Survey links entrepreneurial leadership to competitive advantage in SMEs

A survey of 173 managers and 454 employees found that entrepreneurial leadership was associated with stronger competitive advantage in small and medium-sized enterprises through processes involving entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation, employee learning and behavior. The findings also showed that employees’ self-efficacy and working locus of control shaped the positive outcomes associated with entrepreneurial leadership and the two organizational orientations. Respondents with high self-efficacy and an internal working locus of control showed the strongest positive outcomes, while those with low self-efficacy and an external working locus of control derived weaker advantages.

The research applied a resource-based view of the firm, which the study extends by examining entrepreneurial leadership as an approach to developing competitive advantage. In this framework, entrepreneurial and learning orientations are treated as critical intangible organizational resources. The analysis found that entrepreneurial leadership fostered both orientations.

Employee characteristics emerged as important moderating factors in that pathway. The survey results indicated that these attributes influenced the strength of the relationships among entrepreneurial leadership, entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation and competitive advantage. Employees reporting high self-efficacy and an internal working locus of control were associated with the most favorable outcomes, whereas the combination of low self-efficacy and an external working locus of control was associated with weaker benefits.

Its reported results were consistent with mediation: the influence of entrepreneurial leadership on competitive advantage was linked to an interactive process involving employee learning and behavior, rather than to leadership alone. This process included the two orientations associated with entrepreneurial leadership. The authors present the model as an extension of resource-based view theory and argue that it helps explain how leadership, organizational resources and employee attributes may jointly shape sustained competitive advantage in SMEs.

Because the findings come from a survey, they establish measured associations rather than demonstrating that changes in leadership directly caused improvements in competitive advantage. The sample consisted of 173 managers and 454 employees, and the supplied study evidence does not establish how broadly the findings can be extended across SME industries, sizes or operating environments. The study links these organizational and individual factors to stronger productive capacity, employee development and long-term competitiveness, aligning its discussion with Sustainable Development Goal 8.

Subject of Research: How entrepreneurial leadership, organizational orientations and employee traits relate to competitive advantage in SMEs.

Article Title: Competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises through entrepreneurial leadership entrepreneurial orientation and learning orientation

Article References: Phu, N. H., Minh, N. N., Qui, N. N., Thuan, N. H., Cat, P. N. X., & An, D. T. B. (2026). Competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises through entrepreneurial leadership entrepreneurial orientation and learning orientation. Discover Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-03889-0

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-03889-0

Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises, entrepreneurial leadership, entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation, competitive advantage, employee self-efficacy, working locus of control, resource-based view, employee learning, organizational behavior, Competitive, advantage