Is social network, entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance relationship contingent upon human capital? A proposed research framework

Although the significance of SMEs in influencing economic growth is recognized, Performance of SMEs in Nigeria is unanticipated.The low level of employment and contribution to the Nation GDP indicates low performance. Also, the high failure rate of SME’s is an additional indication of low performance.Nevertheless, inadequate entrepreneur’s social network, entrepreneurial orientation, competitive advantage and human capital occupies a central position for the low performance of SME in Nigeria.Equally, previous studies advocate that entrepreneur’s social network, orientation and human capital have a significant influence on firm performance, but the mechanism through which these variables are related is neglected.This created an inconclusive and conflicting findings.Therefore, this paper aims to undertake a review of the related literature to develop and propose a research conceptual framework for SMEs performance. Based on the combination of this variables, this study proposes that competitive advantage may further explain the relationship.It highlights the importance of the research on the relationship between social network, human capital entrepreneurial orientation and SMEs performance in Nigeria