Entrepreneurial Marketing, Market Orientation, and Entrepreneurial Leadership as Predictors of SME Competitive Performance: The Mediating Role of Marketing Agility

Abstract

This study examines the effects of entrepreneurial marketing, market orientation, and entrepreneurial leadership on SME competitive performance. It also investigates the mediating role of marketing agility in explaining how marketing, entrepreneurial, and managerial capabilities contribute to improved competitive outcomes in small and medium-sized enterprises. A quantitative research design was adopted, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire from SME owners, managers, and marketing decision-makers. Established measurement scales were used to measure entrepreneurial marketing, market orientation, entrepreneurial leadership, marketing agility, and SME competitive performance. The collected data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling to examine the direct and mediating relationships among the study variables. The results revealed that entrepreneurial marketing, market orientation, and entrepreneurial leadership had significant positive effects on marketing agility. This study contributes to marketing, entrepreneurship, and management literature by integrating entrepreneurial marketing, market orientation, and entrepreneurial leadership into a single framework for explaining SME competitive performance. By identifying marketing agility as a mediating mechanism, the study provides a contemporary explanation of how entrepreneurial and market-based capabilities are transformed into competitive advantage