Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of competitive advantage in the relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance in Uganda's microfinance institutions. The major aim is to establish the role of competitive advantage in the relationship between intellectual capital and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach -The paper adopts MedGraph program (Excel version), Sobel tests and the Kenny and Boran approach to test for mediation effects. Findings -Competitive advantage is a significant mediator in the association between intellectual capital and financial performance and boosts the relationship between the two by 22.4 percent in Ugandan microfinance institutions. Further findings confirmed a partial type of mediation between the intellectual capital, competitive advantage and financial performance. Research limitations/implications -Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross-sectional. Future research should be undertaken to examine the mediation effects studied in this paper across time. Practical implications -In order to have a meaningful interpretation of the results of the relationships between study variables, it is always vital to assess the role of the third variable (competitive advantage) in the relationship. This enables practitioners and scholars to comprehend and make legitimate decisions and conclusions that can foster business growth. Originality/value -This is the first study that focuses on testing the mediating effect of competitive advantage on the relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance in Ugandan microfinance institutions.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effect of intellectual capital elements and how they fuse to affect financial performance in microfinance institutions. The major purpose is to explore the appropriate blend or mix of intellectual capital elements that explains the source of value creation – hence performance – in microfinance institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts the ModGraph program (Excel version) along with the Kenny and Boran approach to test conditional hypotheses.FindingsThe magnitude effect of human capital on performance depends on any of structural or relational capital; hence the assumption of nonadditivity is met. However, no significant interaction effects were established between relational and structural capital.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross‐sectional – future research should be undertaken to examine the multiplicative effects studied in this paper across timePractical implicationsIn order to boost the wealth of microfinance institutions in Uganda, managers should always endeavor to find a viable intellectual capital mix or blend that can add value to the firm.Originality/valueThis is the first study that focuses on testing the interactive effects of intellectual capital elements on financial performance in Ugandan microfinance institutions.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the individual contribution of intellectual capital elements to competitive advantage. It aims to explore the extent to which intellectual capital elements can explain competitive advantage in Uganda's microfinance industry.Design/methodology/approachHierarchical regression was used because of its capacity to indicate precisely what happens to the model as different predictor variables are introduced.FindingsThis study confirms that the three intellectual capital elements are strong predictors of competitive advantage and they account up to 44 percent of variance in competitive advantage. Their order of importance in explaining the variance in competitive advantage (basing on their standardized beta values) is: structural capital, human capital and relational capital.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross‐sectional, future research should be undertaken to examine the effects of these variables across time.Practical implicationsThe managers of microfinance firms need to appreciate that the rise of intellectual capital in the industry is unavoidable, given the competitive and technological forces that are sweeping the twenty‐first century.Originality/valueThis is the first study that focuses on testing the individual influence of intellectual capital elements on competitive advantage in Uganda microfinance industry.

Purpose The paper examines individual contribution of intellectual capital elements to competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to explore the weight of individual intellectual capital elements in explaining competitive advantage in Uganda’s microfinance industry. Design/methodology/approach Hierarchical regression was used because of its capacity to indicate precisely what happens to the model as different predictor variables are introduced. Findings This study confirms that the three intellectual capital elements are the strong predictors of competitive advantage and they account for 44 percent of variance in competitive advantage. However, the order of importance of these variables in explaining the variance in competitive advantage in the microfinance industry (basing on their standardized β values) is relational capital, structural capital and human capital. Research limitations/implications Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate the data. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross-sectional; future research should be undertaken to examine the longitudinal effects of intellectual capital elements. Practical implications The findings can help the management to intensify initiatives to encourage greater understanding and acceptance of the concept of intellectual capital that boosts competitive edge in the industry. Originality/value This is the first study that focuses on testing the individual contribution of intellectual capital dimensions to competitive advantage in Uganda’s microfinance institutions.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an effective cost borrowing model of qualitative factors that are relevant to micro and small enterprises (SMEs) better performance. Design/methodology/approach – A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey on 359 SMEs (131 retail businesses, 125 service businesses, 48 farming businesses and 55 other businesses) and 897 respondents that are representative of 397 SMEs and 1,087 respondents. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to ascertain the validity of the hypotheses. Findings – It was established that cost of borrowing elements (interest rate and loan processing costs) are associated with SME performance. Furthermore, cost of borrowing as a whole accounts for 31.1 percent of the variation in performance Uganda’s SMEs. Research limitations/implications – Only a single research methodological approach was employed, future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Multiple respondents in SMEs (owner, manager and cashier) were studied neglecting others. Furthermore, the study used the cross-sectional approach – a longitudinal approach should be employed to study the trend over years. Finally, cost of borrowing was studied and by the virtual of the results, there are other factors that contribute to SME performance that were not part of this study. Practical implications – There is need to intensify initiatives to encourage greater understanding and acceptance of cost of borrowing, select appropriate elements that includes interest rate and loan processing costs in order to have affordable source of financing to establish and grow SMEs, provide employment, competitive and contribute to countries GDP. Originality/value – This is the first paper in Sub-Saharan Africa to test empirically the relationship between cost of borrowing and performance of SMEs in the Ugandan context.