Entrepreneurial Competencies and the Performance of Informal SMEs: The Contingent Role of Business Environment

Ayodotun Ibidunni, Oyedele Martins Ogundana and Arinze Okonkwo

Journal of African Business, 2021, vol. 22, issue 4, 468-490

Abstract: This study examined entrepreneurial competencies as a viable pathway for improving the innovative performance of SMEs in Nigeria’s informal sector and the contingent roles of the business environment. A survey research design was used to gather data from 296 entrepreneurs who operate informal SMEs in Nigeria. Based on the findings from the SEM-PLS multivariate analysis, the study concluded that entrepreneurial competencies, especially organizing, conceptual, learning, strategic, opportunity, and risk-taking competencies, are essential for achieving higher innovation performance. The study also reveals that entrepreneurial competencies are useful toward mitigating environmental pressures resulting from operational turbulence and erratic policy changes, as the firm drives toward improving innovation outputs. As such, the entrepreneurship environment is becoming more endogenous as entrepreneurs, through their entrepreneurial competencies, have started to gain control over it. This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by highlighting the most essential competencies alongside the relevant contingencies. By doing that, this study offers a practical guide on priority competence area that entrepreneurship stakeholders, including entrepreneurs and policymakers, should consider for investment.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/15228916.2021.1874784 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

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:taf:wjabxx:v:22:y:2021:i:4:p:468-490

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/wjab20

DOI: 10.1080/15228916.2021.1874784

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of African Business is currently edited by Samuel Bonsu

More articles in Journal of African Business from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().