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

organization’s business agenda and may even lead to its extinction. Especially in a volatile and frequently changing business environment, which necessitates the adoption of a management strategy that will position the firm for competitive advantage (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996; Martins & Rialp, 2011; Covin & Slevin, 1989: Cao, Simsek, & Jansen, 2015) the entrepreneur’s ability to acquire leading strategic information and resources through his relationships positively affect the firm’s business performance. Further, the study sought to test the following hypothesis (dependent vs. moderating variables - Social Capital); H 2 : The moderating effect of social capital will enhance the positive relationship between EO and BP. f) The relationship between Capability Development of the entrepreneur and Business Performance Businesses operate in a dynamic and unpredictable environment, these dynamics lead them to revise their routines due to the volatility of the environment (March, 1991). The new routines that the firms develop form the foundation of their knowledge bases. However, along with these new capabilities, the firm also develops the capacity to change routines and integrate them into their operations. The capability that a business owner possess will play a pivotal role in the business success or failure especially in a period of rapid change and disruptions. We measured Capability Development using a 5 point Likert scale adapted from Madsen, E.L. (2012) Further, the study sought to test the following hypothesis (dependent vs. moderating variables – capability development); H 3 : The relationship between EO and BP will be strengthened by capability development as a moderator. Due to the connection between SC and CD towards business performance, Criado-Gomis et al. (2017) assert the essence of the relationship between social capital and capability development as effectors towards boosting enterprise performance leading to the fourth hypothesis: H 4 : The combined effect of social capital and capability development as moderators can enhance business performance III. M ethodology Research philosophy refers to assumptions and beliefs about the development of knowledge (Wahyuni, 2012). The effect of new knowledge is not as dramatic as developing a new theory of human motivation but in the sense of answering specific queries. According to Killam (2013), knowingly or not, a researcher makes several assumptions in areas such as epistemology, ontology, and axiology. Epistemology deals with human knowledge. Ontology deals with the realities that a researcher encounters during the research process, and axiology deals with the ways and extent of researchers' values on the research process. The three assumptions are said to be contributing factors in influencing the understanding of the research questions. This study chooses to go the pluralism way decided by several philosophies. Each of the research philosophies is useful in its measure. These are ontology, epistemology, and axiology. a) Ontological perspective This work researched the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on firm’s performance and the moderating role of social capital and capacity development, this study uses both the subjective and objective ontological perspectives. The Ontology of the researcher is focused on the nature of its reality (Ward Sr, 2015; Kivunja, 2017). The assumption affects how the researcher sees and studies the research object. It is a proven fact that some scholars think that the ontological perspective is far removed from the intended research project. The ontological question enables researchers to set a fact-finding mission about the views or what is already known (Adil & Khalid, 2016). In this study, and from the assumption above, business performance is greatly influenced by entrepreneurial orientation, especially through social capital and capability development. Therefore, when viewed subjectively, the social phenomena (business performance) are intrinsically determined by the entrepreneurial orientation factors, i.e., social capital and capability development. Objectivism accommodate the assumptions in natural sciences claiming that the social reality that researchers investigate is that of external actors (MacLeod, 2015). In other words, objectivism endorses the assumption of ontology. By extension, this is because ontology portrays social reality to be composed of physical entities as part of the natural world. The two exist separately in terms of how a researcher labels them, thinks or knows about them. Objectivism is at the direst form of belief which asserts that all actors share in the only existing way of social reality. That is caused by the experiences and expectations of the social actors that have no influence on the social world's presence. Subjectivism on the other hand, integrates humanities and arts assumptions, claiming that social reality is caused by human perception and the actors' implications in the social environment (MacLeod, 2015). The main social actors that shape reality are human beings. The viewpoint of ontology through subjectivism is called conventionalism, which is what is regarded as standard. The extremist form of conventionalism considers the structures and order of things in social reality areas due to researchers and other social actors' The Moderating Factor of Social Capital and Capability Development as Entrepreneurial Orientation Enablers for SMEs Business Performance in Nigeria 44 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue VII Version I Year 2022 ( ) A © 2022 Global Journals