A capability-anchored articulation of the EO-organizational performance relationship in emergent and post-emergent organizations

Abstract

There have been mixed scholarly findings on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and organizational performance, and a framework that adequately explains the mixed results has not emerged. We address this gap and contribute to the literature in two ways. First, we develop a capability-anchored articulation of the EO-organizational performance relationship. Second, we use this articulation to explain mixed findings on the relationship between EO and organizational performance. Our development indicates a negative and curvilinear relationship between EO and organizational performance for emergent organizations. and a positive and curvilinear relationship for post-emergent organizations. Further, our development indicates an inverted U-shaped relationship for a mixed sample of emergent and post-emergent organizations. Contributions to future research include exploring theoretical extensions of the EO-organizational performance relationship and an opportunity to reconceptualize the EO construct by leveraging the capability-based view of the organization.