Are SME Owner-Managers Entrepreneurs? Evidence from Ghana

Abstract

This study seeks to examine whether SME owner-managers are entrepreneurs. This is a particularly essential question in light of the term ‘entrepreneur,’ being ‘loosely’ used in most entrepreneurial studies to refer to SME owner-managers. The study adopts Covin and Slevin’s entrepreneurial orientation concept. The concept presents a good scale (comprising risk-taking, innovativeness and proactiveness) for measuring an SME owner-manager’s entrepreneurial ability. Using a systematic sampling approach the study interviewed 300 SME owner mangers in Accra, Ghana in various sectors such as services, trade, manufacturing and agro-processing. The study found that SME owner-managers are not innovative and do not take risks although very proactive. Consequently, this study concludes that SME owner-managers are not entrepreneurially oriented and as such cannot be labelled as entrepreneurs. Appropriately, they should be labelled as businesspersons.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneur, SME owner-manager, risk-taking, innovativeness and proactiveness.