Entrepreneurial orientation and business performance - the role of intangible strategic resources: an empirical study on SMEs in Sarawak
The central theme of this study was that sustainable superior business performance is achievable. This study advocates that with the presence of intangible strategic resources (ISRs), small businesses such as SMEs are able to sustain their business success. The availability of external assistance...
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Main Author: | |
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Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS)
2015
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10753/1/Kah%20Hwat.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10753/ |
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Summary: | The central theme of this study was that sustainable superior business performance
is achievable. This study advocates that with the presence of intangible strategic
resources (ISRs), small businesses such as SMEs are able to sustain their business
success. The availability of external assistances or non-strategic resources, such as
government provided capital funds and training programs can facilitate SME’s
business but not an assurance for its success and sustainability. A number of legendary
riches start from scratch with nothing but self-reliance have shown how their
businesses prosper and sustain by leveraging on intangible strategic resources, such as
hard-work, thrift, and entrepreneurial values. Intangible strategic resources are a firm’s
non-observable resources which include individual’s perceptions, leadership skill,
personal values, company reputation, product reputation, employee knowhow and
organizational culture, and are capable of generating and sustaining high level
economic rents. Strategic resources are characterized as being simultaneously valuable,
rare, imperfectly imitable and non- substitutable.
This study attempts to construct a model based on two concepts the Resources-
Based View (RBV) and Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), with a focus on explaining
how sustainable superior business performance is achievable through enhancing a
firm’s internal strengths or capabilities. Specifically, intangible strategic resources
(ISRs) as driver of performance and mechanism of sustainability, when leveraged well
will lead to higher firm-level EO and successful business performance. The results, based on the data drawn from 267 SMEs randomly selected from
Sarawak, supported the hypothesis that there was an empirical positive relationship
between firm-level entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and performance of the business
(BP). Also supported are: (1) Hypothesis that owner-manager’s perception of
resources availability (PRA) is significantly and positively related to firm-level EO;
and (2) Hypothesis that organizational culture of adhocracy (AOC) positively
influences the firm-level EO, Unexpectedly, hypotheses of transformational leadership
skill (TLS) and individualistic personal values (IPV) are not empirically supported –
are statistically insignificant and negatively related to firm-level EO.
Finally, this study is significant: (1) in its capability to explain how sustainable
superior business performance is achievable - in an attempt to clarify why and how
some firms are successful and sustainable while others are not; (2) in its contributions
in three aspects – theoretical, managerial, and methodological; and (3) in extending the
existing literature of EO and business performance of SMEs in Sarawak. |
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