Abstract:

Although strategies implemented by large firms have long been a primary subject in the literature and concern of practitioners, not as much studies and research have been done on the strategic dimension of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Since SMEs differ from large firms in terms of their structure and approaches in many respects, strategies implemented successfully by the large firms may not become effective for the SMEs. For this reason it’s especially important to analyze SMEs in terms of strategies they follow. In this research, strategies implemented by the SMEs in metal and machine and equipment sector operating in the Marmara and Gebze region have been analyzed against a variety of performance criteria. In this study, a relationship is found between all the performance criteria considered and the following variables: the applications of programs to improve TQM, giving importance to the production of special products and services, application of comprehensive control procedures, and employing highly skilled personnel strategies

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