Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business Performance of Women-Owned Small and Medium Enterprises in Malaysia: Competitive Advantage as a Mediator

The aim of this research is to examine the mediating effect of competitive advantage on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance of women-owned SMEs in Malaysia. It proposed a quantitative analysis in which entrepreneurial orientation and sources of competitive advantage are key success factors of SMEs. To answer the research questions, two hypotheses were formulated; (a) There is significant relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and business performance, and (b) competitive advantage mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance. Data were collected by means of a mail survey questionnaire completed by women owner/managers randomly selected from a sampling frame of registered SMEs. The questionnaires developed from prior research were used to measure the entrepreneurial orientation and competitive advantage of the firm while performance measurement was based on subjective evaluation involving self-reported measures. The findings revealed that significant relationships exist between entrepreneurial orientation and performance, while competitive advantage was found to partially mediate the entrepreneurial orientation and performance relationships. These findings may be of help to the women owner/managers of SMEs to be more entrepreneurial oriented and developed competitive edge in order for them to survive the intensely competitive market environment.

[1]  Gregory G. Dess,et al.  Clarifying the Entrepreneurial Orientation Construct and Linking It To Performance , 1996 .

[2]  Helene Ahl.  Why Research on Women Entrepreneurs Needs New Directions , 2006, The Praxis of Diversity.

[3]  Nor Asiah Omar,et al.  An Empirical Study of Success Factors of Women Entrepreneurs in Southern Region in Malaysia , 2011 .

[4]  Michael Frese,et al.  Entrepreneurial orientation: A psychological model of success among southern African small business owners , 2005 .

[5]  D. Shepherd,et al.  Knowledge‐based resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and the performance of small and medium‐sized businesses , 2003 .

[6]  Rosli Mahmood,et al.  ENTREPRENEURIAL AND MARKETING ORIENTATION RELATIONSHIP TO PERFORMANCE: THE SME PERSPECTIVE , 2011 .

[7]  Ken G. Smith,et al.  Using Subjective Evaluations of Organizational Performance in Small Business Research , 1988 .

[8]  Sridhar N. Ramaswami,et al.  Market-based Assets and Capabilities, Business Processes, and Financial Performance , 2004 .

[9]  S. Deshmukh,et al.  Strategy development by SMEs for competitiveness: a review , 2008 .

[10]  Kent D. Miller,et al.  Strategic Risk and Corporate Performance: an Analysis of Alternative Risk Measures , 1990 .

[11]  Allen C. Bluedorn,et al.  The relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and strategic management , 1999 .

[12]  Gregory G. Dess,et al.  Linking Two Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Orientation to Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Environment and Industry Life Cycle , 2001 .

[13]  G. Tovstiga,et al.  Intellectual capital practices: a four‐region comparative study , 2009 .

[14]  Richard M. Hodgetts,et al.  Entrepreneurship: A Contemporary Approach , 1994 .

[15]  P. H. Friesen,et al.  Innovation in Conservative and Entrepreneurial Firms: Two Models of Strategic Momentum , 1982 .

[16]  Kevin Ibeh,et al.  Furthering export participation in less performing developing countries: The effects of entrepreneurial orientation and managerial capacity factors , 2004 .

[17]  C. Brush,et al.  Women Entrepreneurs and the Global Environment for Growth , 2010 .

[18]  David J. Miller,et al.  The Correlates of Entrepreneurship in Three Types of Firms , 1983 .

[19]  J. Spender.  Making knowledge the basis of a dynamic theory of the firm , 1996 .

[20]  C. Rowley,et al.  Human resource management in Chinese small and medium enterprises: A review and research agenda , 2007 .

[21]  Jintong Tang,et al.  THE IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND OWNERSHIP TYPE ON FIRM PERFORMANCE IN THE EMERGING REGION OF CHINA , 2007 .

[22]  M. Zimmerman,et al.  Gender heterogeneity, entrepreneurial orientation and international diversification , 2012 .

[23]  S. Zahra.  Predictors and Financial Outcomes of Corporate Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study , 1991 .

[24]  H. Kaiser.  An index of factorial simplicity , 1974 .

[25]  D. Slevin,et al.  Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments , 1989 .

[26]  D. Slevin,et al.  A Conceptual Model of Entrepreneurship as Firm Behavior , 1991 .

[27]  Pn Khandwalla,et al.  Some top management styles, their context and performance,” Organization and Administrative Science, Vol. , pp. 21 , 1977 .

[28]  R. Mahmood,et al.  How does organizational culture shape the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and the organizational performance of banks , 2011 .

[29]  William G. Zikmund,et al.  Exploring Marketing Research , 1986 .

[30]  Cristina Díaz García.  Book review: Women Entrepreneurs and the Global Environment for Growth: A Research Perspective , 2012 .

[31]  B. Ndemo,et al.  Women entrepreneurs and strategic decision making , 2007 .

[32]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[33]  Gülruh Gürbüz,et al.  Entrepreneurial management, entrepreneurial orientation and Turkish small firm growth , 2009 .

[34]  S. Zahra,et al.  Contextual influences on the corporate entrepreneurship-performance relationship: A longitudinal analysis , 1995 .

[35]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[36]  I. Chow.  The Relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and Firm Performance in China , 2006 .

[37]  Johan Wiklund.  The Sustainability of the Entrepreneurial Orientation—Performance Relationship , 1999 .

[38]  R. Mahmood,et al.  The relationship between business model and performance of manufacturing small and medium enterprises in Malaysia , 2011 .