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Purpose: This study aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on the export performance of apparel small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the role of multiple differentiation strategy as a mediation effect between their relationships. It has also investigated the moderation impact of export market category between EO and performance relationship. The multiple differentiation strategy comprises the product (PDD), customer (CTD), service (SVD) and brand (BDD) differentiations. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey was carried out by providing a questionnaire to senior managers and owners of the apparel SMEs from the developed and developing markets exporters. The primary data of 550 was treated by the partial least squares-structural equation modelling) technique for final analysis. Findings: The study revealed EO's positive and significant effect on SMEs' export performance. The study has found the mediation effect of product, customer and brand differentiation strategies between EO and export performance relationships from the mediation analysis. In contrast, service differentiation has found no mediation effect. However, the moderation effect (export market category) has revealed an insignificant effect between EO and performance association. Research limitations/implications: The findings of this study are based on one country data analysis. This study has been conducted in the SMEs of the apparel industry in Bangladesh, considering only owners and senior-level managers of the firms. Originality/value: This research has drawn the attention of managers/owners to EO and multiple differentiation strategies enhancing export performance from the developing country context, such as Bangladesh. Multiple differentiation as a competitive strategy is the pioneer application of mediating effect between EO and export performance relationships. Moreover, this research has investigated the effect of the export market category as a moderator. Dearth research has applied the export market category to investigate the moderation effect between EO-performance models. Therefore, current research has theoretical and practical contributions to the international entrepreneurship and strategic management literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women entrepreneurs' performance in connection to their contribution to family livelihood in developing countries is yet an under-researched potential for addressing poverty and its roots. Their performance can be characterised as multi-dimensional. Next to business performance (e.g. profitability and growth), women entrepreneurs aim at a personal- and a societal performance as well. Although such a multi-dimensional performance reflects the interplay between the individual and the communal nature of entrepreneurship, especially in developing countries, the conditions for women to achieve this performance in such challenging contexts seem still unfavourable. This study analyses how entrepreneurial orientation (EO), distinguished in its three dimensions, of women entrepreneurs operating in a constrained context can leverage their business performance so that they can enhance their societal performance, in this case, their family livelihood. In particular, antecedents of EO, determinants of business performance and its influence on family livelihood are researched. The results of a structural equation model on data collected from Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs suggest that the financial capital and education level are antecedents positively influencing innovative- and pro-active EO, whereas risk-taking EO is positively influenced by financial capital only. EO, financial capital, business training and experience have a direct positive influence on women's business performance, whereas barriers in the social environment exert a direct negative influence. Apparently, women entrepreneurs appear to fuel and shape their EO in such a manner that through their business performance, a strong contribution to their family livelihood is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Understanding the micro-start-up resources and its relationships with entrepreneurial orientation and performance is unique because it operates a business in a poor resource setting. However, poor resource settings of micro-start-up are not adequately examined into the literature in relation to entrepreneurial orientation and performance. Therefore, grounded on resource-based view, this paper aims to attempt to examine the relationships between resource capital, entrepreneurial orientation and performance in a developing country context. Design/methodology/approach: To establish this, the authors conducted a survey among 180 micro-entrepreneurs from Bangladesh and analyzed the data using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. Findings: The results demonstrate the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between human and financial resources and performance, while having partial mediating influence between social resource and performance, therefore indicating the importance of resources for determining business outcomes for micro-entrepreneurs. Research limitations/implications: These results extend theoretical explanations of micro-entrepreneurship within the poor resource setting context. The findings have implications for identifying micro-firms likely to succeed for the purpose of strategic allocation of resources and supports; they also provide future research avenues. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous study has established that entrepreneurial orientation plays a critical and mediating role between resource capital and micro-firm performance in a poor resource setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]