Economy & Business, Volume 9, 2015

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify and prioritize the factors affecting the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In other words, this study aims to answer the following questions: What are the factors affecting SMEs performance? And how are these factors ranked? Currently, due to the specific characteristic of SMEs in the economic sphere, the development of activities can be aimed at determining strengths and weaknesses, identifying opportunities and challenges, identifying critical and control points, and providing information needed for the analysis. The research method used in this study was applied in terms of target, and a descriptive survey in terms of data collection. The method utilized for data analysis was AHP. Therefore, after studying literature and considering SMEs experts’ viewpoints and by relying on the etiological three-dimensional model, three factors structural, content and environmental were identified as the main factors influencing SMEs performance. Each of these factors was divided into four components. The results revealed that in AHP, structural factor has the highest rank, and content and environmental factors rank second and third respectively.