The Effect of the Competitive Strategies on the Tshwane-Based Smes' Performance 

This paper investigates the effect competitive strategies have on the performance of Tshwane-based SMEs. There is a knowledge gap due to the inadequate exploration of the effect that competitive strategies have on the performance of SMEs. The population was made of 453 owner-managers and 151 employed managers in Tshwane-based SMEs. The population was limited to SMEs whose yearly turnover is between 5 and 10 million South African Rands (5M ?ZAR ?10M). A sample of 236 was contacted during data collection, and 110 questionnaires were returned. The paper found that competitive strategies have a positive effect on the SMEs' high performance when applied together rather than individually. The paper posits that to successfully investigate the effect of competitive strategies on high performance, it is significant to introduce SME resources as a moderating construct. The paper concludes that when competitive strategies are applied as a unit and are moderated by the resources, they positively affect SMEs' high performance.