Abstract
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have plenty of competitive advantages compared to large companies. They are more capable of being original and innovative, and due to their flexibility, they can respond better to environmental changes and satisfy their customers’ emerging needs. They also have more opportunities to redesign or alter and improve their management tools and information systems. Moreover, the employees can improve their expertise in novel fields. Due to the significance of SMEs in countries’ economies, a great number of studies and investigations have been conducted on them. According to the previous studies of the researcher and review of the literature, relying on the three-dimensional model, three groups of structural, content, and environmental factors were identified as the most important factors affecting the performance of SMEs in Semnan province in Iran. Nevertheless, owing to the wide area of research and also in order to achieve better results, this study has focused only on investigating the role of structural factors in the performance of SMEs in Semnan province. The research method used in this study in terms of target is applied and in terms of data collection is analytical. The method used for data analysis is the technique of structural equations of second rank factor analysis . The results of the research revealed that structural factors affect SMEs performance to the amount of 3.99.
Highlights
In Canada, 98% of enterprises are small and medium sized (SMEs), and in Japan 60% of industry exports belong to this kind of enterprises [7]
Advances in Science and Technology Research Journal Vol 10 (29), 2016 ing the existing weaknesses in each index, we will help improve the performance of the active companies in small and medium sized industries
The amount of capital and the amount of demand for production affect SMEs performance to the extent of 14.22 and the amount of financial resources affect it to the extent of 3.77
Summary
In Canada, 98% of enterprises are small and medium sized (SMEs), and in Japan 60% of industry exports belong to this kind of enterprises [7]. 99% of enterprises in Iran are small and medium sized, only 17% of industry valueadded tax belongs to them [10]. Various definitions of SMEs have been presented. Azizi in a study entitled “Evaluating the factors affecting entrepreneurship in small and medium sized enterprises by using balanced reward cards” introduced the units with the personnel of below 150 people as small and medium sized enterprises [3]. The presence of deficiencies in the performance of small and medium sized enterprises especially structural deficiencies is evident. The main issue in the present study concerns basically the question of which structural factors affect SMEs performance, and to what extent these factors affect SMEs performance. By determining the extent of effect of these factors, managers and policymakers are assisted in better recognition of damage and by eliminat-
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