The Effect Entrepreneurial Support On Organizational Creativity, Innovation, Competitive Advantage And Business Success Of SMES - A Case Study In Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

The priority in this age is a greater focus on the contribution of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) to economic growth, not just in Vietnam but also globally. In the context of the effects of economic integration, this article seeks to examine the contribution of management factors to the performance of SMEs in the 8 main sectors including Information Technology, Transportation, Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Mining, Real Estate Activities, Retail and Distributive Trade, Service Activities/Tourism, and Manufacturing in HCMC, Vietnam. In this regard, the Vietnamese government views the development of SMEs as being essential to the economy's stability, the creation of jobs, and the reduction of poverty. Recent research demonstrates that while SMEs in Vietnam consistently demonstrate innovation, these innovations are nonetheless constrained in terms of size, scope, and orientation. Innovations, in particular, are primarily about cost savings and making minor adjustments to current products in order to reach lower market segments (OECD, 2021). This can be a result of Vietnam's SMEs' limited financial resources and the government's underfunding of corporate innovation (OECD, 2021). In light of worldwide integration and demand from numerous stakeholders to promote sustainable development, this has an impact on the competitiveness of SMEs. In order to thrive and be successful, SMEs owners and managers should seek for entrepreneur support, adopt creativity and innovation practices to create competitive advantage. Moreover, this research also suggests that governments and policy makers should focus more on supporting SMEs. The current study has fundamental aims to investigate the current context of SMEs in Vietnam. First of all, the study tried to construct the frameworks emanated from other studies and theories. Next, the proposed framework contemplate the SMEs’ weaknesses in Vietnam. A survey method was conducted for the data collection. The main data analysis was interpreted using the partial least squares (PLS) technique. Then, it attempts to specify the key determinants and their effect on business success. As the results suggest, all the four factors represent Entrepreneur Support, Organizational Creativity, Firm Innovativeness, Organizational Competitive Advantage, and Business Success. The results confirm the approval for 8 out of 10 hypotheses and unveil the key findings on what factors should be invested by SMEs owners/managers. This research sheds light on critical contribution for the research field of entrepreneur support as well as provides important recommendations for strategic management.