Assessment of Entrepreneurial Traits and Small-Firm Performance with Entrepreneurial Orientation as a Mediating Factor

Tazeen Imran, Rizwan Raheem Ahmed, Dalia Streimikiene, Riaz Hussain Soomro, Vishnu Parmar and Jolita Vveinhardt
Additional contact information
Tazeen Imran: Faculty of Management Sciences, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology, Block-5, Clifton, Karachi 75600, Pakistan
Rizwan Raheem Ahmed: Faculty of Management Sciences, Indus University, Block-17, Gulshan, Karachi 75300, Pakistan
Dalia Streimikiene: Institute of Sport Science and Innovations, Lithuanian Sports University, Sporto str. 6, 44221 Kaunas, Lithuania
Riaz Hussain Soomro: Institute of Health Management, Dow University of Health Sciences, Mission Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan
Vishnu Parmar: Institute of Business Administration, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76080, Sindh, Pakistan
Jolita Vveinhardt: Faculty of Economics and Management, Vytautas Magnus University, Daukanto str. 28, 44248 Kaunas, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 19, 1-23

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is considered to be one of the most critical factors contributing to the successful performance of business, innovations, and growth of the economy. Entrepreneurship is the main driver of innovation and sustainable business. The purpose of this research is to assess the main traits that are deemed essential for the successful performance of a firm. A model is developed to assess how entrepreneurs’ creativity, self-efficacy, and achievement motivation influence the performance of small firms through the role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as a mediating variable. The hypotheses are tested by using Smart PLS (partial least squares path modeling) on a sample of 353 business owners to seek the insight of entrepreneurial traits on small-firm performance. The findings of the research show that self-efficacy and EO have a significant and positive association with the performance of a firm, while creativity and internal locus of control are fully mediated by EO. The subjective measures are used to examine the performance of a firm in terms of growth, sustainability, and financial performance, but the same can also be assessed by objective measures. The practical implication of this research provides entrepreneurs with a different perspective of the entrepreneurial traits that contribute to successful firm performance. The originality of the research lies in the attempt to explore the entrepreneurial traits that significantly influence the effectiveness of the performance of firms in the Pakistani context.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial orientation; achievement motivation; assessment; locus of control; self-efficacy; firm performance; sustainability; creativity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5301-:d:270846

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