Proposing and validating a five-dimensional scale for measuring entrepreneurial orientation: An empirical study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to help enhance the scholarly conversation about the essential nature of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct, its dimensionality and measurement. The authors focus on how EO was defined and measured in various contexts, which is the basis for the proposed five-dimensional EO scale (FDEOS).

Design/methodology/approach

Survey was conducted in design industry in China. A pilot test was conducted with 20 Chinese firms. Questionnaires were sent to 1,200 firms. A total of 408 complete and valid questionnaires were received.

Findings

It was found that a behavior aspect of EO as a second-order reflective model had a greater degree of agreement among scholarly community. As a result, a new FDEOS was proposed from behavioral perspective. Data were collected from 408 firms of design industry in a big developing country.

Originality/value

While five-dimensional EO construct is a well-recognized concept in the literature on entrepreneurship, little is known about its measurement. The research reported in this paper provides support for this assertion and develops a new scale, FDEOS, that designed to be neutral with regard to industry context and type of organization.

Citation

Zhang, H., Zhang, T., Cai, H., Li, Y., Wei Huang, W. and Xu, D. (2014), "Proposing and validating a five-dimensional scale for measuring entrepreneurial orientation: An empirical study", Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 102-121. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-03-2014-0004