International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting ISSN 2577-767X Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 67-75 2023 DOI: 10.33094/ijaefa.v17i1.1036 © 2023 by the authors; licensee Online Academic Press, USA 67 © 2023 by the authors; licensee Online Academic Press, USA Examining the owners and manager's perceptions of the determinants that influence the effectiveness of SME: Evidence from Kosovo Arben Terstena 1 Ismail Mehmeti 2* Sokol Krasniqi 3 1,2,3 University of Applied Sciences in Ferizaj, Faculty of Management, Kosovo. 1 Email: arben.terstena@ushaf.net 2 Email: ismajl.mehmeti@ushaf.net 3 Email: sokol.krasniqi@ushaf.net Licensed: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Keywords: Business plan Logit regression R&D SMEs. JEL Classification: O21; C01; O32; L25. Received: 12 April 2023 Revised: 17 May 2023 Accepted: 2 June 2023 Published: 23 June 2023 (* Corresponding Author) Abstract Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in decreasing unemployment and have a direct impact on the economy's growth. Thus, the overall focus of this research is to evaluate the gender composition of entrepreneurs, education, prior experiences, business planning, R&D investments, and the invention of new products and services in the effectiveness of SMEs. This survey has a qualitative design, with 52 total questions categorized into three main components. The sample includes 336 questionnaires completed by business managers/owners throughout March and April 2022. Logit and multinominal regression were used to ascertain the impact of specific parameters on the efficacy of SMEs. The study has discovered that gender composition, education, business plan, prior experience, and investments in research and development positively influence business effectiveness, while the invention of new products and services results are insignificant. The research will benefit these structures by focusing on the components that are managed within their capabilities to improve the business effectiveness. Regards to its scientific contribution, the research offers the most recent empirical evidence in the setting of Kosovo's economy, utilizing specific variables and an appropriate technique via the logistic model. In terms of scientific contributions, this study makes use of certain variables and a suitable methodology via the logistic model to provide the most recent empirical evidence in the context of Kosovo's economy. Funding: This study received no specific financial support. Institutional Review Board Statement: The study has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Applied Sciences in Ferizaj, Kosovo on 19 June 2023 (Ref. No. 1587/23/USHAF). Data Availability Statement: The corresponding author may provide study data upon reasonable request. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ Contributions: The abstract and introduction part, A.T.; background of the literature review, I.M.; data and methodology, A.T., I.M., and S.K.; the conclusion, A.T., and I.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Acknowledgement: The authors express their gratitude to E&E Consulting for providing the data from the 2022 Survey for SMEs. 1. Introduction Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are presented with a high percentage of the worldwide scale, while performing a specific activity in the global system, which is influenced by complexities, primarily ever- increasing competitive pressure. This contributes to three directions: increasing economic development, minimizing the unemployment rate, and attempting to promote a green economy. (Gancarczyk & Gancarczyk, 2018; Krasniqi, Jashari Goga, & Mehmeti, 2022; Muller et al., 2015). Even though, SMEs have the flexibility and adaptability to easily adapt or generate innovative products or services utilizing advanced technologies to overcome challenges that might have a serious influence (Alexander & Van Knippenberg, 2017; Pisani, Caldart, & Hopma, 2017; Wu, Lin, & Perng, 2022). As a consequence of these contexts, globalization and the adoption of advanced technologies has opened up new opportunities for SMEs. Due to their adaptability and efficiency, it is also acknowledged in European Union (EU) countries, by designing where a constitutional framework was designed for the support and promotion of SMEs to remove the obstacles of to their development.