The economic growth of developing countries can be sustained by the expansion of private sector, as they are the engine of growth. As a consequence, it is important to accelerate the growth of SMEs in order to gain sustainable development in this era. Many scholars have argued that the strategic planning is one of the salient factors which contribute to the performance of SMEs. However the recent literature provides contradictory findings about the relationship between strategic planning and performance. Based on these evidences, the main objective of the study was to examine the relationship between strategic planning and performance of SMEs. More importantly the study focused on strategic planning process where, there is a dearth of studies which have concentrated on strategic planning process. Specific objectives include toi dentify the level of involvement in the process of strategic planning and to examine difficulties faced by SMEs in engaged in strategic planning process. Data were collected through personally attended structured questionnaire distributed among 275 owner/managers of SMEs in Western province. Both descriptive and inferential statistics techniques were used to analyze the collected data. The findings revealed that the SMEs are moderately engaged in strategic planning process and there is a positive relationship between strategic planning and business performance.

The economic growth of developing countries can be sustained by the expansion of private sector, as they are the engine of growth. Many scholars have argued that Entrepreneurial Orientation is one of the salient factors which contribute to the performance of SMEs. However, the recent literature provides contradictory findings about the relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and performance. Accordingly this study aimed at investigating the level of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) of owner(s)/manager(s) of SMEs and the relationship between EO and business performance of manufacturing SMEs in Western province. This study adopted deductive approach and used both descriptive and inferential statistical tools in analyzing the collected data. Findings revealed that the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) among owner/managers of manufacturing SMEs in Western province is at high level. Among the dimensions of EO, innovativeness shows high influence on business performance.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/kjm.v2i2.6550 Kelaniya Journal of Management Vol.2(2) 2013:51-67

It is evident that supply chain management (SCM) practices are widely practiced by large scale and established business organizations as benchmark. Not only the large firms but also the small and medium scale businesses are required to follow these practices to achieve the growth. Further, present business environment is very competitive and organizations should face this as a challenge. This study is undertaken to empirically investigate the impact of supply chain management on competitiveness. Sample consists of 327 production managers of medium scale entrepreneurial firms (manufacturing sector) in Colombo district. The analyzed data supports the hypotheses revealing that higher the level of involvement in SCM practices higher the competitiveness. Further, it is found that except level of information quality and lean practices, other practices of SCM (Strategic partnership with suppliers, customer relationship, level of information sharing and internal supply chain process are significant factors that affect firm competitiveness.

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