A multivariate factor analysis on categorical problems of the SME food processing industry

J. Md. Yunus and M. S. Faizah

Abstract

A cross-sectional study of the hypothetical problem categories of the small and medium-scale enterprises (SME) was conducted on the entire clientele group of MARDI’s Food Technology Research Centre. The group constituted 59 entrepreneurs producing bakery products and sauces. The entrepreneurs were interviewed using the Likert’s type precoded questionnaire for computerization. This study was aimed at identifying the significant categorical problems of the SME food processing industry. An exploratory multivariate factor analysis on the categorical measurements was performed on MARDI’s IBM mainframe computer. A principal factor method was employed in the estimation of correlation matrix, communalities, eigenvalues and factor coefficients or loadings of model parameters. Varimax rotation algorithm was performed to induce an orthogonal factor dimension. The result of the statistical analysis showed that the difficulty to secure strategic premises in town and to get workers as well as the unstable product price were significant problems that hampered the growth and development of the SME food processing industry.

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