OGUNBIYI Aladi S.
Department of Management
Faculty of Management Sciences
University of Port Harcourt Choba, Port Harcourt
ONUOHA Chima B.
Department of Management
Faculty of Management Sciences
University of Port Harcourt Choba, Port Harcourt
ABSTRACT
Motivated by the dynamism facing modern small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria, particularly Rivers State and the need for organizations to adjust fluidly to these dynamics, this study investigated the relationship between entrepreneur alertness and resilience of SMEs, as well as the moderating influence of environmental turbulence on the relationship between entrepreneur alertness and resilience of SMEs. Entrepreneur alertness was decomposed into explorative learning, exploitative learning, and risk perception, while resilience had adaptive capability and agility as measures. The psychometric integrity of the instrument and trustworthiness of qualitative data were established. Quantitative data were obtained from 218 usable copies of questionnaire. The partial least square – structural equation modelling was deployed to test the measurement and structural aspects of the model, with the use of Smart PLS 3.2.6. All aspects of entrepreneur alertness were found to have promoted measures of resilience, while environmental turbulence enhances the relationship between entrepreneur alertness and resilience of SMEs.
The study recommends that SMEs in Rivers State should improve upon their degree of responsiveness to explorative learning, exploitative learning and risk perception.
Keywords: Entrepreneur alertness, resilience, explorative learning, exploitative learning, risk perception