Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verification

<h4>Purpose</h4> The aim of the paper is to identify management practices that are characteristic for SMEs that achieve market success measured by their business performance in last their years of their operation analyze the relationships between management practices applied in small and...

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Main Authors: Krzysztof Łobos, Magdalena Wojciech
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8592451/?tool=EBI
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author Krzysztof Łobos
Magdalena Wojciech
author_facet Krzysztof Łobos
Magdalena Wojciech
author_sort Krzysztof Łobos
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Purpose</h4> The aim of the paper is to identify management practices that are characteristic for SMEs that achieve market success measured by their business performance in last their years of their operation analyze the relationships between management practices applied in small and medium-sized enterprises and their success measured by their business performance drawing on the data from 2710 SMEs operating on the Polish market. <h4>Approach/Methodology/Design</h4> A cluster analysis was used to distinguish homogenous SME groups in view of their management practices. We examined differences between groups in terms of their business performance. The HINoV algorithm allowed six variables to be selected out of 32 management practices chosen initially for testing, with these variables providing the basis for grouping. Modal values and medians were calculated for 17 business performance measures in the three clusters produced. The subsequent analysis of those findings was focused on capturing significant differences. <h4>Findings</h4> In the group of 2710 Polish SMEs, it was possible to verify that there existed an association between management practices in the field of modern HRM, computer systems supporting management and the company’s economic performance, as measured by an increase in net revenue and number of customers over the last three years. In clusters where the above mentioned practices were appreciated, modal and median values of the increase reported in net revenue and number of customers were significantly higher. <h4>Practical implications</h4> The research has shown that at a time marked by a shortage of highly skilled personnel one should pay particular attention to building an integrated and committed team of workers and to employee empowerment. The research has also shown that SME managers monitor only a fraction of basic business performance measures, which may prove to be a major risk to SMEs. <h4>Originality/Value</h4> Previous studies have been largely conducted in a fragmentary manner, i.e. they were concerned with the relationships between the application of some practices (strategic management, BPR, entrepreneurial orientation, monitoring, etc.) and selected business effectiveness measures. In this paper, the research covered SME management practices from a variety of areas which were then compared with the entrepreneurs’ assessment as to whether the company’s economic condition changed over the last three years. It is also the first attempt in post-socialist economies to identify those SME management practices that are related to better economic results.
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spelling doaj.art-8ba87a1f01df448cb00ee9592536f6db2022-12-21T21:52:58ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-011611Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verificationKrzysztof ŁobosMagdalena Wojciech<h4>Purpose</h4> The aim of the paper is to identify management practices that are characteristic for SMEs that achieve market success measured by their business performance in last their years of their operation analyze the relationships between management practices applied in small and medium-sized enterprises and their success measured by their business performance drawing on the data from 2710 SMEs operating on the Polish market. <h4>Approach/Methodology/Design</h4> A cluster analysis was used to distinguish homogenous SME groups in view of their management practices. We examined differences between groups in terms of their business performance. The HINoV algorithm allowed six variables to be selected out of 32 management practices chosen initially for testing, with these variables providing the basis for grouping. Modal values and medians were calculated for 17 business performance measures in the three clusters produced. The subsequent analysis of those findings was focused on capturing significant differences. <h4>Findings</h4> In the group of 2710 Polish SMEs, it was possible to verify that there existed an association between management practices in the field of modern HRM, computer systems supporting management and the company’s economic performance, as measured by an increase in net revenue and number of customers over the last three years. In clusters where the above mentioned practices were appreciated, modal and median values of the increase reported in net revenue and number of customers were significantly higher. <h4>Practical implications</h4> The research has shown that at a time marked by a shortage of highly skilled personnel one should pay particular attention to building an integrated and committed team of workers and to employee empowerment. The research has also shown that SME managers monitor only a fraction of basic business performance measures, which may prove to be a major risk to SMEs. <h4>Originality/Value</h4> Previous studies have been largely conducted in a fragmentary manner, i.e. they were concerned with the relationships between the application of some practices (strategic management, BPR, entrepreneurial orientation, monitoring, etc.) and selected business effectiveness measures. In this paper, the research covered SME management practices from a variety of areas which were then compared with the entrepreneurs’ assessment as to whether the company’s economic condition changed over the last three years. It is also the first attempt in post-socialist economies to identify those SME management practices that are related to better economic results.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8592451/?tool=EBI
spellingShingle Krzysztof Łobos
Magdalena Wojciech
Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verification
PLoS ONE
title Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verification
title_full Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verification
title_fullStr Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verification
title_full_unstemmed Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verification
title_short Management practices and their relation to success of Polish SMEs: The empirical verification
title_sort management practices and their relation to success of polish smes the empirical verification
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8592451/?tool=EBI
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