Paradoxes on sustainable performance in Dhaka’s enterprising community: a moderated-mediation evidence from textile manufacturing SMEs
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy
ISSN: 1750-6204
Article publication date: 27 December 2022
Issue publication date: 27 February 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are heading towards smart manufacturing despite growing challenges caused by globalisation and rapid technological advancement. These SMEs, particularly textile SMEs of Bangladesh, also face challenges in implementing sustainability and organisational ambidexterity (OA) due to resource constraints and limitations of conventional leadership styles. Adopting paradoxical leadership (PL) and entrepreneurial bricolage (EB) is important to overcome the challenges. However, these dynamics are less explored in academia, especially in the Bangladeshi textile SMEs context. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the adoption of smart technologies (ASTs), PL and OA, EB on sustainable performance (SP) of textile SMEs in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional and primary quantitative survey was conducted. Data from 361 textile SMEs were collected using a structured self-administrated questionnaire and analysed by partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The statistical outcome confirms that ASTs and PL significantly influence SP and OA. OA plays a significant mediating role for PL and is insignificant for ASTs, and EB significantly moderates among ASTs, PL and SP.
Research limitations/implications
As this study is cross-sectional and focussed on a single city (Dhaka, Bangladesh), conducting longitudinal studies and considering other parts of the country can provide exciting findings.
Practical implications
This research provides valuable insights for policymakers, management and textile SMEs in developing and developed countries. By adopting unique and innovative OA, PL and EB approaches, manufacturing SMEs, especially textile companies, can be more sustainable.
Originality/value
This study has a novel, pioneering contribution, as it empirically validates the role of multiple constructs such as AST, PL, OA and EB towards SP in the context of textile SMEs in a developing country like Bangladesh.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Authors would like to thank all participating respondents for their efforts and time. The authors also appreciate the anonymous reviewers and the editorial team for their suggestions towards the improvement of the study.
Consent to publish: All authors certify that they give their consent to publish the paper if accepted.
Funding: This work was supported by the Grant number 6303806-10601 (SPE/UPM) and FRGS/1/2020/SS01/MMU/02/4.
Competing interests: The authors declare that no known competing financial interests or personal relationships could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Availability of data and materials: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [M. I. T], upon reasonable request.
Citation
Hossain, M.I., Teh, B.H., Tabash, M.I., Alam, M.N. and Ong, T.S. (2024), "Paradoxes on sustainable performance in Dhaka’s enterprising community: a moderated-mediation evidence from textile manufacturing SMEs", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 145-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-08-2022-0119
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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