Moderating influences on the entrepreneurial orientation-business performance relationship in SMEs

Abstract

Calls for more in-depth research on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and business performance have been dominant. Thus, this research explores whether the relationship between EO and the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) is conditioned (or affected) by some moderating factors. A framework is proposed which considers how networks, environmental conditions, entrepreneur’s experience, and entrepreneur’s level of education can moderate this relationship. From a sample of 204 SMEs, our study shows that not all factors, internal and external to the EO, have the same effect. Although the entrepreneur’s experience (as an internal factor) and the nature of the environment (external factor) have not been shown to influence the relationship between the EO and the performance of the SMEs, we found that both education and networks positively impact the EO and performance relationship.