The competitiveness of agribusinesses in South Africa in relation to entrepreneurship and compliance with standards

Abstract

There has been a proliferation of scholarly and practitioner interest in improving the competitiveness of small and medium agribusinesses involved in value-added processing activities in Africa. However, despite such interest, there is a paucity of entrepreneurship-focused research on the competitiveness of small and medium agribusinesses. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to test the relationship between the influence of entrepreneurial orientation and the compliance with standards of value-added processing facilities on the competitiveness of small and medium agribusinesses. Moreover, the moderating effects of entrepreneurial capital on this relationship were tested since entrepreneurial resources are firm-specific, potentially heterogeneous, and may be converted into tangible resources and effective market power. A survey was administered to a sample of 243 small and medium agribusinesses involved in value-added processing activities in South Africa. The study used hierarchical and sequential regression analysis to test the study models, which included testing for moderation effects. The results highlight that agribusiness competitiveness was enabled by higher levels of entrepreneurial capital, which is used by enterprises to integrate and leverage entrepreneurial orientation. It is recommended that policy makers prioritise and promote entrepreneurial orientation and develop entrepreneurial capital by offering programmes and incubation facilities targeting agribusinesses involved in value-added processing activities.