Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of network capability (NC) on small enterprise performance via knowledge creation, and two dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO): competitive aggressiveness and innovativeness. Design/methodology/approach – The authors propose a theoretical model that was tested using a survey instrument administered to owners and managers of small-sized enterprises within the United Arab Emirates. Theory development was assisted by semi-structured interviews with an independent sample of owners and managers of small enterprises. Findings – The results show that NC is positively related to knowledge creation and that competitive aggressiveness and innovativeness are key mediators between knowledge creation and firm performance. Research limitations/implications – The study contributes to theoretical development by integrating the domains of NC and knowledge creation to EO and small business performance. The authors show that the conversion from NC to small business performance is mediated by knowledge creation and the two dimensions of EO: innovativeness and competitive aggressiveness. Practical implications – The study findings present interesting practical implications for small business owners seeking to shift their firm’s orientation toward being more entrepreneurial. Originality/value – The study highlights the crucial role innovativeness and competitive aggressiveness play as mediators when the relation between knowledge creation and small business performance is examined.

In this study, we attempt to advance our understanding of the role of entrepreneurial creativity in the context of firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through field research accompanied by a review of the related literature, this study identifies crucial antecedents of entrepreneurial creativity. The proposed model combines variables belonging to different contextual factors such as external factors (resource access, resource possession, and alertness to opportunity) and individual factors (creative self-efficacy, expertise and intrinsic motivation). The model is tested using data from a large-scale survey of firms in the UAE. We find that expertise and creative self-efficacy is significantly related to entrepreneurial creativity. The results also reveal that intrinsic motivation and alertness to opportunity are the key mediators between contextual factors and entrepreneurial creativity. The findings of this study present some interesting practical implications to entrepreneurs in order to improve their creative skills.

Purpose This study aims to assess the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and development culture and the role of willingness-to-change in this relationship and analyzes their effect on new product exploration in small enterprises. Design/methodology/approach A model based on structural equations with partial least squares (PLS) analysis is used to test the hypotheses. This model was tested on a sample of 250 respondents from 125 small enterprises, with less than 50 employees, located in all seven emirates of the UAE. Findings The results suggest that EO will induce organizational members’ willingness-to-change and will favor the advancement of a development culture in small enterprises; in addition, EO, willingness-to-change and development culture can lead to new product exploration in small enterprises. Research limitations/implications The study findings are subject to potential limitations. First, the research design for the quantitative study was cross-sectional and self-reported, which could cause problems of common method and inflation bias. Second, the conceptual model may not be completely representative of the perspective the authors aim to elucidate. Third, as this study is country-specific, further research investigation in other developing economies is recommended to further understand the possible influences of cultural or socioeconomic contexts on the relationships presented in the model. Practical implications The article includes several practical implications about the relationships between willingness-to-change and development culture. It sheds light on the controversial link between EO and new product exploration in small enterprises. Originality/value The present study expands current knowledge on the EO–new product exploration relationship by investigating some key mediating variables such as willingness-to-change and development culture in an under-researched context such as UAE.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to link management competence to small enterprise performance and assess the role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and willingness to change on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach The authors use structural equation modeling to test a theoretical model based on a data set from two survey instruments: one instrument was administered to the owners of 125 small enterprises within the United Arab Emirates and the second was administered to managers within the same enterprises. Findings Results show that within the small enterprise setting, managerial competence indirectly influences performance by influencing EO and willingness to change plays a partial mediating role through which EO benefits performance. Research limitations/implications The case for linking managerial competence to performance is supported by the dynamic capability logic, which maintains that an enterprise’s advantage lies in its ability to reconfigure its resources, capabilities and routines appropriately in the pursuit of new opportunities and performance benefits. The study suggests that EO plays a pre-eminent role in developing dynamic capability. Practical implications Understanding the link between managerial competence and small enterprise performance has important implications for enterprise owners, investors, educators, researchers and policy makers. Originality/value The model is a valuable contributor to understanding the dynamic capability perspective within a small enterprise and adds to the growing body of research examining the ability of small enterprises to continuously recognize and exploit new opportunities for sustainable competitive advantage.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate leadership competencies of expatriate managers working within the UAE and identify if these competencies are unique from those needed in their home country. Additionally, the paper aims to identify how new competencies expatriate leaders have developed while in their current position and how this enhances their ability to better manage staff in the UAE. Leadership competencies are skills and behaviors that contribute to enhanced performance. While some leadership competencies are essential to all firms, some distinctive leadership attributes may be particularly relevant to organizations possessing a large expatriate community. Design/methodology/approach – Personal interviews and stratified sampling were used to examine the qualities and skills relating to expatriate managers’ success in leading UAE organizations. The research design did not differentiate between the origins and ethnicities of the leaders. The leaders, whether American, European, Indo-Pakistani or Asian, were treated as one entity. Findings – Factors such as communication ability, team building qualities and ability to handle local nationals were found to have a significant effect on expatriate adjustment and success in managing UAE organizations. Practical implications – By investigating specific competencies and skills that expatriate managers need to lead organizations in the UAE and the broader Gulf region, the study informs organizations on how they can better identify and develop leadership skills that lead to enhanced performance. Originality/value – The study focuses on leadership competencies within the expatriate community of the UAE.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of conflict and intuition on explorative new products and performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach The study proposes a theoretical model that was tested using two survey instruments: one instrument was administered to the owners of 150 SMEs within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the second was administered to senior managers within the same SMEs. Findings The results show that within the decision-making process both objective and personal conflicts drive decision makers to the use of intuition, with high levels of market turbulence strengthening the effect of objective conflict on the use of intuition. Furthermore, the use of intuition was found to have an adverse effect on explorative new products, negating the positive effectiveness of explorative new products on SME performance. Research limitations/implications The study’s conceptual model may not completely represent the perspective it aims to elucidate. An alternative model with equally well-conceived explanatory variables could provide further interesting results. Practical implications Drawing on the perspective of the decision-making process, an interpretation of the model results and some practical implications are discussed. Originality/value The primary contribution of this study is the introduction of a model investigating the influence of conflict on the use of intuition in strategic decisions. Furthermore, the study collected empirical evidence from SMEs operating in the dynamic economy of the UAE, which is a less studied setting.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the influence of organizational justice and decision latitude on expatriate organization commitment and job performance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 175 nonmanagerial-level expatriate employees in Dubai, UAE using a purposive sampling approach. A structural equation model with partial least squared analysis was utilized to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that decision latitude partially mediates the relationship between organization justice and organizational commitment and fully mediates the relationship between organization justice and job performance.Research limitations/implicationsData were collected from a cross sectional sample in UAE, and hence, the generalizability of the results to other contexts may be limited.Practical implicationsThe research study suggests ways in which human resource managers and practitioners can develop a stronger awareness of the importance of decision latitude in employee decision-making and the role it plays in promoting employees' commitment and job performance given perceived organizational justice.Originality/valueThe present research is among the first of its kind to examine the study variables within the nonmanagerial expatriate context.