Evaluation and Prioritization of the Various Forms of Governmental Support for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Due to the importance of Small and Medium sized Enterprises, this article is mainly focused on the evaluation and prioritization of the governmental support for these businesses. The method of this research is descridptive based on a 5 point Likert scale questionnaire. Our sample population consists of the 158 CEOs of some active travel agencies (type B) of Tehran participating in this survey. For the data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics (Binomial and chi-square tests) were utilized, and then Freidman test was performed to prioritize – from the view point of our subjects – the governmental support for the SMEs. The results indicate that interviewees regard governmental support as being low. Moreover, the following is the interviewees’ prioritization of the governmental support for SMEs: 1) Financial and credit support, 2) Infrastructural support, 3) Marketing and research support, 4) Training and technical support, 5) Promotion and advisory.