Does government support enhance the relation between networking structure and sustainable competitive performance among SMEs?

Asem Alkahtani (), Norfarah Nordin () and Rizwan Ullah Khan ()
Additional contact information
Asem Alkahtani: Universiti Sains Malaysia, Graduate School of Business
Norfarah Nordin: Universiti Sains Malaysia, Graduate School of Business
Rizwan Ullah Khan: Universiti Sains Malaysia, Graduate School of Business

Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2020, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Purpose The underlining study’s main objective is to examine how networking structure (density and centrality) affects sustainable competitive performance in Pakistan’s SMEs. Design/methodology/approach Hence, small enterprises a significant source of economic development, employment, and value creation. Therefore, on the base of previous literature, we developed hypothesis related government financial support and network structure, and data collected through structured questionnaires from top management of SMEs. Findings The results indicate that density has a positive and significant effect on sustainable competitive performance, while centrality has an insignificant impact on SCP. Furthermore, government financial support strongly and significantly supports the relation between networking structure and SCP in Pakistan. Practical implications This research has several recommendations for the government to adequately support small enterprises because owners have a networking system at the local and international level but have a lack of environment. Originality/value Government plays a crucial role in small- and medium-sized enterprises boost performance and economic growth because it creates employment opportunities, poverty reduction, and economic development. Nevertheless, from the last decades, due to some organizational policies and environmental flexibility, SMEs face a lot of challenges which became a barrier such as lack of government subsidies, incentives, and taxes in emerging economies. To bridge the above challenges of SMEs, the current study is conducted because before this there was no such literature who underline the current challenges in emerging economies.

Keywords: Density; Centrality; Government support; Sustainable competitive performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s13731-020-00127-3 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:joiaen:v:9:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s13731-020-00127-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://innovation-e ... ip.springeropen.com/

DOI: 10.1186/s13731-020-00127-3

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship is currently edited by Elias G. Carayannis

More articles in Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().