Entrepreneurial and market orientation relationship to performance: The multicultural perspective

Abstract

Purpose

First, this paper aims to examine the role culture plays on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO) and its consequent impact on firm organizational performance. Second, the nature of the EO‐MO correlation itself and its effect on organizational performance is considered.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews of literature in EO and MO serve as a foundation of the development of conceptual arguments. Utilizing Hofstede's data, five countries with the lowest GDP and five countries with the highest GDP were plotted on a two dimensional plot to validate the findings.

Findings

Entrepreneurial organizations in collectivist societies face lean resource environments. The effectiveness of strategic orientations (EO or MO) should not be assumed to be uniform.

Research limitations/implications

This paper does not include empirical validation of the argument. Further empirical research should be done in different cultural contexts.

Practical implications

There has been relatively little research that examines the relationship between strategic orientations, such as EO and MO, and their antecedents and consequences on organizational performance in different cultural contexts. This paper represents an attempt to do so from multicultural perspectives.

Originality/value

This paper informs entrepreneurs of how their EO, MO, and their firms' performance are influenced by one cultural dimension: individualism/collectivism.

Citation

Todorovic, Z.W. and Ma, J. (2008), "Entrepreneurial and market orientation relationship to performance: The multicultural perspective", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 21-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506200810861230