Competency and performance analysis of Indian SMEs and large organizations: An exploratory study

Globalization of markets and increasing expectations of customers have created a turbulent environment for Indian organizations. The purpose of this paper is to study the development of various competencies by small‐, medium‐ and large‐scale Indian organizations under various pressures and constraints.

For collecting data, a questionnaire‐based survey were conducted. Out of 241 responding organizations, 193 were small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and 48 were larger organizations. Statistical analysis of data acquired from the survey are done by reliability test, t‐test and correlation analysis.

Introduction of new technology and identification of market changes have emerged as most important competencies because they are significantly correlated with subjective performance, objective performance and overall competitiveness of organization. Levels of focus given on competencies development by large organizations differ significantly from SMEs.

Findings of the study imply that SMEs should be as proactive as large organizations in making changes in terms of various processes such as development of competencies, human resources, upgrading of technology and awareness about market changes. For validating these results, further case studies are recommended.

This study will help organizations in shaping their competitive strategies for developing competencies as per the market needs.