Business Practices of Small andMediumEntrepreneurs in the Globalized Era

Abstract

The paper aims at to examine the prevalent business practices being followed by the SMEs relating four manufacturing industries such as textiles, bicycle and bicycle parts, food products and beverages and leather and leather products. The data have been collected from 200 units. Primary data have been analyzed on the basis of three variables, viz. Industry, Age of the units and Turnover of the units. Industry-wise analysis has been done on the basis of four industries, viz. textiles (TX), bicycle and bicycle parts (BBP), food products and beverages (FPB), and leather and leather products (LLP), and food products and beverages (FPB). On the basis of age, units have been categorized into three age-groups, viz. A1 (up to 10 years), A2 (10 to 20 years), and A3 (above 20 years). Turnover-wise units have been classified into three categories, that is T1 (up to Rs. 2 crore), T2 (Rs.2 to 4 crore) and T3 (above Rs. 4 crore). Kruskal-Wallis test has been applied to know the significant differences among the respondents relating to different industries, age and turnover groups with respect to these statements. The findings of the study reveal that a large majority of the units has not been following modern management practices relating to marketing and other issues in business management.K-W statistics show that there are significant differences with regard to various practices and other factors among the units relating to different industries, age groups and turnover groups.