Small Business Orientation: A Construct Proposal

Abstract

Entrepreneurship and small business management literatures diverged decades ago, with the former receiving the bulk of subsequent scholarly attention. The concept of a small business orientation (SBO) has not been widely and consistently employed in the literature. We present a conceptual framework aimed at clarifying the construct of SBO, and conceptualize SBO as a firm size- and age-independent phenomenon operating at the individual level, and reflecting manager values about how the business ought to be conducted. We discuss the values-based derivation of SBO, identify elements of this multidimensional construct, its likely consequences, and propose future research directions.

Compassionate customer service in ethnic minority microbusinesses

“…Furthermore, while Bourdieu's (1986) conceptualization applies to group-level social networking (Sklaveniti & Steyaert, 2020), entrepreneurial experiences may be shaped by an individual's interactions with structures and agents (Aygören & Wilinska, 2013;Ramadani, Rexhepi, Gërguri-Rashiti et al, 2014). In addition, entrepreneurial activities depend on individual characteristics and value systems (Dana, 2009;Runyan & Covin, 2019) as well as individual creativity and commitment (Lee, Howe, & Kreiser, 2019). Nevertheless, a Bourdieusian approach is useful to examine the relational nature of entrepreneurship (Sahasranamam & Nandakumar, 2020;Vershinina & Rodgers, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, studies on ethnic minority small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (Jones, Ram, & Villares-Varela, 2019)-employing 10-249 people (OECD, 2019)-typically examine large urban population centers rather than less accessible regions and groups (Dabić, Vlačić, Paul et al, 2020). These studies have focused on startups (Jones & Ram, 2013), business growth (Fadahunsi, Smallbone, & Supri, 2000), entrepreneurial orientation (Runyan & Covin, 2019), value co-creation (Gamble, Clinton, & Díaz-Moriana, 2020), and human resource management practices (Lai, Saridakis, & Johnstone, 2017).…”

Strategic orientation's dilemma of batik retailers in Jakarta

“…Batik retailers in Jakarta, like other SMEs in general, do not have supportive systems to make bigger changes. They rely more on making mutual collaborations within their social and commercial ecosystems; especially with their suppliers ( Runyan and Covin, 2019 ). Further researches should examine how these social and commercial ecosystems might improve small and medium retailers’ performances; especially their innovation performance.…”

“…Enterprises must be able to deal with trade-off between disruptive innovation and incremental innovation ( Jansen, 2008 ; Suzuki, 2014 ). For SMEs, obstacles are frequently in the way in their efforts to create new values and innovations ( Runyan and Covin, 2019 ).…”

Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation on the Sustainability of Motorcycle Taxi Business in Nairobi County

“…Economic growth and poverty reduction can only be achieved if both resources and markets are easily accessible. As said, many developing countries may have difficulty accessing the aforementioned resources, which contributes to the transportation industry's lagging economic health (Runyan, et al, 2018).…”