EFFECTS OF THE DIMENSIONS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN SMES: MEDIATING ROLE OF SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE AND THE MODERATING EFFECT OF INFORMATION SHARING

Abstract

In this research, the question that is being investigated is how the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness) determine the performance of organizations in SMEs using the intermediary effect of supply chain resilience (SCR), and the moderating impact of information sharing. Despite the existing literature which correlates entrepreneurial orientation (EO) with the performance, there exist scanty empirical studies that elucidate how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) enhances performance during supply chain disruption especially in developing economies. This paper fills this gap by assimilating EO and SCR into a single model. The type of research design was a quantitative, cross-sectional one. The questionnaire to be filled was distributed to 268 SME managers and employees in Karachi. Structural Equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the direct, mediating and moderating relationships between constructs. Findings indicate that EO dimensions have significant and positive impacts on SCR (β = 0.41 -0.58, p < 0.05). SCR plays a significant role in determining organizational performance (β= 0.63, p < 0.001) and to some extent mediates EO performance relationship. Information sharing has a positive moderating impact on the positive relationship between SCR and performance, which enhances the performance results when the conditions of information sharing are high. This paper adds to the body of entrepreneurship and supply chain research conducting a proof of how EO can improve its performance in terms of resilience abilities, whereas information sharing is a strategic boundary of the latter. The results provide practical implications to SMEs which are exposed to volatile environments and open possibilities of longitudinal and multi country studies.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Orientation; Supply Chain Resilience; Organizational Performance; Information Sharing; SMEs; Structural Equation Modeling