Is entrepreneurial competency and business success relationship contingent upon business environment?A study of Malaysian SMEs

摘要

Purpose-The purpose of this article is to evaluate the effect of entrepreneurial competencies and thernmoderating effect of business environment on business success in small and medium sized enterprisesrn(SMEs) in Malaysia.rnDesign/methodology/approach-A sample of 212 Malaysian SME owner-founders participated inrnthis study. The structural equation modeling (SEM) procedure was used to test the proposed model.rnFindings-The results showed that entrepreneurial competencies were strong predictors of businessrnsuccess in SMEs in Malaysia. It was also found that the association between entrepreneurialrncompetencies and business success was more strongly evident in hostile and dynamic environmentsrnthan in more benign and stable environments.rnResearch limitations/implications-Self-report was used as the source of all data. Thisrnapproach, even though criticised by some, was deemed necessary because of difficulties associatedrnwith the independent assessment of each of these variables. Nevertheless, future studies shouldrnidentify ways to obtain competency data from multiple informants to minimise the possibility ofrnresponse bias.rnPractical implications-It was suggested that understanding business success through the lens ofrnentrepreneurial competencies is important because it provides entrepreneurs with knowledge aboutrnthe way they should operate their business and encourages them to be conscious of the potentialrnpositive or negative impacts of their own behaviour.rnOriginality/value-The study shows that entrepreneurs are capable of minimising the negativernimpact of business environment if they are willing to equip themselves with the appropriaterncompetencies.