A Study On The Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Orientation And Firm Performance In Smes

There have been many different perspectives in the academic area about the construct elements of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance (FM). But all former studies, particularly the empirical researches, had almost been conducted in the Western context, while lacking of exploration and testing in the Eastern context, especially in the background of China. Therefore this study was to explore the construct of EO in SMEs, develop a measurement scale of EO, and research the relationship between EO and FM, in the background of China. Expect to modify the foreign theories and at the same time to provide some theoretical evidence for the practice of SMEs'entrepreneurship in China. As different research methods had different advantages, this study used a combination of different research methods (in-depth interviews, case studies and questionnaires) to deeply and systematically demonstrate the construct of EO and its relationship with FM. By comparing results between different methods, this study got comprehensive conclusions.The main findings are:(1) Through in-depth interviews and the two typical cases, this paper found that in China's SMEs, four dimensions of EO including proactiveness, risk-taking, innovativeness and autonomy exhibited obviously, while the dimension of competitive aggressiveness was illegible. In addition, proactiveness and innovativeness had a clear relationship with firm performance, while risk-taking, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness each didn't have a strong effect on firm performance.(2) Based on some overviews of former studies, this study proposed a theoretical hypothesis of EO in China's SMEs. And together with open-ended questionnaires and...