Open AccessToward Enhancing Sustainable Competitive Advantage of Small and Medium Enterprises in Developing Economies of Africa: A Confirmatory Analysis
Author(s) -
Yakubu Salisu,
Lily Julienti
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of entrepreneurial research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2663-7588
pISSN - 2663-757X
DOI - 10.31580/ijer.v2i2.898
Subject(s) - competitive advantage , business , industrial organization , emerging markets , globalization , developing country , cronbach's alpha , small and medium sized enterprises , marketing , economics , economic growth , market economy , finance , service (business)
The increasing globalization and liberalization of trade have posed onto manufacturing small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in developing economies of Africa a survival and growth challenges. Nevertheless, the resource-based-view (RBV) has given rise to a perspective that views a firm’s intangible assets as strategic resources with the potential to create and enhance sustainable competitive advantage in both local and global markets. Based on the peculiarity of SMEs in Africa, this paper develops and validate a conceptual model on the role of strategic organizational capabilities in improving the competitive advantage of SMEs for sustainable development in developing economies of Africa. Precisely, six variables were identified and reviewed as strategic capabilities. A total number of 81 valid questionnaires were retrieved from owners/managers of SMEs in Yobe state Nigeria and used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the adopted measures. The result of Cronbach’s Alpha test reveals a satisfactory value for all the variables under study. Specifically, innovation, learning, management, marketing, relational and technological capabilities have been established to be reliable strategic capabilities that would effectively and efficiently create and improve the sustainable competitive advantage of SMEs in developing economies.