The Impact Of Entrepreneurial Orientation On Business Performance Of Small Size Hotels In Ghana

Entrepreneurial orientation is one of the fundamentals underpinning business performance as it enables owner-manager of small size firms to achieve performance.The hotel industry is dominated by small medium enterprises as statistics show an upward increase in the number of hotel businesses that keep springing up globally.Although much of the research literature in hotels has focused on mainstream accommodation such as large hotels,recently more attention has been given to smaller accommodation such as guesthouses and bed and breakfasts.Acknowledging its significance,however,relatively little attention has been given to exploring the impact entrepreneurial orientation has on the business performance of small size hotels in the developing countries.Research on entrepreneurial orientation has to date focused mainly on developed countries and large enterprises,yet small and medium-sized enterprises make a significant contribution to economic growth.Also,scholars neglect to focus on the external and internal factors that enhance the business performance of small enterprise firms.In furtherance to this,findings of previous studies on entrepreneurial orientation and business performance relationship have been mixed.Researchers are therefore calling for a more comprehensive study to identify and examine those factors that enhance business performance and be simulated for survival and success.The objective of this study is to examine the impact entrepreneurial orientation has on business performance using small size hotels in Ghana.Also,to determine the moderating effect of industry forces and firms' resources on entrepreneurial orientation to impact on business performance of small size hotels.As the focus is on entrepreneurial orientation and business performance with industry forces and firms' resources as moderation,a review of literature pertaining to such were used to build the conceptual framework in this study.The conceptual framework was developed by simulating the entrepreneurial orientation construct and performance framework.This study adopted quantitative research and a questionnaire survey technique was used to collect the data from small size hotels.This study used a stratified sampling method to obtain a comprehensive sample.The conceptual model is then tested with a total of 396 completed questionnaires and analyzed through a partial least square analysis using structural equation modeling.The path analysis results showed that entrepreneurial orientation has a significant and positive correlation with the business performance of small size hotels.Also,innovativeness,proactiveness,competitive aggressiveness and risk-taking showed significant correlations between each of the variables and business performance.Further,when the moderations were tested,it was observed that the direct path relationship of both industry forces and business performance and firms' resources and business performance were all positive and significant.However when the two variables,that is entrepreneurial orientation and industry forces interact,the interactivity process thus exerts on business performance at a lower negative value.Additionally,when firms' resources interactive path was tested,this interactive path was found to be negative but significant at the p-values.In testing the simultaneous moderation,the interaction effect of entrepreneurial orientation,industry forces and firms' resources indicate a negative but had a significant p-value.The study covered some novelty aspects of the subject of entrepreneurial orientation and its effects on business performance.First of all,the substitution of construct using industry forces and firms' resources as moderation in the theoretical framework enhances entrepreneurial orientation to impact on business performance.Secondly,the addition of customer retention as a new variable has the potential to extend the framework of entrepreneurial orientation on performance.Thirdly,the simultaneous moderation of industry forces and firms' resources has extended the paradigm shift of broadening the scope of the theoretical and practical concept of entrepreneurial orientation.The study extends the entrepreneurial orientation and business performance literature as well as offers useful insight to academia and managers of small size hotels.The study recommends that both hotel operators and policy-makers focus on the utilization of firm resources and industry forces that improve their business performance.