Performance implications of entrepreneurial orientation at public research and technology institutions

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study on the Performance implications of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) at fifteen research centers within three public research and technology institutions (RTIs) in energy industry of Iran. Considering the sensitivity of EO construct to specific contexts, we initially developed a new scale to measure the EO of research centers; and then, investigated its consequences. Different latent interaction and multiple regression techniques were employed to investigate the effects of EO on performance indices of research centers from universalistic and contingency perspectives. It was concluded that EO has the strongest positive effect on financial performance of research centers, when they are dealing with unfavorable environmental conditions.