Bridging innovation and sustainability: The impact of entrepreneurial practices on ESG outcomes

Crafting individual entrepreneurial orientation through education and institutions: Evidence from efficiency and innovation-driven economies

Knowledge management (KM) is increasingly recognized as a critical enabler of sustainable entrepreneurship (SE), particularly for resource-constrained startups. This study conducts a systematic literature review of 76 articles (1651 cumulative citations) at the intersection of KM and SE, focusing on how KM is deemed to support startups in achieving sustainability. The descriptive analysis delineates publication trends, citation patterns, geographical distributions, and methodological orientations, while the content analysis identifies three dominant thematic clusters: (1) KM’s role in fostering innovation and sustainable competitive advantage, (2) sustainability practices linking green orientation to firm performance, and (3) entrepreneurial orientation driving adaptive KM in startups. Guided by the Antecedent-Mediator-Moderator-Consequence (AMMC) framework, KM emerges as a strategic orchestrator that aligns knowledge sharing, acquisition, creation, and application with sustainable objectives through adaptive resource reconfiguration. KM operates as an antecedent and mediator of sustainability outcomes, suggesting that startups prioritize direct KM implementation over contextual adaptations. These practices simultaneously advance economic, social, and environmental dimensions while catalyzing innovation, strategic governance, and organizational resilience across sustainability-driven, social-purpose, and technology-intensive ventures. However, existing KM frameworks often fail to address the specific challenges faced by startups. This study proposes a research agenda to adapt a KM framework explicitly aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, integrating digital tools and dynamic capabilities to guide SDG-driven performance metrics within startups’ agile knowledge routines. The study offers practical insights for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and educators, emphasizing the strategic importance of KM in driving sustainable growth and innovation in competitive markets, especially for startups.

Beyond digital anxiety: Leveraging digital platform capability and entrepreneurial orientation for SME digital business model innovation

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) constitute 96% of Nigerian businesses yet face an 80% failure rate within five years. This study investigates how Technology 4.0 adoption moderates the relationship between critical success factors (CSFs) and SME survival—a critical research gap addressed through quantitative analysis of 400 SMEs across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones. Drawing on integrated theoretical frameworks (Resource-Based View, Institutional Theory, and Technology-Organization-Environment), hierarchical moderated regression reveals that Technology 4.0 significantly amplifies CSF effectiveness (β = .18, p < .001; ΔR² = .08). Financial resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and marketing capabilities rank as the most critical factors among 25 identified CSFs. Crucially, a Johnson-Neyman threshold (Technology 4.0 > 2.1) establishes the minimum digital maturity required for significant amplification effects. Sectoral analysis exposes substantial variation: manufacturing exhibits the strongest moderation (β = .25, p < .001), while agriculture shows non-significant effects, highlighting contextual digital disparities. The findings advance an amplification model wherein digital adoption enhances rather than substitutes traditional success determinants, with enterprise capabilities demonstrating the strongest moderation (β = .20). This study provides empirical evidence for policymakers, SME owners, and financial institutions to design targeted interventions bridging digital adoption gaps, ultimately strengthening SME resilience in emerging economies.

Background: Digital transformation has reshaped the business landscape, making digitalization a key driver of competitiveness. This shift is important for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), given their strategic role within Indonesia's economic. Although MSMEs contribute substantially to national GDP and employment, many remain unable to leverage digital technologies to drive performance improvements fully. Prior empirical investigations have produced mixed findings regarding the influence of Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation (DEO) on firm performance, suggesting that factors such as Social Media Capability (SMC) may play a mediating role in explaining these inconsistencies. Objective: This study examines (1) how Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation (DEO) affects SME performance; (2) DEO's impact on Social Media Capability (SMC); (3) the effect of SMC on SME performance; and (4) how SMC mediates the DEO-SME performance relationship. Method: This study used SEM-PLS to analyze survey data from 100 West Java MSME owners or managers involved in digital operations. This research examined relationships among digital entrepreneurial orientation (a firm’s approach to digital opportunities), social media capability (the use of social media tools), and organizational performance. Results: The analysis demonstrates that DEO exerts both direct and indirect effects on SME performance, with SMC functioning as a significant conduit between the two. Specifically, firms that cultivate stronger social media capabilities are better positioned to translate their digital entrepreneurial orientation into tangible gains in innovation output, customer engagement quality, and operational efficiency. Conclusion: The results confirm that both DEO and SMC contribute meaningfully to MSME performance outcomes, validating the complementarity between the Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capability Theory. From a pragmatic point of view, the study indicates that it is important to introduce digital capacity-building programmes to encourage innovation, risk-taking, and proactive digital behaviour in the evolving digital economy, thereby improving MSMEs' competitiveness. Keywords: Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation; Dynamic Capability; Indonesia; SME Performance; Social Media Capability

ABSTRACT Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers of economic growth in developing countries like Bangladesh, their contributions remain suboptimal. This study examines the roles of entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, and organizational culture on SME performance, with innovation as a mediator. A resource-based view framework guided the investigation. Data were collected via a survey of 305 SME employees and analyzed using SmartPLS 4. Results indicate that market orientation significantly enhances innovation but does not directly affect firm performance. Innovation negatively influences performance and mediates the relationship between market orientation and performance. Entrepreneurial orientation shows a marginal positive effect on innovation but not on performance, whereas organizational culture has no significant impact. Findings highlight the critical role of market orientation in fostering innovation while indicating potential short-term performance challenges from innovation activities. The study provides a refined theoretical framework and practical insights for SME managers and policy makers.

ABSTRACT Based on resource orchestration theory, this study investigates how technology for social good (TSG) affects business model innovation (BMI) through the mediating role of dynamic capabilities (DC) and the moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Analyzing a sample of 200 Chinese technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we employ confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical regression, and the bootstrap method to test our hypotheses. Empirical results show that TSG significantly and positively promotes BMI. DC partially mediate this relationship, and EO positively moderates the direct link between TSG and BMI. These findings advance the theoretical understanding of BMI drivers and provide implications for SMEs’ sustainable development in the digital economy.

ABSTRACT This study examines how psychological fit and entrepreneurial orientation shape managerial performance in rural enterprises. In resource-constrained and decentralized contexts, effective leadership depends on how individual attributes are translated into managerial action. Using a quantitative explanatory design, data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of rural enterprise managers and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings show that person–job fit and entrepreneurial orientation improve managerial performance indirectly through managerial behavior, whereas person–organization fit mainly strengthens organizational commitment without directly improving performance. Organizational commitment also shows limited explanatory power in informal rural enterprise settings. These results identify managerial behavior as the central mechanism linking individual attributes to performance. The study contributes to fit–performance and entrepreneurial orientation research in small business contexts and offers practical guidance for improving managerial selection, leadership development, and behavior-based performance evaluation in rural enterprises.

ABSTRACT The study explores the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and digital transformation (DT) while considering the mediating effect of artificial intelligence adoption (AIA). Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capability theory (DCT), we present findings from an analysis of 290 South Korean manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Our study indicates that while risk taking positively influences DT, innovativeness and proactiveness do not have a significant influence on it. In addition, AIA serves as a mediator between EO and DT. This study enriches theoretical understanding of EO and AI-enabled DT through the lens of RBV and DCT perspectives and provides practical guidance for entrepreneurs and policy makers seeking to foster DT in manufacturing SMEs. The partial least squares structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) revealed robust findings. The fsQCA findings identify three distinct configurations of EO components to drive AIA and DT. The study is conducted in manufacturing SMEs in South Korea, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.

ABSTRACT This study empirically investigates dynamic managerial capabilities (DMC) in the context of social media influencers (SMIs) operating in digital ecosystems and examines individual-level strategic orientations as antecedents of these capabilities. Survey data from 335 UK-based SMIs collected in February and March 2025 were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results show that all three DMC dimensions (human capital, social capital, and managerial cognition) contribute to business model innovation and performance, with managerial cognition emerging as the most critical driver. Market, technology, and entrepreneurial orientations emerged as antecedents of DMCs. In contrast, relative creative orientation (opposed to business orientation) shows a negative effect on DMC development. The study extends DMC theory to solo entrepreneurs in creative industries and provides guidance for creative entrepreneurs seeking to sustain innovation and performance in platform-driven markets.

A knowledge gap remains regarding how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) moderates the relationship between entrepreneurial networks and firm performance. This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by examining EO as a moderator rather than a main-effect predictor. It examines primary data collected from 224 entrepreneurs in small firms in Assam, India. In the hierarchical regression model, EO was associated with significantly improved firm performance. Moreover, the interactions between network size and EO, network density and EO, and supportive network and EO significantly and positively impacted firm performance. Therefore, this study reveals that the EO scales developed in Western developed countries can be adapted to a developing country such as India. It also shows that EO can provide entrepreneurs with a significant source of motivation, leading to superior firm performance. A key implication of these findings is that policymakers and development agencies could actively promote both EO and networking capabilities among micro- and small-sized enterprises, especially in less developed countries, by designing context-specific training, mentorship and support programmes, as strengthening these aspects can enhance firm performance.

The moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation in the relationship between digital transformation, corporate tax reputation, and tax compliance among SMEs

Individual entrepreneurial orientation from an economic lens: The U-shaped relationship with economic development and income inequality

This study aims to analyze the impact of entrepreneurial orientation (innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness) and perceived organizational support (training support, organizational trust) on the sales performance of insurance agents, considering the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior. Insurance agents, as a unique form of employment situated between traditional organizational members and self-employed individuals, are influenced not only by their personal capabilities but also by the level of support they receive from the organization and their entrepreneurial mindset. The findings are expected to provide insights for effective performance management strategies tailored to the characteristics of insurance agents. Additionally, the results may offer useful implications for insurance companies and corporate agencies (GAs) in developing recruitment and training programs. Specifically, the study aims to shed light on how organizational support and individual entrepreneurial orientation combine and lead to performance improvement through adaptive selling behavior, ultimately contributing to the enhancement of competitiveness in the domestic insurance industry.

This study aims to systematically investigate the role of entrepreneurial human capital in fostering creativity and innovation in the context of entrepreneurship. The approach used is a systematic literature review (SLR) with reference to the PRISMA guidelines to identify, select, and synthesize relevant articles from reputable databases. The results demonstrate that entrepreneurial human capital, encompassing knowledge, skills, and experience, has a significant influence on increasing innovation capacity. Additionally, creativity plays a crucial role in the link between human capital and innovation through the ability to generate new ideas. The findings also indicate that the relationship between human capital and innovation is influenced by mediating variables such as absorptive capacity and moderating variables such as entrepreneurial orientation and the digital context. However, there are variations in the findings, indicating that the relationship between variables is complex and is influenced by contextual factors such as the organizational environment and individual characteristics. This study makes a theoretical contribution by integrating various perspectives into the explanation of the relationship between human capital, creativity, and innovation. Moreover, this study also offers practical implications for the development of entrepreneurship by improving the quality of human capital and creating an environment that supports innovation. Consequently, this study is expected to serve as a basis for further research in the field of innovation-driven entrepreneurship.

BackgroundYouth labour markets across Sub-Saharan Africa combine high aspirations for secure wage work with entrenched informality and underemployment.AimThis article clarifies how structural constraints shape stated employment preferences and entrepreneurial orientation among youth in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.DesignA constrained comparative secondary analysis drew on Afrobarometer Round 9 microdata for Sierra Leone and triangulated these findings with nationally reported labour-market and policy indicators for Rwanda. Public microdata for Rwanda were unavailable, so a bounded-evidence strategy transparently distinguishes verifiable survey statistics from document-based context.FindingsSierra Leonean youth express a cautious economic outlook—fewer than half expect improvement within a year—yet most endorse redistributive growth and demand stronger gender equity in job access. Preference for self-employment appears necessity-driven where institutional trust and public-goods provision remain moderate, rather than an indicator of opportunity entrepreneurship. Rwanda’s reported labour-absorption pressure and pervasive informality reinforce this reading, suggesting that education-fuelled aspiration gaps widen when formal job creation lags.ContributionThe study advances an “institutionally conditioned planned-behaviour” framework that integrates the Theory of Planned Behaviour with opportunity-structure theory and human-capital expectations. Methodologically, it demonstrates how rigorous comparative inference can be maintained through explicit verification protocols when evidence access is asymmetric, and it outlines a reproducible pathway for symmetric modelling once Rwandan microdata become publicly available.Practical implicationsPolicies that promote youth entrepreneurship without parallel investment in inclusive growth, reliable public goods, and transparent digital governance risk shifting systemic labour-market failure onto young people rather than resolving it.

BackgroundDrawing on Social Cognitive Theory, the research addresses a critical gap concerning how environmental support mechanisms in developing-country incubators foster entrepreneurial mindsets and strategic behaviors. This study aims to examine how business coaching within university business incubators shapes the cognitive and behavioral orientations of student founders in Indonesia by analyzing its influence on locus of control, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial orientation.MethodA quantitative research design was employed, involving 220 student founders whose startups were incubated in university business incubators across Indonesia. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using PLS-SEM to test both direct and mediating effects among variables.Results and ConclusionThe results show that business coaching significantly enhances founders’ locus of control, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial orientation. Both locus of control and self-efficacy also exhibit strong positive effects on entrepreneurial orientation, confirming their roles as central cognitive mechanisms underpinning entrepreneurial behavior. Furthermore, mediation analysis reveals that locus of control and self-efficacy significantly mediate the relationship between business coaching and entrepreneurial orientation. These findings underscore the importance of coaching not merely as a technical intervention but as a psychological and developmental process that strengthens founders’ agency, confidence, and strategic entrepreneurial posture within university incubation environments. This study offers novel empirical evidence on the psychological mechanisms through which business coaching influences entrepreneurial orientation in university incubators within a developing-country context—a setting often overlooked in the literature.

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of individual entrepreneurial orientation on the performance of sales professionals. It also identifies ambidexterity and role ambiguity as mediating mechanisms linking entrepreneurial orientation to sales performance. Design/methodology/approach The author polled 252 UK-based sales professionals in 2020. The analytical strategy is partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The author finds that entrepreneurial orientation significantly improves behavioural and selling performance and that ambidexterity – joint farming and hunting – and role ambiguity mediate this relationship. Post hoc analysis reveals that, in contrast, entrepreneurial intent has no direct effect on sales performance. These findings bridge the entrepreneurship and sales literatures, demonstrating that, for salespeople, thinking like an entrepreneur has a direct and positive effect on sales performance, whereas having a strong entrepreneurial intent does not. Research limitations/implications This study establishes individual entrepreneurial orientation as a key driver of sales performance. It advances theory by identifying ambidexterity – joint hunting for new customers and farming of existing customer relationships – and role ambiguity as central mechanisms converting entrepreneurial orientation into performance outcomes. Practical implications Sales organisations should foster entrepreneurial orientation – innovativeness, proactivity and risk-taking – since it improves performance both directly and indirectly, by enabling salespeople to jointly hunt for new customers and farm existing ones (ambidexterity) while reducing role ambiguity. By contrast, entrepreneurial intent has no direct performance effect, so fostering entrepreneurial intent, for example, hiring aspiring entrepreneurs – will not lead to a direct improvement in sales performance. Social implications Because sales uses a large share of the workforce and shows extreme output dispersion, interventions that build entrepreneurial orientation, ambidexterity and role clarity can deliver meaningful economic and social benefits. Originality/value There is, to this date, not a single empirical study examining the effect and pathway of entrepreneurial orientation of sales professionals on their performance. This study bridges the entrepreneurship and selling literatures to test the entrepreneurial orientation-performance relationship in the sales function and to explore mediating mechanisms. The author also conducted a post hoc test on the effect of entrepreneurial intent on sales performance.

Purpose This study examines the role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in the governance of software as a service (SaaS) platforms and its impact on strategic alignment and long-term governance performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By conceptualising SaaS as a hybrid governance model, this research investigates how transaction cost attributes affect strategic alignment and how EO moderates these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The research employs a multi-study research design. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with reflective constructs' measurement, Study 1 analysed survey data from 180 UK and US entrepreneurs. Study 2 complemented these results with a quasi-experimental design that relied on a secondary dataset from 238 European start-ups, refining the operationalisation of the variables through industry-based indicators. Findings The results reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between human asset specificity and the frequency of SaaS use, and their alignment with SMEs' strategic objectives. Risk-taking enhances the alignment between human asset specificity and SaaS strategic alignment, while proactiveness strengthens the link between SaaS strategic alignment and long-term performance. Both studies support the idea that SaaS strategic alignment follows an inverted U-shaped relationship with long-term performance, indicating that excessive dependence on SaaS may negatively affect governance-enabled strategic outcomes over time. Originality/value This study contributes to the entrepreneurial and digital governance literature by conceptualising SaaS as a hybrid governance model and investigating how SaaS impacts SMEs strategically, drawing on the perspectives of transaction cost theory and EO. It extends research by unveiling the non-linear effects of SaaS adoption on strategic alignment and performance, highlighting the role of entrepreneurial decision-making in digital technology adoption.