Many studies show that the quality and the level of the entrepreneurs’ educational background have an impact on their abilities to successfully manage their businesses. However, the relationship between the presence of management qualification of the entrepreneurs and the competitive performance of their companies has not been sufficiently examined. The paper is based on a representative research of 500 Bulgarian SMEs that have international activities. It examines the relation between the entrepreneurs’ management qualification (obtained through university education with a managerial profile or involvement in management courses) and the main performance indicators of the companies they manage - financial results, market efficiency, customer satisfaction, degree of internationalization, etc.
Keywords: management qualification, entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises, competitiveness.
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