Turkish SMEs Research Articles

The Impact of Strategic Entrepreneurship Behaviors on Business Performance in Turkish SMES: The Role of Business Model Innovation and Competitive Intensity

The Impact of Strategic Entrepreneurship Behaviors on Business Performance in Turkish SMES: The Role of Business Model Innovation and Competitive Intensity

Export potential of Turkish SMEs

Export potential of Turkish SMEs

Unveiling the power of social value: Catalyzing circular economy in emerging market SMEs

The circular economy serves as a dynamic force for sustainability, emphasizing energy conservation, enduring design, and recycling, all while prioritizing value creation. Aligned with the comprehensive triple bottom line framework, encompassing environmental, social, and financial dimensions, circular economy initiatives hold the promise of substantial organizational benefits. This research, deeply rooted in systems thinking, investigates the pivotal role of social value in achieving organizational objectives. Employing structural equation modeling, a serial mediation model is meticulously crafted based on a cross-sectional online survey conducted among small and medium-sized enterprises in Turkey. The findings bring to light mutually reinforcing relationships among triple bottom line dimensions, accentuating the positive mediating mechanisms between social value initiatives and organizational performance. This study significantly advances our understanding of social value, circular economy practices, and sustainability within the context of Turkish SMEs. The practical implications of this research provide valuable guidance for organizations navigating the realms of social and environmental responsibility. Through the implementation of diverse strategies, organizations can adeptly integrate and manage the multifaceted aspects of the triple bottom line, culminating in favorable outcomes and the cultivation of triumvirate elements that augment organizational performance.

The impact of entrepreneurial passion on business model innovation on Turkish SMEs

The impact of entrepreneurial passion on business model innovation on Turkish SMEs

Supply Chain Management Practices and Their Impact on Competitive Advantage of Turkish SMEs

Supply Chain Management Practices and Their Impact on Competitive Advantage of Turkish SMEs

Strategies and challenges in global market entry: an analysis of Turkish SMEs' internationalisation pathways

Strategies and challenges in global market entry: an analysis of Turkish SMEs' internationalisation pathways

Strategies and challenges in global market entry: an analysis of Turkish SMEs' internationalisation pathways

Strategies and challenges in global market entry: an analysis of Turkish SMEs' internationalisation pathways

Government support, employee motivation and job performance in the COVID-19 times: evidence from Turkish SMEs during the short work period

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the effect of government support (short work allowances – SWA) on SME employees' job performance and employee motivation perceptions, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 2,781 employees working in SMEs registered to Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (SMEDO) in Turkey. The relationships were assessed through structural equation modeling with bootstrap estimation.FindingsThe results support the proposed framework illustrating the positive effect of government support on employees' perceived motivation and job performance. Findings indicate that employee motivation has exhibited a mediating effect between government support and job performance. Another important finding is that, contrary to the classical understanding of Herzberg's two-factor theory, SWA system was able to perform as a motivating factor during the pandemic by meeting the hygiene needs.Research limitations/implicationsSince this is a cross-sectional research study, causal inferences cannot be derived from the research results.Originality/valueThere is a lack of empirical study on SME employees' perceptions on the government support during the pandemic, especially on the perspectives of emerging economies are infrequent. Turkey's case is unique in terms of providing insights on how perceived employee motivation is increased by the government supports (SWA) in Turkey, and how this motivation mediates the job performance perceptions. Besides, the impacts of government support are mostly studied at the firm or macro-levels, this study's unit of analysis is at individual level. Regarding the criticism from the motivation perspective of two-factor theory, COVID-19 context and its impact on the motivation needs have not been elaborated before. This article starts new discussions on how crisis contexts influence individual motivator factors.

Evaluation of Industry 4.0 Transformation Barriers for SMEs in Turkey

Industry 4.0 advancements have become substantial issues for many countries. SMEs are considered the backbone of the economy and have a significant place in terms of employment and entrepreneurship and have great significance regarding the application of Industry 4.0 advancements. When the current digital transformation level of Turkey is considered; identification and prioritization of the barriers of SMEs will guide the policies to be developed. In this study, the literature on the barriers faced by Turkish SMEs in their Industry 4.0 transformation efforts is evaluated, prominent barriers are prioritized based on the opinions of experts using AHP method.

Comparing performances and effectiveness of machine learning classifiers in detecting financial accounting fraud for Turkish SMEs

Comparing performances and effectiveness of machine learning classifiers in detecting financial accounting fraud for Turkish SMEs

EVALUATION OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCES OF SME’S LISTED IN THE BIST SME INDUSTRIAL INDEX BY USING TOPSIS MULTICRITERIA DECISION MAKING METHOD

In this study, the financial performances of SMEs listed in the BIST SME Industrial Index are evaluated by using TOPSIS multicriteria decision-making method. The data of the study acquired from annual financial statements that reported between the 2016-2018 period. Financial performance ranks of SMEs are determined for each year and thus comparative financial performances of SMEs are detected.BIST SME Industrial Index is an index that includes stocks of industrial SMEs traded in BIST Stars, BIST Main, and BIST Emerging Companies markets. SMEs have great importance for the Turkish economy, with their dynamizing roles and with their crucial roles in regional development and job creation. According to the Turkey Statistical Institute data, Turkish SMEs constitute 99.8 % of all enterprises in Turkey. At the same time, Turkish SMEs provide 72.7% of total employment, 62% of total sales, and 58% of the total investments of the Turkish Economy.Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is one of the multicriteria decision-making methods that commonly used in the evaluation of financial performances of firms. The TOPSIS method is based on two main points: the positive ideal solution and the negative ideal solution. With the help of the TOPSIS method, the distances positive ideal solutions and negative ideal solutions of all options are calculated. Options are ranked according to their proximity to the positive ideal solution and their distance to the negative ideal solution.

Differences in Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) of SMEs in the International Context: Evidence from the Czech Republic and Turkey

Although SMEs make significant contributions to socio-economic conditions of countries, they face many financial, organizational and mercantile obstacles in their operations. In this regard, having more innovative, risk-taking and proactive activities (EO) increases SMEs’ performance, financial conditions and help them to survive in the long term. Therefore, finding regional, national and international differences in EO of SMEs can enable policymakers, financing institutions, SMEs, and entrepreneurs to create more opportunities for SMEs to overcome those problems. In this regard, this research seeks to explore the differences between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of SMEs that operate in different regions of countries with various cultural values, income levels, economic, political and legal risks. Moreover, age and size of firms are also considered to find differences among SMEs in national and international contexts. In line with these objectives, the current study examines two different countries that have cultural differences and have different economic, legal and political risks. To achieve the objectives, 1620 Czech and Turkish SMEs were analyzed by performing the Mann-Whitney U and Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation tests. According to the results of Moran’s I autocorrelation test, this research does not find any differences between the low and high-income regions of the selected countries regarding EO of SMEs. Experience and age of the respondents might be the reason for these results. Significant results in the national context are that EO of SMEs does not differ across the age categories, while there are differences between firm size and their EO. In the international context, the main findings are that Czech SMEs are more proactive than Turkish ones in all age and size categories, while Turkish SMEs are more innovative in all age categories and only in small size segment. However, this research has not revealed any differences within the risk-taking behaviour of SMEs from different countries considering their size and age. The significant differences and similarities in EO of SMEs from different countries might stem from the educational status of the respondents, a considerable number of operating firms in a market, agility, flexibility, R&D activities and sector of firms. Financial, educational, administrative and legislative support needs to be given by policymakers to close the gap between EO of SMEs of different age, size, regions and countries.

Sticky cost behavior: evidence from small and medium sized enterprises in Turkey

Evidence regarding cost behavior mostly comes from big listed companies. Cost behavior of SMEs, which are backbones of economy, is under-researched. This paper intends to fill this gap by providing evidence on cost stickiness from SMEs in an emerging economy. Cost stickiness refers to the notion that costs increase and decrease by differing magnitude for a specific change in the activity volume. Analyses of data for Turkish SMEs from 2013 to 2017 indicate that; total costs, cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative costs are sticky in varying degrees. Cost stickiness of total costs and selling general and administrative costs reverses following a revenue decline period. The degree of stickiness of all cost categories is positively related to asset intensity and employee intensity while the degree of stickiness of total costs and cost of goods sold is negatively related to debt intensity. The degree of cost stickiness is higher for small revenue decreases than for greater revenue decreases. Finally, firms in different industries have different cost behaviors.

The role of spirituality in Islamic business networks: The case of internationalizing Turkish SMEs

This paper sets out to investigate the role of religion and spirituality in a business network context, with an empirical focus on the international business development of Turkish SMEs. By drawing on the concept of homophily and tie strength, we argue that, while religion can act as a bridge and thus create a multitude of weak ties within a business network, spirituality can deepen these ties and make them stronger through increased emotional intensity, intimacy and reciprocal service. The data were collected from participants in two Islamic business associations in Turkey. The results suggest that spirituality indeed drives members’ commitment to the network and the presence of spirituality has a distinctive effect on members’ contributions to and demands on the network. More specifically, members who treat their network membership as an extension of their spiritual practice tend to mainly benefit from intangible resources, while members who view their shared religion as an entry point into the network seem to benefit from both tangible and intangible network resources. The findings have several theoretical and practical implications, including the introduction of the spirituality concept into the discussion of homophily and tie strength in business networks, and the role of home networks in the internationalization of SMEs.

Boundary conditions for the emergence of relational trust among exporters and importers

PurposeThis study looks to the answer of whether importers and exporters can develop relational trust and minimize the monitoring and control costs used to prevent opportunistic behavior in a trust relationship. Despite increasing scholarly interest in calculative and relational trust, the boundary conditions affecting the transformation of calculative trust into relational trust remain unaddressed. In response, this study aims to investigate the boundary conditions for the emergence of relational trust in inter-organizational relationships between Chinese exporters and Turkish importers.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from Turkish SMEs that import from China. To measure trust between parties, semi-structured interviews with top managers and/or decision-making company owners were conducted. Interview questions covered three categories: antecedents of trust, ways of developing trust and outcomes of trust.FindingsResults indicated that inter-organizational relationships between Chinese and Turkish firms lack relational-based trust. Most trade transactions between two parties are based on calculations of profit/loss, and Turkish firms use intermediary mechanisms to overcome lack of trust in this environment. The most important boundary conditions for the emergence of relational trust are behavioral uncertainty, the opportunistic behavior of Chinese suppliers and language and cultural barriers.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature by addressing the hitherto unaddressed question of what the boundary conditions are for the transformation of calculative trust into relational trust.

Research on effectiveness of technology transfer in technology alliances: evidence from Turkish SMEs

ABSTRACTMany SMEs homed in newly industrialised countries are successful international players despite limited technological infrastructure and R&D resources. This study bridges a gap in the extant literature by examining the relationships between characteristics of partnership relationships, knowledge sharing and the effectiveness of technology transfer in partnerships between SMEs in developing countries and firms from developed countries. By studying data from Turkish SMEs and using partial least squares structural equation modelling, we find that explicit knowledge sharing forms the basis of technology transfer. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that explicit knowledge sharing is strongly contingent upon formalised technical support while trust and technical support seemed to be important antecedents of tacit knowledge sharing.

Turkey s entrepreneur weapons: the driving forces behind Anatolian tigers

Purpose - Liberalization policies of 1980s had transforming and accelerating influence over the formation of Anatolian capital. Taking innovativeness as granted, New Regionalist studies especially on Turkish SMEs explains the reasons of this development. The aim of this article is to evaluate concerning literature and concepts of development style of (Afterwards so called) Anatolian Tigers. Methodology - This research is based on methodology of secondary data analysis: selection and discussion of theoretical and descriptive material, in context, and detailed comparison of theories in terms of their applicability. Findings- Briefly factors to the economic rise of Anatolian Tigers are New industrial spaces conceptualization, Flexible Specialization, Changing aspect of international division of labour, Core-periphery paradigm. Conclusion- Anatolian Tigers development process is reflect of liberalization term of 1980’s, opening Turkey’s doors to the global economy. This development model and the way they integrate to the world economy is unique development style of T

How globalization affects the operational efficiencies of emerging market firms?: A comparative analysis on Turkish SMEs

This paper examines the impact of globalization on the operational efficiencies of emerging market firms by concentrating on the financial outcomes of a firm’s main operations through focusing on operating income and cash conversion cycle as well as on their possible causes in an emerging market, Turkey. The findings indicate that globalization significantly deteriorates the operating income and lengthens the cash conversion cycle of Turkish firms and their components. However, although no difference could be reported on the direction of these effects, the adverse impact of globalization on operating income and its components are observed to be weaker while the lengthening impact on cash conversion cycle and its components are observed to be stronger for SMEs.

An evaluation of current capital structure decisions of Turkish SMEs

Findings of this study suggest that Turkish SMEs happen to experience obstacles in raising finance to improve and develop their business environment. In particular, as information asymmetry and uncertain economic environment are the key barriers, financial constraints turn out to be main handicap for SMEs’ survival. Despite its own merits, SME owners, in family business case, are reluctant to take external finance for their projects with the intention not to lose their independence and control. The main purposes of this study are firstly to investigate the issue of financing of SMEs in Turkey in the theoretical context and secondly to make policy suggestions for the future. Miller and Modigliani (1958)’s basic capital structure theory, Myers, (1984)’s trade off theory, and Myers and Majluf (1984)’s the pecking order theory are the key standing theories to examine SMEs’ capital structure needs. The results of this study are similar to those reported for most Western economies that owners of SMEs follow a pecking order theory and prefer retained profit to external finance in order to cover their financing gaps.

Credit scoring by using generalized models: an implementation on Turkey s SMSs

Purpose - In this study, we make an empirical research and a comparison study on econometric models used with logistic link functions. We compare the predictive powers of models in credit granting process. Methodology - We collected data belonging to 87 medium sized companies. 21 of these companies are defaulted. The data set includes 15 continuous financial ratios for estimation of the models. We implement three models which are Logistic Regression, Generalized Partially Linear Models(GPLM) and Generalized Additive Models(GAM). For each model the best fitted model is selected according to AIC criteria. Findings- GPLM have pointed out that the equity turnover ratio has a significant nonparametric effect. On the other hand GAM pointed out that (total liability)/(total assets) and Increase in Sales have significant nonparametric effects. Comparison of the models have implemented according to their accuracy ratios, Type I and Type II errors. Results show that generalized additive model with logistic link outperforms both Logistic Regression and generalized partially linear model in terms of three performance measures. Conclusion- After 1980s as a result of the financial crises the default events become a main issue of the credit agencies. For this reason, a credit agency’ objective is to determine whether a credit application should be granted or refused. Here, the problem is to learn default some time before the default event occurs. The empirical studies in this area have indicated that commonly used classification methods are good to detect signals of defaults. Especially the models which allow logistic link function are good choices for modeling default risk. In this study we mainly focused on the generalized linear models and its semi- and non-parametric extensions with logistic link function. We compare their performances in a credit granting procedur e . We use a real data belonging to Turkish SMEs. Our results show that the GAM outperforms the other two models and it will be a good choice for credit granting procedure.