Structural Equation Model of Competitive Advantage Factors of Northern Thai SMEs in Service Business Sector
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Abstract
The objectives of this study were to study the competitive advantages of small and medium enterprises in the service business sectors in the northern region. The qualitative research method approach by using parity measurement was used as the research methodology. The random sampling group for the quantitative research in this study was 369 entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises of Northern Thai SMEs in the service business sectors. The research instrument was rating scale questionnaire. Data were analyzed for basic statistics and confirmatory factor analysis to test the model consistency, the structural equation of the competitive advantages of small and medium enterprises in the service business sectors. The study indicated that there were five competitive advantage factors for small and medium enterprises in the service business sectors as follows: (1) marketing and customer differentiation (.916), (2) personnel (.869), (3) technology (.857), (4) management (.823), (5) costs (.765) respectively. The conformance test results of the structural model on competitive advantages between small and medium-sized enterprises in the service business sectors by employing Chi-square (χ2 /df), goodness-of-fit index (GFI), and adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) were found that the p value was .062. The value of χ2 /df was 1.174. The GFI value was .997. The TLI value was .994. The RMSEA value was .015, and the HOELTER value is 751. The findings confirmed that the structural relationships of competitive advantage factors in the small and medium enterprises among the service business sectors was at the high level.
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