Competencies of small- and medium-sized enterprises’ owners and managers as drivers of the financial performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Johannesburg

South African Journal of Business Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Competencies of small- and medium-sized enterprises’ owners and managers as drivers of the financial performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Johannesburg
 
Creator Kemp, Shenice B.S. Marx, Johan
 
Subject Business Management competencies; small- and medium-sized enterprises; financial performance; return on investment; Business Success Driver Index
Description Purpose: The purpose of the research was to determine the competencies of small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) owners and managers and the association between these factors and the financial performance of their SMEs to help reduce the high failure rate of SMEs in South Africa.Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted among SME owners and managers in Johannesburg, South Africa. Because the questionnaire used a five-point Likert scale, factor analysis was used to determine the role the various competencies play in the financial performance of SMEs and to determine a Business Success Driver Index (BSDI) based on their responses.Findings/results: The competencies positively influence the return on investment (ROI) of SMEs, where competency is regarded as a combination of knowledge, skills, values, attitude and experience as an attribute.Practical implications: The implication for practice is that SME owners and managers could improve their firms’ profitability and business success by enhancing their competencies by focusing on their knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and experience. The results of the study could help reduce the SMEs’ failure rate in South Africa.Originality/value: This study is the first to investigate the combination of knowledge, skills, values, attitude and experience as competency factors driving SMEs’ profitability (measured by the ROI). The authors followed a positive approach by considering the factors contributing to success instead of the factors leading to failure in SMEs.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Unisa M&D support programme
Date 2026-05-08
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajbm.v57i1.5348
 
Source South African Journal of Business Management; Vol 57, No 1 (2026); 12 pages 2078-5976 2078-5585
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/5348/3678 https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/5348/3679 https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/5348/3680 https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/5348/3681
 
Coverage Johannesburg, South Africa — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2026 Shenice B.S. Kemp, Johan Marx https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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