Interplay between entrepreneurial characteristics, organizational structure, corporate culture and SME performance - empirical results from Fiji Islands

This paper demonstrates how entrepreneurial characteristics, organizational structure and corporate culture combine synergistically within an eclectic framework of performance influenced by corporate growth, management’s optimism and product diversification in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Fiji Islands. Data analysis and key findings from a survey of 360 respondents indicate that performance of SMEs is neither influenced by the age nor the education level of the entrepreneur but rather their gender and ethnicity. Competitor orientation contributes more to the performance of SMEs than customer orientation. The implications of these findings with respect to SMEs in Fiji are discussed.