Volume 12, Issue 9 (September 2025), Pages: 90-99
----------------------------------------------
Original Research Paper
Exploring the mediating effect of customer pressure and competitive pressure on the relationship between social entrepreneurship and competitive agility
Author(s):
Firas Rifai *
Affiliation(s):
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Business, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Full text
Full Text - PDF
* Corresponding Author.
Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8641-4121
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.09.008
Abstract
Organizations operate in dynamic and unstable markets, facing pressures from clients to meet their demands and from competitors striving for greater market share. To succeed, organizations must exhibit agility and resilience. This study explores the mediating role of competitive and consumer pressures in the relationship between social entrepreneurship, comprising innovation, social impact, stakeholder engagement, resource mobilization, adaptability, and flexibility, and competitive agility. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected from 374 faculty and administrative staff members at Jordanian universities through a self-administered questionnaire. The findings indicate that social entrepreneurship positively influences competitive agility and that both competitive and consumer pressures mediate this relationship. These pressures drive organizations to explore social entrepreneurship opportunities, enhancing their ability to remain agile and resilient in volatile market conditions. This study contributes to the literature by examining the link between social entrepreneurship and competitive agility in academic institutions, emphasizing the mediating effects of competitor and consumer pressures.
© 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords
Social entrepreneurship, Competitive agility, Consumer pressure, Competitive pressure, Academic institutions
Article history
Received 23 October 2024, Received in revised form 18 February 2025, Accepted 9 August 2025
Acknowledgment
No Acknowledgment.
Compliance with ethical standards
Ethical considerations
The study was conducted in accordance with ethical research standards. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained from all respondents through an online consent prompt prior to completing the questionnaire. Respondents were assured of anonymity and confidentiality, and the collected data were used solely for academic purposes. No personal identifiers were recorded, and participants retained the right to withdraw at any stage.
Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Citation:
Rifai F (2025). Exploring the mediating effect of customer pressure and competitive pressure on the relationship between social entrepreneurship and competitive agility. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(9): 90-99
Permanent Link to this page
Figures
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
Tables
Table 1 Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Table 5
Table 6
----------------------------------------------
References (32)
- Adams D, Donovan J, and Topple C (2023). Sustainability in large food and beverage companies and their supply chains: An investigation into key drivers and barriers affecting sustainability strategies. Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(4): 1451-1463. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3198
[Google Scholar]
- Alkire L, Mooney C, Gur FA, Kabadayi S, Renko M, and Vink J (2020). Transformative service research, service design, and social entrepreneurship: An interdisciplinary framework advancing wellbeing and social impact. Journal of Service Management, 31(1): 24-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-05-2019-0139
[Google Scholar]
- Al-Omoush K, Ribeiro-Navarrete B, and McDowell WC (2024b). The impact of digital corporate social responsibility on social entrepreneurship and organizational resilience. Management Decision, 62(8): 2621-2640. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2022-1613
[Google Scholar]
- Al-Omoush KS (2022). Understanding the impact of intellectual capital on E-business entrepreneurial orientation and competitive agility: An empirical study. Information Systems Frontiers, 24(2): 549-562. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-020-10092-7
[Google Scholar]
- Al-Omoush KS, Garcia-Monleon F, and Iglesias JMM (2024a). Exploring the interaction between big data analytics, frugal innovation, and competitive agility: The mediating role of organizational learning. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 200: 123188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.123188
[Google Scholar]
- Amini M and Rahmani A (2023). How strategic agility affects the competitive capabilities of private banks. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 10: 8397-8406.
[Google Scholar]
- Arias-Pérez J, Chacón-Henao J, and López-Zapata E (2023). Unlocking agility: Trapped in the antagonism between co-innovation in digital platforms, business analytics capability and external pressure for AI adoption? Business Process Management Journal, 29(6): 1791-1809. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-10-2022-0484
[Google Scholar]
- Auwal AM, Mohamed Z, Nasir Shamsudin M, Sharifuddin J, and Ali F (2020). External pressure influence on entrepreneurship performance of SMEs: A case study of the Malaysian herbal industry. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 32(2): 149-171. https://doi.org/10.1080/08276331.2018.1509504
[Google Scholar]
- Botha M and Taljaard A (2019). The bidirectional relationship between entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial competencies for nascent and existing entrepreneurs. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 22(1): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v22i1.2230
[Google Scholar]
- Boubaker S, Dang VA, and Sassi S (2022). Competitive pressure and firm investment efficiency: Evidence from corporate employment decisions. European Financial Management, 28(1): 113-161. https://doi.org/10.1111/eufm.12335
[Google Scholar]
- Cho M and Yoo JJE (2021). Customer pressure and restaurant employee green creative behavior: Serial mediation effects of restaurant ethical standards and employee green passion. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(12): 4505-4525. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2021-0697
[Google Scholar]
- Drencheva A, Stephan U, and Patterson MG (2022). Whom to ask for feedback: Insights for resource mobilization from social entrepreneurship. Business and Society, 61(7): 1725-1772. https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503211057497
[Google Scholar]
- Gidda DW (2021). Organisational agility of social enterprises: A phenomenological study of microfinance institutions in Ethiopia. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
[Google Scholar]
- Homsi D, Hashem TN, and Freihat SM (2020). How can entrepreneurial marketing promote the entrepreneurship culture in an organization: Case of banking sector in Jordan. Innovative Marketing, 16(1): 29-42. https://doi.org/10.21511/im.16(1).2020.04
[Google Scholar]
- Hu LT and Bentler PM (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural equation modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1): 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
[Google Scholar]
- Jan BK and Maulida M (2022). The role of leaders' motivation, entrepreneurial leadership, and organisational agility in social enterprise sustainability. The South East Asian Journal of Management, 16(2): 97-118. https://doi.org/10.21002/seam.v16i2.1167
[Google Scholar]
- Kishnani N (2022). Agility and resilience in social enterprises: A case study approach. SAMVAD, 23: 65-74. https://doi.org/10.53739/samvad/2021/v23/166568
[Google Scholar]
- Lorenzo-Afable D, Lips-Wiersma M, and Singh S (2020). 'Social' value creation as care: The perspective of beneficiaries in social entrepreneurship. Social Enterprise Journal, 16(3): 339-360. https://doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-11-2019-0082
[Google Scholar]
- MacCallum RC, Browne MW, and Sugawara HM (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods, 1(2): 130-149. https://doi.org/10.1037//1082-989X.1.2.130
[Google Scholar]
- Nkwei ES, Rambe P, and Simba A (2023). Entrepreneurial intention: The role of the perceived benefits of digital technology. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 26(1): a4936. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v26i1.4936
[Google Scholar]
- Ntsane T (2021). The contribution of IT-enabled dynamic capabilities towards social entrepreneurship business models. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
[Google Scholar]
- Onjewu AKE, Jafari-Sadeghi V, Kock N, Haddoud MY, and Sakka G (2023). The catalyzing role of customer pressure on environmental initiatives and export intensity: A study of family firms. Journal of Business Research, 166: 114134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114134
[Google Scholar]
- Rosca E, Agarwal N, and Brem A (2020). Women entrepreneurs as agents of change: A comparative analysis of social entrepreneurship processes in emerging markets. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 157: 120067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120067
[Google Scholar]
- Scuotto A, Cicellin M, and Consiglio S (2023). Social bricolage and business model innovation: A framework for social entrepreneurship organizations. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 30(2): 234-267. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-02-2022-0094
[Google Scholar]
- Sekaran U and Bougie R (2016). Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, USA.
[Google Scholar]
- Shevlin M and Miles JN (1998). Effects of sample size, model specification and factor loadings on the GFI in confirmatory factor analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 25(1): 85-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00055-5
[Google Scholar]
- Tabachnick BG and Fidell LS (2001). Using multivariate statistics. 4th Edition, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, USA.
[Google Scholar]
- Taylor KM and Rosca E (2023). Sink, swim, or drift: How social enterprises use supply chain social capital to balance tensions between impact and viability. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 59(2): 62-86. https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12295
[Google Scholar]
- Tsai JM and Lu TE (2023). Is brand reputation a banner for social marketing? A social enterprise product consumption perspective. Psychology and Marketing, 40(10): 2041-2059. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21870
[Google Scholar]
- Velázquez NM and Bielous GD (2019). Determinants of innovative social entrepreneurship: A case study of a Mexican social organization. Revista Brasileira de Inovação, 18(02): 223-248. https://doi.org/10.20396/rbi.v18i2.8652176
[Google Scholar]
- Wibowo MA (2022). The approach of social innovation agility: A dynamic capability strategy. Calitatea, 23(188): 1-8. https://doi.org/10.47750/QAS/23.188.01
[Google Scholar]
- Yusuf M, Surya B, Menne F, Ruslan M, Suriani S, and Iskandar I (2022). Business agility and competitive advantage of SMEs in Makassar City, Indonesia. Sustainability, 15(1): 627. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010627
[Google Scholar]
|