Strategic entrepreneurship: mediating the entrepreneurial orientation-performance link

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the relationship between firm-level entrepreneurship and organizational performance in an emerging economy through assessing the mediating influence of strategic entrepreneurship between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational performance. The extant literature on the relationship between firm-level entrepreneurship and organizational performance points to a lack of clarification of the link between real entrepreneurial events and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected from 324 respondents in 118 companies in four different industries. The paper adopts structural equation modeling to test the mediated relationship. Findings – The results show that strategic entrepreneurship fully mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational performance, assessed as two major categories of financial and non-financial performance. Research limitations/implications – The dominance of four industries in the data set limits the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications – Findings highlight strategic and practical implications for managers especially in emerging economies who seek to enhance competitive advantage and exploit market opportunities through entrepreneurial initiatives. Originality/value – The current study develops a measure of strategic entrepreneurship concept and attempts to contribute to the literature through differentiating between behavioral intentions toward entrepreneurship and real entrepreneurial events at the firm-level to serve as a step to reduce the ambiguity present in the field.