Entrepreneurial leadership and performance of female-owned small and medium-sized enterprises in Ghana

摘要

This study sought to investigate the effect of entrepreneurial leadership attributes on performance of female-owned SMEs in Ghana. This quantitative study adopted a survey research design and simple random sampling technique to select 257 female entrepreneurs in Ghana. SPSS and structural equation model (SEM) were used to analyse the field data. The study result shows a significant effect of female entrepreneurial leadership behaviour on business performance. The paper found that innovation, proactiveness and vision significantly influence firm performance. The paper recommends that female entrepreneurs should develop self-motivating drive, improve their knowledge and skills through training and education in order to improve their innovative abilities, take 'calculated risk' and explore more opportunities. The paper has revealed that entrepreneurial leadership is not a preserve attribute for male entrepreneurs. Again, the paper revealed clear dynamism in female entrepreneurial literature by revealing that female entrepreneurs are innovative, proactive and visionary, risk averse and less motivated.