The Relationship Between Environmental Hostility and Entrepreneurial Orientation of Small Businesses

Oluwafemi Dele-Ijagbulu, Menisha Moos and Chukuakadibia Eresia-Eke

Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, 2020, vol. 6, issue 2, 347-362

Abstract: Abstract Declining entrepreneurship as indicated by low total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) and high business failure is unacceptable in any economy. This predicament is indicative of South Africa’s business environment as well as the entrepreneurial disposition of firms operating within it. However, the factors precipitating entrepreneurial behaviour among small firms are yet to be fully comprehended and the environment as a motivation for entrepreneurship among these firms is yet to be examined thoroughly. Furthermore, research focus on the antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is limited, even as EO has been considered as an aggregated construct repeatedly with inadequate attention directed at its independent constituents. In response to these concerns, this study investigates the relationships between environmental hostility (EH) and the individual components of EO among small businesses in South Africa. Using a quantitative methodological approach, the study conducts a survey, and analyses data obtained through random sampling. Through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), it is discovered that only four components of EO are statistically recognisable, contrary to five as widely acknowledged in literature. Positive associations were also revealed between EH and each of these dimensions to varying degrees. These findings underline the necessity for entrepreneurial action along the lines of risk-taking, proactive-innovativeness, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy among small businesses in South Africa, given the hostile environment of her small business sector.

Keywords: Environmental hostility; entrepreneurial orientation; entrepreneurship; small business; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2393957520931332 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jouent:v:6:y:2020:i:2:p:347-362

DOI: 10.1177/2393957520931332

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies from Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().