SMEs play a critical role for the economic growth of nations by providing the opportunity for individuals to develop their skills and to be self-employed. SMEs are flexible and are able to quickly acclimatize to the factors affecting supply and demand. In todays’ rapidly changing business environment, SMEs are faced with difficult challenges to effectively implement the practices that are frequently adopted by larger business rivals. This study will discuss the concept of entrepreneurial orientation, innovation performance, and learning orientation in the context of SMEs in Kuwait. This study assumes that Entrepreneurial Orientation has both direct and indirect impacts on Innovation Performance (IP) through the mediating role of learning orientation. This study used quantitative methods to investigate and test the hypothesis that the association of entrepreneurial orientation with innovation performance was mediated by learning orientation. The target population in the present study is the owners and CEOs of SMEs in Kuwait, and the stratified random sampling method was used to select 221 participants. This study used a structured questionnaire containing close ended questions to gather the data. The data was analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results of the analysis show that learning orientation played a partial mediating role in the association of entrepreneurial orientation with innovation performance.

This study attempts to conceptualize the direct implications of entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management on innovation performance and seeks to determine the mediation effect of marketing orientation on these relationships. This is the first attempt to construct such a model. The study empirically examines the conceptual model using a sample of 221 CEOs and owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kuwait. The data was collected using a close ended self-administered questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the model is tested using a measurement model and the structural model is constructed to understand the significance of the conceptual relationship posited in the hypotheses of the study. The findings of the study indicate that entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management had a considerable effect on innovation performance and that marketing orientation had a considerable influence on innovation performance. In addition, the findings indicate that marketing orientation mediated the effect of entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management on innovation performance. This study has provided some empirical evidence for the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation as well as knowledge management in ensuring the success of SMEs; it also provides an explanation on the manner in which entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management improve the innovation performance of SMEs.

This study explores the role of organizational culture (OC) in the relationship between entrepre-neurial orientation (EO) and Bangladeshi small and medium enterprises (SMEs) performance. Their relationship obtains a substantial scholarly attention, however very few empirical studies have been conducted among Bangladeshi SMEs. Generally, SMEs contribute to the economy through employment generation, poverty reduction, innovation, social cohesion, and so on, which in turn contribute to the growth domestic product (GDP) of Bangladesh. Hence, SMEs are considered as a key reactor of economic growth in Bangladesh. Grounded on the literature and theoretical fact, a model was developed and intended to examine this relationship. A quantitative survey technique was exercised and the data were collected from the randomly selected 384 owners of SMEs in Dhaka–Bangladesh. The data were analyzed by using SEM-AMOS. Based on the statistical results, EO and OC were significantly related to SME performance and OC was found to mediate the relationship between EO and SME performance. This study will help entrepreneurs as well as policy makers make better decisions for maximizing SME performance through improving OC in the competitive global economy.