Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Performance of the Agro-allied Enterprises in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Nsikak-Abasi A. Etim; Edet J.  Udoh; Enobong E.  King

doi:10.56209/jommerce.v2i1.6

Authors

Nsikak-Abasi A. Etim Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3659-9599
Edet J. Udoh Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Uyo, P.M.B 1017, Uyo, Nigeria
Enobong E. King Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Uyo, P.M.B 1017, Uyo, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56209/jommerce.v2i1.6

Keywords:

Economic Growth, Enterprises, Innovativeness, Performance

Abstract

It is widely recognized that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the major drivers of sustainable economic growth, sources of income generation and panacea for poverty reduction in developing countries. Unfortunately, they are faced with numerous challenges that threaten their existence and survival. This precarity of small entrepreneurial organizations in entrepreneurial ecosystem has prompted widespread attention by scholars and researchers. Hence, it is critical to take into consideration examining the performance of the enterprises. This study analyzed the effect of entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, personal and institutional characteristics on the performance of small and medium agro allied enterprises. Through the multistage sampling procedure, a total of 198 SMEs were selected for the study and data were collected with the aid of questionnaire. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that among the entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, only risking taking and innovativeness significantly and positively affected the performance of SMEs agro allied enterprises. Furthermore, findings showed that except for size of business which was negatively related to the growth of SMEs, educational level of entrepreneurs, managerial and business experience positively and significantly impacted on the performance of SMEs. Policies to encourage SMEs invest in risky investments and create new product and services should be pursued.

References

Anderson, B. S. & Eshima, Y. (2013). The influence of firm age and intangible resources on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm growth among Japanese SMEs. Journal of Business Venturing 28(3):413-429

Asheq, A. A. & Hossain, M.U (2019). SME performance: Impact of market, customer and brand orientation. Academy of marketing studies journal. 23(1): 1-9

Awang, A. H., Ismail, R. & Moor, Z. M. (2016). Training Impact on Employee's Job Performance: A Self Evaluation. Economic Research. 23(4): 78-90

Balsmeier, B. & Czarnitzki, D. (2014). How important is Industry- Specific Managerial Experience for Innovative Firm Performance? Centre for European Economic Research. Discussion Paper No. 14-011

Bhutta, A. I., Sheikh, M. F., Minor, A., Naz, A. & Said, I. (2021). Managerial ability and firms Performance: Evidence from an emerging market. Cogent Business & Management. 7(1)

Blackburn, R., Hart, M., & Wainwright, T. (2013). Small business performance: Business, strategy and owner-manager characteristics. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 20 (1): 8–27.

Casillas, J. C & Moreno, A.M. (2010). The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and growth: The moderating role of family involvement. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development: An International Journal. 22(3-4): 265-291

Clad, A.,Holm, J. R., Krafft, J. & Quatrato, F. (2018). Firm age and Performance. Journal of Evolutionary Economics 28(1): 1-11

Covin, J.G. & Miller, D. (2014). International entrepreneurial orientation: Conceptual considerations, research themes, measurement issues and future research directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 38(1) : 11-44.

Doucouré, B. & Diagne, A. (2020) The effect of size and age on the performance of Senegalese small food companies: the role of market orientation, Transnational Corporations Review, 12 (4):349-359,

Egger, F., Kraus, S., Hughes, M., Larawa, S. & Syncerski, S. (2013). Implications of Customer and Entrepreneurial Orientations for SME growth. Management Decisions. 51(3): 524-546

Esteve-Pérez, S., Pieri, F. & Rodriguez, D (2018) Age and productivity as determinants of firm survival over the industry life cycle, Industry and Innovation, 25 (2):167-198

Etim, N. A. & Okon, S. (2013). Sources of Technical Efficiency among Subsistence Maize Farmers in Uyo, Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural and Food Science 1 (4): 48-53.

Etim, N. A. (2015). Adoption of Inorganic Fertilizer by Urban Crop Farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. American Journal of Experimental Agriculture.5 (5): 466 – 474.

Etim, N. A. and G. E. Edet (2013). Constraints of the Nigerian Agricultural Sector: A Review. British Journal of Science 10(1):22-32.

Etim,N.A & Udoh, E. J (2014) Identifying Sources of Efficiency Among Resource Poor Indigenous Vegetable Farmers in Uyo, Nigeria. International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics2(1): 33-39

Farja, Y., Gimmon, E. and Greenberg, Z. (2016). The Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation on SMEs Growth and Export in Israeli Peripheral Region. New England Journal of Entrepreneurship .19(2): 25-39

Filser, M. & Egger, F. (2014). Entrepreneurial Orientation and firm performance: A comparative study of Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. South African Journal of Business Management 45(1): 55-65

Gupta, V. K., & Batra, S. (2016). Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in Indian SMEs: universal and contingency perspectives. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 34(5), 660–682.

Hossain, M. U., Asheq, A. A. & Arifuzzaman, S.M. (2019). The Entrepreneurial intention of Bangladeshi students: Impact of individual and contextual factors. Problems and Prospectives in Management. 17(4): 493-503

Ibidunni, A. S., Atolagbe, T. M., Obi, J., Olokundun, M. A., Oke, O. A., Amaihian, A.B and Borishade, T. T. and Obaoye, D. (2018) Moderating Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Entrepreneurial Competencies and Performance of Agrobased Smes. International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 22 (1) : 1-9.

Kim, H., Hur, D., & Schoenherr, T. (2015). When buyer-driven knowledge transfer activities really work: a motivation-opportunity-ability perspective. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 51(3), 33–60.

Kiyabo, K. & Isaga, N. (2020). Entrepreneurial Orientation, competitive advantage and SMEs performance. Application of firms growth and personal wealth measures. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 9(1): 1-15

Kraus, S., Rigtering., J. P. C., Hughes, M. & Hosman, V. ( 2012). Entrepreneurial orientation and the business performance of SMEs: a quantitative study from the Netherlands .Review of Managerial Science. 6(2): 161-182

Krauss, S., Frese, M., Friedrich, C., & Unger, J. M. (2005). Entrepreneurial orientation: a psychological model of success among Southern African small business owners. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 14(3), 315–344.

Liverty, J. T & Grace, M.F (2012). Dupes or incompetence? An examination of management’s impact on firm distress. Journal of Risk and Insurance. 79(3): 751-783.

Magoutas, A.I., Agiomirgianakis, G.M & Papadogonas, T. A (2011). Education and Firm Performance. Empirical Evidence from Greece. International Journal of Economic Research. 8(2): 141-152

Mahmood, R., & Hanafi, N. (2013). Entrepreneurial orientation and business performance of women-owned small and medium enterprises in Malaysia: Competitive advantage as a mediator. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(1): 82–90.

Mallinguh, E., Wasike, C. & Zoltan, Z. (2020). The Business Sector, Firm Age and Performance: The Mediating Role of Foreign Ownership and Financial Leverage.International Journal of Financial Studies.8(79): 1-16

Naldi, L., Nordqvist, M., Sjöberg, K., & Wiklund, J. (2007). Entrepreneurial Orientation, Risk Taking, and Performance in Family Firms. Family Business Review, 20(1), 33–47

Neneh, B. N., & Van Zyl, J. (2017). Entrepreneurial orientation and its impact on firm growth amongst SMEs in South Africa. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 15(3), 166–178.

Nguyen, N.H., Beeton, R.J., & Halog, A.(2015). Firm’s Characteristics and its adaptive capacity in response to environmental requirements: An empirical study of Vietnam’s textile and garment SMEs. International Journal of Environment and Sustainability 4 (4): 1-18

Noordin, M. A. & Mohtar, S. (2014). Age: Does it Matter for Firms to Perform? International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 4(3): 252-260

Okangi, F.P. (2019).The impacts of entrepreneurial orientation on the profitability growth of construction firms in Tanzania. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research. 9(14): 1-23

Okolo,D. A (2004) “ Regional Study on Agricultural Support: Nigeria’s case”, being special study Report prepared for Food and Agriculture Organization.

Phan, N. H.(2021). Management Ability, Managerial Incentives and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business. 8(4): 193-200

Rahaman, M. A., Luna, K.F., Ping, Z.L., Islam, M.S. & Karim, M.M.(2021). Do Risk Taking, Innovativeness and Proactivity Affect Business Performance of SMEs? A Case Study of Bangladesh. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business. 8(5): 689-695

Rezaei,J. and Ortt,R (2018). “Entrepreneurial orientation and firms performance: the mediating role of functional performances”. Management Research Review 41(7):878-900

Rossi, M.(2016). The impact of Age on Firm Performance: A Literature Review. Corporate Ownership & Control. 13(2): 217-223

Rua, O. L., Franca, A. & Ortiz, R. F. (2018). Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. In Entrepreneurship- Trends and Challenges. Ed. Brito, S. M.

Savino, T. & Petruzzelli, A. M (2012). Timing of Search and Innovation. The Moderating Effect of Firm Age and Innovation. Copenhagen, Denmark: Druid Society.

Serrasqueiro, Z.S. & Nunes, P. (2008). Performance and Size: Empirical Evidence from Portuguese SMEs. Small Business Economics. 31(2): 195-217

Setiawan, H., Erdogan, B., & Ogunlana, O. (2012). Corporate entrepreneurship for contracting companies: the current issues. In Proceedings 28th Annual ARCOM Conference (pp. 3–5).

Shaheen, S. & Malik (2012). The impact of Capital intensity, size of firm and profitability on debt financing in textile industry in Pakistan. International Journal of Contemporary Research in Business. 3:1061-1006

Sok, P. (2014). The role of intellectual resources, innovation capability, reputational and marketing capability combinations growth. International small business 32(8): 996-1018

Sousa, C. M. P., Martinez-Lopez, F. J. & Coelho, F. (2008). The determinants of export performance. A review if the research in the literature between 1998 and 2005. International Journal of Management Reviews 10(4): 343-374

St. Pierre, J., Julien, P. & Morin, M.(2010) The effect of Age and Size on the Financial and Economic Performance of SMEs. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship.28 (2):287-306

Stambaugh, J. E., Martinez, J., Lumpkin, G. T and Kataria, N (2017). “ How well do EO measures an entrepreneurial behavior match? International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 13(3): 717-737

Stouraitis, V., Harris, M., Harun, M., Kyritsis, M. (2017). Motivators of SME initial export choice and the European Union regional effect in manufacturing. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research. 23(1): 35-55

Sukin, I.(2013). Effects of Employee Allocation on Company growth. Wharton Undergraduate Research. University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Thornhill, S. & Amit, R.(2003). Learning about failure: Bankruptcy, firm age and the resource- based view. Organization Science 14(5): 497-509

Tingko, L. & Wenyi, C. (2017). The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance: Influence of family governance. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 8 (1) 213-223.

Tran, N. P. & Vo, D. H. (2020). Human Capital efficiency and firms performance across sectors in an emerging market. Cogent Business & Management. 7(1)

Udoh, E. J. & Etim, N. A. (2006a). Estimating technical Efficiency of Waterleaf Production in a Tropical Region. Journal of Vegetable Science,12(3): 5-13.

Udoh, E. J. & Etim, N. A. (2006b). Cocoyam Farms in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria: A Stochastic Production Approach. Journal of Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Environment 2, 41-28.

Verhees, F. J. H. & Meulenberg, M. T. G (2004). Market Orientation, innovativeness, Product innovation and Performance in small firms. Journal of Small Business Management.42: (2) 134-154

Walker, D. S & Tobias, A. M (2006). The effect of age and number of employees on managerial activities. An exploratory study of West Midlands Small farms in the Central Technology Belt. Strategic Change. 15: 75-83

Wang, C.L. (2008). Entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation and firm’s performance. Entrepreneurship. Theory and Practice 32(4): 635-657

Weterings, A. & Koster, S. (2007). Inheriting Knowledge and Sustaining Relationships: What stimulates the Innovative Performance of Small Software Farms in the Netherlands? Research Policy. 36 (3): 320-335

Zahra, S. A. & Garvis, D. M. (2000). International corporate entrepreneurship and firms performance. The moderating effect of international environmental hostility. Journal of Business Venturing. 15(5-6): 469-492

Zannah, M. & Mahat, F. (2021). The Innovation, Risk Taking and Proactiveness on Performance of SMEs in Nigeria. The moderating role of Microfinance Institute. Journal of Business and Management. 23(3): 20-27

Zucchella, A. & Siano, A (2014). Internationalization and innovation as resources for SME growth in Foreign markets. International Studies of Management and Organization 44(1):21-41.