The humane entrepreneurship nexus: bridging sustainable synergies through leadership in Kenya’s SMEs

This study examines the mediating effect of humane entrepreneurship in the interaction between policy and institutional arrangements and socio-ecological value creation among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nairobi County, Kenya.Using a convergent mixed-methods design, the study draws on a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 208 valid SME responses and qualitative key informant interviews.The quantitative analysis used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and a bootstrap mediation analysis, while thematic analysis interpreted and contextualized the qualitative findings.Descriptive results indicate that SMEs exhibit a high level of humane entrepreneurial values, with a mean score of 5.67 (SD = 1.15, n = 208) on a 7-point scale.Bootstrap mediation analysis indicates that humane entrepreneurship significantly mediates the policy-socio-ecological value nexus (indirect effect a × b = .341,95% CI [.206, .482]).Policy arrangements also directly and positively affect both socio-ecological value creation (β = .202,p = .018)and humane entrepreneurship (β = .725,p < .001).The study's primary originality is showing that humane entrepreneurship operates as a "meta-capacity" that statistically links policy arrangements to sustainability outcomes and accounts for about 38% of the total policy effect in the observed-score model.The interviews illustrate mechanisms for translating policy paperwork into practice, relying on informal networks and filling regulatory gaps as adaptive strategies entrepreneurs adopt to cope with institutional fragmentation and implementation gaps.Theoretically, the findings suggest that perceived institutional support is associated with deeper-level ethical orientations, extending institutional theory at the firm level.The findings suggest that sustainability interventions are more likely to succeed when they account for the development of humane values, ethical leadership, and stakeholder involvement, which could be explicitly included in formal training and ecosystem support mechanisms to help transform institutional resources into socio-ecological value.