Managerial competence and non-performance of small firms in a developing economy

Abstract

Executives of small firms in developing economies have the competences to make their firms competitive. Their inability to use their competences to simultaneously attain efficiency and effectiveness in managing their workplaces render them noncompetitive. This observation is made following a study that examines the competence challenges of executives of small firms and their non-performance in the Ghanaian industrial environment. Data were collected by surveying 72 executives using questionnaires. The result shows that executives of small firms in Ghana possess the managerial competences and behaviors to enhance the performances of their firms. The executives show a high level of autonomy and influence on the work they manage by appreciably combining their operant competences and their organizational citizenship behaviors. Yet still, despite the executives exhibiting competence and organizational behavior attributes, these characteristics appear not to have positive impacts on their performances toward making their firms competitive. For the executives to be efficient, they should have the capability to use their managerial competences for conducting research optimally (i.e., without wastage) in order to achieve organizational goals. Also, for executives to be effective, they should have the capability to use their requisite competences in carrying out research to complement their other managerial competences toward attaining the firm’s set goals.