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The rapid change and increasing information in the market require firms to adapt to this situation in order to be successful. In the face of rapid change, firms need to identify market opportunities and make the most of them. Giving importance to entrepreneurship and having a strategic stance in this direction is a key factor for firms to stand out in change environments. On the other hand, in the face of increasing information, it is important to acquire useful information and use it for the benefit of the firm. Therefore, the ability of firms to realize the value of information and manage it in the best way stands out as another determining factor for success. The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation, absorptive capacity and firm performance. In this context, data were collected from 198 middle and senior managers in firms in Kocaeli using the survey method and the research hypotheses were tested with the structural equation model. According to the results of the research, it has been determined that entrepreneurial orientation is positively related to both absorptive capacity and firm performance. In addition, it was concluded that there is a positive relationship between absorptive capacity and firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SMEs play a vital role in the development of national economies. But these businesses encounter with several barriers when performing this role. To cope with these impediments, some entrepreneurial attitudes that are dimensions of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), namely, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy enable SMEs to achieve better performance levels by increasing their revenues and income. However, depending on the characteristics of SMEs these behaviors might differ. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to determine and examine whether competitive aggressiveness and autonomy of SMEs differ depending on their age and size or not. To fulfil this aim, the researcher has collected data from 479 SMEs in Turkey by employing a questionnaire survey. To find differences between characteristics of firms regarding selected entrepreneurial attitudes, Independent sample T-test is applied. According to the results, competitive aggressiveness of SMEs does not differ depending on their age and size. But while autonomy of smaller and larger SMEs does not differ, older SMEs have more autonomy comparing to their younger counterparts. The reasons of those result might stem from firmentrepreneurial level characteristics of SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]