Linking firm and managers' characteristics to perceived critical success factors for innovative entrepreneurial support

摘要

Purpose - This paper aims to examine perceived critical success factors (CSFs) affecting thernperformance of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their relationship with firmrncharacteristics. The paper also seeks to investigate the interdependence relationship among thernperceived CSFs themselves using correlation coefficients.rnDesign/methodology/approach - This paper is part of a wider study that was designed torninvestigate the perceived critical success/failure factors (PCSFs) affecting the development of SMEs.rnThe study is based on a review of the literature, which provided a theoretical understanding of bothrnCSFs and firm characteristics. This theoretical linkage was then tested using primary data that wererncollected through a two-page questionnaire survey of 203 SMEs randomly selected from three cities inrnthe Republic of Botswana. Principal component analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation was used tornreduce the data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to test the relationship between firmrncharacteristics and perceived impacts of selected CSFs, and correlations were used to assess thernrelationships between the CSFs.rnFindings - The study identifies ten sets of perceived CSFs affecting the performance of SMEs;rnstatistically significant relationships between the perceived impact of selected CSFs and firm-specificrnvariables, indicating that the perceived impact of CSFs vary from firm to firm depending on their size,rnage, industry, and management profile; and statistically significant relationships among the selectedrnCSFs themselves.rnResearch limitations/implications - The study relies exclusively on a questionnaire as the datarncollection instrument, and many respondents were unwilling to participate in the survey. Therefore, itrntook the authors eight months to collect 203 questionnaires. This forced the authors to make somernimportant changes from the original research proposal.rnPractical implications - SME managers and advisors should not deal with CSFs individually, butrnshould adopt an integrated and innovative approach to deal with them collectively. This approachrnshould consider SMEs' uniqueness, given that these CSFs are perceived differently depending on firmrncharacteristics. The paper forwards some research and policy implications for designing SME supportrnand promotional interventions.rnOriginality/value - The paper uses well-established and researched CSFs in the SME literature. Tornthis end, the paper's originality and value lie in the investigation of these factors in Botswana.rnHowever, the findings are applicable to most SMEs, since they continue to suffer from the samernproblems worldwide.