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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM

This chapter includes the introduction, background of the study, setting of the study,

theoretical and conceptual framework, hypothesis, significance of the study, scope, and

limitation of the study and the definition of terms.

Introduction

Small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) have been considered a major contributor

to a country’s economic growth and development. They are an essential player in world-

wide society and economy. They comprise 99.6% of the total Philippine enterprises,

employ vast numbers of people and are generally entrepreneurial, helping to shape

innovation.

It is exciting and also challenging to be in business. There is a possibility of not

only generating income but also providing jobs for the people and contributing to the

revenue of the local government. However, coming in business is not an easy job. Though

it required a lot of patience, dedication, discipline and hard work, there would be times that

you will feel uncertain whether you will succeed or whether you will fail. Too bad for other

entrepreneurs, their business didn’t even reach its first anniversary.

When setting up a business, entrepreneurs focus more on the increase in profits.

They often get thrilled when they see a fixed build-up in their cash flows. This is often one
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of the mistakes of entrepreneurs in Nasugbu, Batangas in running their businesses where a

large part was made up of Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs). Most

entrepreneurs started their businesses relying solely on their gut-feel telling them that their

business idea is ok and that they should pursue it. Because many SMEs are owner-managed

companies, they are not aware whether the business they set up is sustainable enough to

provide long –drawn revenues or whether the business can withstand not only for a couple

of years but for ten years the least. Moreover, they are only concerned about how they will

be making money out of it and not on how sustainable it will become. They don't' have the

ability to learn and develop opportunities as they are not aware that sustainability is so far

the main challenge of businesses today. According to Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R.

Marcos Jr, in his speech during the 18th Congress of the Senate of the Philippines, the

Small and Medium-scale enterprises of the Philippines have limited access to loans and

financial assistance, aside from the problem in financial access, technology constraints and

lack of marketing strategy are also holding the Filipino entrepreneurs from realizing

sustainability.

Generally speaking, the objective of this study is to examine and define the major

factors that affect sustainability. SME sector is one of the principal driving forces for

economic growth and job creation. This is particularly true in a developing first-class

municipality like Nasugbu, Batangas where SMEs and the informal sector constitute more

than 90% of enterprises. Accordingly, the vast potential of the SME sector in Nasugbu,

Batangas was considered and the value, contribution, and ability of SMEs to job creation,
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poverty reduction, and economic growth were also recognized. However, despite

recognizing its enormous contribution to sustainable economic growth, its performance is

still below expectations. This is because the sector has been covered up by several factors

that influence its success, leading to an increase in the failure rate of SMEs.

Background of the Study

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the First District of Batangas

remain too low, do not demonstrate the requisite level of performance and some have

struggled to continue their operations even before they reached their first year. Small

volumes of credit financing and low disbursement rates restrict the use of credit and serve

as constraints for the growth of SMEs.

In the year 2018, Batangas ranked 9th out of 75 provinces in the Cities and

Municipalities Competitiveness Index, mainly based on its population, government

efficiency, infrastructure, and resilience. With an estimated annual growth rate of 2.13

million, Batangas is one of the fastest urbanizing cities in the Philippines. However, SMEs

in Batangas's 1st District has the challenges of rising competition, adapting themselves to

the fast-moving demand in the market, evolving technology and constraining capacities of

information, innovation and creativity. For many SMEs, due to factors related to their small

scale, their potential is often not fully realized.

MSMEs ' output has remained restricted in a highly competitive environment by

various factors that prevent them from realizing their potential and surviving and
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increasing. These include high business costs, lack of access to data on finance and the

industry, and low productivity and profitability. Although poor business conditions have

impacted all enterprises ' efficiency and profitability, owing to their relatively small size

and limited resources, the effect is considered to be more challenging for MSMEs. The

lack of information on the credit often discourages banks from lending to MSMEs, as their

creditworthiness is more difficult to determine. Many SMEs remain domestically-oriented

rather than risk focusing on export markets with their limited management and financial

capability. Another primary issue in MSME's productivity is the lack of access to new

Technologies, weak technological capabilities, and lack of involvement in technology and

research and development activities.

Entrepreneurs concentrate more on increasing profits when setting up a business.

They are often happy to see a fixed cash flow build-up. This is often one of the errors of

entrepreneurs in the 1st district in Batangas to run their businesses where the majority of

small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are involved. Many businessmen have only

begun to rely on their gut feeling to tell them that their business idea is all right and should

be followed. As a lot of SMEs are proprietary firms, they do not know whether the business

they set up is viable enough for long-drawn profits or whether the company will last for

not only a few years but the next ten years. Besides, they only want to know how they will

make money from it rather than how it will become sustainable. They can't learn and

develop opportunities because they don't know that sustainability is today's major business

challenge so far. According to Senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr, in his speech at the
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18th Congress of the Philippine Senate, Philippine Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

have limited access to loans and financial assistance. Besides the problem of financial

access, technology constraints and lack of marketing strategy, Philippine entrepreneurs are

also prevented from implementing sustainability.

Setting of the Study

The study was conducted in the First District of Batangas. The First Legislative

District of the province of Batangas comprises of Balayan, Calaca, Calatagan, Lemery,

Lian, Nasugbu, Taal and Tuy. The first district is known as the area of sugar, aquaculture,

and tourism. The weather is dry from November to April and rainy for the rest of the year,

which is conducive to agriculture and industry. The geography is typically rolling with

50% under 15 degrees level. The majority is hilly and mountainous.

The First District is the center of urban life and development. Thanks to its aesthetic

value in today's tourism industry, it is one of the most prospective potential tourist

destinations. It is indeed an excellent place not only for local people to visit but especially

for tourists. It has inherent features that give it its personality.

The first district in the province of Batangas has Balayan, a first-class municipality.

The region is rich in sugarcane, cocoa and maize natural resources. The Bagoong Balayan

is well-known product from the area.

Calaca, also a district of first-class, is the home to the vibrant festival of

Calacatchara, named after the popular Atchara dish (chutney) made of papaya.
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Calatagan, a second-class municipality, situated between the South China Sea and

Balayan Bay in the Calatagan Peninsula has white sandy beaches which are popular for

vacation and recreational activities. It was formerly known as the Forbes Park in the South

because of the rich families who own the estates there.

Lemery is also a town of 1st class and has an estimated of 93,157 inhabitants. In

western Batangas, Lemery is a rising urban center. The main source of income is farming,

with 30 of 46 barangays involved, including crop production, livestock, and poultry.

Fishing is also an important contributor to the local economy, as a coastal town with 13

barangays situated along the sea. It serves as a regional urban center in its surrounding

municipalities. Xentro Mall Lemery, a community center, opened on Diversion Road in

February 2014. Lemery is being further consolidated as an increasing shopping mall. SM

Center Lemery opened in December 2017.

One of the most popular part of Batangas and one of the early beaches has become

a resort for many years, Lian a municipality of 3rd class, has a population of 52,660 people,

according to the 2015 census. Sugarcane, palay, vegetables and other staple crops are its

main products.

Another first-class municipality in the First District of Batangas in Nasugbu. There

are several bus services to and from Nasugbu. At a scheduled time, Jeepneys from

Tagaytay City also enter and leave the city. President Ferdinand Marcos declared certain

areas of the municipality as a potential tourism area in Presidential Decree 1520. Nasugbu

has been mainly focused on its beaches since then. The growth of the agro-industrial
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industry of Nasugbu is economically significant by constructing more agricultural

roadways. The agricultural sector and the aquaculture industry are currently Nasugbu's

main industries due to its rolling terrain and coastline position. It is home to Central

Azucarera Don Pedro, one of the largest sugar producers in the country. The production of

sugar is a major part of the local economy, home to one of the nation's largest sugar milling

companies. In addition to the varieties found elsewhere in the country, at least 10 types of

rice cakes are found in Nasugbu only. Most people of Nasugbugueño are glad to make a

variety of foods, such as sweetened yam, sweetened cocoa and the like.

Taal is a third-class municipality with 56,327 inhabitants. It is famous for the

historic buildings built in the seventeenth century. The city is also referred to as the

Philippine capital of Balisong and Barong Tagalog. The people of Taal have lived by

agriculture and trade since the Spanish period. The main products are cotton, cacao and

sugar, manufactured using the so-called trapeze crude sugar factory. Barong and Piña

blouses are popular home industries for weaving and embroidering. Subsequently, regional

companies extended their goods into curtains, piano coverings, pillowcases, table cloth,

napkins, and bed cover, bringing more fame to Taal. Certain products manufactured in the

town are balisong and several foods like peanut brittle and Suman sa lehiya, and local

longganisa, which are all available on the public market.

Tuy, another third-class municipality is situated between Nasugbu and Balayan.

Tuy's primary revenue source is from sugarcane farms. Some also depend on poultry and
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cattle-raising. Most of the population is unemployed or migrating once they are employed

because the area is not highly paid.

The First District of Batangas was chosen because of the significant size of the

small and medium-scale entrepreneurs in this area. Many businesses are owned and

operated privately and are often housed in private homes and mostly single-family

businesses with few or no staff other than the owners. The owners find it hard to expand

their business or cannot find ways to use their limited resources to grow the business. One

of their major problems is that they have to compete with large companies that have larger

budgets and can typically offer products and services at much less expense. Small and

medium-sized businesses of the First District of Batangas are confronted by increased

competitiveness and capacity constraints relating to knowledge, innovation, and creativity.

As researchers are small and medium-scaled entrepreneurs themselves, they conduct this

study to support their fellow town mates. By evaluating the effects of technology, financial

resources and marketing strategy on business sustainability, entrepreneurs can go beyond

survival and can succeed and strengthen their entrepreneurial skills, creativity in method,

product development and enhance crisis resilience amongst other factors.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of technology, financial

resources, and marketing strategies on the sustainability of small and medium enterprises

in the First District of Batangas.

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Specifically, the aim is to address the following research questions:

1. What are the technology trends being adopted by the respondents in terms of?

1.1 social media

1.2 mobile applications

1.3 computerized recording

1.4 online marketing

2. What are the common financial resources available to the respondents in terms of?

2.1 Angel Investors

2.2 Capital Markets

2.3 Loan Stock

2.4 Bank Loans

2.5 Venture Capital

2.6 Government grants

2.7 Personal Financing

2.8 Franchising

3. What are the marketing strategies used by the respondents in terms of?

3.1 Advertising (Online and Print Ad)

3.2 Trade Show Booth

3.3 Online Selling

3.4 Building Brand Key (a guideline of sorts that helps you define what a

brand stands for)

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3.5 Marketing Mix (everything that a company can do to influence demand

for its product.)

4. What are the levels of SMEs sustainability in terms of

4.1 Environmental Sustainability

4.2 Social Sustainability

4.3 Economic Sustainability

5 Is there a significant relationship between technology and sustainability of small and

medium-scale enterprises?

6 Is there a significant relationship between financial resources and sustainability of

small and medium-scale enterprises?

7 Is there a significant relationship between marketing strategies and sustainability of

small and medium-scale enterprises?

Theoretical Framework

The theory which is completely connected to the current study serves as a primary

basis or foundation for the variables under analysis. This guides the study into what is

measured and which statistical relationships are being searched for.

It is clear to SMEs that technology needs to be invested over other fixed assets to

contribute to business performance. In particular, SMEs should invest in software, such as

websites, social media, and apps, to enhance digital and mobile communication. Besides,

SMEs should engage in the most innovative fields, such as automation of robots, artificial
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intelligence, and 3D printing. However, most SMEs can consider tools such as licensed

software, customer relations and content database management which are hosted or

operated from their systems. The study further demonstrates that few small and medium-

sized enterprises (SMEs) currently consider using software for the organization, such as

accounting, invoicing and payroll processes.

Figure 1.1 Technology life cycle theory

The technology life-cycle (TLC) defines a product's market gain at the expense of

research and development and its financial profit during the life-cycle. ... Developing a

competitive product or system can have a major impact on the technology's lifetime,

shortening it. Innovation is in general about improving systems or producing procedures,

services or innovations that are more effective. For small and medium-sized enterprises,

this may mean the implementation of new ideas, dynamic product development or
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improved services. There was a misunderstanding. The chance for your business to succeed

can be increased by innovation.

Figure 1.2 Liquidity preference theory

The Liquidity Preference Theory in the above figure states that the cash demand

isn't money to borrow but liquidity. It means that the interest rate is the cash ' value.' To

order to explain the position of interest rates by supplies and demand for money John

Maynard Keynes developed the Liquidity Preference principle. Essentially, liquidity is the

ability to quickly turn any asset into cash. It's also the ability to buy or sell a security

without impacting the value of the asset. Liquidity is essentially how "simple" it is to buy

and sell. High liquidity ensures that a company has plenty of money and financial assets
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to pay off its debts. Low liquidity means that a business is short of cash and may not be

able to pay its debts.

Most SMEs are generally satisfied with their primary financial resources, intending

to preserve their current financial service partnerships. However, small and medium-sized

businesses wish, instead of simply being considered a retail customer, to increase their

commitment to their financial services providers and to receive more personalized attention

and differentiated products. In particular, this applies for small and medium-sized

enterprises with wide operations which require financial providers which do not only

provide effective transaction and operational support, but can also be trading partners, offer

bankers ' guarantees, transport services and support in credit risk management. Ironically,

small and medium-sized businesses want to explore new non-traditional banks and finance

suppliers. This is particularly the case with new SMEs which have not yet established a

solid financial record or with minimal, affordable and timely financing choices operating

in cyclical sectors. Several SMEs have also reported that approvals for loans could take

between 15 and several weeks, which is an opportunity for developing financial

institutions. In these cases, more SMEs will look at alternative financial platforms such as

crowd funding, private equity finance, and public funding.

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Figure 1.3 Ansoff Matrix

Ansoff Matrix is used in the marketing planning process's strategic stage.

This defines which overall approach should be used by the organization and then tells

which strategies should be used in advertising. In short, the Ansoff growth matrix aims to

help businesses map strategic consumer market growth by concentrating on product and/or

business development. Ansoff Matrix has four alternative marketing strategies – market

penetration, product development, business development and diversification. A company

will sometimes follow two approaches to reach different markets. It provides the

opportunity for managers to better determine the type of growth. It can be used to keep an

eye on the growth strategy of a company.

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Conceptual Framework

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
TECHNOLOGY
 Social Media
 Mobile Applications
 Computerized Recording
 Online Marketing

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
 Angel Investors
 Capital Markets
 Loan Stock DEPENDENT VARIABLE
 Bank Loans SUSTAINABILITY
 Venture Capital
 Government grants
 Personal Financing
 Franchising

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
MARKETING STRATEGIES
 Advertising
 Trade Show Booth
 Online Selling
 Building Brand
 Marketing Mix

Figure 1.4 Paradigm of the conceptual framework

Considering the above-mentioned framework, it is even more important for

government agencies to help sustain the development of small and medium-sized

enterprises. Some of the fields where respondents might hope to receive more government
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support include offering personnel and management training, building sustainable business

environments through streamlined legal and regulatory structures and good governance,

promoting investment resources, technical and creative assistance, and providing guidance

and support for information technology. At present, most respondents are positive in terms

of higher cost, lower productivity and the incompleteness of using new technologies

quickly, given global economic challenges. The high environmental expectations can also

support this positive attitude. SMEs may eventually become economic power engines, both

individually and as a business area, with better digital and technology channels, more

enabling credit and financial choices and strong public support.

Hypothesis

1. There is no significant relationship between technology and sustainability of small

and medium-scale enterprises.

2. There is no significant relationship between financial resources and sustainability

of small and medium-scale enterprises.

3. There is no significant relationship between marketing strategies and sustainability

of small and medium-scale enterprises.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study is confined on the effects of technology, financial resources, and

marketing strategies on the sustainability of small and medium enterprises in the First
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District of Batangas. The scale of such variables has been determined in this analysis such

as Social Media, Mobile Applications, Website Implementation, Cashless Payment

Methods, Self-Financing, Friends and Family Loans, Bank Loans, Government Grants,

Micro financing, Facebook Advertising, Email Marketing, Freebies, Print Media, and

Business Partnerships. It also includes the respondents ' business profile when it comes to

category, location, number of employees, and age of business. In view of all the effects of

these factors, management and marketing consulting and guidance, government attention

in providing assistance in the preparation of feasibility studies and sourcing of financial

packages and strengthening technology and R&D initiatives are the most important

determinants of the survival of SMEs in the First District of Batangas. The researchers

believe that the combination of economy, information dissemination, advertising, exports

promotion, human resources development and technology results in sustainability.

The sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises in Batangas First District

will also be evaluated whether or not they have suitable assets for collateral, lack financial

literacy, lack sound accounting or business processes or are unfamiliar with bank

requirements. The study also determines there a significant relationship between

technology and sustainability of small and medium-scale enterprises, if there is a

significant relationship between financial resources and sustainability of small and

medium-scale enterprises, is there a significant relationship between marketing strategies

and sustainability of SMEs, and whether age, gender, civil status, educational background,
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location of business and income of the business have a significant impact on the business

performance of small and medium enterprises in the First District of Batangas

The study involves the small and medium-scale businesses in the municipalities of

the First District of Batangas. It comprises of businesses around Balayan, Calaca,

Calatagan, Lemery, Lian, Nasugbu, Taal, and Tuy.

In collecting the necessary data in this study, interviewees were asked to reply to

the survey questionnaire which took into account the willingness and availability of the

respondents. Therefore, the current study is a combination of different experiments in

which certain variables are not the same as previous studies. Nonetheless, there are

different private small and medium-sized enterprises that are excluded in the study; the

reason for excluding private small and medium-sized enterprises is the scale and

concentration of small and medium-sized enterprises and work in a broader geographical

area that would require more time and resources beyond the reach of this report. The whole

interpretation is based on literature and other relevant articles.

Significance of the Study

This explains the theory that is directly relevant to the present study which serves

as a primary basis or guideline on the variables under investigation. Understanding the

impact of technology, financial resources and marketing strategies on the sustainability of

small and medium-sized enterprises in the First District of Batangas could lead to a better

understanding of the main challenges that small and medium-sized enterprises face in this
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area. It should also provide insights into the support needed for the SME market. This

research also acts as a springboard for other studies that can work on specific topics and

issues related to SME sustainability factors. Hopefully, the results of the study would be

beneficial to:

Business owners. The study can be extremely useful for business owners, because

their sustainability factors can be understood well. The study recommendations will allow

business owners to find solutions to the problems identified by using appropriate tools. The

study will allow business owners to draw up business plans that anticipate cash flow

requirements, have a business plan and show viability and sustainability in order to secure

debt financing.

The government. The study can help the government understand how the policies

affect SMEs in terms of the financial performance. Government-created funding agencies

can provide credit for working capital for small businesses that will open the doors of small

entrepreneurs who may eventually grow into a small business and eventually to a medium-

sized company ready to enter the formal financing sector and compete on the global market.

The investors. The study can provide investors who are generally interested in

helping small and medium-sized enterprises to succeed, a better understanding on the

variety of factors influencing SMEs and the degree to which the factors affect SMEs. This

study allows investors that are extremely important to SMEs to contribute not only money,

but their skills, expertise, knowledge and contacts in the companies in which they invest.
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Financial Institutions. The study can help financial institution in evaluating the

operations of the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises which have been acknowledged by

government as an important engine room for the creation of jobs and enhancement of

economic growth. In addition, the study can improve the specific lending policy of

financial institutions to Small and Medium Enterprises and improve their accessibility to

credit.

Future Researchers. This study can be useful to future researchers who would like

to carry out more studies related to this subject. It can provide potential researchers with

knowledge that could serve as a basis or reference framework.

Definition of Terms

In order to clarify the words used in this analysis, they are defined as follows:

Angel Investors. As used in this paper, means wealthy people who invest their own

money are usually the first source of funding for a business, a high net worth person that

gives financial support to small startups or entrepreneurs, usually in return for the

company's ownership capital.

Bootstrapping. As used in this paper, means asking for financial support from

those close to you, your family and friends.

Capital Markets. As used in this paper, it is the financial market area where

corporations and governments exchange long-term financial instruments.

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Economic Growth. As used in this paper, is a rise in economic goods and services

output measured from time to time.

Economic Sustainable Development. As used in this paper, means that human

communities around the world can maintain their independence and have access to the

financial and other resources they require to satisfy their needs.

Enterprises: As used in this paper, refers to one element of the company or

business in the manufacturing, infrastructure, service and trade sectors.

Environmental Sustainability. As used in this paper, in which all environmental

processes in the universe are kept in equilibrium, while human beings extract natural

resources at the level, they are able to replenish.

Financial Resources. As used in this paper, are a concept that provides businesses

with the funds they need to finance their projects, equity, and current activities, and are

sometimes referred just like Finance, often with other attributes such as business finance,

personal finance and public finance.

Government Grants: As used in this paper, is a policy or course of action intended

to influence and decide policies, acts and other matters, as a state, political party or

corporation.

Human Capital. As used in this paper, includes people, expertise, experience and

information. It comprises houses, roads, construction (i.e. the environment being built).

Loan Stock. As used in this paper, is long-term debt assets collected by a

corporation for which interest is paid out, usually at a fixed rate for half a year.
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Marketing Strategy. As used in this paper, means the advertising rationale through

which the business unit seeks to achieve its marketing goals.

Micro Financing. As used in this paper, is a form of banking system for

unemployed individuals or groups with low incomes that would otherwise have no other

access to financial services.

Retained Earnings. As used in this paper, are earnings not paid out to the investors

but reinvested in the business instead.

Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs). As used in this paper, are

companies that have below a certain minimum revenue, capital or a number of employees.

Sustainability. Robert Goodland (1993), who from an economic viewpoint defined

sustainability as the "maintenance of capital," offers an example of a certain and therefore

limited application. But sustainability is described in this paper as the ability of companies

to maintain in the business environment on a continuous basis.

Technology. As used in this paper, is defined as an organization of creative

processes, knowledge and human ingenuity for the increase in efficiency of production of

new products with important new characteristics

Venture Capital. As used in this paper, is a financial conduit that takes the money

of investors and invests it directly in portfolio companies that invest only in private

companies.
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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the literature and synthesis reviewed through the use of ideas

from books, articles and other published thesis and materials related to this study. The

principles and studies included in this section provided the authors with a good perspective

on the goals of the report. This chapter will also cover topics related to technology,

financial resources, marketing strategies and sustainability.

Independent Variables

Technology. The term technology, comes from the Greek word technē meaning art

or craft, and logos, meaning word or speech. Technology once described arts but now

described advancement. Technology performs a crucial role in building a sustainable

future. According to Oren Harari in his book The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell

(2002), Powell highlights technology as a major tool to improve and gain access to

communication. In 1991, the end of the Cold War came the birth of the information and

technology transformations where cellular phones, fax machines, and the internet are being

connected allowing us access to information in a blink of an eye. Technology is defined as

an organization of creative processes, knowledge and human ingenuity for the increase in

efficiency of production of new products with important new characteristics (Emmanuel

G. Mesthene, 1970; Jeol Mokyr, 1990; Thomas P. Hughes, 2004; W. Brian Arthur, 2009).
 24

It does not only include the use of tools but the totality of methods in making such tools.

Understandably, technology is the continuous expression of intelligence (Ray Kurzwell,

1999).

From the statement of Secretary Balisacan at the presentation of the 2014 Human

Development Report & 5th PHL Progress Report on MDGs Launch, August 20, 2014, he

said that Filipinos have become more attached to the internet than the rest of the world. In

2011, 952 out of 1000 Filipinos, are cellular phone subscribers. This is a very striking

increase compared to 1991 when the ratio is 1:1000. Filipinos also preferred cell phones

over landlines which is a result of the percentage on telephone users from 3.9% in 2009 to

3.7%. The same thing is observed on internet subscriptions which increased to 5.2 million

in 2011 from the 500,000 subscribers in 2001.

Computers turned out to be our relief because it with-stand the viewpoint of

automation as protection against failure. A huge number of tasks like calculation,

processing, and transmission can be simultaneously done. Doubtlessly, technology

increases our potentials (Atul Gawande, 2009). Organizing behind a common goal was

made easier by technology by allowing people to connect quickly and easily. Information

and coordinated plans of action can be shared from one person to another. Such

technologies are specifically beneficial to people who are distant or to people with delicate

issues (Jonah Berger, 2013). Technology still is not coming to its end. It has brought the

people closer together and it gave them the chance to impart standpoints and establish new

concepts. Exploding technologies are emerging every day together with the latest and
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enhanced information. Currently, normal consumer wears more PC control on their wrist

and holds more innovation in their grasp, than existed in the whole world in the mid-1960s

(Anne Bruce, 2004).

The strategy of technology is to use its capacities in third-generation (3G) wireless

together with the exceptional expertise in networking and worldwide services to extend

fragment explicit arrangements for integrated wireline and wireless networks that is

converged on the needs of the largest forerunner service providers worldwide. According

to Clayton Christensen of The Innovator’s Dilemma, while new markets are created by

new technology, industry leaders lost out because they concentrated on the old markets.

Comparably, Richard Foster and Sarah Kaplan in Creative Destruction demonstrated that

even the most flourishing businesses should discover from time to time new markets to

stay on top (William Duggan, 2003).

We simply cannot ignore the impact of technology on our lives. We are already

living in an era of science and technology and 19 years since the start of the 21st century,

we have already advanced so much. Using technology to improve communication had

eased the access to information. The whole world had become a social village since the

invention of the World Wide Web. Thanks to modern technology news and information

are free-flowing over networks. Technology is astonishing because we can do more with

less because our elemental capabilities are amplified to a higher level. In business,

innovation fans are the guards for any innovation. They are the ones who have the

enthusiasm to find out about it and the ones every other person considers able to do the
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early assessment. Accordingly, they are the main key to any cutting edge advertising

exertion. This is because innovation is a focal enthusiasm for their life, paying little heed

to what capacity it is performing. At root, they are fascinated with any principal advance

and regularly make an innovation buy essentially for the joy of investigating the new

gadget's properties. (Peter Thiel, 2014; Oren Harari, 2002, Geoffrey A. Moore, 1991)

Most companies don't even get it to a website. So early so five years ago, a website

was an important area for many businesses. Today, only 44% of small companies have a

real website. Organizations that do not understand fully how to work or use it, and they

could even outsource the administration. Nonetheless, they realize that the internet is linked

and that websites are searched for. After all, social media is about contact, and advertising

is all about it (Jason Falls and Erick Deckers, 2012).

According to Dave Evans (2010), social media marketing — properly practiced —

seeks to reach consumers in social online environments where they normally spend time.

By contrast, media companies take up a subject and what they want and re-connect it into

the industry where the next round of customer experiences and thus the next round of

conversations can be handled and used. The social influence advertising is a strategy that

uses social media (content created by people every day with highly accessible and flexible

technology such as blogs, message boards, podcasts, microblogs, databases, social

networks, forums, wiki's and vlogo's), as well as online influencers. Social media refers to

content created and absorbed by regular people. This contains the comments a person

contributes at the end of the article on a page, the family images he uploads to a photo-
 27

sharing website, his social networking discussions with friends and his blog posts, or

commentary on them. This is social media that makes everybody in the world a producer

of content and a judge (Shiv Singh, 2010)

Technology should make our lives simpler, enabling us to do things more rapidly

and proficiently. However, it appears to make things harder allowing us with 50-button

remote controls and digital cameras with several puzzling features and book-length

manuals. Over the past couple of decades, there have been significant changes, such as

technological innovations, information access, new international players, etc., so it’s more

and more difficult to remain profitable and stay in business. While our growing dependence

on technology influences all that we do in consulting, it is in the contracting phase where

it puts us most at risk. We are living in a world that is radically changing and because of

globalization, our planet is experiencing a more astonishing and unsettling transformations

at a dangerous pace. This will completely affect our view of time and this will give us

emphasis on why we should take time to stand back and ask why we do what we do before

hurtling forward. Our reliance on PCs and innovation has just intensified, and 10 years into

the thousand years, we are at war, still dependent on petroleum derivatives, and concerned

whether the financial framework we have become used to is as yet significant. This implies

living with a helpless present and a questionable future will be a perpetual condition. From

the words of Indira Gandhi, “You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be

vibrantly alive in repose.” Gandhi's words resonate and give wise counsel to living in our
 28

present reality. (Anne Bruce, 2004; Barbara Wheat Chuck Mills Mike Carnell, 2003; Peter

Block, 2011).

In a survey made by Business World entitled “Local SMEs to hike investments in

digital technology”, the United Kingdom-based survey Ernst & Young Global Ltd. (EY)

found that SMALL and medium enterprises (SME) in the Philippines expect to increase

their investments in digital technology in the next year. The study "Digital Economy

Restructuring: South Eastern Asian SMEs" found that the Philippines ' SMEs have positive

growth prospects for the coming year. The second most successful NPS in the country is

at 93.3%, with only Vietnam at 94%. For the ASEAN, the median NPS stood at 86%,

powered by small and medium-sized enterprises ' projections that this year's sales would

rise by 12.6 percent. The NPS was based on the responses of 368 senior decision-makers

in small and medium-sized companies in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,

Thailand and Vietnam to the premise that they will grow their businesses 15-20% in 2020.

"In the Philippines, the NPS rating is good, with stable development backed by its

government's drive for construction and spending during this general election. Increased

wages and steady inflation on a near labour market often fuel household spending, "says

the report (BusinesWorld, August 21, 2019).

As stated by Wilson P. Tan in his article Suits The C-Suite regarding Digital

transformation for SMEs, the economic community of ASEAN recognizes the region's

emerging economies ' significant growth and potential. Small and medium-sized

companies (SMEs) are the key drivers for emerging economies. However, with rapid
 29

digitalization occurring across almost all business sectors, ASEAN SMEs are increasingly

looking to transform their enterprises. SMEs are considering tapping into digital trends to

further grow and strengthen their competitive edge as well as making use of emerging

technologies to maintain their profitability.

Financial Resources. The term financial resources are a concept that provides

businesses with the funds they need to finance their projects, equity, and current activities.

A company gets the funds it wants from three general resources; financial institutions,

capital markets, equity holders (capital stock) (Hasan Dinçe, Ümit Hacioğlu and Fatma

Beyaztaş, 2015). Financial resources are the part of the wealth (property) of the company

from an economic perspective. Financial resources are sometimes referred just like

Finance, often with other attributes such as business finance, personal finance and public

finance (Martin S. Fridson, Fernando Alvarez, 2011). You get financial resources from a

company's work, investment, or ownership. Financial planning is directed on acquiring

financial resources, as these resources are used for all financial activities. Transfers of

money or property to others, if possible, should be timed to reduce the tax burden and

maximize the benefits for those who receive the financial resources. Knowledge of

methods of transfer of property will help you choose the best course of action to fund the

current and future cost of living, educational expenses, and contingent retirement needs.

Price of opportunity is what you give up by choosing. This value, commonly called a

decision's trade-off, cannot be measured in values at all times. Opportunity costs in terms

of both personal and financial capital should be considered. (Jack R. Kapoor, 2016).
 30

According to Business Dictionary, financial resources are the funds used for spending in

the form of cash, liquid securities and credit lines available to a company. To be able to

operate efficiently and well enough to encourage profitability, an entrepreneur needs to

secure enough financial resources before joining the market.

As mentioned by Jeff Scheinrock and Matt Richter-Sand (2013), wealthy people

who invest their own money are usually the first source of funding for a business. For a

variety of reasons, they spend, but most of the time because they want to give back and

help up-and-coming entrepreneurs. Apart from altruism, they also want their investment to

be returned. Because they want to contribute, they're probably going to be involved in your

company's day-to-day operations. They are called angel investors. According to

Investopedia, an angel investor (also known as a private investor, seed investor or angel

funder) is a high net worth person that gives financial support to small startups or

entrepreneurs, usually in return for the company's ownership capital. Angel investors are

often found among the family and friends of an entrepreneur. The funds provided by angel

investors may be a one-time investment to help the company get off the ground or a

continual contribution to finance and bring the business through its daunting early

stages. There are three types of angel investors, and in the following order you must

consider them: first, serial entrepreneur, startup expert; second, industry veteran, an expert

in your market and third, unsophisticated, with little business experience.

Sometimes, companies need to collect external funding or capital financing, grow

their businesses into new markets or locations, invest in R&D, or fend off competition.
 31

And while corporations tend to use the proceeds from ongoing business activities to finance

these ventures, it is often more desirable to try outsourced creditors or investors. Aside

from angel investors, other sources of funds are the following: the capital markets, loan

stock, retained earnings, bank loan, government sources, business expansion scheme funds,

venture capital, and franchising (N.J. Macdonald, D.C.B. Cheng, 1997).

The capital market is the financial market area where corporations and governments

exchange long-term financial instruments. Here "long-term" refers to a financial instrument

with an initial maturity reaching one year and continuous securities (those without

maturity). A capital market debt obligation is a financial tool whereby the borrower

promises to repay the maturity value beyond one year for a specified period of time (Pamela

Peterson Drake and Frank J. Fabozzi, 2010).

Another source of funding is loan stock. Loan stock is long-term debt assets

collected by a corporation for which interest is paid out, usually at a fixed rate for half a

year. Therefore, loan stockholders are the company's long-term lenders. Loan stock refers

to common or preferred stock securities that are used as collateral to secure another party's

loan. Loan stock has a nominal value, which is the company's debt, and interest is paid on

that balance at a given "coupon yield." (N.J. Macdonald, D.C.B. Cheng, 1997).

The next source of funding is retained earnings. According to S. Carter, N.J.

Macdonald and D.C.B. Cheng (1997), these are earnings not paid out to the investors but

reinvested in the business instead. The reasons why it is used to finance new investments

is that most organizations ' management believes that retained earnings are non-costing
 32

assets, although this is not accurate. It is true, however, that using retained earnings as a

source of funds does not result in cash payment, and the company's dividend policy is

determined by the directors in practice. From their point of view, retained earnings are an

attractive source of funding because investment projects can be carried out without

involving either shareholders or outsiders, the use of retained earnings as opposed to new

shares and debentures reduce issue cost and the use of retained earnings eliminates the risk

of a change of ownership arising from the issuance of new shares.

Bank loans are one of the most common types of financing. You may need to

request a business plan or a loan application to secure a bank loan for a new business, which

are different documents (James E. Burk and Richard P. Lehmann, 2006). This can be a

short-term loan like an overdraft, or a longer-term loan for 2, 3, or 5 years or longer. Bank

loans may be at either fixed interest rates or, more generally, adjustable interest rates. A

bank loan is often inflexible, and the bank's interest rate may be relatively high for all but

the highest quality businesses. Since the demand for bank loans is highly competitive, a

single prime rate is quoted by all commercial banks, and at the same time, the rate for all

banks varies. (Moorad Choudhry, 2018).

Venture capital is another source of funds. According to Andrew Metrick and

Ayako Yasuda (2011), Venture capital is a financial conduit, which means that it takes the

money of investors and invests it directly in portfolio companies that invest only in private

companies. This ensures that the firms cannot be exchanged directly on a public exchange

once the investments are made. It plays an active role in controlling and supporting
 33

businesses in their portfolio and its primary objective is to optimize their financial return

through selling assets through a sale or an initial public offering. Venture capital invests in

financing businesses ' internal growth. Nonetheless, it takes a lot of effort to find the right

match for your company and convince investors to consider your business. Investors who

make a significant contribution to your company will also expect to have a major say in

how the business operates and grows. When it comes to making major decisions for your

company, your acceptance of investor funding could result in a significant loss of

independence.

Another important financial source of business is franchising. Franchising is a well-

known way of extending the business while passing operational obligations to franchisees

(James E. Burk and Richard P. Lehmann, 2006). The originating company, known as the

franchisor, creates its brand under one or more trademarks or designs, records for its

product or service a proprietary delivery system, and establishes a training program for its

prospective franchisors. The franchisor generates revenue through the charging of

franchise fees and a royalty continuing. Most franchisors choose to offer area franchise

agreements where, for instance, multiple regions or entire states are granted to certain

franchisors subject to certain performance standards, such as opening several units per

year.

Lastly, through cash grants and other types of direct assistance, the government

provides funding to businesses as part of its strategy of helping to develop the national
 34

economy, especially through high-tech industries and high unemployment areas (S. Carter,

N.J. Macdonald, and D.C.B. Cheng, 1997).

On the positive side, using your cash means that there are no strings attached: no

accruing interest, no repayment plan, no rushing from meeting to meeting trying to

persuade strangers to fork over some cash to fund your company. Personal finance is the

fastest and easiest way to secure capital. By contrast, using your own money as a major

investment in your company is putting your personal finances at risk. You could lose your

savings entirely and you could also put your future plans at risk if you dipped into your

retirement account. The same applies, of course, to your business partners (David Sarokin,

2018). Bootstrapping can also mean asking for financial support from those close to you,

your family and friends. For example, providing support to a parent to help start a business

project for their child is not uncommon. Such outlets also have the advantage of being able

to quickly access funds that could be given as a gift or a loan. But there is also the

possibility that a personal relationship will be harmed if the business fails and close

relatives think that their money has been misused.

All parties must be willing to invest in the relationship and pursue certain shared or

cooperative activities that generate a result to bring financial advantage. The situation is

the same as it is with your own company: you can't just set up your nameplate, sit behind

your desk and wait for business to appear. SMEs lack large firms ' human and financial

capital and capability, lack of financial resources makes it important for SMEs to carefully

select their strategies. In general, micro-businesses suffer from a lack of capital,

 35

particularly financial resources, and this affects their actions towards any investment (Fang

Zhao, 2006).

In an article by Dennis Hartman in Bizfluent, he mentioned that selling stocks is

one of the fastest ways to get access to a large amount of cash, and you're never going to

have to pay back directly. Within the business, internal sources of funding keep control

and do not expose you to interest payments on loans. Lastly, non-ownership equity is a

lender or company vote of confidence granting a loan or grant. Grants are particularly

valuable as they do not require repayment and may be available repeatedly. One of a

company's ongoing challenges is to maintain a steady stream of funding to pay for new

projects and support development. Securing financing is also extremely important during

the start-up process, as a business will not last long without sufficient money to function

until it can set up a revenue stream. The amount of money that your business needs,

together with how quickly you need it and how long you expect it to take before you can

pay it back, will have an effect on which financial sources work best. For example, a bank

loan comes with a set repayment schedule, but relatively soon you will have to start making

payments. Ownership capital gives the business a sudden cash inflow, but you can only

take advantage of it once before selling your stock allows you to give up even more

leverage. If you need a long-term investment that may not return anytime soon, better

alternatives are likely to be selling assets or dipping into savings. The strategies you use to

obtain your business funding can have a direct impact on how your company develops and

operates. If you choose to have an initial public offering or IPO by selling the stock, you
 36

can transfer ownership of your corporation to investors who can vote for members of the

board and have a say in the direction of the company. In particular, selling assets involves

giving up a portion of your security or production capacity that may require a broader

restructuring plan.

To support for the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) sector,

state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has introduced two new

initiatives to liberalize credit access for small business owners and poultry owners. The

DBP Small Business Puhunan Loan Program (SBPLP) is designed to support the drive of

the government to provide small businesses with work capital credit. The initiative would

open the doors to small lenders who may then join the standard lending system where they

will be able to take advantage of larger loans. This seeks to enhance micro and small

lenders ' access through bank financing and improve DBP enforcement for MSMEs with

the Magna Carta. Micro and small businesses with the existing current account with either

DBP or other banks and those with no adverse credit audit results would apply for

borrowing funds. The DBP Small Business Puhunan Loan Program (SBPLP) offers

permanent working capital from as low as P300,000 up to as high as P1 million for micro

and small businesses with existing DBP or other bank accounts. This seeks to help the drive

of the national government to provide credit to small businesses for working capital.

Marketing Strategy. Philip Kotler et al. (2017) defines marketing strategy as the

advertising rationale through which the business unit seeks to achieve its marketing goals.

Marketing is aimed at creating value to attract new customers by offering superior quality
 37

and by providing satisfaction to retain and expand current customers. Marketing is aimed

at making sales unnecessary. Sales and advertising are just part of a wider marketing mix

— a set of marketing tools that work together to meet customer requirements and build

customer relationships. Marketing is a broadly defined social and managerial mechanism

whereby individuals and organizations achieve what they need and want by generating and

sharing an interest with others. Marketing involves building efficient, value-laden

relationships with customers in a smaller business setting. Therefore, advertising is the

mechanism by which businesses create value for customers and build strong customer

relationships to gain value in return from customers.

According to O.C. Ferrell and Michael D. Hartline, 2011) what makes marketing

strategy so interesting, inspiring and important is that it is constantly driven by people and

never stagnates. A unique combination of both art and science, marketing strategy is about

people (inside an organization) seeking ways to deliver exceptional value by satisfying

other people's needs and desires (customers, investors, business partners, society as a

whole), as well as the organization's needs itself. Marketing strategy is based on

psychology, sociology, and economics to better understand these people's basic needs and

motivations— whether they are the customers of the company (usually considered the most

critical), their workers, or their shareholders. Marketing strategy, in short, is about serving

people.

From Hiroshi Mikitani Ryoichi Mikitani's (2014) book The Power to Compete, it

was said that marketing strategy decisions are made based on instinct, so there is a need
 38

for people with the good sense to think strategically about how product and fashion can be

improved. On the contrary, the Japanese government's current approach is to get the

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to take the lead in creating a fund and

then gather a group with which they are accustomed to working, including Japan's major

advertising firms, to implement various initiatives.

The marketing strategy of advertising is too often misunderstood. The advertising

campaign of a company is seen as its policy. For their business strategies, businesses want

marketing strategies, but even that is not enough. The lesson from successful businesses is

that aligning our course and priorities with the capacity of the company to perform is the

essential activity in formulating a business strategy. According to Roger A. Formisano

(2004), most goods and brand features grow from niche markets to large markets. Firms

that have successfully implemented mass marketing strategies — expanding a brand to the

mass market — were highly rewarded. Consider when a few can manage a vehicle mobile.

A car phone was first the volume and bundle of a regular home phone in the trunk were

also important. Enterprises such as Motorola and Qualcomm (entre others) have genuinely

worked to reduce electronics. Then the notion of a car telephone vanished, being

substituted by a mobile phone anywhere. It is difficult to imagine that cell phones

(originally bag phones) are the exception and not the standard just a couple of years ago.

The marketing process consists of a five-step model for generating and capturing

customer value (Gary Armstrong et al., 2017). Companies work in the first four stages to

understand customers, build brand loyalty and develop strong customer relations.
 39

Companies benefit in the final step from the achievement of high consumer satisfaction.

We in effect harness consumer interest in revenue, income, and long-term brand loyalty by

generating value for customers. As a first step, advertisers should understand the needs and

desires of their consumers and the environment in which they work. Marketing's most basic

concept is that of human needs. People's needs were perceived in distressed states. This

includes basic physical needs for food, clothes, warmth and safety; social requirements for

belonging and affection; and individual requirements to learn and express themselves. Such

needs have not been produced by marketers; they are an integral part of human nature.

Once consumers and the market are fully understood, marketing management can develop

a customer-driven marketing strategy. Marketing management is defined as the art and

science of selecting target markets and building profitable relationships with them. The

goal of the marketing manager is to find, attract, maintain and grow target customers by

creating, delivering and communicating the highest customer value.

Marketing strategy is no different from product development because your

approach should be market-driven. Experiment with different communication and

platforms and respond to feedback. Talk to consumers and look for ways to change. (Jeff

Scheinrock and Matt Richter-Sand, 2013). Your product may have successful

differentiators, but your marketing strategy can do so. Without a question, advertising

should be as relevant as product development for your start-up. It's where the asphalt hits

the rubber. This chapter will provide you with quick and effective marketing strategies

specifically designed for cash-strapped start-ups. Learn how to position your business and
 40

write the sales copy, and why it can be a winning strategy to produce two copies of the

same material. For any size business, guerrilla marketing strategies are good. You may rent

a mall kiosk over a weekend or set up a trade show booth to see if there is sufficient demand

for your idea to help determine feasibility. Fun, whacky rewards competitions can be a

good way to engage people. Even larger firms can get into the game. The marketing

strategy of Red Bull has a distinct guerrilla look. They build and endorse crazy stunts and

activities and earn publicity for it in the worldwide media.

Perfecting core product or strength is difficult enough on its own, but when ideas

are added to the plate, distractions begin and overload the ability to do a great job. Every

new line of products or services that are added to the offer is becoming like a mini-business

and now is rushing to play catch-up before you know it. It is necessary to start the training

of staff, find new vendors, set the right prices, set up operations, hire designers, implement

new marketing strategies, etc. The list goes on and on. Start-ups need to realize they've got

to work on their business, not their business. There's a fine line between the two that can

distract you from the core of your business. There's a ton of work to be done when deciding

to head up the bigger competitors. That's not an intelligent or correct move, so nine out of

ten startups will fail. This is a truth that is hard and bleak, and what it takes to do well to

think about it (Jeff Bezos, 2018)

Richard P. Rumelt (2011) mentioned that over the years there has been a growing

gap between good strategy and the jumble of things people label "strategy." According to

him, only three books on the subject were published in 1966 and no articles. Library shelves
 41

today are fat with strategy books. Strategy-specific consulting firms, strategic PhDs are

awarded and there are countless articles on the subject. But it didn't bring clarity to this

plentitude. Rather, the concept has been stretched to gauzy thinness as it is attached by

experts to everything from utopian visions to rules to match your tie to your shirt. To make

matters worse, the word "strategy" has become a verbal tic for many people in business,

education, and government. Business speech transformed marketing into a' marketing

strategy,' data processing into an' IT strategy,' and acquisitions into a' growth strategy.' Cut

some prices and an observer will say you have a' low price strategy.'

Having a well-defined and aligned marketing strategy in place with a team of expert

professionals and talented in-house staff to achieve the overall goals and goals plus enhance

the brand value is very important for the company management. As stated by Liz Gold

(2018) a comprehensive marketing strategy will keep you relevant in all the media that

your customers engage with. Developing a marketing strategy online and offline will help

you integrate your business. Consider selling products online if you have a brick and mortar

store. If online success has been found, consider moving to a specific physical geographic

location. A marketing strategy allows you to have more control and diversify your channels

of sales. You will be able to take a step back for a moment by creating a marketing strategy.

It will help you analyze and understand your message and how to reach a wider pool of

prospective customers effectively. It will give you a clearer focus and a plan. But

remember, no matter what marketing strategy you're using, if you don't have an efficient

sales funnel or pipeline and optimize your conversions, you're going to leave money on the
 42

table. She also mentioned that building a brand is a key marketing component. This is how

you help your customers understand why your product is better than the product of a

competitor, and why not someone else should be shopping with you. Developing a

marketing strategy will help you find out what makes you different so you can map a clear

strategy for communicating those benefits. See immediately displaying signs making signs

for a fraction of the cost. You may be constrained to scope and will not earn the designer's

handhold. Your best bet could however be if you have a budget or your sign is not the

central element of your marketing strategy (Jere L. Calmes, 2010).

To complete your strategies, outline your key advertising objectives and then

include a variety of tactics that you will use at any point of your selling process to attract

prospects.

However, a perfect marketing strategy that is carried out flawlessly can still fail.

Sometimes, despite having a terrible strategy and/or execution, organizations get lucky and

succeed. Marketing nature can make planning for marketing quite frustrating. Finally, a

marketing strategy's importance is undeniable. No other business function focuses on

developing customer relationships— the lifeblood of all (even non-profits) organizations

(O.C. Ferrell and Michael D. Hartline, 2011). As contrary to what Liz Gold (2018) said in

the benefits of effective marketing strategies, she mentioned that while taking the time to

develop a marketing strategy may be key to boosting the company's growth over time, there

are disadvantages in implementing a marketing strategy. For one thing, it can be

challenging to generate momentum. Although you may have an innovative idea and a
 43

capable team to execute, there is no guarantee of success. In addition, creating a strategic

marketing plan can also identify your weaknesses as a company and as a business owner.

This can be challenging and could derail the vision of the company. It can also lead to

defective marketing decisions if the data is not properly analyzed and creates unrealistic

financial projections if the information is not correctly interpreted. Having a well-defined

and aligned marketing strategy in place with a team of expert professionals and talented

in-house staff to achieve the overall goals and goals plus enhance the brand value is very

important for the company management. As stated by Liz Gold (2018) a comprehensive

marketing strategy will keep you relevant in all the media that your customers engage with.

Developing a marketing strategy online and offline will help you integrate your business.

Consider selling products online if you have a brick and mortar store. If online success has

been found, consider moving to a specific physical geographic location. A marketing

strategy allows you to have more control and diversify your channels of sales. You will be

able to take a step back for a moment by creating a marketing strategy. It will help you

analyze and understand your message and how to reach a wider pool of prospective

customers effectively. It will give you a clearer focus and a plan. But remember, no matter

what marketing strategy you're using, if you don't have an efficient sales funnel or pipeline

and optimize your conversions, you're going to leave money on the table. She also

mentioned that building a brand is a key marketing component. This is how you help your

customers understand why your product is better than the product of a competitor, and why

not someone else should be shopping with you. Developing a marketing strategy will help
 44

you find out what makes you different so you can map a clear strategy for communicating

those benefits.

The dependence they cause on small businesses is a major downside to marketing

strategies. When a small business selects its marketing strategy for the year, it must follow

through to the end, regardless of the consequences. If a change in the market or strategy

fails, the amount of resources and effort put into its development and distribution is often

too large to allow for change and repositioning. A one-dimensional approach to marketing

is never a good idea, but in some cases even multi-faceted campaigns fall victim to too

much similarity between initiatives and too much focus on a single target market (Robert

Morello, 2018). The costs involved in some marketing strategies make them out of reach

for many small businesses. Small enterprises are not in a position to accumulate data,

purchase information and produce specified marketing campaigns to address each segment

of the market in the same way that large corporations can. Those who have the means to

develop and launch a comprehensive marketing strategy may find it difficult to rebound

with new material if changes occur or if the return on investment is not as expected. The

catch is that without a marketing strategy, your small business is not likely to grow as

quickly as possible, so while costs remain low, so is revenue.

A study that was made proposes a strategic marketing domain statement as a field

of study and outlines certain issues that are fundamental to the field. It also proposes a

definition of a marketing strategy, a focal organizational strategy for the field, and lists

several basic premises for a marketing strategy. Strategic marketing is seen as

 45

encompassing the study of the organizational, inter-organizational and environmental

phenomena concerned with (1) the behavior of organizations in the marketplace in their

interactions with consumers, customers, competitors and other external parties, in the

context of the creation, communication and delivery of products that offer value to

customers in exchanges with organizations, and (2) the general management

responsibilities associated with the boundary role of the marketing function in

organizations. At the broadest level, the marketing strategy can be defined as the integrated

decision-making pattern of the organization that defines its key choices regarding products,

markets, marketing activities and marketing resources in the creation, communication

and/or delivery of products that offer value to customers in exchanges with the organization

and thus enable the organization to achieve specific objectives. A key issue for strategic

marketing as a field of study is the question of how the marketing strategy of a business is

influenced by demand-side factors and supply-side factors.

To address the integration of marketing strategies, including marketing mix and

marketing intelligence for small and medium-sized enterprises, researchers conducted a

customer survey to validate these strategies. The logic of the survey of entrepreneurs and

customers has been integrated into the existing theoretical framework. The empiric study

conducted in small and medium-sized enterprises enriches the information base and the

government to boost the financial base, as small-scale industries are an integral part of the

industrial background of the country and the employment generator segment of the

economy. Further findings suggest that entrepreneurs should upgrade their information
 46

base to evoke a flow of consciousness and test it through an exploratory factor analysis and

one-sample t-test. Research findings suggest that there is a communication gap between

consumers and entrepreneurs.

A recent study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) seeks to analyze the factors

affecting the growth of enterprises in the Philippines, as measured by the increase in

employment. The paper contributes in two ways to literature. First, it seeks to provide a

comprehensive background to the various policies and legislations that affect firms in the

country. Second, using micro-level data from firms in 2009, we correlate the observed

growth of these firms with the reported constraints in the business environment in which

they operate, to investigate which are binding constraints. There are significant correlations

between the subset of these business climate indicators and the issues raised in previous

literature, and the effects vary across firms of varying sizes. Amid a sea of subjective self-

reported reactions, we can find certain empirical regularities that can withstand a battery

of robustness checks. These correlations between a subset of indicators for business

climates and the growth or expansion of firms may shed some light on future potential

policies to assist these firms and provide direction for further research.

Dependent Variable

Sustainability. Sustainability has been defined by Lowellyne James (2015)

as the single main issue for business and society today. The word itself is derived from the

Latin substinere (literally, to keep under) and is used in the form of "continue," "help," or
 47

"conservable.” (Lerner Media Group, 2017). Since the 1980, the sustainability has been

more closely associated with environmental and impact issues the sustainable development

is a common theme of many motto-phrases in news, advertising and our everyday

discussions the term itself is not easily defined. Sustainable competitive advantage was the

key topic to discussion in the 1980s and 1990s. The focus of the work today is on creating

companies that are both competitive and environmentally sustainable in a sustainable way.

Neil Lewis (2010) says the development of sustainability is a development that meets the

needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to

satisfy their own needs. "It should be emphasized that this definition focuses on a specific

context as sustainable development.

The definition of the Brundtland Commission has formed the core philosophy

behind all CSR approaches and sustainability over the past twenty years. It is an intuitive

concept that is useful but in general incompatible with the profit maximization imperative

placed by financial markets and institutions in a broad macro space setting. It is the

persistence over a long period of time (indefinitely) of certain necessary and desired

characteristics of people, their communities, their organizations, and the environment.

Progress toward sustainable development means that both human and ecosystem well-

being is maintained and preferably improved, rather than at the expense of the others. The

idea shows how people and the world are interdependent (Peter Hardi and Terrence Zdan,

1997).
 48

All simple and challenging is sustainability (Klaus Bosselmann, 2008). Here the

idea of justice is different. Most of us know intuitively when something is "just" or "fair."

Most of us are also well aware of things that are harmful–pollution, fossil fuels, toxins,

unhealthy food etc. We can also conclude that there is a strong sense of justice and

prosperity in many people. For example, they feel that, regardless of how far away an Ideal,

a just, sustainable world is desperately needed. Sustainability represents absolute necessity

in its most elementary form. The air we respire, the water we drink, the soils from which

we eat are crucial for our survival. The basic rule of human existence is that life depends

on the conditions. The idea of sustainability is therefore straightforward.

Simon Dresner (2002) mentioned that sustainability is defined by environmental

economists for capital non-depletion. It is claimed that currently we are depleting the

"natural capital" of Earth, and treating the world as if it were a liquidating business, as

Green Economist Herman Daly put it. However, there is disagreement on the extent to

which advanced technology enables human resources to substitute natural capital, and on

the extent to which the notion of natural capital not being depleted should be taken. Should

our consumption decrease immediately by a million to be sustainable? The irony of that

line of thinking is even seen by the most extreme Greens. The argument between' strong'

sustainability and' weak' sustainability concerns whether the income generated by the

depletion of natural capital, like petroleum stocks, should in general be directly invested in

replacement resources–such as solar power, or invested in other capital forms–such as

education. Another question is whether "essential" natural resources can be replaced by

 49

technology and must be completely protected. Sustainability is a concept that is a ' super-

super-super-surface ' which covers transportation, energy, clean air and water,

development, construction, agriculture, industry and agriculture. It examines the behaviors

of individuals, nations and companies to see what their effects have on the globe (Lerner

Media Group, 2017).

There are many definitions of sustainability that people, groups and organizations

have developed. It may have a range of situational definitions depending on how you use'

sustainability.' To date, a single definition has still to be adopted by the sustainable sector

itself. The various interpretations of our wealth and the world are common themes that

preserve an equilibrium and stability for future generations. Businesses sometimes use the

word "three ends" to describe conservation as a way to increase income, benefit the

environment and better the lives of the people.

Sustainability, itself a transcendent concept, is an ideal that we are aiming for, not

an endpoint (Okechukwu Ukaga, Chris Maser, And Mike Reichenbach, 2010). It has many

related dimension (e.g., environmental, cultural, social, political and epistemological) and

calls for an interdisciplinary, participatory, holistic approach in preparing, implementing

and reviewing the programmes. The freedom to openly debate, question and debate ideas

and perceptions as points of more knowledge and not blind defense of the firm positions is

essential for sustainable development. The ability to think about processes and their

interaction often requires sustainable development. In every eternal moment of day,

sustainable development is recreated, and therefore an ideal for which we cannot at any
 50

given moment strive. Working for this vision is a challenge that requires not only

substantial research but sufficient resources and systems to effectively turn from improved

knowledge, confidence, experience, behaviors and skills into practical steps to

sustainability. Concrete suggestions on how to cope with the critical issues on the planet

are tremendously helping the people involved in supporting sustainability.

Robert Goodland (1993), who from an economic viewpoint defined sustainability

as the "maintenance of capital," offers an example of a certain and therefore limited

application. He identifies three forms of capital: human-made; human; and natural. The

concept of environmental sustainability applies to natural capital (e.g., natural resources).

Human capital comprises houses, roads, construction (i.e. the environment being built).

Human capital includes people, expertise, experience and information. The three sources

of capital listed by Goodland include environmental sustainability (John Lemons et al,

1998). This view is illustrated by three overlapping ellipses which show that the three

sustainability pillars do not exclusively reciprocate and can strengthen each other. Actually,

the three pillars are interdependent and no pillars can exist without the others in the long

run (Scott Cato, M., 2009).

According to United Nations General Assembly (2005), sustainability has three

pillars. Environmental sustainability in which all environmental processes in the universe

are kept in equilibrium, while human beings extract natural resources at the level, they are

able to replenish. The second is economic sustainable development. It means that human

communities around the world can maintain their independence and have access to the
 51

financial and other resources they require to satisfy their needs. Economic systems are

stable and everybody has access to services, such as safe livelihoods. And ultimately,

economic stability where all people have access to enough resources to ensure their

families and communities are safe and stable, are possible with universal human rights and

fundamental needs. Healthy societies have only representatives who pledge respect to

social, labor and cultural rights and protect all people from discrimination. A genuinely

"sustainable development," as well as economic stability, offers balanced ecological

systems, socio-political equity and peace. Sustainable ecological systems include clean air,

fertile soil, water safety, food security, energy conservation and air quality, including

anthropogenic (man-made) climate change interventions and the preservation of the global

biosphere including humans, animals and plants (Odile Schwarz-Herion, 2015).

According to Karin Laljani (2015), the strategy is a mechanism for prioritization.

A successful sustainability plan has many benefits. If nothing else, the work of the

clinicians is streamlined because a straightforward action plan is given by an effective

strategy. Clarity makes business transformation sustainability more effective, safer and

more desirable. Priority initiatives are a policy on sustainability and corporate

responsibility. This offers a negotiated structure that concentrates investment and improves

quality and includes both domestic and international investors. Every plan must be focused

on why the business is involved. A vision, mission and ideals form the basis upon which

corporate culture and strategy are expressed. To order to identify the problems most

important for the organization and its shareholders, a comprehensive materiality process is
 52

necessary. A good strategy does not only involve prioritization, but also a decision to focus

on certain issues. Although all the choices may look complex, some priorities are the best

strategies.

Michael Rosenberg (2015), considers the strategic options open to business going

forward. At the core of the options is the degree to which businesses choose to comply or

exceed the law requirements on the basis of an assessment of strategic issues. The

following are strategic options analyzed: take the low road, break the law, wait and see,

show and tell, way for principal and think ahead. To take the low road, a business must do

the least to meet regulation and customer expectations and reactively adapt an approach

towards legislative changes, societal requirements, competitors ' innovations and other

considerations. Wait and see not only complies with the legal situation of a company today

but also takes a more proactive stand and prepares the company to act if and when the law

changes, consumer conduct evolves or other factors are responsible for changing the

strategy. The theory behind show and tell, on the other hand, is that most companies are

actually making significant progress on environmental issues, although all their efforts may

not be completely publicized. The fifth option, pay the principal is when the board of a

company makes a clear trade-off between certain financial metrics and going beyond

compliance due to the ethical viewpoint of key shareholders. And for the final option think

ahead and go beyond what is needed today, because senior management believes the world

is changing in a specific way and is confident that it is better to act sooner rather than later
 53

to build competitive advantage, to hedge future legislation or to deal with other strategic

problems.

An important starting point is what constitutes a conservation approach. Many

businesses see the "sustainability plan" as a number of projects, anecdotes and details of

genius sustainability studies. Our research has shown that they rarely say that sustainability

creates business value. "Strategies" that focus on biking, recycling or pet philanthropy

programs have little impact on the company and will not make the business sustainable

over time. Such businesses "throw things against the wall to see if they stick," one of the

interviewees explained. You are likely to lose money for sustainable development.

Nevertheless, most businesses have failed to understand that sustainability can be

incorporated into their overall business plans. This may be part of the reason why the

strategy is all misunderstood. "The essence of strategy is to choose what not to do,"

explains Harvard Business School Professor, Michael Porter (Dr. Gregory Unruh, 2017).

For years, sustainability has been regarded as a cost component or at best as a saving

in electricity and water. The focus has generally been on prices at the start. Sustainability

can, however, actually improve productivity by increasing total costs and allowing for

more revenue.

Businesses should follow a more pragmatic approach and stop looking at

sustainable development as an extra cost. According to Kevin Kohleriter, President &

Chief Strategist, The Market Burst Group (2016), sustainable organizations can not only

generate revenue, but also create greater impact by incorporating sustainability into their
 54

business activities, creating strategic organizational improvements and implementing them

in every dimension of their organizational structures and cultures. There are nine reasons

why companies need to redefine how conservation will help you: 1. Lower operating

expenses and higher efficiency, 2. Green buildings can generate higher income

opportunities, 3. Increased value of capital and king, 4. Investment leverage to create new

opportunities, 5. Stronger brands outweigh their rivals, 6. Acquiring and keeping talent, 7.

Durable patronage of consumers & cost savings by better lighting, 8. Improved

performance, safety and well-being of employees and, 9. The performance of the data

center.

According to Investopedia, the drive for sustainability was visible in fields such as

generating energy where the focus was on finding new resources to outstrip the drawdown

on current supplies. For example, many power utilities also publicly state targets of

sustainable sources such as wind, hydro, or solar energy production. Moving towards

sustainable production, however, is often a complex process for businesses. It is easier to

justify some of the lower initial costs in productivity and renewable sources by basing

decisions on shorter timelines. Investors have had to adjust their return expectations

because in the near term, a company committed to sustainable resource development may

have more modest earnings.

The UN General Assembly is expected to approve the Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) in September 2015, a highly anticipated global development event. The

Open Working Group has developed a robust set of goals and targets that can guide
 55

international cooperation towards an environment that is prosperous and poverty-free by

2030 (James Patterson, 2015). However, the SDGs that are soon to be adopted are likely

to fail unless much more attention is given to addressing the challenges of governance that

are crucial to their implementation. Governance applies in the broadest sense to how

institutions make decisions and behave. It's about the mechanisms that we use in society to

work together to solve shared problems. This involves considering how government,

business, NGOs, civil society and researchers will work together for the SDGs.

Democracy profoundly underpins our ability to do things in society, yet there are

many shortcomings in democracy everywhere: inadequate global financial system

protections, coups against elected national governments, multi-decadal effort to take

meaningful steps to control greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. As scholars

studying governance in the context of natural resource management, we see all of these as

fundamental government failures. And unless they start to think about democracy in the

light of the SDGs now, they will also fail to achieve their ambitious goals.

Attah's Nkechinyere V (2010) made a study on environmental sustainability

focuses on global efforts. The aim is to evaluate efforts made by some developed and

developing countries such as Switzerland, the United States of America and China to

mitigate the effect of environmental degradation on society. Excessive focus on

environmental sustainability through certain policies could harm a country's economic

practices through job losses and social mishaps, while excessive reliance on economic

growth could lead to health risks, global warming, and social deterioration. The need for
 56

an alignment between environmental sustainability and economic growth was addressed in

this report. Only by integrating policies that connect the environment, the economy and

society can sustainable environment and growth be achieved. The paper also analyzes a

range of policy steps taken by some developed countries that can be implemented by other

countries to find a balance between environmental sustainability and development through

the implementation of policies that tie climate, society and economy. And from the

analyzes, detailing measures are summarized to be pursued at the global level to reach this

optimal equilibrium.

In a further study made by A. J. McMichael1, C. D. Butler1, and Carl Folke, it was

mentioned that achieving sustainability will require concerted interactive efforts among

disciplines, many of which have not yet recognized the relevance of environmental issues

to their main intellectual discourse and internalized them. An obstacle to the actual

achievement of sustainability is the inability of key scientific disciplines to engage

interactively. Of reference, the seventh of the eight targets, in the list of Millennium

Development Goals from the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development,

Johannesburg, 2002, was presented separately from the related goals of decreasing

unemployment and inequality, increasing income development, improving material

conditions, and enhancing population health. There is an immediate need for a more

comprehensive and coherent solution to sustainability.

57
 58

Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHOD

This chapter describes the overview of the research methodology that has been

adopted in this study. It provides information about the method used to carry out this

research as well as an explanation for using this method. This chapter also describes the

geographic area of study and the design of the study. Furthermore, this chapter also

discusses the sampling procedure, the study participants, the instrumentation and its

validation and reliability, the process of data collection and statistical data treatment.

Research Design

A research design is a basic plan that guides the research project's phases of data

collection and analysis. It includes the context for the type of information to be collected,

its origins and the process for collecting it. Kinnear & Taylor, 1996; Churchill & Iacobucci,

2005 describes research design as the blueprint followed to complete the analysis and

guarantees that the study applies to the issue and will use economic procedure. The research

design to be adopted in this study by the researcher is descriptive research design.

Descriptive research also known as statistical research, describes the population or

phenomenon being analyzed with data and characteristics. The descriptive method allows

a concise description of a set of scores or measures using a few indices or statistics

(Mugenda and Mugenda, 1999). Although it is not focused on numbers and is usually based
 59

on more analytical approaches, it may also contain quantifiable data. Of course, the purpose

of descriptive research is to describe, explain or validate some kind of hypothesis or

objective when it comes to a specific group of individuals.

Descriptive studies are essentially used to describe different aspects of the

phenomenon. It will be used in its popular format to clarify key definitions, concepts, and

constructs in the study. This study layout was considered appropriate by the researcher

because of the need to define and explain the effects of technology, financial resources and

marketing strategies to the sustainability of SMEs in the First District of Batangas and to

gain an understanding of the relationship between dependent and independent variables

being studied. It will also recognize previous research studies on the sustainability of small

and medium-sized businesses and will help focus the analysis and prevent replication of

research work plus encourages building on already completed work.

Descriptive method will be used mainly for information description purposes. This

included frequencies and percentages. Tables and other charts will be used as needed to

present the data obtained for ease of understanding and evaluation.

Sampling Procedure

Population is the totality of individuals or objects (Orzo, 2007), whereas the sample

is a finite part of the population whose properties are analyzed to obtain data on the whole

(Webster, 1985). The population of the study will be SMEs in the First District of Batangas.

However, since the population of SMEs are not accurately known, then area sampling,
 60

which is cluster sampling where areas, such as municipalities of the First District of

Batangas and its commercial areas tend to be the best options. Commercial areas will be

chosen at random and then either be able to census small and medium-sized enterprises in

each selected area or do a randomized model for small and medium-sized enterprises within

each area.

Since the researchers will be researching without full population data, cluster

sampling is a relatively quick sampling technique. In determining the sample size, we will

consider the sampling order, first, the primary sampling units (PSUs) or clusters, in this

case, the municipalities of Batangas First District, and second, the secondary sampling

units (SSUs) or the businesses/enterprises/ owners in the municipalities.

Participants of the Study

The respondents are the owners, general managers, finance/accounting managers

and accountants of registered small and medium-scale enterprises the municipalities of the

First District of Batangas. The said participants were gathered from the information

gathered from list of registered establishment given by the DTI. The researcher chose them

because they are the right respondents needed to complete the analysis. They can provide

sufficient information and data for the study on the effects of technology, financial

resources, and marketing strategies on the sustainability of SMEs. The respondents’ list

was based from the information collected from Balayan, Calaca, Calatagan, Lemery, Lian,

Nasugbu, Taal and Tuy, Batangas Municipal Office.

 61

To determine the distribution of participants in each municipality, the population

of small and medium-sized enterprises will then be computed.

Table 3.1

Distribution of Participants

MUNICIPALITY POPULATION PERCENTAGE SAMPLE

Balayan 152 13.08 38

Calaca 84 7.23 21

Calatagan 51 4.39 13

Lemery 321 27.62 80

Lian 106 9.12 26

Nasugbu 297 25.56 74

Taal 81 6.97 20
Tuy 70 6.02 17

SUM 1,162 100 289

Table 3.1 shows the total small and medium-scale enterprises population of 1,162.

Using the Raosoft Sampling Calculator, the sample size of 289 respondent will be

requested to answer the questionnaire. Lemery has the largest percentage of sample with

27.62% while Calatagan has the smallest with 4.39%.

 62

Research Instrumentation

The researcher will use a survey questionnaire as her primary instrument in

gathering data regarding the effects of technology, financial resources, and marketing

strategies in the sustainability of small and medium-scale enterprises in the First District

of Batangas. The survey questionnaire is an effective way to gather the necessary

information needed in the study. It is a type of data collection tool used to capture, evaluate

and interpret the different views of a group of individuals from a specific population. This

questionnaire consists of a series of questions and other prompts to gather information from

the respondents.

Construction. The researcher will construct the questionnaire based on other

studies with the same intended findings about the problem. It will include surveys that use

the same scale rating to create a questionnaire and address the problem. The questionnaire

will consist of four parts. The first part will comprise of the technology trends being

adopted by the respondents in terms of social media, mobile applications, computerized

recording, and online marketing. The second part contains the common financial resources

available to the respondents in terms of self-financing, friends and family loans, bank loans,

micro-financing, and government grants. The third part included information about

marketing strategies used by the respondents in terms of Facebook advertising, email

marketing, print media, partnership with other business, and freebies. The fourth part is

composed of statements regarding the levels of sustainability of SMEs in the First District
 63

of Batangas. The factors being tested are the SMEs years in business, number of

employees, the design aspects of the products and the numbers of satisfied customers.

Validation. The research instrument's content validity will be developed to ensure

that it represents the nature of the concept variables in question. It is valid if it measures

what was intended and accurately reflects the opinion of the respondent (Amin, 2005). The

instrument will be submitted for this purpose to professional experts or research

supervisors at the Batangas State University to assess its content and its validity to

minimize prejudice and get useful data and to professional experience in the field. Industry

experts will be interviewed to evaluate the effects of technology, financial resources, and

marketing strategies on the sustainability of small and medium enterprises in the First

District of Batangas. The requirements for the choice of experts were the quality of their

education (masters and doctoral degrees in economics and education, and/or professional

experience in the field (experts from the Department of Trade and Industry). For further

development, the professional experts and research supervisors must advise and check the

degree to which the instruments would be used to achieve the objectives of the study.

Reliability. Reliability was evaluated in the study through the piloting results,

which were performed using the test-retest technique. In the pilot study, the research

instrument will be administered twice to the same group of subjects. It will be allowed a

two-week interval between the first and second tests. For the collection of data, the

questionnaires will be distributed to 10 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)

 64

managers for each municipality in Batangas First District. The researchers will interpret

and conclude the association between test and retest scores after the test is conducted.

Data Gathering Procedure

In the collection of data for the study:

1. The researcher will obtain an authorization letter and an introductory letter from

Batangas State University addressed to the Business Permits and Licensing Officers of

each municipality in the First District of Batangas to get the list of all registered small

and medium scale enterprises.

2. The researchers will collect data from Business Permits and Licensing Officers to

support the review and enhance/check of related literature during the compilation of this

report on the Document Analysis checklist.

3. To ensure that the data necessary for the study is collected on time, the researcher will

involve the services of research assistants. These research assistants will be identified

and trained before the actual data collection to equip them with the necessary skills.

Training research will be primarily aimed at ensuring strict observance of ethical

research considerations.

4. In particular, research assistants will ensure that sufficient copies of questionnaires and

cover letters are prepared and will also contact the respondents by mail or telephone to

request them to participate in the current study. The researcher will assign specific tasks
 65

for the respective municipalities in the First District of Batangas to the research

assistants after preparing enough copies and familiarizing them with the locations.

5. After a contact has been formed with each general manager of SMEs and the purpose of

the study, the researchers will personally visit all sample 289 small and medium-sized

enterprises in the First District and administer the questionnaires to the management to

make sure they keep confidential information. This will ensure high rates of response.

Data were tabled, calculated, analyzed and interpreted accordingly after retrieval of

the questionnaires. The confidentiality of the information collected was processed in a

highly protected manner and used only in the course of the study.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The collected data were statistically analyzed using the following statistical tools:

Frequency. It was used to determine the participant’s responses with regards to

technology trends being adopted, common financial resources available, and marketing

strategies used.

Percentage. Percentage will be used to find the percentage of answers based on the

questions presented in the survey. It is calculated by taking the frequency in the category

divided by the total number of participants and multiplying by 100%.

Weighted Mean. The numbers for each response are determined according to the

respondents ' population. Here, each item being averaged is multiplied by a number
 66

(weight) based on the item's relative importance. The result is summed and the total is

divided by the sum of the weights

On the Likert scale method the weighted mean was interpreted as follows:

Table 3.2

Five – Point Likert Scale on the Technology Being Adopted By the Business

Rate Interpretation

5 Always

4 Frequently

3 Sometimes

2 Seldom

1 Never

Table 3.3

Five – Point Likert Scale on the Common Financial Resources Availed By the Business

Rate Interpretation

5 Always

4 Frequently

3 Sometimes

2 Seldom

1 Never
 67

Table 3.4

Five – Point Likert Scale On the Marketing Strategies Used By the Business

Rate Interpretation

5 Always

4 Frequently

3 Sometimes

2 Seldom

1 Never

Table 3. 5

Scale Range Interval &Verbal Interpretations for Sustainability

Rate Mean Option Interpretation

5 4.2 – 5.00 Always Passion and Purpose

4 3.4 – 4.19 Frequently Integrated Strategy

3 2.6 – 3.39 Sometimes Beyond Compliance

2 1.8 – 2.59 Seldom Compliance

1 1 – 1.79 Never Pre-Compliance

In determining the levels of sustainability of the SMEs in the First District of

Batangas state of financial wellness of the college students of Batangas State University

ARASOF – Nasugbu, five stages of sustainability journey will be used namely: (1) Pre-

Compliance, (2) Compliance, (3) Beyond Compliance, (4) Integrated Strategy, (5) Passion
 68

and Purpose to interpret the Likert scale option Always, Frequently, Sometimes, Seldom,

and Never. The Fifth (5th) and highest stage presented is Passion and Purpose. This implies

that those who are in this stage are taking a sincere dedication to values in order to enhance

the well-being of the business, community and the environment. Stage 5 aims to build a

better world because it is the right thing to do. At this point, sustainability is so central to

the mission, strategy and business of the organization that it can be seen as part of its DNA.

They not only inject it into their environments, but also cover people, societies and other

businesses with which they usually have no connection. Environmental protection is part

of their principles and business model. The next stage is Integrated Strategy which is in the

Fourth (4th) stage, the business converted the business model into a profitable bond-

utilization-return project at Stage 4. It is re-branded as a sustainable enterprise. It injects

the principles of sustainability into its corporate DNA values. Then, with key business

methods, it combines green solutions. Stage 4 provides additional benefits for all investors

through innovative sustainability programs. This emphasizes investment and benefits

rather than "clean" costs and risks. Stage 4 companies produce healthier goods, incorporate

eco-efficiency and life-cycle stewardship and appreciate their environmental programs as

competitive advantages. The third (3rd) stage is Beyond Compliance. At this stage, the

business knows that constructive, organizational environmental efficiencies can save costs.

The marginal savings can be obtained in four different ways: 1. Energy saving and carbon

emissions reduction; 2. Energy saving; 3. Cost reduction and recycling in its products; and

4. the cost of avoiding waste treatment. A business raises its public involvement and thus
 69

improves its credibility and profits. The second stage is Compliance. Here the company

manages its obligations in compliance with all the regulations on jobs, climate, health and

safety. It does what it is constitutionally bound to do reactively and complies well with

those rules. Companies install pollution control equipment and provide employees with a

safer, healthier and more respectful workplace. The first (1st) Stage is Compliance. The

business is cutting corners in this point and seeking not to be caught if the law is broken or

the exploitative activity that is undermining the process is deployed. It does not include the

definition of conservation and it breaches the laws on the environment, health and safety.

This is the standard in corrupt societies. It is a risky and unwise stage in developed

countries.

Pearson r Correlation. Pearson r Correlation is the statistics that calculate the

statistical relationship between the two continuous variables and that are considered as the

best way to measure the association between variables of interest since it is based on a

covariance model. Pearson r Correlation should be used when a significant effect occurs.

When a relationship exists between two variables. Positive or negative correlation may

occur. If we retain the null hypothesis, it cannot be used because there is no relationship

then. It is a linear coefficient of correlation that returns a value from -1 to + 1. A -1 means

a strong negative correlation exists, and + 1 means a strong positive correlation exists. A 0

means no correlation (also known as zero correlation) exists.

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Table 3. 6

Interpretation of R Value

R Value Interpretation

Exactly –1 A perfect negative linear relationship

–0.70 A strong negative linear relationship

–0.50 A moderate negative relationship

–0.30 A weak negative linear relationship

0 No linear relationship

+0.30 A weak positive linear relationship

+0.50 A moderate positive relationship

+0.70 A strong positive linear relationship

Exactly +1 A perfect positive linear relationship

This was used to determine if there is a significant relationship between technology

and sustainability of small and medium-scale enterprises, between financial resources and

sustainability of small and medium-scale enterprises, and between marketing strategies and

sustainability of small and medium-scale enterprises

 71

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 77

APPENDIX

Appendix A
Survey Questionnaire
Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
ARASOF - Nasugbu
Nasugbu, Batangas

COLLEGE OF ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS, ECONOMICS AND

INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

Dear Business Owners/Managers:

Greetings!

I am an MBA student at Batangas State University ARASOF–Nasugbu who is enrolled in

Business Research I am currently conducting a study entitled "The Effects of Technology,
Financial Resources and Marketing Strategies on the Sustainability of Small and Medium
Enterprises in Batangas First District."

In this regard, I am asking you for your precious time to answer all the questions in the
survey which are important and helpful to complete the report.

Rest assured that all data collected from you will remain at the highest level of
confidentiality. Your positive response to this request will be a valuable contribution to the
study's success and will be highly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Respectfully Yours,

Ma. Christina D. Ladao

Researcher
 78

Part I. The Technology Being Adopted By the Business.

Instructions: Using the rating scale below, please the rate the frequency of use of the
following in your business. Please don’t select more than one answer.
5 – Always 2 – Seldom
4 – Frequently 1 – Never
3 – Sometimes

Business Name: (Optional) _____________________________

Social Media 5 4 3 2 1
1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. Pinterest
4. YouTube
5 Twitter
6 LinkedIn
7 Snapchat
Mobile Applications
1 Shopee
2 Lazada
3 OLX Philippines Buy and Sell
4 GCash
5 Smart Money
6 Pay Maya
7 Facebook Messenger
8 Viber
Computerized Recording
1 Excel Spreadsheet
2 Quickbooks
3 SAP
Online Marketing
1 Social Media Marketing
2 Email Marketing
3 Affiliate Marketing
 79

Part II. The Common Financial Resources Availed By the Business.

Instructions: Using the rating scale below, please the rate the frequency of use of the
following in your business. Please don’t select more than one answer.
5 – Always 2 – Seldom
4 – Frequently 1 – Never
3 – Sometimes

Financial Resources 5 4 3 2 1
1 Angel Investors
2 Capital Markets
3 Loan Stock
4 Bank Loans
5 Venture Capital
6 Government Grants
7 Personal Financing
8 Franchising

Part III. The Marketing Strategies Used By the Business

Instructions: Using the rating scale below, please the rate the frequency of use of the
following in your business. Please don’t select more than one answer.
5 – Always 2 – Seldom
4 – Frequently 1 – Never
3 – Sometimes

Marketing Strategies 5 4 3 2 1
1 Advertising (Online and Print Ad
2 Trade Show Booth
3 Online Selling
4 Building Brand Key (a guideline of sorts that helps
you define what a brand stands for)
5 Marketing Mix (everything that a company can do
to influence demand for its product)
 80

Part IV. The Levels of Sustainability. Assess your skills in the following sectors.
Instructions: Please check the column below that corresponds to the rating given.
5 – Always 2 – Seldom
4 – Frequently 1 – Never
3 – Sometimes

Environmental Sustainability 5 4 3 2 1
1. Buy new equipment and services
2. Reduce waste generated in your business
3. Renovate buildings
4. Designate employees or teams to address
sustainability
5. Switch your supplier(s) to a more environmentally
friendly one
6. Change the behaviour of workers to be more
environmentally friendly
Social Sustainability
1 Enhance the wellbeing of the employees
2 Establish an integrated working environment
3 Supporting social justice through buying practices
4 Take part in community outreach
Economic Sustainability
1 Boost public credibility
2 Reducing the operating costs of the company
3 Compatibility between business and personal values
4 Compliance with government regulations
5 Meets customer / customer requirements
6 Increased sales
7 Employee retention
8 Become a leader in the field

Signature: ________________

Date: ____________________