Mediation role of business performance on entrepreneurship orientation and market orientation to create MSME competitiveness in pandemic times

The COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted national economic activities had an impact on the MSME sector. This study examines the mediating role of company performance in supporting competitive advantage during the pandemic, which is a difficult time for MSMEs. This research collaborates entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation so that it can be predicted the factors that support MSMEs in creating competitive advantage. The sample of this research is the owners or business actors of MSMEs in the Cilacap district as many as 100 respondents and PLS-SEM is used to analyze the data. The results show that business performance acts as a full mediation for entrepreneurial orientation and competitive advantage. Market orientation has a direct effect on competitive advantage, but business performance does not mediate market orientation and competitive advantage. The results of the study also show that there are market orientation findings that act as a full mediation of the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and competitive advantage. From these results, it can be concluded that entrepreneurial orientation requires business performance and market orientation to influence competitive advantage