Variations in Performances in Chinese Small and Medium Enterprises

Authors

  • Mohamad Hanapi Mohamad College of Business Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Ching Ing Sung Metal Roofing Industries Pte, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/ijms2009.16.1.5

Keywords:

Small medium enterprise, business performance, PIMS, resource-based model, industrial organizational, managerial characteristic and business strategy

Abstract

Malaysia, like many developing countries, is encouraging local businesses to take greater role in the management of its economy. While incentives and deregulation measures are offered, variations in performances still persist. Researchers have long been interested in explaining the variance in firm performance, as even those firms operating in the same industry and in the same business environment show differences in performance outcomes. Numerous paradigms in the literature have been employed to explain the variance in business performance, including the Classical Industry Organisation, the Revisionist school, the New Industrial Organisation school, the PIMS paradigm, the Austrian school, and the Resource-based school. This paper investigates the combined effects of managerial characteristics of owners/managers and business strategy on the firm performance of Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Using multivariate relationship, the results of the study did not show any significant correlation between the managerial characteristics of the owners/managers and firm performance outcomes among the Chinese entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, a significant amount of variance in performance outcomes can be explained by firm strategy. Furthermore, several significant correlations were found between managerial characteristics and business strategy.

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

ACCCIS. (2005). Brief history of Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Sarawak. Kuching.

Bain, J. (1951). Relation of profit rate to industry concentration: American manufacturing 1936-1940. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 65, 293-324.

Bain, J. (1956). Barriers to new competition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120.

Beaver, G., & Prince, C. (2004). Management, strategy and policy in the UK small business sector: A critical review. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 11(1), 34-49.

Boulding, W., & Staelin, R. (1990). Environment, market share, and market power. Management Science, 36, (October), 1160-77.

Child, J. (1974). Managerial and organisational factors associated with company performance. Journal of Management Studies, 11, 13-27.

Demsetz, H. (1974). Two systems of belief about monopoly. In H. Goldschmidt (Ed.), Industrial concentration: The new learning. (pp. 21). Boston: Little Brown and Company.

Domicone, H. A. (1997). Management characteristics, business strategy and technology policy: An empirical investigation. Unpublished Ph.D Dissertation, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati.

EPU. (2005). Key economic indicators. Economic Planning Unit Malaysia. IJMS 16 (1), 97-113 (2009) 111

Gupta, A. K. (1984). Contingency linkages between strategy and general manager characteristics: A conceptual examination. Academy of management Review, 4(3), 34-47.

Gupta, A., & Govindarajan, V. (1984). Business unit strategy, managerial characteristics, and business unit effectiveness at strategy implementation. Academy of Management Journal, 27 (January), 25-www.ijms.uum.edu.my 41.

Halawi, L. A., McCarthy, R. V., & Aronson, J. E. (2006). Knowledge management and the competitive strategy of firm. The Learning Organisation, 13(4), 384-97.

Hambrick, D. C., & Mason, P. A. (1984). Upper echelons: The organisation as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9, 193-206.

Hashim, M. K., Wafa, S. A., & Sulaiman, M. (2001). Testing environment as the moderator between business strategy-performance relationship: A Study of Malaysian SMEs. School of Management. Sintok: Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Hofer, C., & Schendel, D. (1978). Strategy formulation: Analytical concepts. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.

Holland, R. (1998). Planning against a business failure. Unpublished PhD Thesis, The University of Tennessee, Tennessee.

Karami, A., Analoui, F., & Kakabadse, N. K. (2006). The CEOs’ characteristics and their strategy development in the UK SME sector: An empirical study. Journal of Management Development, 25(4), 316-24.

Leong, N. (2006). SMEs contributing 47% to GDP. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http//www. neac.gov.my

Miles, R E., & Snow, C. C. (1978). Organisational strategy, structure, and process. New York: Mc Graw Hill.

Norburn, D., & Birley, S. (1988). The top management team and corporate performance. Strategic Management Journal, 9, 225-36.

Omar, T. (2006). PUNB’s soft loan scheme sustained 60% failure rate. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http//www.theedgedaily.com

Onsman, H. (2004). Management powertools: A guide to 20 of the most powerful management tools and techniques ever invented. Australia Pty Ltd. North Ryde: NSW, McGraw-Hill.

Porter, M. E. (1980). Competitive Strategy. New York: Free Press.

Rajagopalan, N., & Datta, D. K. (1996). CEO characteristics: Does industry matter? Academy of Management Journal, 39(1), 197-215.

Reklitis, P., & Trivellas, P. (2002). Performance implications of aligning generic strategies with business performance. International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 3(3 and 4), 319. 112 IJMS 16 (1), 97-113 (2009)

Roth, K. (1995). Managing international interdependence: CEO characteristics on resource-based framework. Academy of Management Journal, 38(1), 2002-31.

SSM (2007). Companies commission of Malaysia. Statistics of companies. Retrieved January 20, 2007, from http//www.ssm.com.my

Thomas, A. S., Litschert, R. J., & Ramaswamy, K. (1991). The performance www.ijms.uum.edu.my impact of strategy-manager co-alignment: An empirical examination. Strategic Management Journal, 12, 509-22.

Wernerfelt, B., & Montgomery, C. A. (1988). Tobin’s q and the importance of focus in firm performance. American Economic Review, 78(March), 246-50.

Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (1999). Strategic management and business policy. New York: Addison-Wesley. IJMS 16 (1), 97-113 (2009) 113

Downloads

Published

30-06-2009

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2009): International Journal of Management Studies (IJMS) Vol. 16, No. 1 June 2009

Section

Articles

Research impact

Harvested 2026-09-24
0 citations recorded so far

Counts differ between services because each indexes a different body of literature. None of them is the whole picture.

Identifiers DOI 10.32890/ijms2009.16.1.5