Entrepreneurial Agility as a Moderator Between E-Business Model Innovation and Competitive Advantage: Evidence from the Hypermarket Industry in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

This research examine entrepreneurial agility as a moderator between e-business model innovation and competitive advantage: Evidence from the hypermarket industry in port-Harcourt, using a cross-sectional survey. Five hundred and sixty-four (564) workers were taken from 25 hypermarket stores in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. This study adopted the questionnaire method for data collection. Structural equation modelling was adopted for hypothesis analysis. Prior to this, validity and reliability were evaluated using the outer model evaluation in order to verify that the collected data met the fitness criteria. The blue ocean theory and generic strategies theory were used to support the study variables. The study result revealed that entrepreneurial agility moderates the relationship between e-business model innovation and competitive advantage. The research concludes that e-business model innovation, if properly designed and deployed for the firm's performance enhancement, would likely lead to sustainable competitive advantage of hypermarket businesses in Port-Harcourt. A main implication of this study is that Hypermarket owners and practitioners in Port-Harcourt must go beyond adopting digital tools to integrating entrepreneurial agility in their strategic and operational framework to avoid stagnancy and being less competitive in an intensely competitive hypermarket industry. The uniqueness and originality of this research springs from the fact that no research has predicted competitive advantage through e-business model innovation in the hypermarket industry. However, Future investigations should adopt other moderating variables and longitudinal surveys to pinpoint loopholes in the present research.