Key Success Factors of Chinese SMEs Entrepreneurs in Manufacturing Sector
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This quantitative study investigates how six entrepreneurial traits influence business success. Using survey data from 458 successful entrepreneurs in Zhengzhou and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the analysis reveals that five factors—need for achievement, innovativeness, self-efficacy, industry experience, and social capital—significantly enhance business success. Furthermore, five traits—need for achievement, innovativeness, self-efficacy, educational background, and industry experience—positively affect organizational resilience, with the first three having the most potent effects. Notably, educational background does not directly affect success, nor does social capital enhance resilience. Organizational resilience also mediates the relationship between most entrepreneurial characteristics and success, except for social capital. The findings suggest that cultivating key entrepreneurial traits and bolstering organizational resilience are vital for sustaining SME development.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Views and opinions appearing in articles in the Journal of Arts of Management It is the responsibility of the author of the article. and does not constitute the view and responsibility of the editorial team I agree that the article is copyright of the Arts and Management Journal.
References
Al-Abrrow, H., Alnoor, A., & Abbas, S. (2019). The effect of organizational resilience and CEO’s Narcissism on project success: Organizational risk as mediating variable. Organization Management Journal, 16(4), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/15416518.2019.1610150
Boukari, M. N. (2025). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and resilience of the SME in a crisis context: The role of the manager’s social network. Review of Entrepreneurship, 5(1), 45-62.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics. Journal of Marketing Research, 18, 382-388. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3150980
He, C., Lu, J., & Qian, H. (2019). Entrepreneurship in China. Small Business Economics, 52(3), 563-572. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9972-5
Hou, M., Wang, Q., & Gong, J. (2022). Entrepreneurship, organizational resilience, and sustainable development of SMEs: The moderating role of environmental uncertainty. East China Economic Management, 36(12), 120-128. https://doi.org/10.19629/j.cnki.34-1014/f.210926017
Islam, M. A., Khan, M. A., Obaidullah, A. Z. M., & Alam, M. S. (2011). Effect of the entrepreneur and firm characteristics on the business success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(3), 289-299.
https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v6n3p289
Kozcu, G. Y., & Özmen, Ö. (2023). Organizational learning capability, organizational resilience, organizational performance, and market turbulence: A moderated mediation model. Yönetim Bilimleri Dergisi, 21(49), 482-503.
McClelland, D. C. (1965). Need achievement and entrepreneurship: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1(4), 389-392. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0021956
McCLURE, K. M. (1990). Difference, diversity, and the limits of toleration. Political Theory, 18(3), 361-391. https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591790018003002
Makhbul, Z., & Hasun, F.M. (2011). Entrepreneurial success: An exploratory study among entrepreneurs. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(1), 116-125. DOI:10.5539/ijbm.v6n1p116
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage, academy of management. The Academy of Management Review, 3, 242-266. http://staffweb.hkbu.edu.hk/vwschow/lectures/ism3620/rp01.pdf
Ndubisi, N. O., Zhai, X. A., & Lai, K.-h. (2021). Small and medium manufacturing enterprises and Asia’s sustainable economic development. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 167, 105248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105248
Olabimtan, B. A., & Jaiyeola, T. (2025). Resilience and self-efficacy: The psychological drivers to empowering Nigerian entrepreneurs. African Journal of Politics and Social Science Inquiry, 12(1), 15-30.
Olaleye, B. R., Lekunze, J. N., Sekhampu, T. J., & Khumalo, N. (2024). Leveraging innovation capability and organizational resilience for business sustainability among small and medium enterprises: A PLS-SEM approach. Sustainability, 16(21), 9201.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su16219201
Pattanayak, S., & Kakati, M. (2023). An empirical study on entrepreneurial traits and their impact on enterprise success. VILAKSHAN - XIMB Journal of Management, 20(2), 277-291. https://doi.org/10.1108/XJM-09-2021-0249
Seraj, A. H. A., Fazal, S. A., & Alshebami, A. S. (2022). Entrepreneurial competency, financial literacy and sustainable performance: Examining the mediating role of entrepreneurial resilience among Saudi entrepreneurs. Sustainability, 14(17), 10689.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710689
Shan, T., & Tian, X. (2022). The effects of social capital on the entrepreneurial resilience of SME from China: A moderated mediation model of entrepreneurial passion and confucian traditional values. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 918123. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.918123
Unger, J. M., Rauch, A., Frese, M., & Rosenbusch, N. (2011). Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Business Venturing, 26(3), 341-358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2009.09.004
Unay, I. G., Akbıyık, A., & Yeşiltaş, M. (2023). The mediating role of absorptive capacity in the relationship between entrepreneurial psychological capital and organizational resilience. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 15(5), 1045-1066
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-07-2017-0233
Wang, R., Zhou, H., & Wang, L. (2022). The influence of psychological capital and social capital on the entrepreneurial performance of the new generation of entrepreneurs. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1024763. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1024763
Yamane, T. (1973). Statistics: An introductory analysis (3rd ed.). Harper and Row.
Zhao, H., & Wibowo, A. (2021). Entrepreneurship resilience: Can psychological traits of entrepreneurial intention supports overcoming entrepreneurial failure?. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 719388. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.719388
