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Entrepreneurial orientation, sustainability practices and performance of small and medium enterprises: evidence from an emerging economy

Samuel Yaw Akomea (KNUST School of Business, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana)
Ahmed Agyapong (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana)
Godwin Ampah (KNUST School of Business, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana)
Hannah Vivian Osei (KNUST School of Business, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana)

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management

ISSN: 1741-0401

Article publication date: 20 May 2022

Issue publication date: 10 November 2023

681

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the growing scholarly interest in examining entrepreneurial orientation (EO)-performance link, the results have been inconsistent. However, studies have not explored firm-level and external factors that may serve as mechanisms or boundary conditions to explain this relationship. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine how and when EO influences performance by incorporating sustainability practices as a mechanism and competitive intensity as an important contingent factor.

Design/methodology/approach

Using primary data obtained from 323 chief executive officers/entrepreneurs, the authors analyzed the data using structural equation modeling in LISREL and Hayes PROCESS in SPSS.

Findings

The authors found that sustainability practices serve as a mechanism through which EO influences small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) performance. The study further revealed that the relationship between EO and sustainability practices is weakened at high levels of competitive intensity. Still, the relationship between EO and performance through sustainability practices remains strengthened when competitive intensity is present at high levels.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by examining how SMEs who are less endowed with resources can engage in sustainability practices that can match large firms with stronger EO to achieve increased performance. Additionally, the study contributes to the literature by examining the mediating effect of sustainability practices in the EO-performance relationship. Finally, the study contributes to the body of literature by testing how competitive intensity presents as a boundary condition to leverage the relationship between EO and performance.

Keywords

Citation

Akomea, S.Y., Agyapong, A., Ampah, G. and Osei, H.V. (2023), "Entrepreneurial orientation, sustainability practices and performance of small and medium enterprises: evidence from an emerging economy", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 72 No. 9, pp. 2629-2653. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-06-2021-0325

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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