TY - JOUR AB - In recent years, management training development has secured an increasingly important place in the life of the business managers. After the peace agreement, to find a solution for the apparent lack of managerial strength, many management‐training programmes (MTPs), of an off‐the‐job nature, have been established in the Palestinian Territories. The main objective of this paper is to explore the obstacles and weaknesses facing MTPs for business managers' development. The paper achieves this objective by dividing the identified weaknesses into four broad categories, namely, MTPs weaknesses, obstacles specific to the Palestine situation, and trainers' and managers' weaknesses. The primary data has been generated through a survey of the SME managers who have participated in MTPs in Palestine. To demonstrate the effects of MTPs on small businesses, different but relevant sets of variables were employed and subjected to statistical analysis. It is concluded that although there are major obstacles and weaknesses facing the development of SME managers, the findings, however, can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the future MTPs and indeed the performance of SMEs as a result. They also firmly point to the need for further management development in Palestine. VL - 23 IS - 5 SN - 0262-1711 DO - 10.1108/02621710410537083 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710410537083 AU - Al‐Madhoun Mohammed I. AU - Analoui Farhad PY - 2004 Y1 - 2004/01/01 TI - Developing SME managers under fire: Negotiating obstacles and weaknesses in Palestine T2 - Journal of Management Development PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 479 EP - 495 Y2 - 2024/04/24 ER -