Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Forthcoming
  • Article
  • Management Science

Social Skills Improve Business Performance: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial with Entrepreneurs in Togo

By: Stefan Dimitriadis and Rembrand Koning
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Recent field experiments demonstrate that advice, mentorship, and feedback from randomly assigned peers improve entrepreneurial performance. These results raise a natural question: what is preventing entrepreneurs and managers from forming these peer connections themselves? We argue that entrepreneurs may be under-networked because they lack the necessary social skills—the ability to communicate effectively and interact collaboratively with new acquaintances—that allow them to match efficiently with knowledgeable peers. We use a field experiment in the context of a business training program in Togo to test if a short social skills training module increases the number and complementarity of peers that participants choose to learn from. We find that social skills training led entrepreneurs to match with 50% more peers and that more of those matches were based on complementary managerial skill. Finally, the training also increased entrepreneurs’ monthly profits by approximately 20%. Further analyses point to improvements in networking and advice as the drivers of performance improvements. Our findings suggest that social skills help entrepreneurs build relationships that create value for both themselves and their peers.

Keywords

Social Skills; Business Performance; Entrepreneurs; Peer Relationships; Field Experiment; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Relationships; Interpersonal Communication; Togo

Citation

Dimitriadis, Stefan, and Rembrand Koning. "Social Skills Improve Business Performance: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial with Entrepreneurs in Togo." Management Science (forthcoming). (Pre-published online March 8, 2022.)
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Rembrand M. Koning

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • October 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Lyra Health: Transforming Mental Health

    By: Rembrand Koning and Nicole Keller
    • October 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Single Earth: Science White Paper Supplement

    By: Rembrand Koning and Emer Moloney
    • October 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Single.Earth

    By: Rembrand Koning and Emer Moloney
More from the Authors
  • Lyra Health: Transforming Mental Health By: Rembrand Koning and Nicole Keller
  • Single Earth: Science White Paper Supplement By: Rembrand Koning and Emer Moloney
  • Single.Earth By: Rembrand Koning and Emer Moloney
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College