Entrepreneurial Leadership, Psychological Capital and Personal Values on Business Performance of SMEs Owner-Managers in Anambra State

Abstract

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) constitute the backbone of economic activity in Anambra State, Nigeria, a state renowned for its vibrant commercial hubs in Onitsha, Nnewi, and Awka. Despite their economic significance, a substantial proportion of SMEs in the state exhibit poor and inconsistent performance, with many failing within their first five years of operation. While structural and financial constraints have received considerable research attention, the behavioural and dispositional attributes of owner-managers, particularly their entrepreneurial leadership orientation, psychological capital, and personal values, remain comparatively underexplored as determinants of business performance in the Anambra State context. This study examined the influence of entrepreneurial leadership, psychological capital, and personal values on the business performance of SME owner-managers in Anambra State. Anchored on the Entrepreneurial Leadership framework and Positive Psychological Capital theory, alongside Schwartz's Theory of Basic Human Values, the study adopted a descriptive correlational survey research design. The population comprised registered SME owner-managers operating within the major commercial clusters of Onitsha, Nnewi, and Awka, from whom a sample was drawn using stratified random sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit data on entrepreneurial leadership behaviour, psychological capital (comprising self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience), personal values, and self-reported business performance indicators. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that entrepreneurial leadership, psychological capital, and personal values each exerted a positive and statistically significant influence on business performance, with psychological capital emerging as the strongest predictor, followed by entrepreneurial leadership and personal values respectively. Jointly, the three variables accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in business performance among the SMEs studied. The study concluded that beyond financial and structural support, deliberate development of owner-managers' leadership disposition, psychological resources, and values orientation is critical to sustained SME performance in Anambra State. It was recommended that entrepreneurship support agencies and business development institutions incorporate psychological capital development and entrepreneurial leadership training into SME capacity-building programmes in the state.