The relationship of personality to cognitive characteristics and SME performance in Tanzania

Abstract

Purpose Focussing on the relationship between personality traits and small and medium enterprise (SME) performance in Tanzania’s furniture sector, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of cognitive characteristics as a mediating variable. Design/methodology/approach A total of 300 SMEs in furniture sectors from four different regions in Tanzania were involved in this study. Structural equation modelling approach was used to test simultaneously the direct and the indirect effects of the characteristics of the entrepreneurs on the SMEs performance. Findings The findings show that personality traits have a significant influence on SMEs performance through cognitive characteristics. Research limitations/implications The study’s data were collected from businesses in only one industry (furniture) in Tanzania. Future research may extend the approach to other business sectors. Practical implications Since entrepreneurial characteristics are considered an important driver of a country’s economic development and performance, it is hoped that governments and sector associations implement suitable policies and incentives to develop an entrepreneurial culture among citizens. Originality/value Current knowledge about entrepreneurial characteristics and their relationship with SME performance in developing countries, especially Tanzania, is very limited. The present study suggests that cognitive characteristics are necessary mediators of the link between personality traits and SME performance.

Effect of entrepreneur, firm, and institutional characteristics on small-scale firm performance in Ghana

“…Business growth or success The concept of business success has been used synonymously with business growth in management studies (Isaga, 2018;Mensah, Tribe, & Weiss, 2007). In the extant literature, no universally accepted definition of business success exists (Barkham, Gudgin, Hart, & Hanvey, 1996;Foley & Green, 1989;Mohammed et al, 2017).…”

“…The critical factors that influence small-scale business growth have extensively been explored empirically in extant literature (Coad, Segarra, & Teruel, 2016;Ilaboya & Ohiokha, 2016;Kristiansen, Furuholf, & Walid, 2003;Mohamad Radzi, Mohd Nor, & Mohezar Ali, 2017;Murphy, Trailer, & Hill, 1996;Reynolds, Camp, Bygrave, Autio, & Hay, 2001;and Storey, 1994). Wide variety of factors that potentially influence firm growth range from entrepreneur's characteristics, firm characteristics (Abdul Wahab & Al-Damen, 2015) to issues related to the institutional localities in which the business functions (Isaga, 2018). However, findings on these factors have generally been inconclusive (Isaga, 2018) probably because operations of small businesses particularly for developing economies are complicated by variety of factors, and as a result, no extensive surveys are conducted that comprehensively explain all the variables (Braidford, Drummond, & Stone, 2017).…”

“…Wide variety of factors that potentially influence firm growth range from entrepreneur's characteristics, firm characteristics (Abdul Wahab & Al-Damen, 2015) to issues related to the institutional localities in which the business functions (Isaga, 2018). However, findings on these factors have generally been inconclusive (Isaga, 2018) probably because operations of small businesses particularly for developing economies are complicated by variety of factors, and as a result, no extensive surveys are conducted that comprehensively explain all the variables (Braidford, Drummond, & Stone, 2017). Perhaps, it may also suggest, as we propose, that the dominant use of non-financial proxies such as customer satisfaction, corporate reputation, happiness, personal development, cultural, and social network (see Mohamad Radzi et al, 2017) to proxy firm performance or growth is fairly limited.…”

Analisis Karakteristik Pemilik Terhadap Kesiapan Teknologi Informasi Pada Usaha Makanan Dan Minuman

“…Ada hal yang menarik terkait dengan pertanyaan mengapa ada beberapa perusahaan yang tumbuh dan berkembang sedangkan yang lainnya tidak. Mengingat peran penting yang dimainkan oleh individu, beberapa penelitian di seluruh dunia telah mengakui pentingnya pemilik usaha/pengusaha untuk pertumbuhan UKM [5]. Disamping itu, perusahaan akan terus-menerus dibawah tekanan kompetitif dan dipaksa untuk mengevaluasi kembali model bisnis mereka dan menggarisbawahi proses bisnis [6].…”

Influence of Competency and Partnership to Performance in Small Business in the Field of Culinary in North Bandung Area

“…Performance is an important achievement as the benchmark success rate of the organization. Performance achievement in companies is expected to be achieved proportionally [15] While according to [17] firm performance is defined in terms of change in the level of sales and the value of assets.…”