Competition and words derived thereof have been the subject of many policymakings and discussions related to development. Global experience indicated that the extent of countries' development depends on the competition power and productivity of their businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses as the fundamental bases for the countries’ development and progress. Nowadays, economic development is not solely a discussion about the economic categories and variables rather it is directly associated with the political context and social culture of a society and it is the social culture that determines the quality of economic activities in a society. The present study aimed at investigating the causes of the low share of Iranian small and medium-sized businesses from the market and their low competition power and productivity from the perspective of cultural factors. To do so, Edgar Schein’s clinical method and Sariolghalam’s theory were utilized for investigating the relationship between productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises active in textile industry of Yazd Province and the culture of the staff therein. The results of Pearson correlation test indicated that the productivity of these businesses was directly associated with the culture of their employees and institutionalization of the fixed development principles as the cultural beliefs of these firms’ staff members played an important role in their competitiveness.
