ABSTRACT
Many authors have considered the success of the business to be directly related to the support managers are provided with in terms of managerial skills and knowledge or, to put it simply, in order to ensure the success of a business, support the manager with relevant managerial skills. Since managers play such a crucial role in determining the success or failure of a business or an enterprise, their development should be regarded as an investment rather than a cost (Drucker, 1954; Katz, 1974; Laird, 1978; Peels, 1984; Mol and Vermeulen, 1988; Kuber and Prokopenko, 1989; Davis, 1990; Analoui, 1993, 1997; Liedholm and Mead, 1999; MacMahon and Murphy, 1999; Analoui and Husseini, 2001; Al Madhoun and Analoui, 2002). SME managers, too, are no exception; to ensure the success of their business they need to attend MTPs. Furthermore, it has been shown in various studies that major managerial problems are the most frequently voiced reasons for SME failure (Schmitz, 1995; McCortnick and Pedersen, 1996; Van Dijk and Rabellotti, 1997; Burke and Collins, 2001).
