Fortifying Small Business Performance Sustainability In The Era of IR 4.0: E-Marketing as a Catalyst of Competitive Advantages and Business Performance

Abstract

he era of IR 4.0 leads to myriad challenges to business performance, including small businesses. Small businesses play critical concerns in internal and external market development. However, they still record high unsustainability issue. In order to understand the diverse factors that may lead to this issue, business performance sustainability is always associated with Resource-Based View (RBV) Theory. RBV exemplified the engagement of resources and capabilities in the firm which can produce competitive advantage and ultimately guarantee to extend business performance. In consolidating this theory, this paper aims to analyse the direct effects between e-Marketing usage and competitive advantage, together with the direct links between competitive advantage and small business sustainability. Different to prior works, this study also identifies the indirect effects of competitive advantage in the relationship between e-Marketing usage and small business sustainability. The data of 300 small businesses from diverse industries were collected via purposive sampling and had been analysed using a structural equation model and path analysis via computer-aided systems. The findings advocate that the good fitting tests confirm the model of the research where the paths of e-Marketing usage, competitive advantage and small business sustainability were significantly connected. In addition, competitive advantage is found to be the mediator in the relationship between e-Marketing usage and small business sustainability. This current study shed light by providing critical alert to the authorities on the importance of small businesses to employ e-Marketing since it generates competitive edge and firm outstanding in order to face inevitable challenges of IR 4.0 era.