EXAMINING THE MODERATING EFFECT OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORT ON ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND SMES' PERFORMANCE POST COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN SUKKUR

Abstract

The current study examined how government support policies (GSPs) moderated the correlation among entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the output of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) post COVID-19 pandemic in Sukkur region. Quantitative research of 200 SME owners /managers was conducted by following a structured questionnaire and systematic sampling design. Descriptive statistics concluded the respondent demographics, and multiple regression analysis examined the hypotheses at a 5% significance level. The output explores that four EO dimensions – innovativeness, risk-taking, aggressiveness and autonomy. Each of them had significant positive impacts on SME performance (all p<.001), whereas pro-activeness had no significant effect (β=0.021, p=.139). Government support policy also had a strong and positive impact on performance (β=0.340, p<.001) and significantly intensified (moderated) the EO– SMEs performance link for all dimensions except pro-activeness. Findings of the study offers that fostering an entrepreneur’s mindset especially innovativeness, risk-taking, aggressiveness, and autonomy is critical for Small Medium Enterprises success during crises, and that personalized government interventions can increase these effects.