A configurational approach to entrepreneurial orientation

Entrepreneurial Orientation has attracted substantial attention since its promulgation in the 1980s. In this chapter the Authors address the relationship between EO and firm performance. They provide cluster analysis based on a range of dimensions of EO using data from 163 French firms. The chapter is significant in that it makes links between personality of the top manager, the characteristics of the organization (structure, size, age, culture) and the environment and organizational performance. The results show how four clusters: “go getter”, “risk takers”, “innovators” and “all stars” have various dimensions of EO. Interestingly, the findings both contradict and support the conventional wisdom. For example, in relation to “innovation” the personality of the top managers has little influence but a mechanistic structure and a group culture were found to be important. For the “all-stars”, market culture and clan culture were found to be significant characteristics. Although the analysis is limited to French data, the results provide interesting results that should be built upon by others interested in the relationship between EO and business performance.