Abstract
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been empirically researched in many studies that have shown that they play a significant role in developed and developing countries. The role played by SMEs cannot be underestimated, especially those that have intentions to grow. The growth of SMEs, especially in the current contemporary environment in which they operate, is leveraged primarily by capabilities. SMEs do not have extensive resources and thus cannot rely on strategies that big companies with resources use. Hence, the importance and role of entrepreneurial competencies cannot be overstated, especially the role they play in the growth and performance of SMEs. Also, these entrepreneurial competencies, as they develop, enhance dynamic organisational capabilities. Thus, the study sought to investigate the influence of entrepreneurial competencies, mediated by dynamic capabilities and strategic capabilities, on SMEs’ operational performance. Personal entrepreneurial competencies were used as an independent variable in this study, and these were measured against SME operational performance. A total of 253 self-administered questionnaires were obtained from small and medium enterprises across South Africa, and the data cleaned and coded before being subjected to several statistical measurements. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed to confirm a causal relationship and make inferences among the constructs of interest. The results of the study show that personal entrepreneurial competencies have an influential factor on SME operational performance. The findings provide empirical support for the theory of entrepreneurship, which proposes that entrepreneurial competencies must be developed for SMEs to increase their chances of reaching the model’s appropriation stage – entrepreneurial success. The finding also adds value to the SME operational performance literature related to operational strategy dimensions of product quality, operational flexibility, delivery time and cost-efficiency. There are various studies on entrepreneurial competencies’ influence on SME performance, but research on how such competencies influence specifically operational performance of SMEs is scant, hence the importance of reconsidering some of the established views of this study’s findings.