The Influence of Managerial Competencies on the Business Performance in the Small Business Funded by Jordan River Foundation

Rapid changes in the business environment are associated with the development of managerial competencies within organizations. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical in the economic and social development of most countries. The relationship between managerial competencies and organizational performance remains an important issue within organizational literature. However, there were limited studies conducted to assess the relationship between managerial competencies and organizational performance on small and medium enterprises. For this reason, this study aimed to determine whether there is a significant relationship between managerial competencies and the business performance in the small businesses funded by the Jordan River Foundation in Jordan. The empirical approach consists of data collection through the use of a self-administered questionnaire in a survey. A structured questionnaire was administered to 220 managers of small businesses funded by the Jordan River Foundation to establish the influence of their managerial competencies on the performance of their businesses. A total of 176 questionnaires were retrieved and analyzed by using the SPSS program for the statistical analysis, to reach the results of this study. The results revealed that managerial competencies are significantly correlated to business performance. There is a significant relationship between managerial competencies (Communication, Planning, and organizing) and efficiency. Three assortments of managerial competencies were evident to influence sales, namely, communication, planning and organizing, and customer focus. There is a significant relationship between managerial competencies (communication, team building, and customer focus) and customer satisfaction. The result will help the managers on how their competencies support and contribute to the firm's overall success as well as their improvement in the organization. practices and firm performance (sales growth and stock growth) were mediated through their top managers' social networks. Xuejun and Wang (2009) aimed to identify managerial competencies required for successful middle managers in China. Data were collected by a questionnaire survey distributed among MBA and EMBA students at a major university in China. The findings of this study suggest that team building, communication, coordination, execution, and continual learning are critical competencies for the success of middle managers in China. Chye et that integration exists between innovativeness and managerial competencies to influence SME performance in Malaysia, and the moderating effect of managerial competencies on the relationship between innovativeness and SME performance in Malaysia. The findings provide managerial implications and strategic recommendations to entrepreneurs, owner-managers, and policymakers in the SME sectors. Lorber and Savic compared the nursing leadership style, personality characteristics, and managerial competencies and determined the associations between these factors. The result showed that leaders rated themselves higher for vision and goals, communication, conflict resolution-agreement, compromise, adjustment, motivation, interpersonal relationships, problem-solving, delegation, teamwork, decision making, emotional intelligence, and human resources development.

objectives by developing plans and schedules to achieve goals efficiently. Which need time management by keeping changes scheduled to rely on, when it is necessary as a backup plan to reduce the pressure of the work. Managers should pay attention to the organization's financial issues before putting any plan to meet future expectations. Effectively plan what is to be achieved and properly coordinate and involve all relevant stakeholders. The key here is being able to demonstrate that you can determine the necessary sequence of activities and the efficient level of resources required to achieve both short and long term goals (Kouzes and Posner, 1995). 2.1.3 Strategic thinking and scenario building Minsky & Kaufman (2008) view strategic thinking as "practical dreaming" in the way in which people in an organization assess, view, and create the future for themselves and their associates by defining and envisioning results that add value to their business.
Strategic thinking and scenario building have three criteria (innovative and creation, risk and time management, competitive strategy) that managers should be sensitive to the business priorities through exploring and understanding opportunities and risks that could affect services, products or jobs, then designing alternative scenarios by discovering new ways of doing things and improve traditional ways with more effective actions with using time effectively through seeking information for organizations mission and objectives especially business environment towards competitors, to lead rather than follow them, create a dynamic environment, consult the technical levels for right decision making, and to have a cognitive and the ability to direct organization strength to response directly for an emergency (Sparrow, 2006). Strategists such as Haycock (2012) added that strategic thinking is applying activity that can be developed in individuals across all levels of an organization, so that their creativity and innovation may become integrated into the formal organizational strategic planning process. 2.1.4 Teamwork competency Teamwork competency has two criteria mentoring and coaching. Managing small organizational group that goes with showing respect, empathy for the views of the other team members, supporting them by sharing wisdom and professional expertise with others, and building team spirit and strong relationship with others. It can affect employees' performance and encourage to provide beyond the expectations for a good result, by setting the required tasks and show the positive returns through having the right combination of talents and competencies to acquire the resources they need to be effective. Managers can develop their employees' teamwork competency from all level of the organization including members of the team, those who will administer the plan, and even customers through understanding the strength and weaknesses of the team and use their strength to fulfill their weaknesses (Ulrich, et al., 2000). 2.1.5 Customer focus It has three criteria that deliver a service, seeks customer feedback to add value and understand customer requirements. All employees must demonstrate a full understanding of customer needs and expectations to enable the effective delivery and development of appropriate quality services that meet customer expectations by identifying customer needs by taking into account their diverse needs (Kotler & Armstrong, 2007). Consistently makes decisions focused on the customer, seeking customer feedback to investigate ways to improve customer experience, creating an environment where teams are empowered to put customers first, and then makes sure the organization works to resolve issues most important to customers. As a result, customer focus competency leading to customer satisfaction and loyalty that affect the organization's performance (Bueren, et al., 2004).

Business performance
Business performance is related to the strength of the company, that the performance translates the organization's task and its strategies to procedures. Supreme departments in business organizations still thinking of performance subject as long these organizations are existing and being busy on measuring its basic rules. Cockerill (1989) suggested that management performance is related to managers themselves than to their positions and authority within the organizations. Harold (1993) argues that the performance of a manager (output competencies) is influenced by their job-related knowledge and experience (input competencies), and personality characteristics (process competencies). While performance was defined as a continuous totalitarian activity which reflects the successes of the economic unity and its continuity, also its ability to adapt to the environment or failing according to the basis of specific criteria laid down by the economic unit under the requirements of its activities in the light of long-term goals (Riketta, 2002). Performance is a wide concept, and its content is renewed and variable which improves any content of the organization even if it was different. Even there are many studies and researches about business performance but there was not an agreement on a specific definition of performance (Armstrong, 2006). Gladon and Augustine (2008) found that there is a strong relationship between the managerial competencies of an organization and its marketing effectiveness. The findings of the study have identified four "Supra competency" clusters i.e. conceptualize, align, interact, and create success associated with high performance. According to their study, 'Motivation' emerged as the most important single predictor of variance in performance and was the only characteristic that differentiates the top performers from the bottom performers. It has been noticed that the performance of a manager is highly influenced by his or her competencies and thus the success of an organization European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905(Paper) ISSN 2222-2839(Online) Vol.12, No.20, 2020 depends upon managers' competencies. Masoud and Alzayat (2012) found that there is a significant effect of top management support on front line employees' performance. The performance is defined as the outputs and actions that the organization can work towards to achieve the goals set by the senior administrations and based on the strategic planning in advance. It links the various activities of the organization with the objectives achieved. This is done by accomplishing the tasks to the fullest (Durrani et al, 2011). Performance is the net effect of an individual's efforts to that amount starts together with the advantage then perceives the role then tasks. This skill to that amount overall performance is the result of the interrelationship between effort, capacity, and the position and tasks assigned by it. A performance appraisal function in any organization is one of the main functions that human resources management must perform, providing all of them with the necessary information to perform their roles in the direction that achieves the latter's objectives. The objectives of the institution are to coordinate and cooperate with the managers of other departments, and the weakness of the members of the organization and achieve satisfaction among them and their psychological stability and their full confidence in the administration and their keenness to achieve their goals. In this study, the outcomes of business performance were determined by: A-Efficiency: It is the ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time in doing something or in producing the desired result. In a more general definition, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste. In scientific terms, it is a measure of the extent to which input is well used for an intended task or function (output). Efficiency was measured with a five-item scale from Sethi and King (1994) this scale assessed improvements in production and marketing efficiency. B-Sales performance: It is the practice of monitoring and guiding personnel to improve their ability to sell products or services and defining, clearly communicating sales strategies and objectives, also prescribing roles and sales processes consistent with how a company plan to deliver value to its customers. According to the whole organization, it's a comprehensive solution that helps organizations drive sales alignment from strategy through to execution while improving efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness of the associated administrative processes. Sales performance was measured with a five-item scale adapted from (Venkatraman and Ramanujam, 1986), this scale assessed increases in market share, sales volume, customer acquisition, and customer retention. C-Customer satisfaction: high customer satisfaction translates to customer loyalty, and loyalty is one of the biggest drivers of corporate growth. Every company needs to examine the customer's interactions with their products and services through a different lens and discover where these falling short (Sethi and King, 1994). Customer satisfaction is the most important variable that every company gives it too much attention because without customers the company can't survive in the market and can't gain a competitive advantage (Masoud, 2020). So managers focus on ways to bring more customer and they try to avoid any risk that may cost them losing their reputation which affects their customers.
According to the researchers' visit to the Jordan River Foundation and taking permission to have a look on the data that has been collected from its managers who supervised the small businesses funded by Jordan River Foundation, many projects have been succeeded after certain training but without determining the main dimensions to give better performance for their projects. Also, some of them has been failed .there were approximately 14% failed projects (Jordan River foundation data). So, the problem of this study is to change this fact from failed projects to successful ones through determining the main dimensions of managerial competency that influence on business performance, by suggesting the following hypotheses. H1: Overall managerial competency (communication, planning and organizing, strategic thinking and scenario building, teamwork, customer focus) has a positive influence on business performance. H11: Managerial competency (communication, planning and organizing, strategic thinking and scenario building, teamwork, customer focus) has a positive influence on efficiency. H12: Managerial competency (communication, planning and organizing, strategic thinking and scenario building, teamwork, customer focus) has a positive influence on sales performance. H13: Managerial competency (communication, planning and organizing, strategic thinking and scenario building, teamwork, customer focus) has a positive influence on customer satisfaction. Abraham et al. (2001) investigated two general questions concerning managerial competencies and performance appraisal: whether a set of managerial competencies currently being used by organizations to describe successful managers can be identified; and whether organizations are appraising these same competencies as part of their managerial performance appraisal processes. The six competencies most often identified as critical to managerial success appear to be proper choices, given the discussion of the attributes needed for competency to be effective. The sample was School of Business, the State University of New York at Oswego, New York, USA. The results showed that many of these same organizations are not appraising these competencies in their managerial performance appraisal processes. Collins and Clark (2003) examined the relationships between a set of networkbuilding HR practices, aspects of the external and internal social networks of top management teams, and firm performance. The result from a sample of 73 high-technology firms, showed that the relationships between the HR European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905(Paper) ISSN 2222-2839(Online) Vol.12, No.20, 2020 practices and firm performance (sales growth and stock growth) were mediated through their top managers' social networks. Xuejun and Wang (2009) aimed to identify managerial competencies required for successful middle managers in China. Data were collected by a questionnaire survey distributed among MBA and EMBA students at a major university in China. The findings of this study suggest that team building, communication, coordination, execution, and continual learning are critical competencies for the success of middle managers in China. Chye et al. (2010) showed that integration exists between innovativeness and managerial competencies to influence SME performance in Malaysia, and the moderating effect of managerial competencies on the relationship between innovativeness and SME performance in Malaysia. The findings provide managerial implications and strategic recommendations to entrepreneurs, owner-managers, and policymakers in the SME sectors. Lorber and Savic (2011) compared the nursing leadership style, personality characteristics, and managerial competencies and determined the associations between these factors. The result showed that leaders rated themselves higher for vision and goals, communication, conflict resolution-agreement, compromise, adjustment, motivation, interpersonal relationships, problem-solving, delegation, teamwork, decision making, emotional intelligence, and human resources development. Laguna et al. (2012) explained how managerial competencies relate to the business success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and provided some implications for interventions aiming at increasing successful SME management, by the development of the CEOs managerial competencies, which are not so stable but can be trained and modified. Bhardwaj and Punia (2013) identified competencies that are possessed by effective and successful managers across the world. They found that communication skills, team-working, reactiveness, vision, self-management, result-orientation, strategic-orientation, ambition, persistence, decision making, risk-taking, and creativity, are the commonly used managerial competencies by successful and effective managers. They have also found that it is very important for a business organization to assess the competencies of its managers and to determine skill gaps, to help the organization to develop effective training and development programs to enhance the competencies of its managers. Raisiene (2014) showed that modern organizations should be managed with a new attitude to the manager's work, also a modern manager must be a leader who can enable employees and collaborate in a team. Asumeng (2014) provided a conceptual framework for a comprehensive and holistic generic managerial competency model building, which has implications for theory, practice, and empirical research. Hawi et al. (2015) explored the link between the managerial competencies and the firms' performance, they focus on the most effective managerial competencies in the airline's sector which has the greatest impact on performance. They found a positive relationship between the managerial competencies and the organization's performance in the airline's organizations in Jordan. Veliul and Manxhari (2017) investigate the connections between managerial competency and performance of SMEs. The study showed the aspects that influencing the managerial competencies for good organizational performance. When organizations work seriously to apply the required managerial competencies, set them tasks they avoid the recruiting costs, dissatisfied customers, missed opportunities, and create their position in the market and drive success to organizations. It is therefore evident that the combinations of managerial competencies (professional, social, and personal) have an impact on the Performance of SMEs in Kosovo. Managerial competencies are not fixed and should correspond to the needs of the organization. Manxhari et al. (2017) aim to present models of managerial competencies from many authors. Managerial competencies are becoming one of the key building blocks of success of the company to achieve both the mission and vision in creating added value and improve business performance and especially the development of their people. A competency model is a tool for the detection and identification of needs for its development. The model's managerial competencies in many organizations have become an important part of human resources management. A competency model describes a specific combination of knowledge, skills, and other personality characteristics. They are necessary for the efficient execution of tasks in the organization. The competencies in a model may be organized in a variety of formats. Managerial competencies are not fixed and should correspond to the needs of the organization.

Conceptual model
The model used in this study was developed to examine the influence of managerial competencies on the business performance in the small business funded by Jordan River Foundation as shown in Figure1.  Venkatraman and Ramanujam (1986); Sethi and King (1994)).

Measurement
To test the main hypothesis of this research, a structured questionnaire instrument was designed for data collection to measure the influence of managerial competencies on the business performance in the small business funded by Jordan River, (See Appendix A). This questionnaire was adopted and combined by investigating previous researches and experts' suggestions. Under the research model, the questionnaires comprised two sections; the first section includes Demographic variables (Marital status, Age, Years of Experience, Qualifications, and Job position) that were measured using ordinal scales. The second section includes Managerial Competencies (communication, planning and organizing, strategic thinking and scenario building, teamwork, customer focus), and business performance (efficiency, sales performance, customer satisfaction). A five-point Likert scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree = 1" to "Strongly Agree = 5" was used to measure the items in the dimensions. The reliability estimates of the study for the various constructs under study are presented in Table (

Sampling and Data Collection
The sample consists of 220 small businesses funded by the Jordan River Foundation. Where 220 questionnaires were distributed to the study population composed of the managers of these businesses, 176 questionnaires with 80% were retrieved and valid to be analyzed.

Characteristics of the Study Sample
The demographic variables of the sample in terms of (social status, age, years of experience, qualifications, job position) was as shown in

Hypotheses Testing Results
To test the study's hypotheses, simple and multiple regression analysis was carried out to determine the effect of managerial competencies on business performance. The result of (H1) in Table 3 showed a statistically significant influence of the managerial competencies (communication, planning and organizing, strategic thinking and scenario building, teamwork, and customer focus) on Business performance. The results of the multiple regression analysis (H11) shown in Table 4 revealed that managerial competencies are significantly correlated to business efficiency, communication has the highest correlation with efficiency (β = 0.38, p = 0.03), followed by planning and organizing management competencies (β = 0.26, p = 0.04). The results of the multiple regression analysis (H12) shown in Table 5 revealed that managerial competencies are significantly correlated to sales performance, customer focus has the highest correlation with sales performance (β = 0.35, p = 0.00), followed by communication management competencies (β = 0.18, p = 0.03), and lastly planning and organizing management competencies (β = 0.16, p = 0.04). The results of the multiple regression analysis (H13) shown in Table 6 revealed that managerial competencies are significantly correlated to customer satisfaction, customer focus has the highest correlation with sales European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905(Paper) ISSN 2222-2839(Online) Vol.12, No.20, 2020 performance (β = 0.19, p = 0.02), followed by communication management competencies (β = 0.18, p = 0.04), and lastly teamwork management competencies (β = 0.16, p = 0.04).

Discussion
This study aims to identify the relationship between managerial competencies (communication, planning and organizing, strategic thinking and scenario building, teamwork, and customer focus) and small business performance. The results showed that H1, H11, H12, and H13 are significantly supported. The results showed a statistically significant influence of the managerial competencies (communication, planning and organizing, strategic thinking and scenario building, teamwork, and customer focus) on business performance in the small business funded by the Jordanian River Foundation. This results in similarity with the study of Olawale (2014) that there is a statistically significant relationship between the level of experience and performance. Business owners who have previous work experience before a business establishment significantly perform better than those without prior experience. It also showed a similarity with the study Agota (2014) that modern organizations must be managed with a new attitude of the work of the manager, who must be a leader who can empower staff and cooperate in teams and supporting the result of Petra et al. (2013) which shows a relationship between managerial competencies and organizational performance.
This study also found that the managerial competencies (communication, planning and organizing, strategic