Do innovation and proactiveness impact the business performance of women-owned small and medium-scale enterprises in Vietnam? A study using the PLS-SEM approach

Purpose: This study aims to identify and evaluate the relationship between factors and the business performance of women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam focusing on the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation factors such as innovation, risk-taking and proactiveness. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data were obtained from 350 female entrepreneurs of SMEs in Vietnam using a structured questionnaire. The partial least squares structural equation modeling method (PLS-SEM) was applied to find the cause-and-effect relationship between exogenous and endogenous variables. Findings: The results show that the business capacity of business owners, the quality of human resources, access to finance, social capital, entrepreneurial orientation and government policies positively impact the enterprise's business performance. The relationship between the three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation and business performance is examined. In detail, proactiveness and innovation have a positive relationship while risk-taking negatively affects the business performance of women-owned SMEs. Conclusion: The study has shown the factors affecting the business performance of women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam and at the same time proved that EO is a multidimensional concept when the dimensions of EO tend to have different effects on business performance. Research


INTRODUCTION
Women-owned businesses have made an outstanding contribution to the development of each country. Recent studies show that women-owned enterprises tend to increase in number faster than men -owned enterprises (Mwale & Phiri, 2022). Women entrepreneurs account for about 43% of all entrepreneurs globally and about 36% of businesses are led by women (Indah, 2022). Women-owned enterprises make outstanding contributions to

The Relationship between Social Capital and PB of Enterprises
Social capital is the tangible or intangible resources accumulated by an individual or group owning a sustainable network of institutionalized relationships with more or less acquaintance and recognition of each other (Bourdieu, 1986). The concept of Bourdieu's social capital is based on the acknowledgment that capital is not only economic and social exchange. It allows a person to promote strength for groups or individuals to mobilize resources. In contrast, Putnam (1995) considered social capital a public commodity, potential, involvement, citizen orientation and faith in others available in cities, states or nations. This is contrary to Bourdieu's theory of social capital. In Putnam's social ideas, social capital is raised from a feature of individuals into a feature of a large population. Social capital has become a collective feature that operates at a general level. Putnam has argued that social capital is the amount of trust available and is the leading stock typical of the political culture of modern societies. For Putnam (1995), social capital refers to the characteristics of social organizations, such as networks, standards and beliefs that facilitate action and cooperation that are mutually beneficial. Putnam (1995) and Coleman (2007) believe that social capital is a quality that promotes cooperation between individuals. From Putnam's point of view, such a feature can be considered a synthetic feature that can automatically compare cities, regions and even countries. In this article, the author is based on Putnam's perspective which is the network, standards and social beliefs that create conditions for coordination and cooperation for the common benefit of modern society. The social capital theory focuses on knowledge, information sources and resources achieved through social links. These factors can help business owners recognize opportunities in production and business (Dharmaratne, 2013;Miri Lerner & Almor, 2002). Social capital only appears when there is a link between individuals, groups and organizations (Santarelli & Tran, 2013). The greater the social capital, the higher the ability to access the information of customers, suppliers, rivals and the law of the business and that is also the potential for the performance of that business (Hasan & Almubarak, 2016;Loan, 2018).
In the context of research in Vietnam, it was found that network relationships significantly influence enterprises' operations and business performance. According to a report by VCCI (2021), some of the top difficulties womenowned businesses face are finding customers, loans and suppliers. This can be due to many reasons such as female entrepreneurs still need to build a business network. A social network connecting with stakeholders lead to more favorable performance and growth for the company especially when the institutional context in Vietnam continues to grow. Therefore, the author proposes the following hypothesis: Hypothesis H3: Social capital has a positive impact on the PB of enterprises.

The Relationship between Human Resource Quality and PB
Resource-based theory (RBT) indicates that a firm's sustainable competitive advantage stems from its valuable, rare, inimitable and irreplaceable resources (Barney, 2001). Human resources, including education level, experience, intelligence, judgment ability, knowledge and skills are considered to be the factors that have the most differences and uniqueness creating an advantage for enterprises. In addition to the owner's competencies, the quality of employees in the firm also plays an essential role in the development of the enterprise (Aruna & Sunil, 2020). A meta-analysis by Crook, Todd, Combs, Woehr, and Ketchen (2011) demonstrates that the workforce's knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA) can lead to competitive advantage. An enterprise has many advantages in capital resources, modern machinery and technology, without qualified people capable of exploiting these resources; it is unlikely to achieve development desired. Among resources, human resources with the characteristics of intelligence and gray matter have the advantage of not being exhausted if they know how to nurture, exploit and use them rationally. In contrast, other resources are limited factors and can only be effective when there is a good combination with human resources. Therefore, the labor force and the quality of the workforce are criteria to evaluate the strength of the enterprise (Loan, 2018). Assessing the quality of human resources is often based on employees' knowledge and skills and the workforce's attitude which accounts for a large part of their work efficiency. Suppose an enterprise has a skilled and welltrained workforce with a progressive and hardworking attitude, it will be more able to learn and innovate, thereby creating higher business efficiency. From the above observations, the author hypothesizes: Hypothesis H4: The Quality of human resources in the enterprise positively impacts the enterprise's PB.

Relationship between Financial Access and PB
Working capital is a prerequisite for businesses' production and business activities. Without capital, there would be no production and business activity. Business capital is the basis for enterprises to calculate and plan business strategies and plans (Aruna & Sunil, 2020;Ongachi & Bwisa, 2013). For all businesses, it is necessary to have the minimum amount of capital required by state regulations also known as legal capital regardless of economic sector. This amount of capital depends on the type of enterprise. Working capital helps businesses be productive. In production and business activities, the business capital of an enterprise is constantly increased in proportion to the growth of the production scale, ensuring that the production process is conducted continuously. According to Alene (2020), if the business lacks business capital, it will cause losses such as production stagnation, failure to ensure the implementation of signed contracts with customers and insufficient money to suppliers in time, leading to a loss of trust in the sale and purchase relationship and therefore not keeping customers. Those difficulties will inevitably lead to losses and the bankruptcy of the business. Working capital creates favorable conditions for competition. Business capital is a prerequisite for enterprises to assert their position and a favorable condition for creating competition for enterprises in the market mechanism. In the market mechanism, under the influence of the law of competition and the desire for profit, enterprises must constantly develop their business capital, so the need for business capital is huge (Aruna & Sunil, 2020;Gupta & Mirchandani, 2018). In order to ensure victory in the competition and the existence and development of enterprises, enterprises must actively capture market demand, invest in renewing machinery and equipment and improve technology, product diversification and cost reduction. That requires businesses to have a lot of capital. Capital has become a driving force and an urgent requirement for all businesses. Capital can help enterprises invest in modernizing production, survive in a competitive environment and maximize profits (Aruna & Sunil, 2020). The need for capital to ensure production and business activities for developing new industries has become an urgent requirement for all businesses as well as commercial enterprises. Thus, business capital plays an important role, a prerequisite in enterprises' investment and development processes, creating competitive advantages and standing firmly in the market economy (Loan, 2018;Radzi, Nazri, & Nor, 2017). Most businesses need a huge source of capital to support their production and business activities but these capital sources are mainly borrowed from outside. However, women-owned enterprises often need help accessing external loans compared to men-owned enterprises. There are many reasons for this, but the leading causes include more diminutive size, lower business efficiency, a lack of collateral, a lack of transparency in corporate financial information and limited established relationships with commercial banks and credit institutions (Ongachi & Bwisa, 2013;Ramli & Razali, 2019). In Vietnam, access to credit is one of the most significant barriers for businesses in general and women-owned SMEs in particular. According to the report of VCCI (2021), up to 34.1% of women-owned enterprises face difficulties accessing loans. This leads to women-owned enterprises often having lower business results than men-owned enterprises. However, if there is enough capital, a women-owned enterprise can have business results equal to those of a men-owned enterprise. Hypothesis H5: Access to finance has a positive impact on the business performance of enterprises.

Relationship between Government Policies and PB
There is only one real model of a society functioning without government intervention. The most extreme liberal economists accept that there should be some state protection of property rights and defense spending (Anselah, Moeljadi, & Yuniarsa, 2015). Institutions are man-made "rules of the game" in a society, intended to limit behavior that may be detrimental to society. The essential function of the institutional framework is to reduce transaction costs by reducing opportunism and providing stable expectations for actors in the community by reducing risk and uncertainty. As an integral part of formal institutions, government policies reduce tension and risk, ultimately leading businesses to do what the policies support and encourage (Kamunge, Njeru, & Tirimba, 2014). Zahra and Wright (2011) argue that by strengthening the knowledge base of entrepreneurs through the implementation of public policies (with government intervention), the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development can be reinforced. Similarly, research by Ibrahim and Muritala (2015) finds that government interested in promoting small businesses should consider the impact of government policies and programs on small businesses. Alhnaity et al. (2018) also observe that government regulations on wages, taxes, licensing and other regulations are one of the critical reasons why informal sector business is developing. Government policies can crush the small business sector in any economy without careful attention. Government policies should encourage and promote the development of local technologies. Emphasis should be placed on promoting the local tool industry to reduce import dependence. Small and medium enterprises face the "responsibility of being small" (Ismanu & Kusmintarti, 2020). Due to their size and resource limitations, they cannot develop new technologies or significantly change existing ones. However, there is evidence that SMEs have the potential to initiate small technological innovations to suit their circumstances. However, for SMEs to grow and utilize this potential, they need specific policy measures to ensure the delivery of technology and infrastructure services (Ibrahim & Muritala, 2015). Policy initiators in SME sub-sector revitalization should not be formulated solely by the government, all stakeholders in the development sector should be on the front lines. In order to promote the development of the business system in general and women-owned enterprises in particular, the Vietnamese government has also introduced many policies to support businesses (for example, the Law on Enterprise Support 2020; Information Circular 06/2022/TT-BKHĐT on guiding a number of articles of the government's Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP dated August 26, 2021, detailing and guiding the implementation of the law on financial support for small and medium enterprises). In fact, with the government's support, businesses also have access to more information and resources, reaching more customers. However, the number of businesses (especially women-owned SMEs) that have access to government policies is limited. There are some fundamental reasons leading to this situation such as entrepreneurs themselves do not have time to research policies. In contrast, some policies are complicated and the procedure to receive policy support is relatively cumbersome while the benefits are not great (VCCI, 2021). Therefore, this study suggests that government policies are issued to support and develop businesses sustainably. If enterprises can access government policies, the Vietnamese business system and women-owned SMEs will become stronger. The author proposes the following research hypothesis: Hypothesis H6: Government support policy has a positive impact on the business performance of enterprises.

Scale Design
The authors evaluated the proposed research model (see Figure 1) with the help of a single-respondent crosssectional survey design (Hair, Sarstedt, Hopkins, & Kuppelwieser, 2014). The questionnaire was formulated based on previous studies. The questionnaire has been grouped into three parts: Part 1 (demographic information), part 2 (information on factors affecting the business performance of enterprises) and part 3 (business performance of small and medium-sized enterprises). A five-point Likert scale was used to evaluate the scale where expected responses differ between strongly disagree = 1 and strongly agree = 5. The authors used subjective measurement because it is a common and widely accepted form in business research (Le, Le, & Nguyen, 2022). The authors pretested the questionnaire with the help of 15 industry experts and two academics and asked them about the questionnaire's structure, readability, completeness, validity and ambiguity to ensure validity. The pre-test Cronbach's alpha value for all variables was 0.896.

Sampling and Data Collection
The survey subjects of this study are female directors of SMEs in Vietnam. In this study, the author uses the sample size of Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (2010) : n= 5* m (where m is the total number of independent variables). This study's number of independent variables is 50, so the minimum number of samples is n= 5 * 50 = 250. Usually, in surveys, the results range from 70-80%. Therefore, to ensure the minimum number of valid receipts is 250, the author has distributed 400 survey questionnaires. Instead, this study used a two-step process to evaluate and report results through smart PLS-SEM as Henseler, Ringle, and Sinkovics (2009) recommended. The collected data were analyzed through SEM-PLS. The results obtained were 368 and the number of helpful votes for analysis was 350. The sample's complete demographic profile and business information are given in Table 1 Regarding enterprises, the majority of surveyed enterprises are micro-enterprises with fewer than ten employees and a business capital of less than 3 billion Vietnam Dong (VND) (accounting for 58.8%). The number of enterprises decreases as their size increases. Enterprises operating in commerce accounted for the most significant proportion (50.1%) followed by enterprises operating in tourism services (19.3%). The annual profit of enterprises with profits ranging from 1 to 10 billion dong accounts for 35.3%, while enterprises doing business with losses also account for the same proportion. The loss of less than 10 billion dong accounts for 29.7%. Most enterprises are limited companies with two or more members (accounting for 48.5%) and have operated for 3-5 years (accounting for 36.86%). checked the cross-factor loading values and the Heterotrait-monotrait ratio (HTMT) criterion and the results were also similar. Thus, the discriminant validity of the constructs is assured.

Convergent Validity
According to Fornell and Larcker (1981), the total average variance extracted (AVE) must be equal to or above 0.5 to be satisfactory; the latent variable can explain more than half of its variance with the mean. If AVE is less than 0.5, that latent factor or variable is usually considered to be removed from the research model. The data processing results in Table 2 have shown that the AVE index of all scales is greater than the minimum level of 0.5. Therefore, all 9 research variables have high convergence. In addition, the external load coefficients of the observed variables and the average extracted variance are considered to evaluate the convergence value. The external load coefficient of the observed variables must be statistically significant and be 0.708 or more. This explains that the outcome variables will measure the same concept collectively known as the observed variable's reliability.
The results in Table 3 show that the external load coefficient of the observed variables must be statistically significant and be 0.708 or more. Therefore, the variables in the model satisfy the convergence value criteria.

Evaluation of the Structural Model PLS-SEM
According to Hair et al. (2010) study, the criteria considered to evaluate the reference structure model. The evaluation of the measurement model includes the following contents: (1) Assessing the fit of the model, (2) measuring the R2 coefficient and (3) testing the research hypothesis by the path coefficient and T-value. The thesis tests of consistent PLS-SEM bootstrapping sample size of N = 5000. The proposed hypotheses' p-values < 1%, 5%, and 10% are considered statistically significant at 99%, 95% and 90% confidence. From the estimation results, the evaluation results of the PLS-SEM structural model are as follows: Table 4 shows all predictors' VIF (Variance Inflation Factor) values (Outer VIF Values) below threshold 5. Therefore, collinearity between predictors is acceptable in the structural model and can be continued.

Model Fit Assessment
The Standard root mean square residual (SRMR) and RMS theta index (RMS) are considered to measure the model's fit and the SRMR index is the Goodness of Fit (GoF) index of the PLS-SEM model that can be used to avoid information bias in the model. The SRMR index must be less than 0.08 or 0.1. The results of

Test the Predictive Level of the Structural Model (R2)
The results in Table 6 show that the explanatory level of the adjusted R2 is quite strong (Hair et al., 2010). The explanatory level of factors affecting business performance (BP) is 63.5 (corresponding to an adjusted R2 of 62.5). Thus, to sum up, the independent variables that explain 62.5% of the research dependent variable is the business performance of enterprises. This result is considered quite well.  n/a n/a Chi-square n/a Infinite NFI n/a n/a To see the impact of the independent variables on the dependent variable in the model, we consider the path coefficient and the coefficient f2. As described in chapter 3, the coefficient f2 indicates the degree of influence of the variable when removed from the model. If f2 > 0, the independent variable has a potentially suitable prediction for the dependent variable. Corresponding to a coefficient f equal to 0.02 is the low probability, 0.15 is the medium probability and 0.35 is the high probability. The influence coefficient f2 is shown in Table 7 indicating that the explanatory level of the independent variables for the dependent variable is relatively low.

DISCUSSING RESEARCH RESULTS
First, access to finance has the most significant influence on the business performance of women-owned SMEs. This result is similar to the studies of Nuong and Anh (2017); Aruna and Sunil (2020) and Smitha and Mendon (2019). Capital is a significant factor for businesses because no business is without capital (Wiklund & Shepherd, 2005). However, most businesses need to mobilize capital from outside to invest in technology, machinery, equipment and training activities. Therefore, financial institutions and the government need timely support to help businesses access capital for business activities.
Capital is the most critical factor affecting the business performance of enterprises and reality shows that access to capital is one of the biggest obstacles for women-owned businesses. Some other reasons from the business side lead to difficulty accessing finance: Firstly, women-owned SMEs also have difficulty meeting conditions related to collateral assets according to the general regulations of the commercial banking system. Second, women-owned SMEs still need more information on accessing bank loans and the capacity to prepare loan documents, loan processes and loan procedures for commercial banks. Thirdly, women-owned SMEs often need to be updated and information needs to be more transparent. This leads to difficulties in appraising loan documents for womenowned SMEs at commercial banks. Next, the entrepreneurial competencies of owners have the second most positive impact on business performance. The study's results indicate that the ability to recognize and take advantage of business opportunities also plays a significant role for entrepreneurs. This finding is consistent with the research results of Shane and Venkataraman (2012) that recognizing and pursuing business opportunities is the most basic competence of business people. Accordingly, an entrepreneur's ability to recognize opportunities is reflected in the fact that he or she can accurately recognize potential customers and the problems that customers need to be solved. Next, research shows that hard work and determination significantly impact business performance. This finding once again confirms that more than the innate capacity of entrepreneurs is needed; entrepreneurs need to have high effort and determination to successfully manage a business (Roy et al., 2017). Social capital has the third strongest impact on business performance of enterprises. In this study, the importance of entrepreneurial networking has been confirmed in previous qualitative research. This result is similar to Tam (2021) and Lerner and Hisrich (1997) research results. Research results also show that networking has helped businesses access helpful information such as market information, financial sources, suppliers and customers. However, women entrepreneurs also admit that compared to their men counterparts, they still need to work on building networks because most of the existing ones are dominated by men. If women entrepreneurs are welcome in these networks, they are less likely to participate in group and network activities since most networking occurs after regular business hours. The research results are similar to the study of Ukwueze (2022) which shows that women are more disadvantaged than men in business activities because they have to take on more housework; Specifically, the study showed that up to 33.1% of women admitted to being in charge of the housework while this figure for men was only 2.4%. Furthermore, most women business owners still view their companies as discrete entities and seek advantages gained through competitive rather than cooperative behavior. Several studies describe women as more effective at networking. They like to network with people they feel comfortable with and trust (Farr-Wharton & Brunetto, 2007). A necessary explanation could be cultural influences. Based on the cultural aspects of Hofstede (2001), Vietnamese culture is collectivist, so they see loyalty to family and work organizations as the foundation for social acceptance. Business people in such a society will greatly benefit from building strong relationships with their families and other stakeholders involved in the operation of the business. The quality of human resources has a positive impact on the business performance of enterprises. This result is similar to the research results of Anh et al. (2021); Duy and Hung (2017); Nuong and Anh (2017); Tiep and Huong (2019) and Aruna and Sunil (2020). This result shows that in addition to the business owner's capacity, any business needs a high-quality workforce to support the business owner in implementing the policies and the organizations activities. Businesses that have a workforce with good knowledge, skills and attitudes will have high job quality. The more skilled and experienced workers who work hard to learn and share in their work, the enterprise's business performance will be higher because the school equips learners with basic knowledge about the career field that workers will pursue later, especially since the school equips learners with the ability to learn for life. Therefore, when working in the enterprise, the knowledge learned at school only meets a part of the job; the employees must be retrained and self-study through exchanges with other members. That is how other company members can greatly contribute to the business. Quantitative research results show that the quality of human resources in women-owned SMEs in Vietnam is low. This reflects the fact that current workers have a high level of education but need more practical knowledge and capacity. There are many reasons but one important reason is the current higher education and vocational training institutions. However, they have balanced the curricula to ensure that learning goes hand in hand with practice for students; in fact, they still tend to impart knowledge with little practical application. Government policy has a significant influence on the business performance of enterprises. The results of this study are similar to those of Nuong and Anh (2017); Lerner and Hisrich (1997) and Alene (2020). Government policy impacts business performance with a coefficient β = 0.156. Thus, it can be seen that government policies impact enterprises' business performance but the degree of influence is not great. Many reasons can explain this problem; firstly, policies are issued but accessing support from those policies requires a lot of cumbersome, time-consuming procedures that benefit the most. Many businesses are discouraged and do not carry out the necessary procedures to enjoy the government's support policies; secondly, many businesses have not fully updated the policies of the government and local authorities that benefit themselves. Entrepreneurial orientation affects the business performance of enterprises. This result is similar to the research results of Alam et al. (2022); Mahmood and Hanafi (2013) and Wiklund and Shepherd (2005). This finding agrees with the point that businesses that exhibit a higher entrepreneurial orientation help businesses identify opportunities, thereby bringing competitive advantages and helping them to differentiate in the market (Wiklund & Shepherd, 2005). In the present study, entrepreneurial orientation had little impact on business performance. This can be partly explained by the fact that EO is often a resource-intensive activity as it involves making substantial resource commitments while the firms in this study also have certain limitations in accessing resources (especially financial resources as analyzed above), so the exploitation of opportunities is still limited. In addition, according to previous studies, entrepreneurial orientation often has a significant positive impact on the business performance of long-established enterprises (8 years or more, as studied by Su, Xie, and Li (2011) because it takes a long time to realize entrepreneurial orientation). The enterprises in the survey of this study are mostly less than ten years old, so the results are insignificant. The relationship between the dimensions of the individual entrepreneurial orientation and the operating structure of the enterprise can also explain the present study results. Hughes and Morgan (2007) asserted that not all aspects of EO are equally correlated with firm performance. The correlation between each aspect of EO and corporate structure shows that initiative and innovation positively impact business results while risk-taking has the opposite relationship. The most exciting part of this study was finding an inverse relationship between risk-taking and business performance. The explanation for this may be due to factors related to gender and social beliefs.
Women's traditional role as family caregivers can mean putting family resources at risk making them more afraid to take risks. Besides, the explanation for the negative in the case of this study is that the owner tries to keep control of his business with family funds as well as through the participation of family members, so the risk here is negligible (Nuong, 2022). Furthermore, according to Alam et al. (2022), taking risks is considered destructive. The female entrepreneurs in the research area of this thesis are mostly those who come up from small businesses, often using instinct to make emotional decisions without specific processes. This means they need systems to evaluate risky investments scientifically and professionally before making a final decision. Theoretically, this study supports the proposition that EO is a multidimensional structure; therefore, treating EO as a unidimensional structure may lead to a false hypothesis claiming that all dimensions of EO benefit business operations regardless of environmental factors according to the context and stage of development of enterprises. Therefore, women-owned SMEs should focus on the dimensions of EO that better help them achieve their goals rather than embracing all dimensions of EO in the future.

MANAGERIAL POLICY IMPLICATIONS
From the research results, some policy implications are proposed for state agencies. It is necessary to develop programs, initiatives and policies to support and improve the management capacity of female directors' especially preferential policies on access to capital, education and the market. Banks and credit institutions can apply a trust policy based on positive business results and the reputation of women-owned businesses to encourage directors to invest boldly in expansion. Educational institutions need to be more flexible in organizing training programs for business leaders with the characteristics of working while studying. Besides, the curriculum should focus more on practical applications than theory. For organizations and business support associations, it is necessary to promote the role of gathering and support in connecting, sharing opportunities, knowledge and experiences for members, thereby forming a solid female entrepreneur community.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From theoretical research and based on fundamental theories, the authors propose a research model consisting of 9 factors (of which three are considered dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation) for the business performance of SMEs due to women in charge. Research results have shown the main factors affecting the business performance of women-owned SMEs in Vietnam. Specifically, the influencing factors are as follows: access to finance for enterprises, business capacity of business owners, social capital, quality of human resources in enterprises, government policy and entrepreneurial orientation. In addition, the present study has proved that entrepreneurial orientation is a multidimensional concept when evaluating the relationship of each dimension of entrepreneurial orientation to the business performance of enterprises. The results show that innovation and proactiveness positively impact business performance while risk-taking negatively impacts the business performance of women-owned SMEs in Vietnam.
The survey results show that the business performance of women-owned SMEs in Vietnam needs to be improved. The main reason is that the factors affecting the enterprise's business performance are still being assessed at a low level. Therefore, in the coming years, businesses will need to focus on improving these factors. Specifically, enterprises need to improve access to finance by making accounting information transparent, seeking information about loan documents and connecting with financial institutions. Business owners must actively improve their capacity by taking courses and searching for information on media and social networks. Enterprises need to actively build networks and spend much time building relationships with organizations and individuals related to their operations; at the same time, they spend a part of the budget on employee training activities to improve the enterprise's human resources quality. Businesses need to actively seek information about government support policies and have a strategy to access those policies. In addition, business owners need to build a proactive, innovative and creative corporate culture to promote innovation and proactiveness in the business; they need to build a methodical business plan and avoid blindly accepting risky projects. For state agencies, financial institutions and business associations, it is necessary to have specific activities, policies and guidelines to promote the development of the enterprise system in general and women-owned SMEs in particular.

LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
This study despite its contributions has research limitations. Firstly, because the study is sampled from several similar localities, the application to other ones with economic, cultural and political differences may need to be revised. Further research may be conducted in a more extensive and diverse area. Second, cross-sectional data were used in this study. The limitation here concerns the argument in the literature that business-oriented strategies have a lasting effect on the performance of the business. This suggests that a cross-sectional design may not fully explain the relationship between the two structures and thus a longitudinal approach may be preferred. The research may lack a comparison in the field of SMEs understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between exogenous and endogenous variables. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to assess the proposed propositions further.

FUNDING
This study received no specific financial support.