Entrepreneurial Orientation, Total Quality Management, Competitive Intensity, and Performance of SMEs: A Resource-Based Approach

Drawing upon resource-based theory, as well as contingency theory, this study examined the role of competitive intensity in moderating the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation, total quality management, and SME performance. Using a stratified random sampling, 714 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to owner‐managers of SMEs operating in Kano and Kaduna in the north west geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Of the 714 questionnaires distributed, 440 unusable questionnaires with 62 percent responses were returned and further analysed. The hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results supported the hypothesised main effects of entrepreneurial orientation, and total quality management, on SME performance. Also, the competitive intensity was found to moderate the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and SME performance. On the contrary, no significant interaction effect was found between total quality management and competitive intensity. The theoretical contribution of the present study lies in its use of competitive intensity as a moderator of the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation, total quality management, and SME performance.