Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Gender Gap and Inter-Country Context
Expanding and maintaining the number of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is directly related to sustainable economic, social, and individual development. However, SMEs are vulnerable to competition. Thus, this study focusses on the analysis of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as an antecede...
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/7159 |
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doaj-8ae364e51e3b4127873706e379d67dd22020-11-25T03:51:05ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502020-09-01127159715910.3390/su12177159Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Gender Gap and Inter-Country ContextVera Butkouskaya0Joan Llonch-Andreu1María-del-Carmen Alarcón-del-Amo2Business Department, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, SpainBusiness Department, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, SpainMarketing Department, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, SpainExpanding and maintaining the number of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is directly related to sustainable economic, social, and individual development. However, SMEs are vulnerable to competition. Thus, this study focusses on the analysis of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as an antecedent of integrated marketing communications’ (IMC) successful implementation directed at improving SMEs’ performance, with additional focus on the institutional inter-country context. Considering the role of owner-managers in SMEs, analysis of the gender gap is also applied. The data from 315 managers' surveys (in Spain and Belarus) is analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results show a positive relationship between EO, IMC, and performance among SMEs in both markets. However, these connections are significantly stronger in the case of male, rather than female managers in a developed market (Spain). There is no gender gap in an emerging market (Belarus). Moreover, and conversely, in a developing market, the EO-IMC-performance relations are more intensive when the manager is female. Further implementations are provided for practitioners and government organizations with a focus on the gender gap and inter-country differences.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/7159SMEsentrepreneurial orientationIMC capabilityorganizational performancecompetitive advantagegender |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Vera Butkouskaya Joan Llonch-Andreu María-del-Carmen Alarcón-del-Amo |
spellingShingle |
Vera Butkouskaya Joan Llonch-Andreu María-del-Carmen Alarcón-del-Amo Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Gender Gap and Inter-Country Context Sustainability SMEs entrepreneurial orientation IMC capability organizational performance competitive advantage gender |
author_facet |
Vera Butkouskaya Joan Llonch-Andreu María-del-Carmen Alarcón-del-Amo |
author_sort |
Vera Butkouskaya |
title |
Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Gender Gap and Inter-Country Context |
title_short |
Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Gender Gap and Inter-Country Context |
title_full |
Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Gender Gap and Inter-Country Context |
title_fullStr |
Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Gender Gap and Inter-Country Context |
title_full_unstemmed |
Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs): Gender Gap and Inter-Country Context |
title_sort |
entrepreneurial orientation (eo), integrated marketing communications (imc), and performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (smes): gender gap and inter-country context |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
description |
Expanding and maintaining the number of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is directly related to sustainable economic, social, and individual development. However, SMEs are vulnerable to competition. Thus, this study focusses on the analysis of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as an antecedent of integrated marketing communications’ (IMC) successful implementation directed at improving SMEs’ performance, with additional focus on the institutional inter-country context. Considering the role of owner-managers in SMEs, analysis of the gender gap is also applied. The data from 315 managers' surveys (in Spain and Belarus) is analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results show a positive relationship between EO, IMC, and performance among SMEs in both markets. However, these connections are significantly stronger in the case of male, rather than female managers in a developed market (Spain). There is no gender gap in an emerging market (Belarus). Moreover, and conversely, in a developing market, the EO-IMC-performance relations are more intensive when the manager is female. Further implementations are provided for practitioners and government organizations with a focus on the gender gap and inter-country differences. |
topic |
SMEs entrepreneurial orientation IMC capability organizational performance competitive advantage gender |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/7159 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT verabutkouskaya entrepreneurialorientationeointegratedmarketingcommunicationsimcandperformanceinsmallandmediumsizedenterprisessmesgendergapandintercountrycontext AT joanllonchandreu entrepreneurialorientationeointegratedmarketingcommunicationsimcandperformanceinsmallandmediumsizedenterprisessmesgendergapandintercountrycontext AT mariadelcarmenalarcondelamo entrepreneurialorientationeointegratedmarketingcommunicationsimcandperformanceinsmallandmediumsizedenterprisessmesgendergapandintercountrycontext |
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