Do entrepreneurial SMEs perform better because they are more responsible?

Jean-Marie Courrent (1) , Sonia Chassé , Waleed Omri

1 MRM - Montpellier Research in Management

Many scholars have investigated the direct impact of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on performance, but this direct association seems both spurious and ambiguous because many parameters may have an indirect influence on this relationship. The present study thus considers sustainable practices\textemdashenvironmental practices, social practices in the workplace (SPW), and social practices in the community (SPC)\textemdashas three probable mediators in the relationship between EO and performance, which is considered in terms of its financial and non-financial dimensions. We seek to show to what extent small- and medium-sized enterprises\textquoteright (SMEs) sustainable practices are useful assets, which are supported by EO, to improve performance. Using a structural equation modeling approach, data collected from 406 French SMEs were tested against the model. Our findings reveal that EO has a positive impact on the implementation of sustainable practices and that SPW partially mediate the link between EO and performance. Taken together, these findings suggest that EO plays a role in indirectly promoting performance by enhancing certain human resource management practices.

Mots clés: Corporate social responsibility; Entrepreneurial orientation; Performance; Smalland medium-sized enterprise; Sustainable practices

Domaines: Économie et finance quantitative [q-fin]

Jean-Marie Courrent, Sonia Chassé, Waleed Omri. Do entrepreneurial SMEs perform better because they are more responsible?. Journal of Business Ethics, 2016, ⟨10.1007/s10551-016-3367-4⟩. ⟨hal-02010656⟩