The contribution of social media competencies and privacy in catalyzing the sustainable performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda

Purpose The purpose of this study is to establish whether social media competencies and privacy matter for sustainable performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach The study is cross-sectional and adopted a mixed-methods design. Data were gathered from 245 SMEs under Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) operating in the central region of Uganda using a self-administered questionnaire; a semi-structured interview guide on other hand was used to gather views from UMA coordinators and administrators. Statistical Package for Social Sciences and ATLAS.ti supported data analysis. Findings Study results indicate that social media competencies and privacy matter for sustainable performance of SMEs in Uganda. However, social media privacy matters more than social media competencies. Practical implications Government ministries, departments and agencies such as National Information Technology Authority-Uganda should create a social media privacy guide and laws that will enable the business community to confidently use social media for sustainable growth of their businesses. Likewise, private organizations like UMA should invest in the SME fraternity by providing entrepreneurs with training opportunities to unlock their social media soft and technical skills needed to fully integrate social media into the operations of the SMEs for sustainable performance in Uganda. Originality/value Study findings demonstrated that social media competencies and social media privacy matter for increased sustainable performance of SMEs unlike previous studies that have investigated the two predictors independently.