Research On The Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Orientation And Performance Based On The Evolution Of Intellectual Structure Analysis

As economic globalization has become a trend of the time, it takes less and less time for a product to go through its own five stag es of life-cycle. While the challenge of technological innovation remains, entrepreneurial activities have gained more momentum, which is an important drive for our economic transformation. With the development of entrepreneurial activities, more researches are carried out to put the relevant theory into practice. Scholars of Entrepreneurial Studies pay special attention to entrepreneurial orientation, which plays a key role in the top managers ’ decision making. It has become a very hot research subject that how entrepreneurial orientation affects entrepreneurial performance. The result of the study varies under different study context, which indicates the complex connection between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial performance. While the study on how the two interact with each other is of great significance both in terms of theory and practice, tough challenges still remain due to the fact that the Study of Entrepreneurship is multidisciplinary in nature. Based on the theory of Entrepreneurial Studies, the Theory of the Development of New Product, Behavioral Theory, the Theory of Resource Management and the Theory of Knowledge management, this research is to conduct theoretical analysis and empirical study on the mechanism of how entrepreneurial orientation affects its performance from the perspective of the evolution of the entrepreneurial orientation studies. Research methods used include literature analysis, co-citation analysis and empirical analysis. This paper begins with analysis of the evolution of the entrepreneurial orientation studies in the past 15 years so as to explore the sub-domain of the study as well as the factors affecting the entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial performance. Research hypothesis is brought forward with analysis of the possible factors affecting the interaction between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial performance. The hypothesis is tested and verified through empirical analysis. The main research topics and fruits are listed as follow:(1)This research first of all defines the concept while dividing the dimension and establishing the theoretical framework. Based on the systematic literature review, the paper defines the key variables and divides its dimension. Given the fact that several mixed factors are involved in the working mechanism, the research tries to figure out ways to analyze the possible factors affecting the relationship by identifying the process of how the study evolved. The theoretical framework of this thesis is put forward thereafter.(2) The research then analyzed how the study of entrepreneurial orientation evolved from 2000 to 2014 using the method of citation and co-citation analysis. The analysis showed that the top three journals in the study of entrepreneurial orientation in the past 15 years are Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Business Venturing and International Small Business Venturing. The top three influential paper were “Clarifying the EO construct and linking it to performance” by Lumpkin published in Academy of management Review in 1996, “Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments” by Covin in Strategic Management Journal in 1989 and “ The correlates of entrepreneurship in three types of firms ” by Miller in Management Science in 1983. The co-citation analysis revealed that four sub-domain emerged from 2000 to 2009. They are the research on the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial performance, research on entrepreneurial orientation and the R&D of the new product, research on the description of the three dimensional phenomenon of the entrepreneurial orientation and research on five dimensional opportunity discovered in entrepreneurial orientation. The past five years has seen new development in the study of entrepreneurial orientation. The stud y of the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management turned out to be a newly developed sub-domain. Based on the analysis on the evolution of entrepreneurial orientation studies, the paper concludes that the factors affecting entrepreneurial orientation and its performance are more likely to be found in the R&D of the new product. Through literature study and expert interview, the speed of innovation and study orientation are identified as the two possible factors affecting the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial performance.(3)While the factors affecting the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and its performance are identified, research hypothesis is thereafter set up and conceptual model is constructed through analysis and relevant literature and working mechanism. Factor analysis, regression analysis and other statistical analysis methods are used for data analysis and hypothesis testing. Empirical research reveals that: entrepreneurial orientation affects its performance in both direct and indirect ways; The direct effects of entrepreneurial orientation on its performance are affected by the factor of environment, and the dynamics and supportiveness of the environment as well as the inclusiveness of the environment all play a positive role in adjusting the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and its performance; study orientation works as an absolute intermediary between entrepreneurial orientation and its performance; the speed of innovation works partly as an intermediary, and the relationships between the dimension and speed of innovation goes against the previous research hypothesis. Rather than reducing the speed of innovation, the dimension of innovation speeds it up; the relationships between the dimension of risk-taking and the speed of innovation also go against the previous research hypothesis. Rather than speeding it up, the dimension of innovation reduces the speed of the innovation. The relationships between the dimension of advance and the speed of innovation turns out to be an inverted U shape, which reveals that the speed of innovation will be reduced if it is emphasized too much on. The research finally offers sound explanations as well as suggestion based on previous empirical study.