A Taxonomic Approach for the Study of Manufacturing Tunisian SME

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to propose taxonomy of the manufacturing Tunisian SMEs in terms of the commitment levels in the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO).We are trying to present a better explanation for the heterogeneity of the performance levels achieved by the Tunisian companies, especially in this economic and social situation of crisis facing the country in the last few years.In order to prove this, we've mobilized a taxonomic approach and adopted a quantitative approach based on a questionnaire which was administered near the business managers of 110 Tunisian industrial small and medium-size companies.Our obtained empirical results demonstrate that the configurations deduced from the quantitative analysis are strongly distinct from each other.Thus, the various levels of EO which we have released ensure the discrimination between the various classes of the surveyed companies.Three configurations emerge from this study, they are: Configuration 1: "The audacious", configuration 2: "The tentativists" and configuration 3: "The temporizing".