This article extends knowledge of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) by examining EO in the context of international performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We enhance understanding of foreign market entry of SMEs by taking into account the mediating mechanisms (i.e. networking capability and experiential learning) through which firm EO leads to superior performance across borders. A sample of 164 internationalising SMEs in New Zealand supported the direct impact of EO on international performance as well as the mediating role of experiential learning and networking capability in this focal relationship. These findings reveal the importance of EO in internationalisation of SMEs.
AldrichHEAusterE (1986) Even dwarfs started small: Liabilities of age and size and their strategic implications. Research in Organizational Behavior8: 165–198.
2.
AndersonBSCovinJGSlevinDP (2009) Understanding the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and strategic learning capability: An empirical investigation. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal3(3): 218–240.
3.
ArmstrongJSOvertonTS (1977) Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. Journal of Marketing Research14: 396–402.
BakerWESinkulaJM (2009) The complementary effects of market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation on profitability in small businesses. Journal of Small Business Management47(4): 443–464.
6.
BaronRMKennyDA (1986) The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology51: 1173–1182.
7.
BaumJALiSXUsherJM (2000) Making the next move: How experiential and vicarious learning shape the locations of chains’ acquisitions. Administrative Science Quarterly45(4): 766–801.
8.
BirkinshawJMorrisonAHullandJ (1995) Structural and competitive determinants of a global integration strategy. Strategic Management Journal16(8): 637–655.
9.
BlomstermoAErikssonKLindstrandAet al. (2004) The perceived usefulness of network experiential knowledge in the internationalizing firm. Journal of International Management10(3): 355–373.
10.
BolingJRPieperTMCovinJG (2016) CEO tenure and entrepreneurial orientation within family and nonfamily firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice40(4): 891–913.
11.
BosoNStoryVMCadoganJW (2013) Entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, network ties, and performance: Study of entrepreneurial firms in a developing economy. Journal of Business Venturing28(6): 708–727.
12.
BrouthersKNakosGDimitratosP (2015) SME entrepreneurial orientation, international performance, and the moderating role of strategic alliances. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice39(5): 1161–1187.
13.
BrouthersLENakosG (2005) The role of systematic international market selection on small firms’ export performance. Journal of Small Business Management43(4): 363–381.
14.
BruneelJYli-RenkoHClarysseB (2010) Learning from experience and learning from others: How congenital and interorganizational learning substitute for experiential learning in young firm internationalization. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal4(2): 164–182.
15.
ChenXZouHWangDT (2009) How do new ventures grow? Firm capabilities, growth strategies and performance. International Journal of Research in Marketing26(4): 294–303.
16.
ChenYYJawYL (2014) How do business groups’ small world networks effect diversification, innovation, and internationalization?Asia Pacific Journal of Management31(4): 1019–1044.
17.
ChettySKaramiMMartínOM (2018) Opportunity discovery and creation as a duality: Evidence from small firms’ foreign market entries. Journal of International Marketing26: 70–93.
18.
ChinWW (1995) PLS is to LISREL as principal components analysis is to common factor analysis. Technology Studies2: 315–319.
19.
CopeJ (2011) Entrepreneurial learning from failure: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Business Venturing26(6): 604–623.
20.
CovielloNEMunroHJ (1995) Growing the entrepreneurial firm: Networking for international market development. European Journal of Marketing29(7): 49–61.
21.
CovielloNEMcDougallPPOviattBM (2011) The emergence, advance and future of international entrepreneurship research: An introduction to the special forum. Journal of Business Venturing26(6): 625–631.
22.
CovinJGLumpkinGT (2011) Entrepreneurial orientation theory and research: Reflections on a needed construct. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice35(5): 855–872.
23.
CovinJGMillerD (2014) International entrepreneurial orientation: Conceptual considerations, research themes, measurement issues, and future research directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice38(1): 11–44.
24.
CovinJGSlevinDP (1989) Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments. Strategic Management Journal10(1): 75–87.
25.
CovinJGWalesWJ (2018) Crafting high-impact entrepreneurial orientation research: Some suggested guidelines. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice43(1): 3–18.
26.
Cuervo-CazurraAAnderssonUBrannenMYet al. (2016) From the editors: Can I trust your findings? Ruling out alternative explanations in international business research. Journal of International Business Studies47: 881–897.
27.
De ClercqDSapienzaHJCrijnsH (2005) The internationalization of small and medium-sized firms. Small Business Economics24(4): 409–419.
28.
DillmanDA (1991) The design and administration of mail surveys. Annual Review of Sociology17: 225–249.
29.
EfronBTibshiraniRJ (1993) An Introduction to the Bootstrap. New York: Chapman & Hall.
30.
EngelenANeumannCSchmidtS (2016) Should entrepreneurially oriented firms have narcissistic CEOs?Journal of Management42(3): 698–721.
31.
EngelenANeumannCSchwensC (2015) ‘Of course I can’: The effect of CEO overconfidence on entrepreneurially oriented firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice39(5): 1137–1160.
32.
ErikssonKJohansonJMajkgårdAet al. (1997) Experiential knowledge and cost in the internationalization process. Journal of International Business Studies28(2): 337–360.
33.
Fernández-MesaAAlegreJ (2015) Entrepreneurial orientation and export intensity: Examining the interplay of organizational learning and innovation. International Business Review24(1): 148–156.
34.
FernhaberSALiD (2013) International exposure through network relationships: Implications for new venture internationalization. Journal of Business Venturing28(2): 316–334.
35.
ForsgrenM (2016) A note on the revisited Uppsala internationalization process model – The implications of business networks and entrepreneurship. Journal of International Business Studies47(9): 1135–1144.
36.
FreemanSCavusgilST (2007) Toward a typology of commitment states among managers of born-global firms: A study of accelerated internationalization. Journal of International Marketing15(4): 1–40.
37.
FrishammarJAnderssonS (2009) The overestimated role of strategic orientations for international performance in smaller firms. Journal of International Entrepreneurship7(1): 57–77.
38.
GabrielssonPGabrielssonM (2013) A dynamic model of growth phases and survival in international business-to-business new ventures: The moderating effect of decision-making logic. Industrial Marketing Management42(8): 1357–1373.
39.
GalkinaTChettyS (2015) Effectuation and networking of internationalizing SMEs. Management International Review55(5): 647–676.
40.
GerschewskiSRoseELLindsayVJ (2015) Understanding the drivers of international performance for born global firms: An integrated perspective. Journal of World Business50(3): 558–575.
41.
GoslingJMintzbergH (2003) The five minds of a manager. Harvard Business Review81(11): 54–63.
42.
GuptaVKBatraS (2016) Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in Indian SMEs: Universal and contingency perspectives. International Small Business Journal34(5): 660–682.
43.
HairJFRingleCMSarstedtM (2013) Partial least squares structural equation modeling: Rigorous applications, better results and higher acceptance. Long Range Planning46: 1–12.
44.
HuLTBentlerPM (1998) Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods3(4): 424–453.
45.
HuberGP (1991) Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures. Organization Science2(1): 88–115.
46.
HullandJ (1999) Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: A review of four recent studies. Strategic Management Journal20: 195–204.
47.
HuntSD (2000) A General Theory of Competition: Resources, Competences, Productivity, Economic Growth. London: Sage.
JantunenAPuumalainenKSaarenketoSet al. (2005) Entrepreneurial orientation, dynamic capabilities and international performance. Journal of International Entrepreneurship3(3): 223–243.
50.
JavalgiRRGToddPR (2011) Entrepreneurial orientation, management commitment, and human capital: The internationalization of SMEs in India. Journal of Business Research64(9): 1004–1010.
51.
JohansonJVahlneJE (1975) The internationalization process of the firm – A model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. Journal of International Business Studies8(1): 23–32.
52.
JohansonJVahlneJE (2006) Commitment and opportunity development in the internationalization process: A note on the Uppsala internationalization process model. Management International Review46(2): 165–178.
53.
JohansonJVahlneJE (2009) The Uppsala internationalization process model revisited: From liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership. Journal of International Business Studies40(9): 1411–1431.
54.
JohansonJVahlneJE (2011) Markets as networks: Implications for strategy-making. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science39(4): 484–491.
55.
JohnsonJ (2004) Factors influencing the early internationalization of high technology start-ups: US and UK evidence. Journal of International Entrepreneurship2(1–2): 139–154.
56.
JonesMVCovielloNE (2005) Internationalisation: Conceptualising an entrepreneurial process of behaviour in time. Journal of International Business Studies36(3): 284–303.
57.
JonesMVCovielloNETangYK (2011) International entrepreneurship research (1989–2009): A domain ontology and thematic analysis. Journal of Business Venturing26(6): 632–659.
58.
KhannaT (2014) Contextual intelligence. Harvard Business Review92(9): 58–68.
59.
KhannaT (2015) A case for contextual intelligence. Management International Review55(2): 181–190.
60.
KnightGCavusgilS (2004) Innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm. Journal of International Business Studies35(2): 124–141.
61.
KuivalainenOSundqvistSServaisP (2007) Firms’ degree of born-globalness, international entrepreneurial orientation and export performance. Journal of World Business42(3): 253–267.
62.
LechnerCGudmundssonSV (2014) Entrepreneurial orientation, firm strategy and small firm performance. International Small Business Journal32(1): 36–60.
63.
LevinthalDAMarchJG (1993) The myopia of learning. Strategic Management Journal14(Suppl. 2): 95–112.
64.
LuJWBeamishPW (2001) The internationalization and performance of SMEs. Strategic Management Journal22(6–7): 565–586.
65.
LumpkinGTDessGG (1996) Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance. Academy of Management Review21(1): 135–172.
66.
McGrathHO’TooleT (2014) A cross-cultural comparison of the network capability development of entrepreneurial firms. Industrial Marketing Management43: 897–910.
MostafaRHAWheelerCJonesMV (2006) Entrepreneurial orientation, commitment to the internet and export performance in small and medium sized exporting firms. Journal of International Entrepreneurship3(4): 291–302.
69.
NahapietJGhoshalS (1998) Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review23(2): 242–266.
70.
NummelaNSaarenketoSPuumalainenK (2004) Rapidly with a rifle or more slowly with a shotgun? Stretching the company boundaries of internationalising ICT firms. Journal of International Entrepreneurship2(4): 275–288.
71.
NunnalyJ (1978) Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw Hill.
72.
OviattBMMcDougallP (2005) Defining international entrepreneurship and modeling the speed of internationalization. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice29(5): 537–554.
73.
PodsakoffPMMacKenzieSBPodsakoffNP (2012) Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology65: 539–569.
74.
PolitisD (2005) The process of entrepreneurial learning: A conceptual framework. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice29(4): 399–424.
75.
PolitisDGabrielssonJ (2009) Entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards failure: An experiential learning approach. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research15(4): 364–383.
76.
ReadSDewNSarasvathySDet al. (2009) Marketing under uncertainty: The logic of an effectual approach. Journal of Marketing73(3): 1–18.
77.
ReinartzWHaenleinMHenselerJ (2009) An empirical comparison of the efficacy of covariance-based and variance-based SEM. International Journal of Research in Marketing26: 332–344.
78.
RingleCMWendeSBeckerJM (2015) Smart PLS 3. Available at: http://www.smartpls.com (accessed 9 September 2018).
79.
RochfordK (2010) Those who stayed loyal: An empirical examination of New Zealand manufacturers surviving in a global market. Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy4(4): 346–371.
80.
SapienzaHJDe ClercqDSandbergWR (2005) Antecedents of international and domestic learning effort. Journal of Business Venturing20(4): 437–457.
81.
SarasvathySD (2001) Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency. Academy of Management Review26(2): 243–263.
82.
SarasvathySDKumarKYorkJGet al. (2014) An effectual approach to international entrepreneurship: Overlaps, challenges, and provocative possibilities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice38(1): 71–93.
83.
SchweizerRVahlneJEJohansonJ (2010) Internationalization as an entrepreneurial process. Journal of International Entrepreneurship8(4): 343–370.
84.
Scott-KennelJ (2013) Models of internationalisation: The New Zealand experience. International Journal of Business and Globalisation10(2): 105–136.
85.
SheehanKBHoyMG (1999) Using e-mail to survey Internet users in the United States: Methodology and assessment. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication4(3): 1–25.
86.
SillsSJSongC (2002) Innovations in survey research: An application of web-based surveys. Social Science Computer Review20(1): 22–30.
87.
SluisSDe GiovanniP (2016) The selection of contracts in supply chains: An empirical analysis. Journal of Operations Management41: 1–11.
88.
SmilorRW (1997) Entrepreneurship: Reflections on a subversive activity. Journal of Business Venturing12(5): 341–346.
89.
SosikJJKahaiSSPiovosoMJ (2009) Silver bullet or voodoo statistics? A primer for using the partial least squares data analytic technique in group and organization research. Group & Organization Management34(1): 5–36.
90.
StamWElfringT (2006) Entrepreneurial orientation and new venture performance: The mediating effect of network strategies. Academy of Management Proceedings2006(1): K1–K6.
91.
TangJKacmarKMBusenitzL (2012) Entrepreneurial alertness in the pursuit of new opportunities. Journal of Business Venturing27(1): 77–94.
92.
TangJTangZCowdenBJ (2017) Exploring the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, CEO dual values, and SME performance in state-owned vs. nonstate-owned enterprises in China. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice41(6): 883–908.
93.
ThanosICDimitratosPSapounaP (2017) The implications of international entrepreneurial orientation, politicization, and hostility upon SME international performance. International Small Business Journal35(4): 495–514.
94.
ThornhillS (2006) Knowledge, innovation and firm performance in high- and low-technology regimes. Journal of Business Venturing21: 687–803.
95.
VahlneJEJohansonJ (2017) From internationalization to evolution: The Uppsala model at 40 years. Journal of International Business Studies48(9): 1087–1102.
96.
WalesWJ (2016) Entrepreneurial orientation: A review and synthesis of promising research directions. International Small Business Journal34(1): 3–15.
97.
WalesWJGuptaVKMousaFT (2013) Empirical research on entrepreneurial orientation: An assessment and suggestions for future research. International Small Business Journal31(4): 357–383.
98.
WalesWJWiklundJMcKelvieA (2015) What about new entry? Examining the theorized role of new entry in the entrepreneurial orientation–performance relationship. International Small Business Journal33(4): 351–373.
99.
WalterAAuerMRitterT (2006) The impact of network capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation on university spin-off performance. Journal of Business Venturing21(4): 541–567.
100.
WangCL (2008) Entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation, and firm performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice32(4): 635–657.
101.
WiklundJShepherdD (2011) Where to from here? EO-as-experimentation, failure, and distribution of outcomes. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice35(5): 925–946.
102.
WilliamsLJCoteJABuckleyMR (1989) Lack of method variance in self-reported affect and perceptions at work: Reality or artifact?Journal of Applied Psychology74: 462–468.
103.
WoldH (1982) Systems under indirect observation using PLS (Partial least squares). In: FornellC (ed.) A Second Generation of Multivariate Analysis, vol. 1. New York: Praeger, pp.325–347.
104.
ZahraSAIrelandRDHittMA (2000) International expansion by new venture firms: International diversity, mode of market entry, technological learning, and performance. Academy of Management Journal43(5): 925–951.
105.
ZouHGhauriPN (2010) Internationalizing by learning: The case of Chinese high-tech new ventures. International Marketing Review27(2): 223–244.
