TY - JOUR AB - Purpose This study has advanced the role of individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) as a precedent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) performance in the emerging economies. This study aims to use the action regulation theory (ART) to show that active social networking of SME owners acts as a conduit in the above-mentioned relationship and how the social skills of SME owners improve their ability to leverage on entrepreneurial orientation and strengthen their social networking.Design/methodology/approach A three-wave time-lagged survey approach was deployed to collect data from SME owners in the service and manufacturing sector of Pakistan through cluster sampling. The analysis of results was carried out by Models 1 and 4 of Hayes (2017) PROCESS macro.Findings The findings revealed a positive association in the IEO of SME owners and their performance through a partial mediating role of active social networking. Furthermore, SME owners’ social skills played a moderating role in linking IEO of SME owners and active development of social networks.Originality/value Based on ART, this study has targeted a scantly examined psychological perspective in SME performance research and it has shown that by having entrepreneurial orientation and social skills, SME owners can develop active social networks that are an important yet neglected performance precursor in the emerging economy of Pakistan. VL - 12 IS - 3 SN - 2053-4604 DO - 10.1108/JEEE-03-2019-0037 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-03-2019-0037 AU - Fatima Tehreem AU - Bilal Ahmad Raza PY - 2019 Y1 - 2019/01/01 TI - Achieving SME performance through individual entrepreneurial orientation: An active social networking perspective T2 - Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 399 EP - 411 Y2 - 2024/05/04 ER -