Effects of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Performance and Growth: Are Microenterprises and Small Firms Equal?

Abstract

Entrepreneurial orientation is one of the constructs that is increasingly gaining the attention of researchers, academics and industry professionals, and is considered in the current literature as one of the business strategies that generates, both a higher level of financial performance and growth in companies. However, there are relatively few studies published in the entrepreneurship literature that analyze the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, financial performance and the level of growth of small companies, especially in emerging economy countries, as is the case from Mexico. For this reason, through a sample of 300 micro and small companies, the essential objective of this study is the analysis of the effects of company size on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, financial performance and growth of companies. The results obtained show that the entrepreneurial orientation has significant positive effects both on financial performance and on the level of growth of micro and small companies. JEL classification numbers: M21 Keywords: Open innovation practices, Product development, Firm performance, Manufacturing firms.