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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Exploring the Impact of Employee Competencies on Firm Performance in Manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia: A Dynamic Capabilities View

Liu Zongyuan, Harcharanjit Singh A/L Mahinder Singh, Zhang Jiale

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v15-i1/24209

Open access

Organizational agility (OA) is a crucial capability for SMEs to respond to the ever-changing external business environment. Although the human side is one of the key enablers of OA, especially competencies possessed by employees, which seems to be rarely explored in SMEs context. This study investigates the relationship between employee competencies (EC), OA, and firm performance (FP) through the lens of the dynamic capabilities view. Using data from 313 manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia and employing PLS-SEM, the proposed model was tested. The findings support the proposed hypotheses, confirming the positive impact of EC on FP and the mediating role of OA in the EC-FP relationship.