Global Journal of Management and Business Research, A: Administration and Management, Volume 22 Issue 7

There is also an expanding literature among the scholars which explores the theory of social capital and its relation to firm's performance (Appiah-Gyimah, 2018;Criado-Gomis et al., 2017; Hernández ‐ Carrión et al., 2017). Studies state that through social capital, individuals in a business network can harness their resources to create competitive advantages over other businesses. Accordingly, all firms are always searching for business strategies that can generate a competitive edge over rivals. Previously, firms become successful by having good managers, clear division of labor and well-designed procedures. But as has been observed by (Appiah-Gyimah, 2018), these orthodox techniques are quickly becoming obsolete in the current world of dynamic businesses. Consequently, social capital is becoming relevant. The business market is now changing very fast. Businesses need leaders or owners who are innovative, creative, and critical thinkers. The leaders also need to think independently and to establish business relations that will lead to collaboration. The benefits associated with the growth of SMEs to the local Nigerian economy are increasing each year. Stam (2014) also indicated that; social capital indirectly affects firms' performance by giving the business owners access to competitive abilities, access to information, legitimacy, emotional support, and capital inform of finances. Social capital is also known to enhance the internal resources of a business. Introduction of capacity development strategies such as financial management, human resource and talent development as well as information management system have a direct connection with organization performance. For example, financial management is defined as the process of managing different financial resources to ensure profit maximization goal is attained (Boma, 2018). Its goal is to ensure that available financial resources are utilized to maximize the outcomes of business. It therefore means that capacity development has a great effect on entrepreneurial orientation towards business performance. Organizational performance can mostly be improved by training the employees and system automation that helps to increase employees’ motivation levels (Serrat, 2017). This study empirically demonstrates how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) affects Business Performance (BF), in the context of Social capital and capability development in Nigeria. II. L iterature R eview a) The evolvement of the Entrepreneurial Orientation Entrepreneurial orientation is defined as the behaviors, structures, and processes of an organization characterized by risk-taking, being proactive, and innovativeness. It is a crucial concept applied by business leaders in creating strategies to venture into novel things and take up opportunities out of the rich of other organizations (Bonillo, 2017; Lumpkin and Dess 1996). The term entrepreneurial orientation became famous with growing literature on organizational performance and entrepreneurship in the 1980s. But up to the early 2000s, researchers yet have divergent opinions on what constitutes entrepreneurship, let alone entrepreneurial orientation. George & Marino (2011) however argued, this disagreement was due to the weakness in measuring variables that the researchers used, but even with this struggle, the progress in the field of entrepreneurship research has been promising. Furthermore, Dess & Lumpkin (2005) defined entrepreneurial orientation as the process that organizations use in creating strategies for entrepreneurial and decision undertakings. Entrepreneurial orientation has borrowed a lot from other disciplines, including entrepreneurship and strategic decision making. Studies like that of Wiklund Patzelt & Shepherd (2009) have shown that the firms that go the EO way are faced with several issues. Most of the problems that these firms face are in the form of scarce resources and risk-taking. There are always significant problems associated with risk-taking with a limited amount of resources. Therefore, Wiklund Patzelt & Shepherd (2009) indicated that it is not sufficient to have the mere knowledge of the negative and positive effect of firm performance. Estimating the expected magnitude of the use of EO on a business’s performance is also crucial. In addition, a 2012 study on Strategic Entrepreneurial Orientation: Development of a Multi- Dimensional Construct, the researcher highlighted that courses in the fields of organizational strategy and entrepreneurship have, in most cases, developed to separate from each other without collaborations. The two disciplines are focused on two different but related paths. Strategic management focuses on moves that bring about good behavior while entrepreneurship focuses on activities that create opportunities. b) Social capital Theory The concept of social capital was appreciated in the academic field and policy debates in the last two decades (Dubos, 2017). Over the years, the importance of social capital has increased in deciphering social and economic phenomena. Development experts and social scientists have, for years, struggled to explain why development and economic growth often differ across nations or geographical areas that have roughly equal access to market, resources, and technology. The main argument supporting Social Capital Theory is that embedded and innate in the specific network ties of various social entities are resources, which can be used to the advantage of the individual entity for the achievement of desired goals or The Moderating Factor of Social Capital and Capability Development as Entrepreneurial Orientation Enablers for SMEs Business Performance in Nigeria 42 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue VII Version I Year 2022 ( ) A © 2022 Global Journals