Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) Among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Côte d’Ivoire

Ettien Fulgence Brou ,Aka Lucien Koffi ,Hongbo Li ,Samar Zaineldeen

doi:10.7176/ejbm/11-33-10

Abstract

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are regarded as the engine of economic growth in all economies of the world including developed and developing countries. This study explores the entrepreneurial orientation of SMEs in Cote d’Ivoire. Data for the study was obtained using survey questionnaire obtained from 150 SMEs in various sectors in Cote d’Ivoire. The data was anaylsed using structural equation model (SEM) with the help of SmartPls vs 3.2.7 for PC. Findings from the study indicate that proactiveness and risk taking influence entrepreneurial orientation positively. Additionally, findings from this study revealed a strong and positive relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and SME performance. Based on the research findings, the research concluded that SMEs in Cote d’Ivoire are entrepreneurial but lack innovation. The study recommended that SME firms in Cote d’Ivoire should pay attention to the innovativeness dimension of entrepreneurial orientation as a way of differentiation strategy to achieve sustained competitive advantage as well as profitability and growth. This paper adds to the literature on entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance among small and medium enterprises from a developing country perspective. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Orientation, SME, firme Performance, Cote d’Ivoire DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-33-10 Publication date: November 30 th 2019

Highlights

For several decades, many have held the notion that sustainable economic development of countries depended solely on Large Enterprises (LE)
Applying SPSS, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to measure the underlying dimension associated with 12 items
First and foremost this study revealed that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) dimensions that influence the overall EO are proactiveness, risk taking and innovativeness

Summary

Introduction

Many have held the notion that sustainable economic development of countries depended solely on Large Enterprises (LE) This idea was predominantly based on the premise that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) belonged only to the informal sector. SMEs are regarded as the engine for growth of economies of the world; in the developing or the least developed countries (Hamilton & Dana, 2003; Woldie & Adebimpe, 2004) of the world, and in developed economies. It accounts for 85% new job creation in the United States. The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) identified fifty definitions of small scale business in seventy-five different countries based on parameters such as installed capacity utilization, output, employment, capital, type of country or other criteria, which have more relevance to the industrial policies of the specific country (Beck, Thorsten, Demirguc-Kunt, Asli, & Levine, 2006)

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