SME Managers Research Articles

Understanding the relationship between environmental management accounting and firm performance: The role of environmental innovation and stakeholder integration – Evidence from a developing country

This study examines the role of environmental management accounting (EMA) as a mechanism for enhancing firm performance. Primary data were collected by means of a questionnaire survey of chief executive officers and finance managers of SMEs in Pakistan. Analysis of the responses received from 204 firms confirms a significant direct relationship between EMA and firm performance. We find that this effect is attributable to the mediating impact of environmental innovation. Our findings also suggest that stakeholder integration positively moderates the association between environmental innovation and firm performance, and so leverages the impact of EMA. The findings are robust to several checks and are further explored at the level of the individual dimensions of some of the constructs used. Thus, we contribute novel evidence regarding the relationship between EMA and firm performance, in the form of both environmental and financial performance. The findings offer practical implications for managers and accountants, and we make several suggestions for future research that could build on our study.

Can location factors moderate the effects of the demographic composition of SME's owner managers on the rate of mobile marketing technology (MMT) adoption?

Extant scholarly inquiries focused predominantly on the influence of demographic physiognomies of SMEs' owner-managers on MMT adoption, with dearth recourse to how the proxies of location factors such as workforce diversity and knowledge centres moderate and describe such relationship. To bridge that void, opinions of 345 SMEs' owner-managers in five industries situated in the state capital and commercial nerve cities of three Geo-political zones of Nigeria were purposively sampled. The analysis involved hierarchical regression and its outcome showed that diversified workforce and enhanced knowledge centres critically moderated the extant relationship between the demographic composition (age, gender, education and experience) of owner-managers and MMT adoption. Hence, location factors are moderators of the relationship between owner/managers' demographic composition and MMT adoption. Implicit is that understanding the demographic composition of owner-managers provides industry players with strong basis for competitive advantage, as well as opportunity to proactively and tactically make decisions that relate to MMT adoption.

The Impact of Social Media Adoption on SMEs’ Performance: A TOE Framework Content Analysis

This content analysis aims to investigate how the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework can be used in the field of business management. The selected articles were confined within TOE framework, social media adoption as the mediator and small and medium sized-enterprises’ (SMEs) performance in Kelantan, Malaysia. A total of 15 articles were regarded as fitting the scope. The articles were analysed using the QSR NVivo 10 software in which coding and categorisation of the attributes according to the list of nodes were performed. As a result, the content analysis suggests that technological, organizational and environmental context sub-dimensions could be considered for the TOE framework in future research. Apart from that, future researchers could refer to the frequency analysis performed on those 15 articles in providing practical recommendations and guidelines for SME managers to effectively leverage social media platforms to enhance performance within the TOE framework. Overall, this research provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to studying the impact of social media adoption on SMEs’ performance.

Sustainable Leadership Practices Based on the Logic of the Honeybee Pyramid—Comparison of Hungarian and Polish SMEs

The popularity of sustainability as a research topic in different areas of organisational functioning is marked by the number of studies on the topic. Significantly less research is addressing the factors that fundamentally influence the functioning of organisations. Among these factors, this paper will review the criteria for sustainable leadership. Competition in the economy has made it necessary to build sustainability capabilities in all areas of business, of which the practice of sustainable leadership is a fundamental requirement for making strategic decisions. This paper aims to examine the thinking, leadership styles, and decisions of leaders of organisations in everyday practice based on the pyramid logic of sustainable leadership. In this research, structured interviews with managers of Hungarian (32) and Polish (28) organisations were evaluated using the ‘Voyant tools’ 2.6.9. software. The results show that there is a significant difference between the Hungarian and Polish leadership mindsets, with both samples only partially meeting the expectations of what can be considered a sustainable leadership style in the spirit of the ‘Honeybee’ approach. Out of the 14 basic elements of the pyramid, the leaders of both nations reach the desired level in five cases. This study provides useful lessons for SME managers in developing sustainability management practices.

Evaluation of the performance of financial management in SMEs of the manufacturing industrial sector in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico

Evaluation of the performance of financial management in SMEs of the manufacturing industrial sector in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico

Effects of Access to Finance and Business Mentorship on Sales Growth of SMEs in Gboko Metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria

The study examined the effects of access to finance and mentorship on sales growth of SMEs in Gboko metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria. The study employed a survey design and used a structured questionnaire (Four Likert Scale) designed by the researcher to gather data. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. A reliability (Cronbach Alpha) estimate of 0.941 was obtained for the questionnaire. With the aid of Taro-Yamane formula, two hundred and forty-eight (248) SME Managers operating in different sectoral activities were sampled from 650 registered SMEs in Gboko metropolis. Data were analysed using mean and standard deviation, while four hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that access to finance and business mentorship has a significant effect on sales growth of SMEs in Gboko metropolis of Benue State. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation, while hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at a 0.05 level of significance. The study found that all the p-values were less than 0.05, indicating that all the variables were statistically significant in affecting sales growth of SMEs in Gboko metropolis, Benue State. The study concluded that all the variables have a significant effect on sales growth of SMEs in Gboko metropolis of Benue State. The study suggests, among others, that government should make available soft loans for SMEs and hence facilitate productive dialogue with private sector investors to remove barriers to doing business by deploying approaches that promote market access across the country.

Effect of Ease of Doing Business and Entrepreneurship Training on Sales Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises in Gboko Metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria

The study examined the effect of ease of doing business and entrepreneurial training on sales growth of SMEs in Gboko metropolis, Benue State, Nigeria. The study employed a survey design and hence made use of a structured questionnaire (Four Likert Scale) designed by the researcher to gather data. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. Reliability (Cronbach Alpha) estimate of 0.941 was obtained for the questionnaire. With the aid of Taro-Yamane formula, two hundred and forty-eight (248) SME Managers operating in different sectoral activities were sampled from 650 registered SMEs in Gboko metropolis. Data were analysed using mean and standard deviation, while four hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance at 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that ease of doing business and entrepreneurship training has a significant effect on sales growth of SMEs in Gboko metropolis of Benue State. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation, while hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at a 0.05 level of significance. The study found that all the p-values were less than 0.05, indicating that both variables were statistically significant in affecting sales growth of SMEs in Gboko metropolis, Benue State. The study concluded that both variables have a significant effect on sales growth of SMEs in Gboko metropolis of Benue State. The study suggests, among others, that Government should facilitate productive dialogue with private sector investors to remove barriers to doing business by deploying approaches that promote market access across the country.

Predicting SME’s business performance: Integrating stakeholder theory and performance based innovation model

Empirical evidence and study investigating the effects of social capital on innovation and business performance remains limited. Moreover, the current debate about the role of innovation on business performance remains, given the application effects that would differ particular in SMEs. The study examines the implications of social capital in affecting business performance by integrating stakeholder theory and a performance-based innovation model. Subsequently, we examined strategic agility’s role in moderating social capital and business performance’s relationship. The present study used a quantitative approach that included 855 respondents out of 285 sample frames in Indonesia, representing three levels of SME management. Data collection was conducted using Likert scale questionnaires and analyzed by SmartPLS software. The study suggested that social capital combined with collaborative knowledge creation and technology adoption offer new insights to predict future innovation and business performance. All of this highlighted the critical role that was played by social capital in defining innovation and business performance and how collaborative knowledge creation can drive innovation.

Strategic capability, financial management practices, and human resource management of SMEs in China: Basis for improved HRM framework for SMEs

Strategic capability, financial management practices, and human resource management of SMEs in China: Basis for improved HRM framework for SMEs

Toward Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation: The Nexus between Leadership, Organizational Agility, and Knowledge Transfer

The post-pandemic age has heightened the importance of digitalizing organizational practices and fostering innovation for SMEs to ensure resilient business operations in a volatile work environment. This research paper examines the impact of digital transformation leadership on the digitalization of business practices and the development of innovative business models while considering the roles of organizational agility and knowledge transfer. A survey of 270 employees from SMEs in Lebanon was conducted using the convenience sampling technique. Data analysis was performed quantitatively through Partial Least Squares—Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that adopting digital transformation leadership fosters organizational agility, enabling effective digital transformation and business model innovation with a robust knowledge transfer system. This study contributes to the fields of digital transformation and innovation, and offers practical insights for SME managers navigating uncertainties and market volatility in the post-pandemic period.

Accounting Practices of Smes : an Exploratory Study in the Nigerien Context

This article seeks to identify the accounting practices and the objectives of the use of the accounting tool by Nigerien SMEs. Semi-structured interviews with three (3) accounting professionals and sixteen (16) SME managers revealed that Nigerien SMEs have accounting practices. The results indicate that the main objective of the use of accounting tools by these enterprises is to be in line with tax obligations and to have a certain legitimacy in the eyes of business partners. It is also noted from this study that there are a number of factors - size and ownership structure - that influence the level of use of the accounting tool in the SME context.

Examining the Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation on New Venture Performance in the Emerging Economy of Lebanon: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

Despite scholarly debates on the role of entrepreneurial orientation, its effect on new venture performance remains largely understudied, particularly in the context of emerging economies. Determining this association is crucial and has an important implication for scholars and managers of SMEs to increase performance. Therefore, using the resource-based view and upper-echelon theories, this study examines this link by considering the mediating role of opportunity exploitation and the moderating role of transformational leadership in the case of an emerging market in Lebanon. The resource-based view theory discusses the importance of intangible and tangible resources in obtaining a sustainable competitive edge. The upper-echelon theory also connects the attributes of firm performance and top employee management. To achieve this purpose, we conducted a comprehensive survey of 411 managers and owners, 346 of whom were men and 65 of whom were women, of SMEs in the top five provinces of North Lebanon, South Lebanon, Mount Lebanon, Beirut, and Bekaa, where the majority of SMEs are located. This study also collected the data in 2022 and performed moderated mediation analysis to probe this nexus. The empirical results show that entrepreneurial orientation has a positive direct and indirect (through opportunity exploitation) effect on new venture performance. Furthermore, it reveals that opportunity exploitation has a positive effect on new venture performance and partially mediates the entrepreneurial orientation–new venture performance nexus. Furthermore, the results highlight that transformational leadership moderates the direct entrepreneurial orientation–new venture performance nexus, and the positive relationship is stronger for managers (or owners) with higher-level transformational leadership. Moreover, the results reveal that transformational leadership moderates the indirect effect between entrepreneurial orientation and new venture performance through opportunity exploitation, and the extent of the indirect effect is enhanced for managers (or owners) with higher-level transformational leadership. The results are robust and have important policy implications. The current research offers crucial managerial implications for the management of SMEs by paying attention to significant drivers of entrepreneurial orientation and opportunity exploitation. The findings also suggest that entrepreneurs and managers of new ventures must transform their entrepreneurial strategic posture into opportunity exploitation behaviors by pinpointing market inefficiencies and consumer needs, launching novel products and services, and taking advantage of opportunities for new products to enter the market to maximize financial gain.

Improving SMEs Innovative Work Behavior: How the Role of Transformational Leadership and Knowledge Sharing in the Digital Era

Purpose: There has been no previous research on innovative work behavior in SMEs, the variables of Transformational Leadership and Knowledge Sharing. This study aims to analyze Knowledge sharing on innovative work behavior and Transformational Leadership on innovative work behavior in SMEs
 
 Design/methodology/approach: This research uses quantitative research methods. The dimensions of transformational leadership are ideal influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration. The dimensions of innovative behavior are exploring ideas, creating ideas, fighting for ideas, and implementing ideas. The population in this study are SMEs managers. Respondents in this study were 640 SMEs managers who were determined by simple random sampling method. Data collection was carried out through an online questionnaire using a Likert scale using a scale of 7. Data analysis in this study used the Partial Least Square structural equation model (SEM) with SmartPLS 3.0 data processing software. The stages of data analysis begin with testing the validity and reliability of the instrument, determining and finally testing the hypothesis.
 
 Findings: The variable Knowledge sharing has a positive and significant effect on the innovative work behavior variable, the transformational leadership variable has a positive and significant effect on the innovative work behavior variable.
 
 Practical implications: The findings of this research can be used by SMEs managers to implement knowledge sharing and transformational leadership, to encourage increased innovative work behavior in SMEs, as well as for academics to support new knowledge and support theory..
 Authenticity/value: The novelty of this research is the relationship model of Innovative Work Behavior with transformational Leadership and knowledge sharing in the digital era which has not existed in previous studies.

The Role of Compensation, Job Rotation, Employee Engagement and Employees Performance of SMEs

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between compensation and employee performance, analyze the relationship between job rotation and employee performance, and analyze employee engagement on employee performance in SMEs. Design/Methodology/Approach: The method used in this study is quantitative to test the hypothesis taken from the research variables in numbers and then the data is analyzed using statistical procedures. This study explains the causal relationship between variables through hypothesis testing. The population in this study were 670 SMEs owners. Data collection techniques in research were carried out by distributing questionnaires containing statements related to the variables studied. The measurement scale used for this research is a 7-point Likert scale. Data analysis uses the Partial Least Square (PLS) method. Findings: The results of this study are compensation has a significant effect on employee performance, job rotation has a significant effect on employee performance, employee engagement has a significant effect on employee performance Practical implications: SMEs managers should implement compensation, job rotation to encourage employee performance improvement and also to encourage employee engagement to improve SME employee performance. Authenticity/Value: The novelty of this research is the discovery of a relationship model of compensation, job rotation, Employee Engagement and performance of SMEs employees.

How to Measure the Entrepreneurial Competences of SME’s Using the Rasch Model?

This study focused on measuring the entrepreneurial competence of MSME actors in the post-pandemic period. A purposive sampling technique was utilized to recruit the respondents. The respondents encompassed perpetrators, owners, and managers of SMEs assisted by the Indonesian Business Development Services Association (ADBSI) given government assistance (N=100). Technically, the Rasch Model was employed to measure Entrepreneurial competency since it is assumed to be the most appropriate model for quantitative data analysis in the field of human sciences. It enables the researchers to produce ordinal data. Tests with Winstep were carried out on entrepreneurial competency data in the pandemic era. They covered: summary statistics, item measures and Wright maps, item (column) fit order, item test (dimensionality), rating (partial–credit) scale test, differential item functional (DIF) test and probability value. The results of the study proved that the applied entrepreneurial competency instrument indicated good persons, Cronbach Alpha, and item reliability. The personal reliability coefficient obtained a value of 0.88. An item of 0.76 revealed good and fairly good. The results of one of the instruments were considered the most essential aspects related to entrepreneurial competencies. The competencies should be possessed by students to face the post-pandemic business competition.

Studying the green performance under the lens of total quality management in Chinese SMEs

Studying the green performance under the lens of total quality management in Chinese SMEs

Rebuilding the Workplace in the Post-Pandemic Age through Human Capital Development Programs: A Moderated Mediation Model

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has experienced major technological and procedural changes that will continue in the post-pandemic age. For this reason, firms are expected to learn from such an unprecedented experience and ensure that the managerial and workforce practices in the post-pandemic period are directed toward rebuilding and reinventing the workplace. Within the scope of the research topic: “Diversity, Innovations, and Entrepreneurship in Post-crisis Periods”, this study accentuates the positive impact of human capital development programs in enhancing employee performance. Moreover, the roles of resilience, empowerment, and mimetic isomorphism are analyzed to better enable firms to learn from their past experience and develop practices that fit the agile environment. A questionnaire was administered targeting 370 employees in 12 SMEs in Lebanon. A conditional analysis was used to test the hypotheses through SPSS, PROCESS. The results of this study showed that the deployment of developmental programs is deemed indispensable for enhancing the performance of SME employees and helping them overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic through empowerment and resilience. This study can be useful for academics who might benefit from its theoretical implications and prospective directions for future analyses. Moreover, its results can also be helpful for practitioners, specifically managers of SMEs who are seeking to reinvent their workplace in a responsive way in the post-pandemic age.

The Influence of Risk Management and the Strategic Planning on Sustainable Business Performance of SMEs: The Case of Palestine

Abstract Small and medium enterprises are considered as one of the most important sectors in the development of the Palestinian economy. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether risk management and strategic planning have a significant positive influence and to assess the influence of their applications on the sustainable business performance of SMEs in Palestine. A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was adopted; secondary data were obtained by a theoretical presentation of previous literature, and primary data was collected by a specific questionnaire. This was done through a random sample of (fifty) questionnaires distributed to owners or managers of SMEs in Palestine. In order to answer the study question, the researcher followed the analytical descriptive approach using SPSS and tested three subquestions which were clarified in the study. This paper’s results revealed that risk management and strategic planning have a significant positive influence on the sustainable business performance of SMEs in Palestine. Furthermore, not all Palestinian SMEs’ managers use strategic planning and risk management steps since most of them have family businesses that are suffering from a lack of management steps and improper management styles, where most of them tend to use an autocratic management style. Therefore, the researcher recommended SMEs’ managers should think and use strategy in their daily operations and use risk management practices to protect their financial resources so they can attain superior sustainable business performance.

An Examination of the Identification and Exploitation of International Opportunities Among Chinese Traditional SMEs

SMEs’ internationalization research focused mainly on measuring their international performance, especially in IT-based and knowledge-intensive industries while little attention was paid to investigating the opportunity-based view of firm internationalization especially in the context of traditional SMES. The main objectives of the present study were twofold. First, building on the opportunity-based view of firm internationalization, this study investigated the international opportunity identification (IOI) and international opportunity exploitation (IOE) among Chinese traditional SMEs. Second, this research examined the direct influence of SMEs managers' adaptive marketing capabilities (AMCs), global mindset (GM), and collaborative intensity (CI) on IOI and IOE with emphasis on the potential moderating influence of environmental dynamism (ED). The initial phase of this research employed exploratory interviews with eight SMEs managers. Exploratory findings showed that Chinese SMEs adopt both entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial internationalization behaviors in identifying and exploiting international opportunities. Later, an empirical investigation using 327 valid responses from managers/founders of traditional internationalized SMEs in China showed that AMCs, GM, and CI had a significant positive influence on both IOI and IOE. Further, ED was found to play a significant moderating impact on the relationship between AMCs and IOI, GM and IOI, and CI and IOE. This paper ends with clarifying a set of theoretical and practical implications.

Moderating Environmental Leadership on Corporate Social Responsibility and Green Innovation of SMEs Performance

Abstract The contribution and knowledge of environmental leadership has been questioned on how they aid institutions in their CSR and innovative thinking. The purpose of the investigation was to explore the role of Small and Medium Scale enterprises in emerging nation on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) and green process innovation (GRNI) can help enterprises to achieve environmental (ENVP) and financial performance (FINP). For the analysis of the indicators data was collected from SMEs in the manufacturing sectors of Ghana through questionnaire of 215 participants. The “SmartPLS 3” model was employed to analyze the affiliation between the investigated indicators. The findings demonstrated that CSR had a material impact on ENVP but not on FINP and GRNI. However, GRNI had a favorable and material affiliation with ENVP and FINP of SME’s. On exploring the moderating effect of environmental leadership (ENVL) had a favorable affiliation between CSR and green process innovation. The research made a significant contribution to the green theory and practically to researchers and practitioners in manufacturing and other industries who are serious about implementing environmental sustainability and are seeking for a suitable method are anticipated to benefit from this study. It provides a generic approach to implementing CSR that links SME owners and managers, green technologies, green practices, and process management.