Title: An exploratory study of the characteristics affecting the success of SMEs in Pakistan

Authors: M. Khurrum S. Bhutta, Jamshad H. Khan, Adnan Omar, Usman Asad

Addresses: Management Systems Department, College of Business, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA. ' Graduate School of Business Administration, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore 54792, Pakistan. ' Management Information Systems, Southern University at New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70126, USA. ' Graduate School of Business Administration, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore 54792, Pakistan

Abstract: There is an increasing recognition of the potential contribution of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) towards employment and economic growth in Pakistan. Unfortunately SMEs have a high mortality rate. A survey was conducted of the executive heads (CEO, Chairman, MD, GM, etc.) of target organisations and information related to different functions of SMEs was collected to try to identify the characteristics that make an SME successful. This paper presents the results.

Keywords: economic survey; success factors; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; Pakistan; entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2009.021612

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2009 Vol.7 No.1, pp.107 - 122

Published online: 30 Nov 2008 *

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