MEDIATING ROLE OF STRATEGIC INNOVATIVENESS ON ENTERPRISES IN AN EMERGING MARKET

Enterprises that exhibit strategic innovativeness have a potential competitive advantage over their competitors. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of strategic innovativeness on enterprises. This study investigated the interplay of human capital, strategic innovativeness and performance. Based on responses of 115 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Malaysia, this study examined the mediating role of strategic innovativeness on the relationship between human capital and performance of Malaysian MSMEs. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using partial least squares (PLS) approach. Subsequently, the mediating analysis was conducted using the PROCESS macro. Empirical evidence analyzed in this study suggests that strategic innovativeness mediates the relationship between human capital and performance of MSMEs in Malaysia. This study provides new evidence in the important area of innovativeness of Malaysian micro, small and medium enterprises.