Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in global economic crisis and whether it can mitigate the negative effects of economic crisis both on firm's operations and on firm's financial performance. Design/methodology/approach -A quantitative approach is used to test the hypotheses. Principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis are used on the empirical survey data. Findings -Results based on a sample of almost 200 Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises indicated that the different dimensions of the EO can have diverging effects on how firms are impacted by the recession. In general, the more innovative and proactive the firm is, the less its operations are affected by the recession and the more risk-taking the firm is, the more its profitability is affected by recession. Research limitations/implications -A longitudinal design -rather than the current cross-sectional design -would give a better premiss to explore the causal relationships among the research variables. Originality/value -The paper is one of the first works linking EO with the effects of recession at the firm's operational level and the paper expands prior knowledge by taking the EO-performance relationship into the context of recession.
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and also apply the values-attitudes-behavior framework in the context of entrepreneurial behavior. Design/methodology/approach -A quantitative approach is used to test the hypothesis. The paper employs empirical survey data and partial least squares path modeling in the analyses. Findings -The analyses reveal that owner-manager's intrinsic work values are strongest drivers of innovative and proactive behaviors, but also other work values are related to EO. Furthermore, growth-oriented attitude is positively related to innovativeness and proactiveness, while more survival-oriented managers exhibit less risk-taking behavior.Research limitations/implications -In this exploratory study the authors did not control for sector differences. Yet, as sector characteristics may influence the drivers of EO behavior. Practical implications -The paper provides implications for policy makers and practitioners. Entrepreneurial activities and start-ups play a crucial role in many countries as they are vital for economic growths and the countries' well-being. Given this importance any effective public policy intended to promote new firm creation or entrepreneurial growth of existing small businesses will have to recognize the heterogeneity of entrepreneurs and identify the potential or existing entrepreneurs who are likely to be affected by such policies. Originality/value -The paper is one of the first works linking the entrepreneur's work values and attitudes to EO.
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