Entrepreneurial Strategies for Sustainable Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Unprecedent Times

Abstract

This chapter aims at examining the effect of entrepreneurial strategies on the sustainable performance of SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe. The target population of the study was 3000 manufacturing SMEs in Harare. Data were drawn from a sample of 302 manufacturing SMEs using cross-sectional primary data collected from Harare. The chapter employed both descriptive and inferential statistics to estimate the effect of entrepreneurial strategies on sustainable performance. The results revealed that entrepreneurial marketing strategy, strategic partnerships, technological innovation, and business model innovation are positively and significantly related to sustainable performance. Hence, the chapter concludes that SMEs need to employ sustainable entrepreneurial strategies to enhance their survival in a rapidly changing marketing environment. SMEs with a strong orientation towards entrepreneurial orientation have better sustainable performance in developing countries. The major limitation of the chapter is that it focuses only on manufacturing SMEs in Harare, Zimbabwe.