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The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate how the business orientations of customer orientation (CO) (represented by responsiveness to customers) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) (represented by proactiveness, innovativeness and risk‐taking) impact the growth of SMEs.

This study uses a quantitative empirical approach, using structural equation modeling with the software package AMOS to analyze the results of 660 surveyed SMEs from Austria.

This analysis reveals that EO is positively related to SME growth but CO shows a negative association with growth. Moreover, this analysis suggests that SMEs grow the most if they exhibit high EO and low CO.

This analysis shows that CO, interpreted as a purely responsive and reactive construct, cannot be considered a strategy that leads to sustainable SME growth. If an SME desires growth, EO is needed to fuel these growth aspirations. In spite of these findings however, this study shows that SMEs tend to respond to a scarcity of financial resources with more CO and less EO, which then leads to less or even negative growth.

Sustainable firm growth seems impossible without an EO. However, this does not mean that CO is not of any value for SMEs. Being non‐entrepreneurially oriented does not mean that a firm is automatically customer oriented. So, it is not only about implementing CO or EO since there is still the third option: implementing neither.

This paper contributes to the ongoing scholarly conversation on the value of different orientations to firms and takes the view that the conversation on CO and EO has mis‐specified business performance in seeking to understand their performance consequences. By looking at firm growth, relevant to the longer‐term performance of a firm, EO might drive growth because of its emphasis on innovation to renew the firm's growth trajectory whereas CO might stifle growth owing to its myopic focus. Thus, this study addresses calls in the business and entrepreneurship literatures to more fully understand how SMEs can capture value from their customer and entrepreneurial orientations.

This paper investigates the mechanics of multimedia tie maintenance, with a particular emphasis upon social network sites (SNSs) and their uses and gratifications. We present results from a national sample of American adults (N = 571) of all ages, investigating the associations of several attitudinal and social variables with multimedia tie maintenance. We find that Facebook is used to maintain social ties at rates comparable to other media and is increasingly used to connect with close ties, contrary to previous literature. We also uncover highly significant patterns of “expressive” and “instrumental” engagement, isolating distinct expressive/instrumental orientations toward digital media in general and Facebook specifically. Respondents who displayed an expressive pattern of engagement with Facebook did not use non-SNS media to maintain ties any less frequently than those who do not use Facebook expressively. Respondents who displayed an instrumental pattern of engagement with Facebook meanwhile, supplemented their lack of SNS use to maintain ties by using other media more frequently for this purpose. This paper contributes to the literatures of media multiplexity, networked individualism, uses and gratifications theory, and social capital through SNSs. It makes a significant contribution to understanding the psychological and social gratifications of digital media, and their relationship to patterns of multimedia tie maintenance.

Increasing productivity gaps and declining manufacturing bases create complex challenges for mature small to medium enterprises (SMEs). One solution advocated by academia is to reposition along the value chain – moving to a position of greater value. The purpose of this paper is to examine strategies used by firms to reposition through creating a new product development (NPD) capability. In doing so, the paper seeks to resolve gaps in extant literature on NPD in mature SMEs.

An exploratory approach is taken, analysing in‐depth case studies of three mature UK manufacturing SMEs.

Four strategic approaches to enable the creation of a NPD capability (strategic alliances, licensing key technologies and ideas, outsourcing and deploying an internal development process) are found. Each may facilitate an SME to reposition but the findings highlight that these strategies are not mutually exclusive as different combinations were employed to accelerate and leverage change.

Limited number of case studies constrains wider understanding despite providing richness. The findings highlight four different strategies for repositioning but there may be other routes.

Deeper understanding of how to climb the value chain, providing valuable lessons for mature SMEs facing a need to reposition to generate new growth opportunities.

The paper provides an understanding of how mature manufacturers utilise different strategies to overcome resource constraints and generate a NPD capability to assist in repositioning. This resolves weaknesses in current literature that so far have not adequately examined the process of shaping a NPD capability and the strategies used to reposition.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Resource orchestration is an overlooked aspect of manufacturing strategy. Yet resource combinations and effective alignment are fundamental for management if an organization is going to become, or remain, profitable and competitive.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The question of how to integrate strategic and entrepreneurial management to achieve a better balance between advantage‐ and opportunity‐seeking behaviours has received increased academic and practitioner interest in recent years. However, little consensus exists over the meaning of this concept of “strategic entrepreneurship” (SE), its constituents and its operation. This paper aims to address these issues.

In response, the paper reports a thorough review of SE's origins and current conceptualizations to map its core components and charts critical research directions for this exciting emerging field. Analysis of the terrain of SE reveals eight core components drawn from entrepreneurship and strategic management that captures conditions necessary for its application.

From this analysis, the paper offers an alternative model of SE, and charts four key research areas with accompanying research questions to inspire future research. These outcomes offer avenues to further sharpen the understanding of how SE might operate both in theory and practice.

A relative lack of analysis and integration of external factors influencing and shaping the process of SE represents a limitation. Also, whilst the authors have attempted to review, assess and understand its position in the entrepreneurship and strategic management literature, the full range of its strengths and weaknesses cannot be grasped.

The paper illustrates how these four question areas pose significant promise to better understand the development and application of SE in research and in practice.

Prior studies have suggested that organizational and environmental antecedents are influential to the development of a balance dimension of innovation ambidexterity, which are proposed to be central to superior firm performance. However, little is known about how such antecedents affect the shaping of innovation ambidexterity in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and how these innovations go on to shape firm performance. This paper aims to examine internal and external antecedents of SMEs' innovation ambidexterity outcomes.

The research used a survey method to investigate the 1,000 small‐and medium sized enterprises in Scotland. Firms were randomly selected from the FAME database. Of this sample, 265 firms (26.5 percent) responded to the survey.

The data analysis reveals that internal organizational structures in a highly dynamic environment stimulate the appearance of innovation ambidexterity. Moreover, it is found that the relationship between organizational and environmental forces and firm performance is partially mediated by a balance dimension of innovation ambidexterity.

The results show how dangerous the lack of adequate research of these issues at the SME level is. By contrast to larger firms, the results show how internal organizational structures and external environmental conditions affect SMEs to pursue a balance dimension of innovation ambidexterity.

Prior studies have paid little attention to the effects of internal organizational structures and external environmental conditions on the appearance of a balance dimension of innovation ambidexterity within SMEs. This paper fills some of the gaps.

This paper aims to explore what factors motivate consumers to engage in co-creation innovation activities. The authors propose that motivations differ across types of activities, whether working independently, as part of a community or directly with the firm. They offer theoretical explanations as to why this might be the case.

Adopting an exploratory research design, the study consists of a series of online interviews with participants in the gaming and video games industry.

Motivations appear to differ across types of co-creation efforts. Innovating independently of the firm appears to be driven by egocentric motives; innovating as part of a community appears to be driven by altruistic motives; and innovating directly in collaboration with the firm appears to be driven by opportunity- (or goal-)related motives.

Understanding the factors that motivate consumers to engage in co-creation activities enables firms to strategically manage their co-creation relationships and innovation processes.

The study shows that although motivations diverge across types of co-creation activities, a set of common motivators exist that underpin engagement regardless of the form of co-creation. However, these overarching motivators differ in how they can be successfully used towards co-creation. The study draws on theories of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, tension-reducing, self-efficacy and expectancy theories, to explain why differences persist. This enables researchers to consider how value might be optimised across varying forms of co-creation, and build better studies into the management and performance implications of consumer value co-creation.

The purpose of this study is to critically examine and review the extant research on corporate entrepreneurship champions in the broader area of corporate entrepreneurship and to uncover the avenues for advancement of the scholarship with the purpose of engaging CE champions towards the upliftment of organisations in particular, and younger workforce in general.

In this study, authors employ bibliometric analysis through a review of 274 papers fetched from Web of Science and Scopus databases.

The authors set the agenda for future research and policy by elucidating research themes and potential research questions by bringing out twelve themes classified into five basic themes, three niche themes, three motor themes, and one key theme, while also providing the methodological inputs for carrying out this agenda.

This study adopts a unique lens of investigation in contextualising the role of self-efficacy, employee engagement, and career choice for the younger workforce.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which Portuguese local entities have implemented a set of environmental accounting practices, and to analyse some potential determining factors of their use.

The data were collected by sending a postal questionnaire to a sample of medium‐sized and large city councils and the municipal companies belonging to those municipalities. Three variables were considered as possible factors that drive the development of environmental accounting practices in the local public sector.

The degree of development of environmental accounting practices in Portuguese local entities is low. Organisational size and the degree of development of environmental management practices are positively and statistically related to the level of development of environmental accounting practices. However, the findings suggest that the existence of compulsory environmental accounting standards is not positively associated with the development of environmental accounting practices by Portuguese local entities.

The study limits itself to Portugal and, therefore, its results could not be applicable in other settings.

Portugal is experiencing a phase of development of regulatory environmental disclosure requirements. Understanding the environmental accounting and reporting practices currently developed by Portuguese local entities, as well as their drivers, may help regulators to develop more suitable standards for the sector.

The majority of empirical studies on environmental accounting practices in public organisations are focused largely on an Anglo‐Saxon context. This paper attempts to address this gap in the literature by providing a snapshot of the environmental accounting practices developed by Portuguese local entities.

The Purpose of this paper is to examine the difference in the performance of Small Business using Entrepreneurial and market orientation. There is solid empirical evidence confirming the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in economic development. Using entrepreneurial and market orientations, this paper investigates the extent to which this strategic orientation contributes to the superior performance of manufacturing SMEs.

A total of 171 SME managers participated in the survey research. Multiple and linear multiple regression were applied to test the hypotheses.

The empirical result reveals that integrating entrepreneurial and market orientations into the operation of SMEs contributes to superior performance, which in turn enables them to thrive in institutionally complex and economically turbulent environments. Except for innovativeness, each dimension of entrepreneurial orientation along with market orientation has a positive influence on business performance of small businesses.

Developing economies see SMEs as a path out of poverty, thereby realizing industrialization and sustainable growth. There is a keen interest to adopt proactive policies so as to create competitive domestic industries. Conversely, this can only be realized if states develop policy measures that prioritize or at least emphasize on highly growing SMEs rather than creating jobs that are neither productive nor decent.

The present paper confirms previous findings and contributes additional evidence that suggests working on entrepreneurial and market orientations of SMEs will improve performance and compensate the multi-dimensional constraints imposed by the existing market in developing economies. The finding of this study offers important insights for managers and policymakers.