Financial problems of SME's in footwear manufacturing sector and an application in Manisa region

ABSTRACT Recently many developed countries have shifted their leather & footwear manufacturing industries to the countries that have cheaper labor. That shifting created positive opportunities for Turkish leather and footwear manufacturing industry. In this study we have searched financial problems and solutions for small and medium size businesses (S&MSB) that are in leather & footwear manufacturing industry in Manisa. The study includes some of the following topics; History of small and medium size businesses, theoretical framework of small and medium size businesses, the role of leather and footwear manufacturing industry in Turkish economy and in the European Union countries. The next part contains a survey, in order to identify the major problems of the leather and footwear manufacturing industry in Turkey. The survey helped us to understand the effects of recent economical crises on leather and footwear manufacturing industry respect to the rest of the industries in Turkish economy. As a result, we have seen that in Turkey, there are many similarities between leather and footwear manufacturing industry and the other industries in terms of the financial problems. Finally the last part of the study includes some solution suggestions for the leather and footwear manufacturing industry's problems.