The Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Alertness, Firm’s Outcomes, and SME-Specific Factors

This study focuses on the cognitive abilities of managers and examines the effect of entrepreneurial alertness (EA) of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) managers on the quality of strategic decision-making and firm performance under uncertain environmental conditions. This study also sheds light on the antecedents of EA that are crucial for SMEs by focusing on the nuances of socio-emotional wealth (SEW) arising from business succession. The results of structural equation modeling based on a questionnaire survey of SMEs in Japan, where the society is aging rapidly and the business succession situation is becoming more serious, show that EA is positively related to the quality of strategic decision-making and firm performance. However, managers’ intrafamilial business succession attributes affect EA negatively and are positively moderated when social capital is formed within families. These findings contribute to the theoretical development of EA by extending the scope of study. Additionally, the findings provide a practical perspective by clarifying the nuances of business succession, which can be problematic for many firms.