In most economies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) consitute a variety of different firms encompassing a wide range of industries. SMEs are heterogeneous: they differ at least in terms of their capabilities, stage of development, resources as well as requirements. The heterogeineity ofSMEs suggests that any systematic and rigorous attempt. to understand, explain and predict their behaviour should begin with the development of a taxonomy for them. A taxonomy provides a means for grouping and defining heterogenous SMEs - understanding their similarities and differences, their strengths and weaknesses. In the literature, several attempts to develop SMEs taxonomies have been made. Upon examining three of these taxonomies, it is found that SMEs can be classified in a number of different ways. Nonetheless, whilst this review of taxonomies literature is insightful in developing our own SMEs taxonomy, a careful study of the various features of SMEs is awaited if we were to develop a comprehensive taxonomy for the Malaysian SMEs.
After almost fifty years of operation, government through a number of announcements declared that FELDA (Federal Land Development) schemes need to be revitalized so that it could play its role more effectively as a vehicle that would accelerate the country's economic growth. Having raised this point, the major aim of this study is to examine the major socio-economic issues and the current socio-economic status of FELDA settlers.Information was gathered through face-to-face interview with the Mata Air FELDA settlers and the Rimba Mas FELDA settlers in Perlis. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and percentages were employed to describe the socio-economic problems and issues studied. The findings of the study indicate the implication of the ageing phenomenon of the FELDA settlers in Perlis to some extent affect the settlers' ability to work effectively on their plantation. It is also found that the second generation issue has become the most significant factor contributing to the productivity and income increment of the FELDA settlers in Perlis as compared to other selected socio-economic variables. The result also suggested that, the Vol. 1, No. 2 Asian Culture and History 114 ageing phenomenon, second generation issue and entrepreneurship problem must be seriously taken into consideration in order to accelerate the FELDA's growth specifically and the country's growth generally.
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