Entrepreneurial networking, innovation and sustainable growth of small enterprises in Ghana

Abstract

This study examined the effect of entrepreneurial networking on innovation and sustainable growth of small enterprises in Ghana. The researcher relied on the philosophical foundation of critical realist ontology and the pragmatist paradigm to inform a mixed approach and a cross-sectional survey design for the study. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 319 small enterprises which were proportionally sampled from the Association of Ghana Industries and Ghana Enterprise Agency. Eight entrepreneurs were purposively sampled and interviewed to generate qualitative responses to triangulate the statistical results. The quantitative data were analysed using covariance-based structural equation modelling, while the qualitative data were analysed based on narrative techniques. The study found that small enterprises engage in networking and develop strands of innovations. The findings also established that entrepreneurial networking, manifesting in network isomorphism and network social capital, is a leverage mechanism for small firms to access, use and transform external resources into innovation, which is required for sustainable growth. Network relation and structure, and normative and mimetic isomorphisms constitute tacit assets that facilitate access to valuable external resources. Therefore, small enterprises must embrace high-quality network affiliation with an entrepreneurial orientation that reinforces trustworthiness, reciprocity, and integrity to enhance knowledge exchange and access to unique entrepreneurial opportunities. They must maintain close ties with heterogeneous firms, allowing partners to mimic and replicate successful technologies for sustainable growth. The value of this research is the new theoretical approach “entrepreneurial networking” aimed at resolving the problem of inadequate access to external resources affecting small enterprises.