Thomas Bilaliib Udimal, Zhuang Jincai and Isaac Akolgo Gumah
Social network and being a part of an established business network helps in the acquisition of resources. The purpose of this study specifically looked at the mechanisms through…
Abstract
Purpose
Social network and being a part of an established business network helps in the acquisition of resources. The purpose of this study specifically looked at the mechanisms through which network reliance (NR) influences the entrepreneurial performance (PERF) among rural farmer entrepreneurs in China.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper looks at the economic sociology perspective of social networks. A total of 450 rural farmer entrepreneurs were interviewed for the study. The study introduces emotional intelligence (EI) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) into the relationship between NR, knowledge acquisition (KA) and entrepreneurial PERF.
Findings
The result shows that KA partially and positively mediates the relationship between NR and entrepreneurial PERF. EO is shown to moderate the relationship between KA and entrepreneurial PERF apart from its direct effect on entrepreneurial PERF. The EI of rural farmer entrepreneurs has a direct and significant effect on KA but does not moderate the relationship between NR and KA.
Originality/value
This study provides a new direction for extension education to rural farmer entrepreneurs. Knowledge building capacity programmes for rural farmer entrepreneurs should be an area of priority for extension education. Building the social capital and entrepreneurial capacities of rural farmer should be a new area of focus for policymakers. These measures will go a long to improving the capabilities of rural farmer entrepreneurs, which will, in turn, impact positively on their PERF.
Details
Keywords
Thomas Bilaliib Udimal, E. Liu and Mingcan Lou
The purpose of this study is to specifically look at the relationship between reliable network reliance and entrepreneurial performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to specifically look at the relationship between reliable network reliance and entrepreneurial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
To help achieve the study objective, 450 rural farmer-entrepreneurs from Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangxi and Zhejiang Provinces were randomly selected. The study concentrated mainly on entrepreneurs who have engaged in entrepreneurial activities the past five or more years.
Findings
This study’s findings show that network reliance has direct and indirect effects on entrepreneurial performance through external networking behaviour. The result further shows that external networking behaviour partially mediates the relationship between network reliance and entrepreneurial performance. On the moderation effect on entrepreneurial orientation (EO), the result reveals that it strengthens the relationship between external networking behaviour and entrepreneurial performance. The result shows that EO has a direct effect on entrepreneurial performance. The paper introduces behavioural component of network to entrepreneurial performance. The study concludes that external networking behaviour of entrepreneurs is key in entrepreneurship as it improves relationships among actors and thereby translating into an improved performance.
Originality/value
The paper brings to light the need to reconsider extension education by including elements of networking to enable rural entrepreneurs derive full benefits of their entrepreneurial ventures.