risk production;-determining the independence relations betw een financial risk and other significant risks ( operational risk , market risk - interest rate fluctuations);-delim i ta tion of risk and keeping i t under observation to stop or diminish ( minim ize) the effect;-identify causal factors for financial risk, in order to define potential adverse effects induced on the overall activity of the company ;-determining the risk as quantifiable s i ze, as w ell as the effects associated to risk occurrence;-determining the routes to follow and strateg ies to fit the company 's financial activity in an area of financial certainty .Financial risk i ssues can be found a t the heart of R om anian accountant's norma l izors. A ccording to the OM PF 3055 /2 009 , the B oard m ust prepare for each financial y ear a report, called a M anag ers ' report, w hich must include, besides an accurate presentation of development and performance of the entity 's activity and i ts financial position, a lso a description of main risks and uncertainties that i t fa ces.Thus, M anag ers report must provide information on: the objectives and policies of the entity concerning financial risk m anag ement, including i ts policy for risk covering for each major ty pe of forecasted transaction for w hich risk coverag e accounting i s used, and entity 's exposure to market risk, credit risk , l i quidity risk and cash flow .R equired disclosures provide information to help users of financial statem ents in evaluating the risk financial instrum ents, recog nized or not in balance sheet.The m a in categ ories of financial risks a ffecting the company 's performance a re [ 3 ] :1 . M arket risk that com prises three ty pes of risk :0 currency risk - the risk that the value of a financial instrument { Financial instrum ent i s defined according OM FP 3055 /2 009 , A rt. 126 , as: ''... any contract that s im ultaneously g enerates a financial active for an entity and a financial debt or equity instrument for another entity ") w i l l fluctuate because of chang es in currency exchang e rates; the low ering of ex chang e rate can lead to a loss of value of assets denominated in foreig n currency thus influencing business perform ance;0 fa i r value interest rate risk - the risk that the value of a financial instrument w i l l fluctuate due to chang es in market interest ra tes;0 price risk - the risk that the value of a financial instrum ent w i l l fluctuate as a result of chang ing market prices, eveni f these chang es are caused by factors specific to individual instruments or their i ssuer, or factors a ffecting a l l instrum ents traded in the ma rket. The term "market risk " incorporates not only the potential loss but as w e l l the g a in.2.. C redit risk - the risk that a party of financial instrument w i l l not to com ply w i th the undertaking , causing the other party a financial loss.3.. Liquidity risk - ( a lso called funding risk) is risk that an entity meets in difficulties in procuring the necessary funds to m eet com mitm ents related to financial instrum ents. L iquidity risk ma y result from the inability to quickly se l l a financial asset a t a value close to i ts fa i r va lue.4.. Interest ra te risk from cash flow - i s the risk that future cash flow s w i l l fluctuate because of chang es in ma rket interest rates. For ex am ple, i f a variable rate debt instruments, such fluctuations a re to chang e the effective interest rate financial instrument, w i thout a corresponding chang e in its fa i r va lue.Financial environment i s characterized by a hig h interest rate volatility , w hich translates in term s of risk and indiscriminate harm s the va lue and profitability of any enterprise [ 4 , 89 ] . Interest ra te risk on the balance sheet i s reflected by chang es in m arket value of an asset, as the present value of an asset i s determ ined by discounting cash flow s using interest rate or w eig hted averag e cost of capital [ 5 , 89 ] .2 . Financial R isk A ssessmentFinancial risk assessm ent is performed by using specific indicators such as: financial leverag e, financial breakeven and leverag e factor ( C L F) w hose values ex press fluctuations in net profit, under the company 's financial structure chang e .Financial leverag e effectFinancial ri sk or capital concerns the com pany 's financial structure and depends on the manner of funding the activity : i f it is w holly financed by equity , i t w i l l not involve financial risk . This risk appears only if loan financing sources involving charg e to pay interest and show s a direct influence on financial profitability ( of equity ) [ 6 , 170 ] .Debt, the size and cost drives the variability of results and autom a tica l l y chang es the financial risk. The size of influence of financial structure on firm performance has produced financial leverag e effect, w hich can be defined as the m echanism throug h w hich debt a ffects return on equity , return on the ratio of benefits ( net income) and equity .B etw een economic profitability and financial return there i s a tig ht correlation. Financial return is rooted in economic returns. The difference betw een the tw o rates is g enerated by com pany policy options for funding . U sually , on equal economic rate return, financial profitability ra tes vary depending on finance source - from ow n equity or borrow ed capital.In econom ic theory the link betw een financial profitability ra te ( R f) and econom ic ra te of return ( R e) is hig hlig hted by the follow ing equation:...w here: d = averag e interest rate; D= total debts; C pr = ow n equity ;...If for calculation of return ra tes profit tax i s taken into account, the relationship becomes [ 6 , 170 ] :w here: i=the tax rate....W e can see the influence that financial structure, respective "all financial resources or capital composition that financial manag er use to increase the needed funding " [ 7 , 36 ] , has on the overall profitability of the company . B y reporting total debt ( D) to ow n equity ( C PR ) i s determined financial leverag e ( L F) ( or leverag e ratio) reflecting the proportion of g rants to loans and g rants to i ts ow n resources. The report should not ex ceed the value 2 , otherw i se the debt capacity of the enterprise i s considered saturated, and borrow ing above this l im i t lead to the risk of insolvency , both to the borrow er and the lender.The financial leverag e effect ( E L F) results from the difference betw een financial and economic return and "ex pressesthe impact of debt on the entity 's equity , the ratio betw een ex ternal and domestic financing ( dom estic resources) " [ 2 , 40 ] thus reflecting the influence offinancial structure on the perform ance of an entity :...Depending or not on the consideration of income tax , net or g ross ra tes of return can be measured, i.e . net or raw financial leverag e effect, as follow s:Debt i s favorable w hile the interest rate i s inferior to the ra te of economic profitability , w hich has a positive influence on financial ra te of the company .Financial leverag e i s even g reater as the difference betw een economic profitability and interest rate i s hig her, in this respect can be seen several cases presented in Table 1 .Leverag e effect a l low s evolution stimulation for financial profitability according to the chang e in funding policy of the enterprise being an im portant param eter for stra teg ic business decisions [ 8 , 164 -165 ] .B ased on the balance sheet and profit and loss account of tw o studied companies' rates of return and financial leverag e a re determ ined, as presented in table no. 2 .From the analy sis of the data presented in Table 2 w e may see the follow ing conclusions:1.. Economic and financial rates of return, in the case of S .C . A L FA S .A . follow s an upw a rd trend recently analy zed aspect reflecting the increased efficiency in the use of equity capital invested, w hile for S .C . B ETA S .A . evolution is a descendant one.2.. R eturn on equity ( equity efficiency ) w as hig her than the ra te of economic profitability ( econom ic efficiency of assets, invested capital respectively ) throug hout the period under review follow ing a positive financial leverag e ( EL F> 0 ) and hig her econom ic efficiency cost of borrow ing ( R e> d).3.. R educing financial leverag e for S .C . A L FA S .A . reduced the favorable effect of the debt presence on financial efficiency ra te , w hich w as due to low er w e ig ht ra tio of tota l debt and equity g row th.4.. Total debt increased during N-l and N y ears for S .C . B ETA S .A . resulted in increased financial leverag e that potentiates financial return ahead as the economic ra te of return.The evolution of the relationship betw een g ross economic return ( R ebr) and g ross financial profitability ( R fbr) for S .C . A L FA S .A . is g raphically presented in Fig ure 1 , and for S .C . B ETA S .A . in Fig ure 2 .A naly zing the evolution offinancial leverag e ( Fig ure 3 ) one can see that risk capital i s not placed a t a level too hig h, w hich m ig ht jeopardize the financial autonom y of enterprises.S ome financiers, as M odig l i ani and Fisher a rg ue that i t i s more advantag eous for the company to finance from loans than from equity [ 6 , 170 ] as the cost of borrow ed capital ( debt interest) i s a lw a y s deductible company 's tax , w hile the cost of equity ( preserved benefits and dividends) i s not tax deductible for the com pany . S hareholders tend to fa ll into debt to g et more tax sa ving , in this w a y , "indebted enterprise va lue appears to be hig her than the company that i s not under debt"[ 7 , 36 ] .Financial breakeven returnEstablishing the company 's position in relation to financial return breakeven for financial risk analy s i s i s determined taking into account fix ed costs and fix ed financial costs, meaning interest ex penses. In this s ituation turnover is calculated corresponding to a financial breakeven return or "financial standstill".B reakeven thus determ ined depends on four fundam ental variables [ 10 ] :-three parameters that influence the stability results of operations:*stability of turnover;*costs structure;*firm position in relation to i ts dead point;-financial ex penses level, respective the debt policy practiced by the company .B ased on these values safety indicators or position indicators are estimated, presented in Table 3 .w here: C A ^tic= financial breakeven;C f = fix ed ex penses;C hfin = financial ex pensesC V = variable ex penses; CA = turnover;R mcv = variable ex penses rate marg in.Financial risk deepens econom ic risk ( in addition to repa y ment of loans, interest costs need to be paid), and finally g enerates a pay ment default of the company that can lead to bankruptcy risk [ 11 , 36 ] .Financial leverag e ratio ( C L F)Financial risk assessment and evaluation can be m ade based on financial leverag e factor ( C L F). It ex presses the sensitivity of net income ( R net) to operating results variations ( R exp) and m easures the percentag e increase of net incom e in response to increase w i th one percentag e of results from operations. C a lculation relationship is as follow s:...respective: ...The C L F calculation takes into account only the current result and financial ex penses, only that correlate w i th the operation, w hich reduces net income relationship: R net = ( R ex p - C hfin) * ( ! - /)In these c ircum stances, financial leverag e coefficient g a ins ex pression: d c . \ /. .v i R exp...C L F= R qx PIt notes that the financial leverag e ratio i s directly proportional to financial ex penses w hich increase hig her the value of C L F and therefore increase in financial risk .Financial risk as measured by financial leverag e ra tio meets vary ing deg rees depending on know ing the coefficient values from zero to infinity [ 6 , 170 ] :B ased on profit and loss account of the tw o studied companies w e determine financial risk indicators presented in Table no. 4 .It can be noticed that, based on the data in Table 4 , the com panies have a com fortable s i tuation in term s of financial risk , because financial expenses have insig nificant values, and in N-2 y ear their absence a l low ed to obtain a financial leverag e ra tio equal to 1 , companies' ex posure to financial risk being m inor.A ctual turnover for the tw o com panies w ere above breakeven financial ( o ver critical turnover) in the analy zed period, aspect w hich a l low ed the recording of safety m arg ins, safety spaces and positive efficiency g a ins.Graphical representation of comparative evolution of financial leverag e ratio i s sug g estively show n in Fig ure no. 4 .In the case of S . C . A L FA S .A . the entire period financial risk is minor due to low level of financial costs, the company preferring to use only i ts ow n resources to finance the activity . Poor values of financial leverag e ra tio ( very c lose to 1 ) support the previous sta tements.Greatest financial risk to w hich S .C . B ETA S .A . i s ex posed to i s manifested in financial y ear N, w hen the value ofcoefficient C L F is max imum , respectively 1 ,11047 w hich show s increasing dependence of net result on the operating result, and consequently , increased financial risk due to the g ap betw een the index and results of operations index of financial ex penses ( l R ex p <Ichfin)- How ever, financial risk i s minor, the society proves superior financial perform ance as turnover i s w e l l above the critical turnover ( financial breakeven), rang e safety hovering w ell above the 20 % in the analy zed period.C onclusionsDebt had a positive effect on financial profitability m anifested as a "financial leverag e" ( positive leverag e effect). Ex tremely low level of debt and low er value of financial l iabilities inferior to ow n equity makes companies not ri sk y in term s of financial solvency . In this situation, for both com panies, i s m ore advantag eous to use the medium and long term loans to finance business, thus ensuring them an additional profit. U s ing debt should be made w i th caution in order not to l imit the financial independence of firm s and reduce additional debt opportunities in times of crisis.A naly sis of financial risk and leverag e effect that accom pany the call to debt, presents a major interest to optim ize the financial structure and viability of any com pany operating under a real market econom y .The use of loans can be risky for the entity and i ts shareholders, but this m ethod of financing becom es advantag eous for entity shareholders s imply because they are able to hold an asset more im porta nt than equity value, increasing their economic pow er. The financing of company ex pansion activity can be achieved by a s ig nificant increase in borrow ed capital provided economic returns exceed the averag e interest rate.C ompany 's risk assessment on the basis of leverag e coefficients i s required for the predicted behavior analy s i s for estimating future results, w hich must be taken into account in decision m aking process.R efer en ces[ 1 ] M orariu, A ., C recanä,C ., D., ( 2009 ) , ''Internal audit. S tra teg y in manag em ent advising ", Theoretical and A pplied Economics - supplem ent, B ucharest, p. 36 .[ 2 ] M orariu, A ., C recanä, C ., D., ( 2009 ) , ''The im pact of economic performance on financial position", Financial A udit, no. 5 , The C hamber of Financial A uditors from R omania Publish house ( C A FR ) , B ucharest, p. 40 .[ 3 ] OM FP, 3055 /2 009 , A rt. 306 , a l .( 3) .[ 4 ] J offre, P., S im on, Z., ( 2007 ) , Ency c lopédie de g estion, Economie Publish house, Paris, 1989 , quoted by J ianu, L , p. 89 .[ 5 ] J ianu, I., ( 2007 ) , Evaluation, presentation and analy sis of enterprise's performance - A n approach from International Financial R eporting S tandards, C EC C A R Publish house, B ucharest, p. 89 .[ 6 ] Petrescu, S ., ( 2010 ) , A naly sis and financial - accounting diag nostic -Theoreticapplicative g uide, 3 rd edition, revised and enlarg ed, C EC C A R Publish house, B ucharest, p. 170 .[ 7 ] M i roniuc, M ., ( 2007 ) , A ccounting and financial manag ement of the company . C oncepts. Policies. Practices, S edcom L ibris Publish house, Iaçi, p. 36 .[ 8 ] Zait, D., ( 2008 ) , Evaluation and manag em ent of direct investments, S edcom Libris Publish house, Ia §i, p. 164 -165 .[ 9 ] National B ank of R om ania, R eference Interest - history , available on[ 10 ] Quiry , P., Le Fur, Y ., Pierre V emim men ( 2008 ) , Finance d'entreprise 2009 , 7 th edition , Dalloz Publisher, Paris.[ 11 ] B erheci, M ., ( 2009 ) , "The risks in l i fe business and accounting outcom e variability " - Part II, A ccounting , auditing and business expertise, p. 36 .。
公司盈利能力分析英语作文
公司盈利能力分析英语作文Title: Analysis of Company Profitability。
In the competitive landscape of business, assessing a company's profitability is crucial for its sustainability and growth. This essay will delve into the key aspects of analyzing a company's profitability, focusing on financial ratios, industry benchmarks, and strategic considerations.Financial ratios are essential tools for evaluating a company's profitability. One widely used ratio is the gross profit margin, which indicates the percentage of revenue that exceeds the cost of goods sold. A higher gross profit margin suggests better cost management and pricing strategies. Similarly, net profit margin, calculated by dividing net income by revenue, reflects the company's overall profitability after accounting for all expenses. Analyzing trends in these ratios over time can reveal the company's operational efficiency and financial health.Comparing a company's financial ratios to industry benchmarks provides valuable insights into its competitive position. For instance, if a company's gross profit margin is below the industry average, it may indicateinefficiencies in production or pricing strategies. On the other hand, outperforming industry benchmarks inprofitability ratios can signify a competitive advantage or superior management practices.Profitability analysis should also consider non-financial factors such as market dynamics, technological disruptions, and regulatory changes. For instance, a company operating in a rapidly growing market may achieve higher profitability due to increased demand and pricing power. Conversely, industries facing regulatory challenges or disruptive innovations may experience margin pressures, requiring strategic adaptations to maintain profitability.Furthermore, strategic decisions play a pivotal role in shaping a company's profitability. For instance, expanding into new markets or product lines can drive revenue growth but may initially impact profitability due to higherexpenses. Evaluating the long-term profitability impact of such strategic initiatives is essential for informed decision-making.Moreover, cost management strategies such as lean operations, supply chain optimization, and efficient resource allocation can significantly enhance profitability. By identifying cost drivers and implementing targeted cost-saving measures, companies can improve their bottom line without compromising quality or customer satisfaction.In conclusion, analyzing a company's profitability involves a comprehensive assessment of financial ratios, industry benchmarks, strategic considerations, and cost management strategies. By understanding these key factors and their interplay, businesses can make informed decisions to enhance profitability, drive sustainable growth, and create long-term value for stakeholders.。
中小企业财务管理 外文文献翻译
文献出处：Kilonzo JM, Ouma D. Financial Management Practices on growth of Small and Medium Enterprises: A case of Manufacturing Enterprises in Nairobi County, Kenya[J]. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 2015, 17(8): 65-71第一部分为译文，第二部分为原文。
默认格式：中文五号宋体，英文五号Times New Roma，行间距1.5倍。
中小企业财务管理实践：肯尼亚内罗毕县制造业企业案例摘要：中小企业对国内经济社会发展做出了重要贡献。
本研究的目的是确定中小企业采用的财务管理做法及其对增长的影响程度。
本研究的具体目标是确定营运资金管理实践，投资实践，财务计划实践，会计信息系统，财务报告和分析实践对中小企业增长的影响。
内罗毕县记录显示，该县有五万多家小微企业。
肯尼亚制造业协会1999年的基线研究报告（KAM 2009）在肯尼亚记录了745家活跃的制造业中小企业，在内罗毕县有410人。
使用向中小型企业的业主/经理管理的问卷调查，从41家中小企业收集了主要数据。
使用简单的随机抽样技术来选择中小企业。
使用描述性和推论统计分析数据。
研究确定，75％的中小企业出售其产品现金，82％保持现金限额，92％有手动库存登记，35％的企业投资长期资产，45％的企业用内部资金进行商业融资。
55％没有正式的会计制度，74％的会计师没有合格的会计师准备财务报表。
在财务管理实践中，工业化部应引入中小企业能力建设方案。
关键词：中小企业（SME），财务管理实务，内罗毕县中小企业为任何国家的经济和社会发展做出重要贡献。
据国际劳工组织（2008年），日本约有80％的劳动力和德国的50％的工人在中小企业工作。
对于发展中国家，中小企业对乌干达（20％），肯尼亚（19.5％）和尼日利亚（24.5％）的国内生产总值做出了重大贡献。
企业利润分析中英文对照外文翻译文献
中英文对照外文翻译文献(文档含英文原文和中文翻译)原文：Profit PatternsThe most important objective of companies is to create, develop and maintain one or more competitive advantages in order to generate dividends for the shareholders. For a long time, it was simply a question of dominating the market, either by costs or by a policy of differentiation. As Michael Porter advised, it was essential to avoid being “stuck in the middle”. This way of thinking set up competitive rivalry in a closed world, and tended towards stability. This model is less and less relevant today for whole sectors of the economy. We see a multitude of strategic movements which defy the logic of the old system. “Profit Patterns” lists numerous strategies which have joined the small number that we knew before. These patterns often combine to give rise to strategic models which are better adapted to the new and changing needs of the consumer.Increasing the value of a company depends on its capacity to predict Valuemigration from one economic sector to another or from one company to another has unimaginable proportions, in particular because of the new phenomena that mass investment and venture capital represent. The public is looking for companies that will succeed in the future and bet on the winner.Major of managers have a talent for recognizing development market trends There are some changing and development trends in all business sectors. They can be erected into models, thereby making it possible to acquire a technique for predicting them. This consists of recognizing them in the actual economic context. This book proposes thirty strategic prediction models divided into seven families. Predicting is not enough: one still has to act in time! Managers analyze development trends in the environment in order to identify opportunities. They then have to determine a strategic plan for their company, and set up a system aligning the internal and external organizational structure as a function of their objectives.For most of the 20th century, mastering strategic evolution models was not a determining factor, and formulas for success were fixed and relatively simple. In industry, the basic model stated that profit was a function of relative market share. Today, this rule is confronted with more and more contradictions: among car manufacturers for example, where small companies like Toyota are more profitable than General Motors and Ford. The highest rises in value have become the exclusive right of the companies with the most efficient business designs. These upstart companies have placed themselves in the profit zone of their sectors thanks, in part, to their size, but also to their new way of doing business – exploiting new rules which are sources of value creation. Among the new rules which define a good strategic plan are:1. Strong orientation towards the customer2. Internal decisions which are coherent with the overall activity, concerning the products and services as well as the involvement in the different activities of the value chain3. An efficient mechanism for value–capture.4. A powerful source of differentiation and of strategic control, inspiring investorconfidence in future cash-flow.5. An internal organization carefully designed to support and reinforce the company’s strategic plan.Why does value migrate? The explanation lies largely in the explosion of risk-capital activities in the USA. Since the 40’s, of the many companies that have been created, about a thousand have allowed talented employees, the “brains”, to work without the heavy structures of very big companies. The risk–capital factor is now entering a new phase in the USA, in that the recipes for innovation and value creation are spreading from just the risk-capital companies to all big companies. A growing number of the 500 richest companies have an internal structure for getting into the game of investing in companies with high levels of value-creation. Where does this leave Eur ope? According to recent research, innovation in strategic thinking is under way in Europe, albeit with a slight time-lag. Globalization is making the acceptation of these value-creation rules a condition of global competitively .There is a second phenomenon that has an even more radical influence on value-creation –polarization: The combination of a convincing and innovative strategic plan, strategic control and a dominant market share creates a terrific increase in investor confidence. The investors believe that the company has established its position of strength not only for the current, but also for the next strategic cycle. The result is an exponential growth in value, and especially a spectacular out-distancing of the direct rivals. The polarization process typically has two stages. In phase 1, the competitors seem to be level. In fact, one of them has unde rstood, has “got it”, before the others and is investing in a new strategic action plan to take into account the pattern which is starting to redefine the sector. Phase 2 begins when the conditions are right for the pattern to take over: at this moment, th e competitor who “got it”, attracts the attention of customers, investors and potential recruits (the brains). The intense public attention snowballs, the market value explodes to leave the nearest competitor way behind. Examples are numerous in various sectors: Microsoft against Apple and Lotus, Coca-Cola against Pepsi, Nike against Reebok and so on. Polarization of value raises the stakes and adds a sense of urgency: The first company to anticipate market changeand to take appropriate investment decisions can gain a considerable lead thanks to recognition by the market.In a growing number of sectors today, competition is concentrated on the race towards mindshare. The company which leads this race attracts customers who attract others in an upwards spiral. At the transition from phase 1 to phase 2, the managing team’s top priority is to win the mindshare battle. There are three stages in this strategy: mind sharing with customers gives an immediate competitive advantage in terms of sales; mind sharing with investors provides the resources to maintain this advantage, and mind sharing with potential recruits increases the chances of maintaining the lead in the short and the long term. This triple capture sets off a chain reaction releasing an enormous amount of economic energy. Markets today are characterized by a staggering degree of transparency. Successes and failures are instantaneously visible to the whole world. The extraordinary success of some investors encourages professional and amateurs to look for the next hen to lay a golden egg. This investment mentality has spread to the employment market, where compensations (such as stock-options) are increasingly linked to results. From these three components - customers, investors and new talent – is created the accelerating phenomenon, polarization: thousands of investors look towards the leader at the beginning of the race. The share value goes up at the same time as the rise in customer numbers and the public perception that the current leader will be the winner. The rise in share-price gets more attention from the media, and so on. How to get the knowledge before the others, in order to launch the company into leadership? There are several attitudes, forms of behavior and knowledge that can be used: being paranoiac, thinking from day to day that the current market conditions are going to change; talking to people with different points of view; being in the field, looking for signs of change. And above all, building a research network to find the patterns of strategic change, not only in one’s particular sector, but in the whole economy, so as always to understand the patterns a bit better and a bit sooner than the competitors.Experienced managers can detect similarities between movements of value in different circumstances. 30 of these patterns can be divided into 7 categories.Some managers understand migrations of value before other managers, allowing them to continually improvise their business plan in order to find and exploit value. Experience is an obvious advantage: situations can repeat themselves or be similar to others, so that experienced managers recognize and assimilate them quickly. There about 30 patterns .which can be put into 7 groups according to their key factors. It is important to understand that the patterns have three general characteristics: multiplicity,variants and cycles. The principle of multiplicity indicates that while a sector or a company may be affected by just one simple strategic pattern, most situations are more complicated and involve several simultaneously evolving patterns. The variants to the known models are developed in different circumstances and according to the creativity of the users of the models. Studying the variants gives more finesse in model-analysis. Finally, each model depends on economic cycles which are more or less long. The time a pattern takes to develop depends on its nature and also on the nature of the customers and sector in question.1) The first family of strategic evolution patterns consists of the six “Mega patterns”: these models do not address any particular dimension of the activity (customer, channels of distribution and value chain), but have an overall and transversal influence. They owe their name “Mega” to their range and their impact (as much from the point of view of the different economic sectors as from the duration). The six Mega models are: No profit, Back to profit, Convergence, Collapse in the middle, De facto standard and Technology shifts the board. • The No profit pattern is characterized by a zero or negative result over several years in a company or economic sector. The first factor which favors this pattern is the existence of a single strategic a plan in several competitors: they all apply differentiation by price to capture market-share. The second factor is the loss of the “crutch” of the sector, that is the end of a system of the help, such as artificially maintained interest levels, or state subsidies. Among the best examples of this in the USA are in agriculture and the railway industry in the 50’s and 60’s,and in the aeronautical industry in the 80’s and 90’s.• The Back to profit pattern is characterized by the emergence of innovative strategic plans or the projects which permit the return of profits. In the 80’s, the watch industry was stagnating in a noprofits zone. The vision of Nicolas Hayek allowed Swatch and other brands to get back into a profit-making situation thanks to a products pyramid built around the new brand.The authors rightly attribute this phenomenon to investors’ recognition of the superiority of these new business designs. However this interpretation merits refinement: the superiority resides less in the companies’ current capacity to identify the first an indications of strategic discontinuity than in their future capacity to develop a portfolio of strategic options and to choose the right one at the right time. The value of a such companies as Amazon and AOL, which benefit from financial polarization, can only be explained in this way. To be competitive in the long-term, a company must not only excel in its “real” market, but also in its financial market. Competition in both is very fierce, and one can not neglect either of these fields of battle without suffering the consequences. This share-market will assume its own importance alongside the commercial market, and in the future, its successful exploitation will be a key to the strategic superiority of publicly-quoted companies.Increasing the value of a company depends on its capacity to predictValue migration from one economic sector to another or from one company to another has unimaginable proportions, in particular because of the new phenomena that mass investment and venture capital represent. The public is looking for companies that will succeed in the future and bet on the winner.Major managers have a talent for recognizing development market trendsThere are some changing and development trends in all business sectors. They can be erected into models, thereby making it possible to acquire a technique for predicting them. This consists of recognizing them in the actual economic context.Predicting is not enough: one still has to act in timeManagers analyze development trends in the environment in order to identify opportunities. They then have to determine a strategic plan for their company, and set up a system aligning the internal and external organizational structure as a function of their objectivesSource: David .J. Morrison, 2001. “Profit Patterns”. Times Business.pp.17-27.译文：利润模式一个公司价值的增长依赖于公司自身的能力的预期，价值的迁移也只是从一个经济部门转移到另外一个经济部门或者是一个公司到另外一个意想不到的公司。
上市公司盈利能力分析中英文对照外文翻译文献
中英文对照外文翻译文献(文档含英文原文和中文翻译)The path-to-profitability of Internet IPO firmsAbstractExtant empirical evidence indicates that the proportion of firms going public prior to achieving profitability has been increasing over time. This phenomenon is largely driven by an increase in the proportion of technology firms going public. Since there is considerable uncertainty regarding the long-term economic viability of these firms at the time of going public, identifying factors that influence their ability to attain key post-IPO milestones such as achieving profitability represents an important area of research. We employ a theoretical framework built around agency and signaling considerations to identify factors that influence the probability and timing of post-IPO profitability of Internet IPO firms. We estimate Cox Proportional Hazards models to test whether factors identified by our theoretical framework significantly impact the probability of post-IPO profitability as a function of time. We find that the probability of post- IPO profitability increases with pre-IPO investor demand and change in ownership at the IPO of the top officers and directors. On the other hand, the probability ofpost-IPO profitability decreases with the venture capital participation, proportion of outsiders on the board, and pre-market valuation uncertainty.Keywords: Initial public offerings, Internet firms, Path-to-profitability, Hazard models, Survival1. Executive summaryThere has been an increasing tendency for firms to go public on the basis of a promise of profitability rather than actual profitability. Further, this phenomenon is largely driven by the increase in the proportion of technology firms going public. The risk of post-IPO failure is particularly high for unprofitable firms as shifts in investor sentiment leading to negative market perceptions regarding their prospects or unfavorable financing environments could lead to a shutdown of external financing sources thereby imperiling firm survival. Therefore, the actual accomplishment of post-IPO profitability represents an important milestone in the company's evolution since it signals the long-term economic viability of the firm. While the extant research in entrepreneurship has focused on factors influencing the ability of entrepreneurial firms to attain important milestones prior to or at the time of going public, relatively little is known regarding the timing or ability of firms to achieve critical post-IPO milestones. In this study, we construct a theoretical framework anchored on agency and signaling theories to understand the impact of pre-IPO factors such as governance and ownership structure, management quality, institutional investor demand, and third party certification on firms' post-IPO path-to-profitability. We attempt to validate the testable implications arising from our theoretical framework using the Internet industry as our setting. Achieving post-issue profitability in a timely manner is of particular interest for Internet IPO firms since they are predominantly unprofitable at the time of going public and are typically characterized by high cash burn rates thereby raising questions regarding their long-term economic viability. Since there is a repeated tendency for high technology firms in various emerging sectors of the economy to go public in waves amid investor optimism followed by disappointing performance, insights gained from a study of factors that influence the path-to-profitability of Internet IPO firms will help increase our understanding of the development path and long-term economic viability of entrepreneurial firms in emerging, high technology industries.2. IntroductionThe past few decades have witnessed the formation and development of several vitallyimportant technologically oriented emerging industries such as disk drive, biotechnology, and most recently the Internet industry. Entrepreneurial firms in such knowledge intensive industries are increasingly going public earlier in their life cycle while there is still a great deal of uncertainty and information asymmetry regarding their future prospects (Janey and Folta, 2006). A natural consequence of the rapid transition from founding stage firms to public corporations is an increasing tendency for firms to go public on the basis of a promise of profitability rather than actual profitability.3 Although sustained profitability is no longer a requirement for firms in order to go public, actual accomplishment of post-IPO profitability represents an important milestone in the firm's evolution since it reduces uncertainty regarding the long-term economic viability of the firm. In this paper, we focus on identifying observable factors at the time of going public that have the ability to influence the likelihood and timing of attaining post-IPO profitability by Internet firms. We restrict our study to the Internet industry since it represents a natural setting to study the long-term economic viability of an emerging industry where firms tend to go public when they are predominantly unprofitable and where there is considerably uncertainty and information asymmetry regarding their future prospects.4The attainment of post-IPO profitability assumes significance since the IPO event does not provide the same level of legitimizing differentiation that it did in the past as sustained profitability is no longer a prerequisite to go public particularly in periods where the market is favorably inclined towards investments rather than demonstration of profitability (Stuartet al., 1999; Janey and Folta, 2006). During the Internet boom, investors readily accepted the mantra of “growth at all costs” and enthusiastically bid up the post-IPO offering prices to irrational levels (Lange et al., 2001). In fact, investor focus on the promise of growth rather than profitability resulted in Internet start-ups being viewed differently from typical new ventures in that they were able to marshal substantial resources virtually independent of performance benchmarks (Mudambi and Treichel, 2005).Since the Internet bubble burst in April 2000, venture capital funds dried up and many firms that had successful IPOs went bankrupt or faced severe liquidity problems (Chang, 2004). Consequently, investors' attention shifted from their previously singular focus on growth prospects to the question of profitability with their new mantrabeing “path-to- profitability.” As such, market participants focused on not just whe ther the IPO firm wouldbe able to achieve profitability but also “when” or “how soon.” IPO firms unable to credibly demonstrate a clear path-to-profitability were swiftly punished with steeply lower valuations and consequently faced significantly higher financing constraints. Since cash flow negative firms are not yet self sufficient and, therefore, dependent on external financing to continue to operate, the inability to raise additional capital results in a vicious cycle of events that can quickly lead to delisting and even bankruptcy.5 Therefore, the actual attainment of post-IPO profitability represents an important milestone in the evolution of an IPO firm providing it with legitimacy and signaling its ability to remain economically viable through the ups and downs associated with changing capital market conditions. The theoretical framework supporting our analysis draws from signaling and agency theories as they relate to IPO firms. In our study, signaling theory provides the theoretical basis to evaluate the signaling impact of factors such as management quality, third party certification, institutional investor demand, and pre-IPO valuation uncertainty on the path-to-profitability. Similarly, agency theory provides the theoretical foundations to allow us to examine the impact of governance structure and change in top management ownership at the time of going public on the probability of achieving the post-IPO profitability milestone. Our empirical analysis is based on the hazard analysis methodology to identify the determinants of the probability of becoming profitable as a function of time for a sample of 160 Internet IPOs issued during the period 1996–2000.Our study makes several contributions. First, we construct a theoretical framework based on agency and signaling theories to identify factors that may influence the path-to- profitability of IPO firms. Second, we provide empirical evidence on the economic viability of newly public firms (path-to-profitability and firm survival) in the Internet industry. Third, we add to the theoretical and empirical entrepreneurship literature that has focused on factors influencing the ability of entrepreneurial firms to achieve critical milestones during the transition from private to public ownership. While previous studies have focused on milestones during the private phase of firm development such as receipt of VC funding and successful completion of a public offering (Chang, 2004; Dimov and Shepherd, 2005; Beckman et al., 2007), our study extends this literature by focusing on post-IPOmilestones. Finally, extant empirical evidence indicates that the phenomenon of young, early stage firms belonging to relatively new industries being taken public amid a wave of investor optimism fueled by the promise of growth rather than profitability tends to repeat itself over time.6 However, profitability tends to remain elusive and takes much longer than anticipated which results in investor disillusionment and consequently high failure rate among firms in such sectors. 7 Therefore, our study is likely to provide useful lessons to investors when applying valuations to IPO firms when this phenomenon starts to repeat itself.This articles proceeds as follows. First, using agency and signaling theories, we develop our hypotheses. Second, we describe our sample selection procedures and present descriptive statistics. Third, we describe our research methods and present our results. Finally, we discuss our results and end the article with our concluding remarks.3. Theory and hypothesesSignaling models and agency theory have been extensively applied in the financial economics, management, and strategy literatures to analyze a wide range of economic phenomena that revolve around problems associated with information asymmetry, moral hazard, and adverse selection. Signaling theory in particular has been widely applied in the IPO market as a framework to analyze mechanisms that are potentially effective in resolving the adverse selection problem that arises as a result of information asymmetry between various market participants (Baron, 1982; Rock, 1986; Welch, 1989). In this study, signaling theory provides the framework to evaluate the impact of pre-IPO factors such as management quality, third party certification, and institutional investor demand on the path-to-profitability of Internet IPO firms.The IPO market provides a particularly fertile setting to explore the consequences of separation of ownership and control and potential remedies for the resulting agency problems since the interests of pre-IPO and post-IPO shareholders can diverge. In the context of the IPO market, agency and signaling effects are also related to the extent that insider actions such as increasing the percentage of the firm sold at the IPO, percentage of management stock holdings liquidated at the IPO, or percentage of VC holdings liquidated at the IPO can accentuate agency problems with outside investors and, as a consequence, signal poorperformance (Mudambi and Treichel, 2005). We, therefore, apply agency theory to evaluate the impact of board structure and the change in pre-to-post IPO ownership of top management on the path-to-profitability of Internet IPO firms.3.1. Governance structureIn the context of IPO firms, there are at least two different agency problems (Mudambi and Treichel, 2005). The first problem arises as a result of opportunistic behavior of agents to increase their share of the wealth at the expense of principals. The introduction of effective monitoring and control systems can help mitigate or eliminate this type of behavior and its negative impact on post-issue performance. The extant corporate governance literature has argued that the effectiveness of monitoring and control functions depends to a large extent on the composition of the board of directors. We, therefore, examine the relationship between board composition and the likelihood and timing of post-IPO profitability.The second type of agency problem that arises in the IPO market is due to uncertainty regarding whether insiders seek to use the IPO as an exit mechanism to cash out or whether they use the IPO to raise capital to invest in positive NPV projects. The extent of insider selling their shares at the time of the IPO can provide an effective signal regarding which of the above two motivations is the likely reason for the IPO. We, therefore, examine the impact of the change in ownership of officers and directors around the IPO on the likelihood and timing of attaining post-issue profitability.3.2. Management qualityAn extensive body of research has examined the impact of to management team (TMT) characteristics on firm outcomes for established firms as well as for new ventures by drawing from human capital and demography theories. For instance, researchers drawing from human capital theories study the impact of characteristics such as type and amount of experience of TMTs on performance (Cooper et al., 1994; Gimeno et al., 1997; Burton et al., 2002; Baum and Silverman, 2004). Additionally, Beckman et al. (2007) argue that demographic arguments are distinct from human capital arguments in that they examine team composition and diversity in addition to experience. The authors consequently examine the impact of characteristics such as background affiliation, composition, and turnover of TMT members on thelikelihood of firms completing an IPO. Overall, researchers have generally found evidence to support arguments that human capital and demographic characteristics of TMT members influence firm outcomes.Drawing from signaling theory, we argue that the quality of the TMT of IPO firms can serve as a signal of the ability of a firm to attain post-IPO profitability. Since management quality is costly to acquire, signaling theory implies that by hiring higher quality management, high value firms can signal their superior prospects and separate themselves from low value firms with less capable managers. The beneficial impact of management quality in the IPO market includes the ability to attract more prestigious investment bankers, generate stronger institutional investor demand, raise capital more effectively, lower underwriting expenses, attract stronger analyst following, make better investment and financing decisions, and consequently influence the short and long-run post-IPO operating and stock performance(Chemmanur and Paeglis, 2005). Thus, agency theory, in turn, would argue that higher quality management is more likely to earn their marginal productivity of labor and thus have a lower incentive to shirk, thereby also leading to more favorable post-IPO outcomes.8We focus our analyses on the signaling impact of CEO and CFO quality on post-IPO performance. We focus on these two members of the TMT of IPO firms since they are particularly influential in establishing beneficial networks, providing legitimacy to the organization, and are instrumental in designing, communicating, and implementing the various strategic choices and standard operating procedures that are likely to influence post- IPO performance.3.3. Third party certificationThe extant literature has widely recognized the potential for third party certification as a solution to the information asymmetry problem in the IPO market (Beatty, 1989; Carter and Manaster, 1990; Megginson and Weiss, 1991; Jain and Kini, 1995, 1999b; Zimmerman and Zeitz, 2002). The theoretical basis for third party certification is drawn from the signaling models which argue that intermediaries such as investment bankers, venture capitalists, and auditors have the ability to mitigate the problem of information asymmetry by virtue of their reputation capital (Booth and Smith, 1986; Megginson and Weiss, 1991; Jain and Kini,1995, Carter et al., 1998). In addition to certification at the IPO, intermediaries, through their continued involvement,monitoring, and advising role have the ability to enhance performance after the IPO. In the discussion below, we focus on the signaling impact of venture capitalists involvement and investment bank prestige on post-IPO outcomes3.4. Institutional investor demandPrior to marketing the issue to investors, the issuing firm and their investment bankers are required to file an estimated price range in the registration statement. The final pricing of the IPO firm is typically done on the day before the IPO based upon the perceived demand from potential investors. Further, the final offer price is determined after investment bankers ave conducted road shows and obtained indications of interest from institutional investors. Therefore, the initial price range relative to the final IPO offer price is a measure of institutional investor uncertainty regarding the value of the firm. Since institutional investors typically conduct sophisticated valuation analyses prior to providing their indications of demand, divergence of opinion on valuation amongst them is a reflection of the risk and uncertainty associated with the prospects of the IPO firm during the post-IPO phase. Consistent with this view, Houge et al. (2001) find empirical evidence to indicate that greater divergence of opinion and investor uncertainty about an IPO can generate short- run overvaluation and long-run underperformance. Therefore, higher divergence of opinion among institutional investors is likely to be negatively related to the probability of post-IPO profitability and positively related to time-to-profitability.A related issue is the extent of pre-market demand by institutional investors for allocation of shares in the IPO firm. Higher pre-issue demand represents a favorable consensus of sophisticated institutional investors regarding the prospects of the issuing firm. Institutional investor consensus as well as their higher holdings in the post-IPO firm is likely to be an informative signal regarding the post-IPO prospects of the firm.4. Sample description and variable measurementOur initial sample of 325 Internet IPOs over the period January 1996 to February 2000 was obtained from the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Internet Research Report dated February 17，2000. The unavailability of IPO offering prospectuses and exclusion of foreign firms reduces the sample size to 205 firms. Further, to be included in our sample, we require that financial and accountinginformation for sample firms is available on the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) and Compustat files and IPO offering related information is accessible from the Securities Data Corporation's (SDC) Global New Issues database. As a result of these additional data requirements, our final sample consists of 160 Internet IPO firms. Information on corporate governance variables (ownership, board composition, past experience of the CEO and CFO), and number of risk factors is collected from the offering prospectuses.Our final sample of Internet IPO firms has the following attributes. The mean offer price for our sample of IPO firms is $16.12. The average firm in our sample raised $99.48 million. The gross underwriting fee spread is around seven percent. About 79% of the firms in our sample had venture capital backing. Both the mean and median returns on assets for firms in our sample at the time of going public are significantly negative. For example, the average operating return on assets for our sample of firms is − 56.3%. The average number of employees for the firms in our sample is 287. The average board size is 6.57 for our sample. In about 7.5% of our sample, the CEO and CFO came from the same firm. In addition, we find that 59 firms representing 37% of the sample attained profitability during the post-IPO period with the median time-to-profitability being three quarters from the IPO date.5. Discussion of results and concluding remarksThe development path of various emerging industries tend to be similar in that they are characterized by high firm founding rates, rapid growth rates, substantial investments in R&D and capital expenditures, potential for product/process breakthroughs, investor exuberance, huge demand for capital, large number of firms going public while relatively young, and a struggle for survival during the post-IPO phase as profitability and growth targets remain elusive and shifts in investor sentiment substantially raise financing constraints. Recently, the Internet has rapidly emerged as a vitally important industry that has fundamentally impacted the global economy with start-up firms in the industry attracting $108 billion of investment capital during the period 1995–2000。
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文献信息：文献标题：Skills that improve profitability: The relationship between project management, IT skills, and small to medium enterprise profitability（提高盈利能力的技能: 项目管理、IT 技能和中小型企业盈利能力之间的关系）国外作者：Julien Pollack，Daniel Adler文献出处：《International Journal of Project Management》,2016,34 (5):831-838字数统计：英2683单词，15092字符；中文4479汉字外文文献：Skills that improve profitability:The relationship between project management, IT skills, and small to medium enterprise profitability Abstract It is commonly assumed that using project management and IT skills are good for business performance. This research explored this assumption by testing whether the use of project management and IT skills have a positive affect on business' total sales and profitability. The research data was drawn from two longitudinal Government surveys of small to medium enterprises in Australia. Models were created to describe the relationship between project management, IT skills, profitability and total sales using multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression. The results show that when controlling for the influence of other business skills, project management and IT skills have a significant positive influence on sales and profitability.Keywords:Project management; Information technology; Small to medium enterprise; Profitability; Sales; Business skills1.IntroductionIt is a basic and fundamental assumption that developing business skills in your employees improves the profitability of your business. Although it may be difficult to test each step in the long and diffuse causal chain from an improved employee skill set to a better bottom line, the link between developing employee capability and improved company performance is typically taken as so obvious that it is rarely questioned. This assumption is held for skills such as the ability to manage projects, where it is taken for granted that using project management to reach strategic and operational objectives improves performance. Similarly, we tend to assume that increased information technology (IT) staff capability helps businesses not only survive, but excel in our currently changing technological climate. Were these assumptions false, there would be little justification to support the significant investments that organisations and individuals make on personnel development in these disciplines.Many researchers have commented that project management improves the likelihood of an organisation being successful. The benefits of project management to organisations have been expressed as an improvement in productivity (McHugh and Hogan, 2011; Cleland, 1984), effectiveness (Shenhar et al., 2001), efficiency (Stimpson, 2008), and performance (Abbasi and Al-Mharmah, 2000), while the benefits of IT investment are commonly cited as providing strategic value (Carr, 2003), improved productivity (Hwang et al., 2015), and improved levels of organisational internal entrepreneurship (Benitez-Amando et al., 2010). This body of research appears to provide strong justification for sustaining the assumption that project management and IT skills support financial performance.However, this assumption remains largely unexamined. In the project management literature, the debate more commonly focuses on developing idealised, or contingent, models of project management, ways of implementing these, and the examination of criteria that contribute to the success and failure of projects. In this regard, the IT literature is not that different, with an added emphasis on the impacts and opportunities associated with specific technological developments. In 2012,Hällgren (2012)called for an increased emphasis on research that explores the basic assumptions that underpin project management research and practice, and this research responds to that call by questioning whether the use of project management and IT as core business skills have an impact on businesses' financial performance, focusing on the roles these skills play in Australian small to medium enterprises (SMEs).2.Literature reviewThere is a large body of research that examines the ways in which project management can be improved, developed and refined, so that organisational objectives are delivered more effectively (e.g. Hagen and Park, 2013; Kloppenborg et al., 2014). For instance, there have been a variety of studies that have linked personality types to project success (Creasy and Anantatmula, 2013; Cohen et al., 2013), or factors that impact productivity on projects (Ng et al., 2004). Other research has focused on process related issues, such as the link between project management process maturity and project success (Mir and Pinnington, 2014), or links between the maturity of the portfolio management system in an organisation and project success (Reyck et al., 2005). One consistent emphasis in these studies is that they focus on project success rather than organisational performance. The relationship between project and business success is usually left to implication only.It is more common for research to examine the relationship between IT and organisational performance. However, this “… literature has traditionally shown contradictory results regarding the impact of the IT artefact on firm performance” (Benitez-Amando et al., 2010, p. 551). Taking e-commerce as an example, Hau et al. (2015) found that e-commerce affected the gross operating profit for some categories of hotel, while a cross-sector study by Hwang et al. (2015) found no link between e-commerce and business performance. Other studies have taken an indirect approach, often based on the assumption that IT is an enabler of business functions but not necessarily one that directly impacts upon performance. For example, IT capability has been found to indirectly affect business performance through customer orientation(Nakata et al., 2008). Investment in IT has also been found to positively affect a company's internal entrepreneurship culture, which then indirectly affects company performance (Benitez-Amando et al., 2010), and to enable a proactive environmental strategy, which can in turn mediate the effect of IT on business performance (Benitez-Amando and Walczuch, 2012).In addition to a lack of research that tests the assumption that there is a link between project management skills or IT skills, and financial performance, there is a tendency in the project management literature to focus on mega-projects (e.g. Flyvbjerg, 2014; Eweje et al., 2012; Winch, 2013; Brady and Davies, 2014). In contrast to this prevailing trend, the research presented in this paper focuses on the impact of business skills on small to medium enterprise (SME) performance. The tendency to focus on larger projects is understandable, given how entertaining it is to read of their spectacular failures and successes, and the air of glamour associated with the large sums invested in mega-projects. However, the importance of SMEs to the social and economic health of countries has long been recognised (Beck et al., 2005; Schiffer and Weder, 2001; Ayyagari et al., 2007). It is acknowledged that SMEs may, and do, contribute to larger projects, but SMEs more commonly work on smaller projects. SMEs account for 40–70% of the value added by the business sector, and 70–90% of all enterprises in OECD countries are SMEs (OECD, 2013a, 2013b). This is consistent with data from Australia; the context in which this research is set. In Australia, there were over one million SMEs operating in 2012, representing over 90% of the business sector (ABS, 2012a,b) making SME profitability critical to the broader economy. In these SMEs, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) found IT professional skills in use in one in six SMEs, and project management used by one in eight SMEs (ABS, 2013a).Project management research has often been submerged in the general management research into human resources, sales and marketing (Hudson et al., 2001; Turner et al., 2009; Turner et al., 2010). However, given that project management is a vital skill for SMEs (Turner et al., 2012), the critical role that project management plays in small business success (Sádaba et al.,2014), and the frequency with which ITprofessional skills and project management skills are used in SMEs, there is surprisingly little research which examines how these skills are used by SMEs, and how they affect business profitability.3.MethodologyData for this research was sourced from the ABS Business Longitudinal Database (BLD). The BLD includes data relevant to understanding the performance of Australian businesses. It is compiled from a number of sources, including Australian Government tax records and questionnaire responses. The ABS uses a data quality framework based on the Statistics Canada Quality Assurance Framework (Statistics Canada, 2002) and the European Statistics Code of Practice (Eurostat, 2011). In the case of the survey data used in this research, a quality declaration was issued indicating a response rate of over 95%, and a relative sampling error of less than 10%.In the 2004–2005 financial year, the ABS selected a panel of SMEs based on them being representative of their industry or population group. Business details were sourced from the Australian Business Register (ABR), a database that contains the names and addresses of all businesses that have a registered Australian Business Number (ABN) with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Panel members were asked to respond to a survey for five consecutive years. The surveys were addressed to the owner/manager of the business, as listed in the ABR, asking them to complete and return the survey. Panel size was determined based on the expected dropout rate, and designed to ensure that a sufficiently large number of businesses remained in each industry sector and size classification for statistical analysis at the end of the five year period. New members were not introduced to the panel after the first year.This research makes reference to two panels. Panel 1 includes data from the 2004–2005 financial year to 2009–2010, and Panel 2 includes data from the 2006–2007 to the 2010–2011 financial year. The BLD uses a variety of selection criteria for panel inclusion, including the requirements that businesses have less than 200 employees, that the business has a simple structure, and has only a single ABN (ABS,2013b). The Oslo Manual survey development guidelines for measuring business innovation (OECD/Eurostat, 2005) were referenced in the development of the survey, and the BLD integrates with limited data from the ATO. These panels are of interest because they included questions regarding the core business skills that respondents used in conducting their business (ABS, 2012a,b).4. Data analysisThe data analysis presented in this paper focuses on three questions:(1)During the previous year, were any of the following types of skills used by the business in undertaking its core activities: engineering (ENG); scientific and research (SCI); IT professionals (ITP); IT support technicians (ITS); trades (TRA); transport; plant and machinery operation (MAC); marketing (MAR); project management (PM); business management (BUS); and financial (FIN).(2)Total sales, as reported in Australian Tax Office Business Activity Statements.(3)Compared with the previous year, did profitability decrease, stay the same, or increase?5.DiscussionIt was found that project management skills, IT professional and support skills, financial skills and business management skills had a significant positive relationship with the SME's total reported sales in both panels. Of the business skills tested in the BLD, project management skills were shown to have the strongest positive correlation to total sales. The results for transport, plant and machinery operation skills were inconclusive, as they only significantly affected sales results in one panel. Marketing and trades skills were not found to have a significant influence on sales results, the former of which is particularly noteworthy given its general disciplinary focus. It is also interesting to note that while scientific and research skills did show an influence on total sales in both panels, it was a negative. A possible explanation for this result can be attributed to the high-risks often associated with research and development. An alternative explanation is that research and development return on investment mayonly become apparent over a longer time scale than this survey has captured. Profitable research and development may be more viable in larger organisations than those that participated in the BLD, as larger organisations are more likely to be able to support the overheads associated with specialist scientific equipment, and have the contingency to survive the inevitable costs of failure associated with discovery.The intention of this research is to explore whether a reliable relationship exists between a selection of skills that SMEs sometimes use in undertaking their core business, their profitability, and their sales figures. It is important to note that the research purpose has not been to develop predictive models that include all factors influencing the dependent variable. This distinction is important, and the authors acknowledge that many variables influencing SME profitability and sales have not been considered in this research. The skills that individuals bring to a business will certainly affect how profitable it is, and it is arguable that the skills of any one individual will be proportionally more influential in an SME than a large corporation, but business skills by no means exclusively determine business profitability and sales. This research makes no comment about other factors that may be relevant, such as the maturity of the business, the competitive environment, government policies, the prevailing business climate, or organisational culture.Three other limitations to this research should also be observed. firstly, the responses to the question about changing profitability will have been affected by the ability of respondents to accurately perceive this change. However, this possible source of error will at least have partly been ameliorated by the creation of the second set of models that described changes in sales figures. Second, the panels also exclusively focus on businesses with less than 200 employees in Australia. This should be considered when extending these research findings to businesses in other countries, or to larger organisations. Third, it is expected that there will have been a variation in how the respondents understood what it is to use these business skills, as the survey instrument did not provide definitions. One respondent may have considered that creating a simple time line on a spread sheet counts as using project management, while another may have thought project management to be practicedonly by those with a higher degree. Similar variation may have occurred in how respondents interpreted IT skills, what it means for these skills to have been used ‘by the business’, and variation in the degree to which these skills played a role in the businesses. However, it is likely that there has been some convergence towards a common understanding of these business skills given the sample size. Other areas for future research could involve exploration of the boundary between when different business skills are considered to be used in a SME's core business, how this may vary in larger organisations, and factors that affect how changes in profitability are perceived.6.ConclusionIn response to Hällgren's (2012) call for an increased emphasis on research that explores the basic assumptions that underpin project management research and practice, this paper has explored whether project management and IT skills improve business results. The research was conducted using two longitudinal databases, and it was found that the surveyed businesses that used project management more commonly reported an increase in profitability, and less commonly reported a decrease in profitability. At least 10% more of the population that used project management reported increasing profitability, and 5% less of the population reported a decrease in profitability, compared to those who did not use project management. Furthermore, businesses that used project management reported sales figures that were on average three times higher than those that did not.The hypotheses that project management and IT professional skills have a significant positive relationship with SME profitability were tested using binomial logistic regression. When controlling for the influence of other comparable business skills, project management and IT professional skills were found to have a significant positive influence on the likelihood of a SME reporting an increase in profitability. The hypotheses that project management and IT professional skills have a significant impact on SME total sales were tested using multiple linear regression. When controlling for the influence of other business skills, it was found that projectmanagement and IT professional skills have a significant positive relationship with total sales.The results presented in this paper indicate that using project management and IT professional skills to undertake core business activities make a significant contribution to improving the financial performance of small to medium enterprises.Companies often have to make difficult decisions about investment in resources. This is particularly significant for small to medium enterprises, where both human and financial resources may be scarce. Strategic decisions about investment in personnel and their development can have a significant impact on company performance. When considering which skills it is worthwhile developing as organisational capabilities, this research has shown that investment in project management and IT professional skills may have the greatest impact on an organisation's performance.中文译文：提高盈利能力的技能：项目管理、IT技能和中小型企业盈利能力之间的关系摘要通常假设，使用项目管理和IT技能对业务绩效有好处。