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Financial literacy, access to finance, SMEs performance and Islamic religiosity: evidence from Saudi Arabia
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Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the environmental marketing orientation of Muslim entrepreneurs and looks at its relationship with environmental marketing and organizational performance in the context of small and medium enterprises in Indonesian. The study also examines the role of religiosity as a moderator on the relationship between environmental marketing orientation and green marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is empirical and quantitative in nature. The sample of the study is Muslim entrepreneurs in West Java and Central Java Indonesia. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and partial least square analysis.
Findings
Environmental orientation has a positive relationship with environmental marketing and operational and economic performance. Nonetheless, the study suggests no significant influence of environmental marketing on commercial performance due to “greenwashing” practices. Religiosity appears to moderate the relationship between environmental orientation and environmental marketing practices.
Research limitations/implications
The lack of papers on Islamic marketing makes the depth of discussion somewhat limited.
Practical implications
The recommendation of this study provides a new path to the local government in mitigating the issue of environmental destructions occurring because of entrepreneurs’ business practices. This study has demonstrated the importance of cultivating religious values among society and specifically entrepreneurs as moral guidelines to further strengthen ethical behavior while conducting businesses. The government may endorse more teaching hours on Islamic curriculum at school to create the generation of religious entrepreneurs.
Social implications
The act of preserving the environments while conducting businesses is one form of worship in Islam as such we call for the elaboration and application of strategies to instill the paradigm of excellent merchants among Muslim.
Originality/value
This paper is the first of its kind which empirically testing the relationship between environmental marketing and firms performance with religiosity as a moderator among Muslim entrepreneurs in Indonesia.
Orientation: Globally, the majority of Small and Medium-sized entities (SMEs) are resource constrained. As a result, not all SMEs are able to fully exploit the benefits associated with international trade as they face challenges when exporting their produce.
Research purpose: This article presents an investigation into the impact of access to finance on firm performance and exporting behaviour of SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Motivation for the study: The article stems from the observation that although there is a growing importance and contribution of SMEs worldwide, research has shown that only a few of these SMEs are involved in international trade.
Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional study was employed with quantitative methods being utilised. The collected data were analysed using a structural equation modelling technique, which employed the Smart partial least squares software (version 2.0).
Main findings: The key findings reveal that a significant positive relationship between access to finance and SMEs exporting behaviour does exist. Furthermore, the study’s findings challenge the notion that firm performance has a significant impact on exporting behaviour and show a negative impact of access to finance on SME firm performance.
Practical/managerial implications: There is a need to put systems in place in Zimbabwe that that will (1) prioritise the need to have clear routes to market and increase awareness among SME owners, and (2) help SMEs overcome high costs associated with participating in export of goods and services.
Contribution/value-add: The article provides a unique empirical analysis of the relationship that exists between access to finance, firm performance and export behaviour of SME firms in Zimbabwe, and thereby makes a valid contribution to SME literature.
The aim of this study is to test the level of convergence between the IFRS for SMEs and the Spanish GAAP. To do this, we develop a Convergence Index with the full IFRS, which we apply the local GAAP and the IFRS for SMEs. Results show that the Convergence Index is considerably greater for the local GAAP after the accounting reforms. Furthermore, results also show that values of the Convergence Index are qualitatively similar among local GAAP and IFRS for SMEs, what is line with our hypothesis that the accounting reform has achieved its objective of convergence towards IFRS, considering that national GAAP are mainly intended for private companies.
This study extends the literature on financial literacy and cultural (Catholicism or Protestantism) beliefs to SME performance in a developing economy setting. Two basic questions motivated the study: (1) does culture influence financial literacy?; and (2) does culture mediate the relationship between financial literacy and firm performance in Ghana? The results, from 300 randomly sampled SME-Owners and based on Ordinary Least Squares and Logit regressions, suggest that cultural values militate against financial knowledge acquisition. Furthermore, Protestant beliefs strengthen the probability that SMEs would take advantage of growth opportunities due to financial literacy. Thus, the study concludes that the relationship between financial literacy and SME growth is cultural-context dependent. The study recommends that (1) religious bodies should inculcate financial education in their teachings; (2) financial literacy training programmes for SME-Owners should be tailored to meet their needs; and (3) cultural beliefs of SME-Owners should be of prime consideration in designing financial literacy programmes. © 2018 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
This paper investigates the causal links between domestic capital investment, foreign direct investment (FDI), and economic growth in Saudi Arabia over the period 1970-2015 by using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing to cointegration approach. The fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), and the canonical cointegrating regression (CCR) are employed to check the robustness of the ARDL long run estimates. The results show that in the long term there are negative bidirectional causality between non-oil GDP growth and FDI, negative bidirectional causality between non-oil GDP growth and domestic capital investment, and bidirectional causality between FDI and domestic capital investment. FDI affects negatively domestic capital investment in the short run, whereas domestic capital investment affects negatively FDI in the long run. Both finance development and trade openness affect positively non-oil GDP growth, FDI inflows and domestic capital investment in the long run. The findings are important for Saudi policy makers to undertake the effective policies that can promote and lead domestic and foreign investments to enhance economic growth in the country. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The impact of the strategic planning, especially in promising economies are significant indicators of success for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Globally, the SMEs sector suffers from a very high failure rate and the most important reason for this is poor capacity in strategic management. The practice of SMEs in unstable environments, especially in oil-based economy like Saudi Arabia (SA), creates the need for more flexibility in building strategies. Therefore, as the aim of this study was to structurally examine the type of strategic management in SMEs, the adaptation of a high flexibility strategic theoretical framework based on the emergent strategy model by Mintzberg might be more suitable for SMEs’ needs and capabilities. In this research, forty-six SMEs were surveyed in SA. Unlike most previous research, whose variables focused on external issues (such as funding issues or government policies), this study focuses on internal issues (such as internal capabilities) that influence the choice of strategy in SMEs. Correlation and factor analysis were used because the data set was appropriate for factor analysis as the KMO value was greater than 0.50. The research concluded that SMEs tend to adopt a deliberate strategy more than the emerging strategy.
This article analyses how financial literacy and role models contribute to explaining the performance of micro-enterprises in the informal economy. Grounded in human capital reasoning and social learning theory, we argue that financial literacy and personal knowledge of role models lead to improved firm performance. We test our hypotheses on a unique dataset of 739 micro-enterprises in Ecuador. We find that financial literacy is an important predictor of financial performance but not growth, and the use of role models predicts return on assets but not other performance metrics. Our results have implications for future work on micro-enterprises and the nature of the human and social capital of their founders.
This study proposed a framework for the moderating effect of access to finance (AF) on the relationship between total quality management (TQM), market orientation (MO) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) performance in Nigeria. However, relatively few studies have attempted to consider the relationship between TQM, MO and SMEs performance. The majority of the studies conducted on the relationship between the construct have presented different findings. In order to bridge the gap, a moderating effect of AF is introduce or proposed based on the suggestions of the literature. The study is significant to policy makers, government, regulators, and financial institutions on the need to provide AF to the real and potential entrepreneurs for SMEs development in Nigeria. In addition, the study will serve as additional literature to few studies on SMEs performance particularly in emerging economies like Nigeria that has not been explored.
p> Purpose: This paper investigates the effects of inequality on economic growth in the world using continental approach.
Design/methodology: Gini Coefficient and Gross Domestic Products (GDP) per capita were used to measure inequality and economic growth respectively. The study conducted a panel data analysis of the relationship between inequality and economic growth. The data span from 1991-2015. Five countries were selected each from seven continents and were also pooled together to constitute a single panel for 35 countries, thus establishing 8 panels. The Hausman test was conducted to determine whether a random or fixed effect model best fit pooled countries analysis or not.
Findings: Findings revealed that for the developing countries, high income inequality retards economic growth while for the developed countries such as Europe countries; the situation seems to be different. European countries as revealed in the findings showed that developed countries have benefited from inequality which has significantly and positively affected their economic growth. The results for Panel II (Asia countries) and Panel III (Europe countries) are in line with the study of Forbes (2000) and Li and Zou (1998) that documented that inequality boosts economic growth. Importantly, we found that inequality positively affects economic growth for Panels/Continents with fixed effect model while inequality negatively affects economic growth for Panels/Continents with random effect model.
Research Limitation: The study did not control for each continent differences. For African countries, weak institutional settings and environment is a key factor contributing to high inequality.
Originality: The paper was able to know the specific effect of inequality on economic growth in each continent in the World. This documents continents that have benefited from inequality and those that inequality has greatly affected their economies negatively. </p
Sustainability advocates for a universally shared common vision of progress towards a society that is just, safe and sustainable for humanity. Beyond environmental protection, the concept recognizes the urgent need to improve life quality through strategies that build socio-economic growth and address a wide range of cross cutting issues. While consensus abound that a more sustainable society serves everyone, opinions on what sustainability means and how it can be achieved are diverse. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), through the 2030 Vision and the 2020 National Transformation Program (NTP) outlines an agenda for a more balanced growth and socio-economic development. The extent to which the vision systematically aligns with sustainability principles, however, remains unexplored. This research is a maiden attempt to investigate how much sustainability substance is in the 2030 Vision and the NTP of Saudi Arabia. The Sustainable Society Index (SSI) has been employed to examine the 2030 Vision and the NTP to understand the Kingdom’s commitment to building resilient, inclusive and sustainable societies. The vision and NTP texts were matched against five broad measures and 22 sub-measures of the SSI to identity the points of convergence. While both the 2030 Vision and the NTP align with the SSI measures in some respect, the goals and objectives are, at best, a reflection of the needs, aspirations and context of Saudi Arabia. The paper concludes that the success of the 2030 Vision rests on the active involvement and empowerment of relevant stakeholders at all levels as well as the development of comprehensive assessment mechanisms based on which to measure progress towards sustainability.
Composite-based structural equation modeling (SEM), and especially partial least squares path modeling (PLS), has gained increasing dissemination in marketing. To fully exploit the potential of these methods, researchers must know about their relative performance and the settings that favor each method’s use. While numerous simulation studies have aimed to evaluate the performance of composite-based SEM methods, practically all of them defined populations using common factor models, thereby assessing the methods on erroneous grounds. This study is the first to offer a com- prehensive assessment of composite-based SEM techniques on the basis of composite model data, considering a broad range of model constellations. Results of a large-scale simu- lation study substantiate that PLS and generalized structured component analysis are consistent estimators when the under- lying population is composite model-based. While both methods outperform sum scores regression in terms of param- eter recovery, PLS achieves slightly greater statistical power.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make up the bulk of the economic tissue of the economy. In developing countries, they represent the majority of employment, including female employment. Investing in SMEs is a long-term and smart strategy, with sustainable returns that multiply across regions, countries and societies. SMEs constitute the overwhelming majority of firms. Globally, SMEs make up over 95% of all firms, account for approximately 50% of GDP and 60%–70% of total employment, when both formal and informal SMEs are taken into account. This amounts to between 420 million and 510 million SMEs, 310 million of which are in emerging markets. Promoting access to finance for SMEs has been on the global reform agenda since the global financial crisis.The purpose of this paper is to investigate the opportunities of development and growth as well as the main challenges to Islamic finance for SMEs. This paper will help to deepen understanding of the concepts of Islamic finance as well as SMEs. In addition to evaluate how Islamic financial institutions can support SMEs.
SMEs play an important role in the economic development of Mozambique. Access to finance is important for the growth of SMEs. Thus, the purpose of the study was to establish the factors that influence access to finance by SMEs. The factors that were addressed included structure of financial sector, awareness of funding opportunities, collateral requirements, and small business support services. The target population was 2725 which comprised of 2075 staff of three Banks, namely BIM Bank, BCI Bank, and Standard Bank and 650 SMEs in Maputo Central Business District. The research focused on a sample size of 242 SMEs and 324 staff of the named Banks. Descriptive and inferential research design was used. Structured questionnaires were used to collect the primary data. The findings from the study were that there is a relationship between the structure of the financial sector and access to finance by SMEs; there is a relationship between awareness of funding and access to finance by SMEs; there is a relationship between collateral requirements and access to finance by SMEs; and there is a relationship between small business support and access to finance by SMEs. The study findings are significant since they would enable the government to come up with appropriate regulation, funding programs, and schemes toward improvement of access to finance by SMEs. This study concludes that small business support services should be provided to SMEs to improve access to finance and that there is a need for more funding programs and financial schemes to assist SMEs. It is further concluded that since information is concerned with funding opportunities by SMEs, then relevant information should be available and known to all players in the financial market.
Indonesia has a broad potential to encourage women entrepreneurship. This paper aims to analyse the role of personal attitude and social perceptions to explore women entrepreneurial intentions who are involved in MSEs. Psychological characteristics and individual competencies are posited as the basis of analysis. Respondents are 222 women entrepreneurs involved in MSEs in Indonesia. This study uses quantitative method with the analysis of structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the hypothesis. The results indicate that personal attitude as mediator of women entrepreneurial intentions are significantly influenced by psychological characteristics and individual competencies; while psychological characteristics are proved to have influence on individual competencies. The study also shows that social perception is not directly influencing the intention, yet significantly influencing personal attitude. Studies on the women entrepreneurs are still quite limited, so the study is expected to contribute to the existing literature on women entrepreneurship research.
The purpose of this study was to determine, analysis the impact of the values of Islamic religiosity on Islamic job satisfaction in Tasikmalaya West Java, Indonesia, industrial centre. Analysis is using ordinary least squares with 359 employees that work with small and medium businesses in the embroidery industry. The results showed that the values of Islamic religiosity are significantly positive impact on the Islamic job satisfaction on small and medium businesses in embroidery industry. It means needing to internalization the Islamic values in work place in order the employees feel material and spiritual satisfaction together.
Islamic entrepreneurship and business is a topic area of business management study due to the increasingly dynamic international business environment in which culture and religion are important to developing business relationships. The main objective of this paper is to see the approach of Islam as a religion towards entrepreneurship and business. Utilising recent and relevant literature on the topic, this paper is based on the Holy Qur'an verses and the Muhammad's (S.A.W) Hadith (teachings and traditions). In this paper the themes focused on include thee taqwa, halal and haram; knowledge and entrepreneurs; innovativeness and risk-taking, proper usage of resources, financing and Islamic perspectives on ethics and social responsibility. At the end of the paper we provide recommendations for further research and suggestions for how emerging interest in this topic area of business management study might be addressed. We also highlight how the context of Islamic business is an important driver of entrepreneurial activity.
The paper examined the influence of EO, MO, LO, and TO on SMEs financial capital accessibility in Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to establish the role of firm strategic orientation in helping SMEs improve their financial access. A total of 362 questionnaires from SMEs in North Western Nigeria were used in this study. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the study hypotheses. Using SmartPLS 3.0 the findings indicates that strategic orientations are important drivers of firm success to finance. The result further suggests that SMEs who configured and utilized their strategic activities are more likely to get more cash flow, profit and retained earnings and will obtain a loan from external sources. To get an adequate financial capital SMEs need to improve their marketing activities, learn more from their experience and environment and lastly produce product with high technological improvement. At the same time they should avoid too much emphasis on taking risky business decision and investments. © 2015, Canadian Center of Science and Education. All rights reserved
As a potential theory, the elemental resource-based view (RBV) is not currently a theoretical structure. Moreover, RBV proponents have assumed stability in product markets and eschewed determining resources' values. As a perspective for strategic management, imprecise definitions hinder prescription and static approaches relegate causality to a "black box." We outline conceptual challenges for improving this situation, including rigorously formalizing the RBV, answering the causal "how" questions, incorporating the temporal component, and integrating the RBV with demand heterogeneity models.
Although Muslims make up one of the largest tourist markets in the world, knowledge related to the Islamic perspective on tourism is still less represented in the related literature. This study aims to assemble the theoretical foundations of Islamic tourism thoughts in relation to modern tourism paradigms. It aims to investigate the moderating effect of Islamic religiosity on the relationship between Muslim customer perceived value (MCPV) and Muslim customer satisfaction. It studies a sample of 537 Muslim tourists and employs a positivist research approach with a quantitative basis of enquiry, a survey strategy through questionnaires, and structural equation modeling (SEM). Six dimensions of Muslim customer perceived value (quality, price, emotional value, social value, Islamic physical attributes value and Islamic non-physical attributes value) were found to have positive effects on Muslim consumer satisfaction. The findings of the study suggest that Islamic religiosity moderates the effects of Islamic physical attributes value and Islamic non-physical attributes value on Muslim customer satisfaction. The findings reinforce the importance of religiosity in understanding Muslim customer satisfaction and behavior.
Discriminant validity assessment has become a generally accepted prerequisite for analyzing relationships between latent variables. For variance-based structural equa-tion modeling, such as partial least squares, the Fornell-Larcker criterion and the examination of cross-loadings are the dominant approaches for evaluating discriminant validity. By means of a simulation study, we show that these ap-proaches do not reliably detect the lack of discriminant valid-ity in common research situations. We therefore propose an alternative approach, based on the multitrait-multimethod ma-trix, to assess discriminant validity: the heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations. We demonstrate its superior performance by means of a Monte Carlo simulation study, in which we compare the new approach to the Fornell-Larcker criterion and the assessment of (partial) cross-loadings. Finally, we provide guidelines on how to handle discriminant validity issues in variance-based structural equation modeling.
This article explores factors affecting the survival and exit routes of new firms created in 2004 using data from the Kauffman Firm Survey. We draw upon the Resource-Based View to test several hypotheses regarding the impact of both tangible and intangible resources on new firm survival in both service and non-service firms. We also distinguish between two types of exit: closures (permanently stopped operations) and mergers or acquisitions. Our results reveal that, although service and non-service firms may differ in terms of industry structure, the fundamental resources that contribute to their survival are the same: education, work and life experience and adequate levels of startup financial capital. In spite of these similarities, our results did reveal industry differences in terms of exit. We found serial entrepreneurs in the service sector were more likely to exit through merger or acquisition. Conversely, intellectual property decreased the likelihood of exit through merger or acquisition for non-service firms. Thus, our findings revealed a link between human capital, industry and exit route for this sample of new firms.
This study seeks to explore the variables contributing to the growth of women-owned enterprises in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Based on a previously established multivariate model, it uses two econometric approaches: first classifying variables into predetermined blocks; and second, using the general to specific approach. Statistical analyses and in-depth interviews confirm that women entrepreneurs’ personal resources and social capital have a significant role in their business growth. Further, it reveals that the moral support of immediate family, independent mobility and being allowed to meet with men play a decisive role in the sales and employment growth of women-owned enterprises in an Islamic country such as Pakistan.
Many theories in management, psychology, and other disciplines rely on moderating variables: those which affect the strength or nature of the relationship between two other variables. Despite the near-ubiquitous nature of such effects, the methods for testing and interpreting them are not always well understood. This article introduces the concept of moderation and describes how moderator effects are tested and interpreted for a series of model types, beginning with straightforward two-way interactions with Normal outcomes, moving to three-way and curvilinear interactions, and then to models with non-Normal outcomes including binary logistic regression and Poisson regression. In particular, methods of interpreting and probing these latter model types, such as simple slope analysis and slope difference tests, are described. It then gives answers to twelve frequently asked questions about testing and interpreting moderator effects.
In this paper, we undertake an assessment of the rapidly growing body of research on financial literacy. We start with an overview of theoretical research which costs financial knowledge as a form of investment in human capital. Endogenizing financial knowledge has important implications for welfare as well as policies intended to enhance levels of financial knowledge in the larger population. Next, we draw on recent surveys to establish how much (or how little) people know and identify the least financially savvy population subgroups. This is followed by an examination of the impact of financial literacy on economic decision-making in the United States and elsewhere. While the literature is still growing, conclusions may be drawn about the effects and consequences of financial illiteracy and what works to remedy these gaps. A final section offers thoughts on what remains to be learned if researchers are to better inform theoretical and empirical models as well as public policy.
This paper intended to develop the concept of firm success among Muslim SMEs in Malaysia. The researchers used entrepreneurial orientation multidimensional as independent variable (innovative, risk and proactive) to examine the relationship of these dimensions towards the success of Muslim SMEs by using Islamic religion practices as moderator. It is about developing the concept of Islamic success factors, as the failure of Muslim SMEs is alarming and the empirical references to Muslim SMEs success focusing on Islamic religion practices are limited. There were many attempts to connect entrepreneurial orientation to the Resource-Based View theory of firms. Resource-Based View, as underpinning theory, helps to describe the proposed research theoretical framework. Recent studies related to firm success have shown that entrepreneurial orientation is composed of innovation, risk and proactive having significant relationship
with the firm success in the develop countries. However in Malaysia, there was only one study has documented the conceptual religiosity that influence relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and business success of entrepreneurs among the Malay community. The methodology for this study uses quantitative analysis, specifically, the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in processing the data. The population of the study is 2,286 PUNB (Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad) firms in Malaysia. Finally, this concept finding is able to facilitate future research proposals and to fill the knowledge gap in Resource-Based View concerning the relationship of Resource-Based View towards firm success. This study also contributed to the Resource-Based View literature on the perspective of Islamic religion practices as moderator
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to offer a theoretical and practical explanation for the nature and reasons for inter-organizational knowledge sharing across an informal clique of competing five-star hotels in the Saudi Arabian religious tourism and hospitality industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is an adapted form of the grounded theory approach deploying a four-stage research design using qualitative interviews with key players in the industry to inform the analysis of the knowledge sharing approaches.
Findings
The findings illustrate the features of the knowledge sharing approaches across the five-star hotels studied. In particular, the findings highlight the existence of a cooperative-competitive tension in the relationships and knowledge sharing between the hotels. This illustrates the existence of a tacit strategy that cooperation can lead to long-term benefits for the competitor hotels.
Originality/value
The study is unique in its focus on the cooperative-competitive tension of five-star hotels in the Saudi Arabian religious tourism and hospitality industry and on this influence on the inter-organizational knowledge sharing across hotels within an oligopolistic market structure. The study also has value in using elements of oligopoly theory and of game theory, particularly, the prisoner’s dilemma, in explaining how inter-organizational knowledge sharing occurs within this market context.
The research investigated the level of financial literacy of the owners of new micro-enterprises in South Africa. This study used financial planning, analysis and control, book-keeping, understanding of funding sources, business terminology, finance and information skills, use of technology and risk-management to measure the financial literacy of entrepreneurs. Data was gathered through the use self-administered questionnaire in a survey. A combination of dichotomous and Likert scale questions were used for the survey. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis. The results suggest a low level of financial literacy by the owners of new micro-enterprises. Recommendations to improve financial literacy are suggested.
This study investigates the impacts of entrepreneurs’ religiosity on their values and on the relationship between
their values and entrepreneurial behaviours by examining the differences between practicing Muslim entrepreneurs and non-practicing Muslim entrepreneurs. Relationships between values and religiosity are examined within an integrative framework of Schwartz’s value theory. Findings suggest that religion plays a critical role in shaping individuals values and their entrepreneurial
behaviours. Practicing Muslim entrepreneurs have more respect for, commitment to and acceptance of the religious and traditional customs and ideas compared with those non-practicing Muslim entrepreneurs. On the
other hand, non-practicing Muslim entrepreneurs have more independent thoughts and actions when it comes to choosing, creating and exploring compared with those practicing Muslim entrepreneurs. Furthermore, nonpracticing Muslim entrepreneurs are more likely to seek for worldly pleasures and sensuous gratification compared with those practicing Muslim entrepreneurs
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the attributes of innovation adoption and its effects on the performance of Malaysian manufacturing SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative data were collected from 360 randomly selected manufacturing SMEs through structured interviews.
Findings
The findings of the study confirmed that, in Malaysian manufacturing SMEs, the degree of persuasion (i.e. relative advantages, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability), strategic orientation (i.e. consumer, market and entrepreneurship) and firm antecedents (i.e. prior condition, knowledge and risk orientation) have significant effects on the innovation (i.e. product, process and service) adoption and performance of SMEs.
Practical implications
For policymakers, this study emphasizes the areas to focus on the development of an effective innovation ecosystem for an innovation-led economy. Because SMEs operate with limited resources and capacity, the programs and policies for innovation support systems must focus on providing new innovation information, cost-benefit analyses for new innovation adoption, innovation adoption processes and how new innovations affect performance.
Originality/value
The paper examines an important, but under-researched issue – designed and tested a model under the premises of the DOI and organizational diffusion of innovation theories which improve the knowledge and understanding about the innovation adoption by manufacturing SMEs.
Entrepreneurship is part of the way of life in Islam, which has its own way of doing business as stated in the Quran and Hadith. In Islam, intention is an important factor in identifying someone's motivations and characteristics in establishing entrepreneurial activities. This study aims at providing insights on the dimension and concept of entrepreneurial intentions from an Islamic perspective on Muslim entrepreneurs in Indonesia. A survey is data to investigate the intentions and characteristics of Indonesian Muslim entrepreneurs, including their motivations in choosing an entrepreneurial career. Based on prior researches, entrepreneurial intentions in the perspective of Islam has sincerity and worship God (activities of spiritual, social and economic) as two primary attributes. This study confirms that all human actions, particularly regarding to entrepreneurial activity, have always begun with intents and impacts on the entrepreneurial characters of five main attributes: fathonah, amanah, siddiq, tabligh, and istiqomah, and may have been contributing to promoting a further success of Muslim entrepreneurs.
This study assesses the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis with the case study of Saudi Arabia by considering three channels: volume of production, sector value addition to GDP and technological innovation. Using a long time-series data set and applying autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) methodology, this study nullifies the existence of the EKC hypothesis in the case of Saudi Arabia. The study also provides robust evidence that economic growth fosters CO2 emissions linearly. The results also present that the value addition of growth in the industrial and service sectors is responsible for faster growth in CO2 emissions, while agriculture value addition is negatively and insignificantly associated with emissions. Finally, this study shows that technological innovation is insignificant in helping to reduce CO2 emissions. Thus, substantial technological progress in the production process would reduce CO2 emissions without harming economic growth.
We show that financial knowledge is a key determinant of wealth inequality in a stochastic life cycle model with endogenous financial knowledge accumulation, where financial knowledge enables individuals to better allocate lifetime resources in a world of uncertainty and imperfect insurance. Moreover, because of how the US social insurance system works, better-educated individuals have most to gain from investing in financial knowledge. Our parsimonious specification generates substantial wealth inequality relative to a one-asset saving model and one in which returns on wealth depend on portfolio composition alone. We estimate that 30–40 percent of retirement wealth inequality is accounted for by financial knowledge.
The statistical tests used in the analysis of structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error are examined. A drawback of the commonly applied chi square test, in addition to the known problems related to sample size and power, is that it may indicate an increasing correspondence between the hypothesized model and the observed data as both the measurement properties and the relationship between constructs decline. Further, and contrary to common assertion, the risk of making a Type II error can be substantial even when the sample size is large. Moreover, the present testing methods are unable to assess a model's explanatory power. To overcome these problems, the authors develop and apply a testing system based on measures of shared variance within the structural model, measurement model, and overall model.
The principal goal of this paper is to review recent studies on small and medium sized companies in order to concentrate on the main critical issues of SMEs financial management. There are three core elements of financial management: (1) the question of liquidity management and cash flow management. Cash is company's most precious nonhuman asset. (2) The question of long term asset acquisition-which directs the long term course of business. (3) Questions of funding, capital structure and cost of funding. The most imminent question is the liquidity management. A business will never see the long term if it cannot plan an appropriate policy to effectively manage its working capital. Generally, the poor financial management of owner-managers is the main cause underlying the problems of SMEs.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyse the level of financial literacy in Africa based on previous studies and evidence from financial literacy surveys, with the aim of establishing how financial literacy impacts entrepreneurship development in Africa. The study specifically looks at how financial literacy affects the household behaviour regarding financial decision making, as well as the gender gap in financial literacy. As financial literacy is gaining momentum both in developed economies with sophisticated financial systems and developing countries with low levels of financial services, this research seeks to establish a formal relationship between financial literacy and access to finance and what impact both have for developing an entrepreneurship society in Africa. It also focuses on the relationship between financial decision making and gender as well as access to finance with the aim of carefully examining the implications on entrepreneurship development.
Design/methodology/approach
– To attain the above objective, the study employed a mixed methodology research design where both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. A survey method on financial literacy, conducted by: (Finscope, OECD) was thoroughly analysed in addition to previous work on entrepreneurship development, financial literacy, access to finance and poverty reduction in Africa.
Findings
– The results show that the difficulties in access to finance, access to market, policy support and entrepreneurship culture are the main problems and constraints on entrepreneurship development in Africa which has a very strong implication for financial literacy on the continent particularly on micro, small and medium enterprises. Other important problems include unfavorable investment climate, absence of entrepreneurship training programmes, unfriendly investment business environment, gender gap and lack of value chain in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Research limitations/implications
– The paper is limited to the established survey and mainly concentrates on Africa.
Practical implications
– African governments and other development partners should re-evaluate their intervention programmes to strengthen financial literacy skills while simultaneously supporting entrepreneurship development by promoting an entrepreneurship culture through the right policy that will actively stimulate the development of entrepreneurs that will contribute to entrepreneurship ecosystems and ultimately enhance Africa’s economic development.
Originality/value
– This paper aims at enhancing understanding of entrepreneurship development and financial literacy in Africa and will help policy makers and researcher fill the missing gap between financial literacy and entrepreneurship education. The recommendations made could significantly boost entrepreneurship activities as well as enhance financial literacy skills in the region, which can as well help increase access to finance on the continent.
Purpose
– Muslims living in multi-religious societies are considered more conscious about the permissibility ( Halal ) of products and thus the majority of Halal research in the non-financial sector was conducted in multi-ethnic societies. Nonetheless, the global trade is changing the way we perceive the origin of products and brands and their permissibility under Islamic Sharia laws. This apparently has serious implications for international companies operating in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of Muslim attitude towards Halal products, their subjective norms and religiosity in predicting intention to choose Halal products.
Design/methodology/approach
– A structured question was designed to elicit consumer attitude, subjective norms, intention to choose Halal products and degree of inter and intra personal religiosity. Data were collected from 180 adult respondents using a convenience sampling method. Only 150 responses were deemed suitable for further analysis, yielding a response rate of 83 per cent. Stepwise regression analysis was used to test the proposed model.
Findings
– The results indicated that theory of reasoned action (TRA) is a valid model in predicting intention to choose Halal products. The results further indicate that subjective norms ( β =0.455, p , 0.001), attitude towards the Halal products ( β =0.265, p , 0.001) and intra personal religiosity ( β =0.167, p , 0.001) positively influence attitude towards the Halal products. Interestingly, subjective norm appears to be the strongest of all the predictors for choosing Halal products.
Research limitations/implications
– The data collected for the current study investigate global attitude towards Halal products. It would be interesting if future researchers examine consumers ' attitude towards specific Halal products for specific product categories.
Practical implications
– It is argued in this research that the presence of strong attitude towards Halal products in Muslim consumers might play an important role in exclusion or inclusion of brands, based on their conformance to Halal requirements.
Originality/value
– The paper extends the applicability of the theory of reasoned action model by investigating the role of inter-personal and intra-personal religiosity in intention to choose Halal products.
A systematic review of the entrepreneurship literature on fear published up to 2014 highlights several key characteristics. First, the predominant focus in research examining the emotion of fear in entrepreneurship is on the specific concept of fear of failure. However, this literature shows a lack of precision in the conceptualization and operationalization of this construct. The impact of the experience of fear on individual cognition and behaviour can be beneficial as well as detrimental. Despite this dualistic nature, to date, fear is examined as only a barrier to entrepreneurial behaviour. This review reveals a clear dichotomy in the literature, with significantly more focus on fear as a trait that distinguishes between people than as a temporary state that is commonly experienced by many people. Defining fear of failure as a context-specific phenomenon, this paper explains the importance of focusing on the temporary cognitive and emotional experience of fear and use conceptual observations as a platform to develop an agenda for future research.
Purpose
– This paper aims to explore how African‐Caribbean Pentecostals use the platform of their faith to reconstruct their entrepreneurial values and identities, improve entrepreneurial learning and exploit the cultural resources of faith‐based networks to promote and sustain their entrepreneurialism.
Design/methodology/approach
– Methodological appropriateness rather than orthodoxy guided the design of this study. Rooted in the context of discovery rather than verification, focus groups were assembled and used for data collection. Ideas generated by the groups were further explored in narrative face‐to‐face interviews.
Findings
– Findings indicate clear connections between motivation for entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial learning and religious orientation among African‐Caribbean entrepreneurs. Religious orientation was evident as a context moderator within which relations of trust and ethnico‐religious compatibility generate social capital which, in turn, helps members to cope with the challenges of entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
– This paper offers refreshing insights into the transcendental logic of black entrepreneurship, illuminating the interconnections between religion and enterprise. Such insights afford tremendous opportunities to construct new sites of meaning or frame new explanations of entrepreneurship among the population group – using religion as an important environmental munificence.