Search

Although it is widely accepted that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) improves firm performance, scholars have advised that particular attention should be paid to the context. In this research, we investigate a less explored context of franchising where business systems and procedures are usually dictated to franchisees by franchisors. Therefore, whether a franchisor should allow franchisees to pursue EO (innovativeness, proactiveness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy) is not clear. In the context of franchising, the majority of prior studies have mainly focused on the employment of EO as a unidimensional construct and at the franchisor level. In this research, we take a bottom-up perspective and evaluate the impact of different dimensions of EO on franchisees' performance. Our analysis of a multi-group of 183 restaurant franchisees located in Sweden and Iran reveals that only the pursuit of proactiveness and competitive aggressiveness improves a franchisee's performance and other dimensions do not play a significant role in improving performance in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While scholars have recently started to connect organizational factors in preparing a firm for corporate entrepreneurship to organizational outputs such as financial and innovative performance, there is less understanding of the mechanisms explaining these connections and their boundary conditions. In this vein, this study theorizes how and when Organizational Preparedness for Corporate Entrepreneurship (OPCE) enhances corporate financial and innovative performance. Our observation of 256 firms in the food industry of Iran indicates that OPCE promotes financial and innovative performance through the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation. Moreover, the relationship between OPCE and organizational outputs is stronger when firms perceive their business environment more dynamic. This provides a better understanding of the way firms can enhance their performance, in particular in the novel context of Iran as a developing country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on the resource-based view and contingency analysis, this study aims to investigate the relationship between firm-level entrepreneurship (FLE) and international performance among Iranian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The environment is considered as a moderating factor which enables us to discuss the results more precisely. To draw a more holistic picture of entrepreneurship in existing companies, both orientation and action are included in the research model. A survey study of 140 SMEs using a partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis demonstrated a negative effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on international performance, but a positive impact for corporate entrepreneurship (CE). Environmental dynamism (ED) appeared as an insignificant moderator, while environmental hostility (EH) significantly moderated the effect of EO on international performance. The unexpected results of this study, especially in the case of EO, add new insights on the FLE research of smaller companies. When SMEs are performing in a business network, cooperation becomes the priority, and any type of opportunistic behaviour which harms the trust weakens their collective performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]