Search results
1 – 2 of 2Samuel Yaw Akomea, Ahmed Agyapong, Suzzie Owiredua Aidoo and Simms Mensah Kyei
This paper sought to investigate the conditional indirect relationship between managerial capabilities (MCs) and performance amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sought to investigate the conditional indirect relationship between managerial capabilities (MCs) and performance amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the sub-Saharan African economy. The study considered social capital (SC) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as parallel mediating mechanisms and competitive intensity as boundary conditions within this relationship. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were obtained from SMEs (n = 206) in a sub-Saharan African nation. Bootstrapping (Process Macro) and hierarchical regression in statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) were used to analyse the data.
Findings
The results demonstrate that whereas EO presents a mechanism through which MC influences performance, SC does not mediate the MC–performance relationship. The results further demonstrate that competitive intensity provides various interaction effects such that at high levels of competitive intensity the indirect effect of MC on performance through SC is weakened and strengthened through EO. The study, therefore, provides clarity to the intricate power of interactions of external factors with firm-specific resources.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates that varying combinations of resources influence performance differently. The authors consider the influence of these mediators simultaneously in attempts to extend theory by buttressing the bundling effect of MC on SC and EO in driving performance. They also highlight the impact of the boundary conditions created by competitive intensity (CI) on these mediated relationships.
Details
Keywords
Samuel Yaw Akomea, Ahmed Agyapong, Godwin Ampah and Hannah Vivian Osei
Despite the growing scholarly interest in examining entrepreneurial orientation (EO)-performance link, the results have been inconsistent. However, studies have not explored…
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.
Details