Entrepreneurial Orientation Literature Research Articles

The effect of breadth of external pressure on leaders in small and medium-sized enterprises: does the firm become more entrepreneurial?

PurposeThe study explores the relationship between the breadth of external pressures facing leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the entrepreneurial stance they adopt for their firm, that is, entrepreneurial orientation (EO).Design/methodology/approachBlending attention theory with EO literature, we argue that increasing breadth of external pressures will challenge leaders' attentions with implications for how they seek innovation, risk-taking and bold acts. We highlight an inflection point after which a negative relationship between the breadth of external pressure and EO will turn positive. We use data from a survey of 125 small-sized wineries in France to test this and capture a range of 15 external pressures on entrepreneurs.FindingsThe main tests and additional robustness tests provide support. It is the breadth of external pressures – as opposed to intensity of any one specific form of pressure – that plays a fundamental role in shaping leaders' adoption of EO in small enterprises over and above internal characteristics.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the results may be context-dependent, they provide support for an attention-based view of entrepreneurial responses by leaders of SMEs under pressure.Practical implicationsSME leaders and entrepreneurs should be aware of how their attention is challenged by breadth of pressures from external sources, as this can influence the EO they adopt for their SME.Originality/valueThis nonlinear perspective on external pressures influencing the EO of small firms has not been taken in the EO literature to date, despite some recent work that considers only a small range of external pressures.

The power of posture: organizational reputation following product failures and the role of entrepreneurial orientation

ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this research is to conceptually study the extent to which an entrepreneurial strategic posture intensifies or restrains the influence of a reputation-damaging event, namely, a product failure, on the subsequent Organizational Reputation. Much of the literature agrees on the idea that firms exhibiting an entrepreneurial behavior largely outperform more conservative firms, but the current research acknowledges a setting in which signaling a certain subdimension of entrepreneurial orientation can reduce or enhance the negative consequences of a product failure. Findings The current research offers propositions arguing that signals of an entrepreneurial orientation high in proactiveness, risk-taking, and innovativeness are likely to reduce the negative consumer-perceived Organizational Reputation resulting from a product failure, while signals high in competitive aggressiveness and autonomy are likely to trigger more severe negative perceptions of firm reputation. Research Limitations This research is limited by its focus on a specific setting, reputation-damaging events, and its focus on merely one strategic posture, entrepreneurial orientation. Another limitation is the lack of current empirical research to test our propositions. Contributions Integrating attribution and signaling theories contributes to the entrepreneurial orientation literature by recognizing a setting in which this type of strategic posture may prove to be detrimental to the firm.

Do entrepreneurs mistreat probationary employees? The mediating role of perceived ethical climate and moderating roles of core job characteristics

PurposeRecent high-profile ethical scandals in start-up organizations have made people wonder whether entrepreneurship may cultivate a work environment with less emphasis on ethics. This study examined a psychological process about how an organization’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) can affect its treatment of probationary employees, a vulnerable yet understudied group of workers.Design/methodology/approachThe authors recruited 241 participants through Amazon Mechanical Turk. They answered an online survey about their experiences as probationary employees.FindingsThis study found that job feedback and meaning moderated the relationship between EO and ethical climate, such that this relationship was statistically significant and positive only among participants who reported high levels of feedback and job meaning. Ethical climate, in turn, was found to be related to a reduction in workplace incivility experienced by probationary employees. The indirect effect of EO on incivility via ethical climate was contingent on job feedback and meaning.Research limitations/implicationsThis study extends the discussion on the entrepreneurial context, adds to EO literature with findings on its indirect effect on nonfinancial performance and reinforces institutional theory through job characteristics’ moderating roles. However, a methodological limitation is conducting a cross-sectional single-source survey due to limited access to firms and probationary employees, considering the hidden population involved.Practical implicationsThis study found no evidence of probationary employee exploitation in high EO organizations. Job seekers should embrace probationary work at start-ups. Entrepreneurial leaders should balance being proactive, innovative and caring toward employees.Originality/valueIt is debatable whether entrepreneurship leads to unethical organizational conduct. By studying a vulnerable group of employees, the authors discovered that EO, when paired with favorable job design factors, can create a more ethical workplace where temporary talents are treated with dignity and respect.

The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation on SMEs’ Performance in a Transitional Economy: The Mediating Role of Differentiation Advantages and Innovation Capability

EO literature suggests that the effects of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on performance is affected by studying context. There is a lack of study executed in transitional economies. In addition, the mediating role of differentiation advantages (DA) and innovation capability (IC) on the relationship between EO and performance remains underexplored. Thus, drawing upon resource-based view and contingency theory, this study examines the mediating effects of DA and IC on this relationship in the contexts of manufacturing SMEs located in Vietnam. A sample of 176 manufacturing SMEs currently operating in Vietnam was analyzed. Partial least square structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that DA and IC fully mediate the relationship between EO and performance. These findings permit four theoretical contributions to the literature. First, this study contributes to the EO literature by examining the effects of EO in a transitional economy as Vietnam. Second, this study also overcomes prior EO studies in term of the operationalization of the performance. Third, this study introduces to EO literature two novel mediators such as DA and IC. Last but not least, this study it also contributes to contingency theory in EO study by addressing mediating rather moderating effects. Regarding to practical implications, managers of manufacturing SMEs should aware that adopting EO is only beneficial to the performance when EO can be used to develop DA and IC.

Entrepreneurial orientation as a theory of new value creation

Explaining how and why entrepreneurial orientation (EO) enhances firm outcomes is critical as it explicates specific causal mechanisms and boundary conditions. However, despite over 40 years of inquiry, a theory gap is evident in much of the research that links EO to firm performance outcomes. In this study, we inductively derive EO as a theory of new value creation based upon an increase in consumer benefits (or reduction in costs) made possible through a commitment to continuous novelty within an organization’s product-market offerings. In addition to offering a theory explaining how and why EO creates new value through product-market variance as a new causal mechanism within the EO literature, our research affords practitioners greater insight into what to expect from EO and when it may be most gainfully employed in pursuing firm growth. To this end, our study considers relevant boundary conditions to applying our theory and what our theory implies for future research exploring organizational entrepreneurship.

Which kind of board benefits more from the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and radical innovation? The asymmetric roles of board characteristics in China

Radical innovation is necessary for firms to transform existing markets or create new ones, which has critical impact on firm performance. Therefore, there is a need to explore how radical innovation can be successfully achieved. Entrepreneurial orientation reflects a firm’s willingness to be innovative, proactive and risk-taking, which has been recognized as a key factor contributing to firm innovation. However, the specific focus on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and radical innovation is very limited. This paper therefore investigates how entrepreneurial orientation affects radical innovation by considering the contingency effects of board characteristics. Using the panel data of listed manufacturing firms in China from 2013 to 2019, this paper found that entrepreneurial orientation has a significant positive impact on radical innovation. Furthermore, different board characteristics play asymmetric moderating roles in that relationship in such a way that CEO duality and board independence play positive moderating roles, while board ownership and board size play negative moderating roles. This paper contributes to the entrepreneurial orientation literature by providing a finer-grained understanding of the role of entrepreneurial orientation on radical innovation. This paper also contributes to the corporate governance literature by revealing the asymmetric contingency effects of different board characteristics.

The necessity of others: Entrepreneurial self-efficacy, TMT collective efficacy, CEO-TMT interface, and entrepreneurial orientation.

Entrepreneurial orientation is the key factor for enterprises to obtain competitive advantages in dynamic circumstances. Thus, prior studies established the effect of psychological factors, for instance, entrepreneurial self-efficacy on entrepreneurial orientation using social cognitive theory. However, prior studies presented two main opposite views consisting of a positive and negative relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial orientation as well as providing no alleyway to enrich this relationship. We join the conversation on the positive linkage and argue on the essence of exploring the black box mechanisms to strengthen enterprises' entrepreneurial orientation. We employed the social cognitive theory and collected 220 valid responses from CEOs and TMTs from 10 enterprises in the high-tech industrial development zones of nine provinces in China to clarify the effect of top management team (TMT) collective efficacy, and CEO-TMT interface on the link between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial orientation. Our findings show that entrepreneurial self-efficacy positively affects entrepreneurial orientation. In addition, we found that a higher level of TMT collective efficacy strengthens the positive relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial orientation. Moreover, we discovered differential moderating effects. First, CEO-TMT interface positively affects entrepreneurial orientation when it interacts with TMT collective efficacy and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Second, CEO-TMT interface has a significant negative indirect effect on entrepreneurial orientation, when it only interacts with TMT collective efficacy. Our study enriches the entrepreneurial orientation literature by positioning TMT collective efficacy and CEO-TMT interface as social cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial orientation nexus. Thus, we open a window of opportunities for CEOs and decision-makers to maintain a sustainable position in the market, grasping more opportunities in uncertain conditions via timely entries into new markets and maintaining pre-existing ones.

Nexus between entrepreneurial orientation and intellectual capital

PurposeThe importance of knowledge-based assets and the capability to leverage them has been the subject of scholarly interest in entrepreneurial orientation literature. The authors attempt to understand the dominant themes in the prior literature and propose directions for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe authors performed a systematic review of 79 studies to answer the research questions: (1) What are the predominant themes in the literature on the role of intellectual capital and entrepreneurial orientation? (2) What are the potential fields of future research?FindingsThe findings suggest that current research engages the topics of intellectual capital, the capability to leverage knowledge assets and entrepreneurial orientation. The thematic analysis reveals the role of knowledge management, organizational learning, intellectual capital and absorptive capacity in entrepreneurial firms. The authors propose a theoretical model to explain how intellectual capital and its management influence firm-level entrepreneurial behavior.Originality/valueUnderstanding the association between intellectual capital and the capability to leverage knowledge assets is crucial in a dynamic business environment. Effective deployment of knowledge is vital while searching for new entrepreneurial opportunities.

Conceptualizing the relationship between Spiritual and Entrepreneurial Orientation in developing sustainable enterprises

Entrepreneurship is considered a critical element that promotes the development of an economy and the society of a country. At the organizational level, the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) of decision-makers is recognized as a key driver in the entrepreneurship literature that propels firms to act ‘autonomously’, ‘innovate’, ‘take risks’, and be ‘proactive’ relative to marketplace opportunities. However, the current EO literature is evolving and has not explored its impact on developing sustainable operations. This paper intends to bridge this gap by introducing a concept of Spiritual Orientation (SO) playing the role of a mediator to explain the association between EO and sustainable operations. We argue that spirituality fortifies entrepreneurs’ commitment to developing sustainable business entities, by empowering firms to be adaptable and creating a pro-social business model with a sense of interconnection with the community and natural ecosystem. Thus, it is important to understand the spiritual development of entrepreneurs, because it leads entrepreneurs to exhibit fairness, kindness, and improved awareness of other people’s needs and thereby be sensitive to the alterations in the natural ecosystem. This paper argues that Spiritual Orientation leads entrepreneurs to exercise greater ‘autonomy’ as a result of seeing the interconnectedness of their actions. A spiritually oriented entrepreneur would place emphasis on the ethics, principles, virtues, values, and be sensitive to emotions, which will lead to taking proactive actions. As such, spirituality elucidates how business visionaries continue despite challenging situations by expanding their ideas of future-oriented sensemaking. This paper theorizes how a spiritually driven EO will lead to sustainable business ventures that focus on people, profit, and the planet. We assert that entrepreneurs must develop the spiritual maturity to create the right balance of EO dimensions, thus leading to creating sustainable organizations.

Chief Executive Officers Entrepreneurial Orientation, Dynamic Capabilities, and Firm Performance: The Moderating Effect of the Manufacturing Industry.

This study explores the implications of CEO entrepreneurial orientation for firm performance through corporate dynamic capabilities. It explores the moderating effects of firm industry type on the above indirect effect. Based on 188 matched sample data collected from vice chief executive officers (CEOs) of Chinese firms, this study found that CEO entrepreneurial orientation was positively related to corporate dynamic capabilities and firm performance and that corporate dynamic capabilities mediated the positive relationship between CEO entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. Firm industry type moderated the direct effect of CEO entrepreneurial orientation on corporate dynamic capability, and the indirect effect of CEO entrepreneurial orientation on firm performance through corporate dynamic capability. Both direct and indirect effects were stronger in manufacturing enterprises. The findings enrich the CEO entrepreneurial orientation literature by extending the existing knowledge on its underlying mechanism and its impact on firm performance, as well as its boundary conditions.

Entrepreneurial orientation and green management in an emerging economy: The moderating effects of social legitimacy and ownership type

By combining major tenets developed in the entrepreneurial orientation literature and institutional theory, we investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and green management in the context of emerging markets and the moderating effects of social legitimacy and ownership type. Using survey data from 239 firms in China, we find that entrepreneurial orientation is positively associated with emerging market firms' green management. This positive relationship is strengthened by social legitimacy and is stronger for state-owned enterprises than for non-state-owned enterprises. Furthermore, our empirical results partly support the idea that the configuration of high entrepreneurial orientation, high social legitimacy and state ownership is more effective in facilitating emerging market firms' green management than other configurations. This study explores a new perspective (i.e., the integration of an entrepreneurial approach and institutional theory) to explain why firms make differentiated green decisions in emerging markets. Additionally, the three-way configuration effects provide a more complete picture and thereby facilitate a deeper understanding of emerging market firms’ entrepreneurial spirit with regard to environmental issues.

ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IN RETAIL PHARMACIES: EVIDENCE FROM BAHRAIN

Purpose of the study: The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO): innovativeness, autonomy, risk-taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness on the business performance of retail pharmacies.
 Methodology: This study used a quantitative research approach. The data from 136 pharmacists operating in different retail pharmacies in the Kingdom of Bahrain were collected through a structured questionnaire. Multiple regression was applied to test the five hypotheses that were developed based on the literature review by using SPSS.
 Main Findings: The study found that there is a significant positive association between pharmacy business performance and two dimensions of EO: innovativeness and risk-taking. However, autonomy, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness have no significant association with the business performance of retail pharmacies in Bahrain. Yet, the findings showed that not all EO dimensions have a significant relationship with business performance; therefore, the study suggested that retail pharmacies must be careful while executing EO.
 Applications of this study: The findings of this study is anticipated to help retail pharmacies to develop their business, as it may offer significant insight and empirical evidence for pharmacy owners or decision-makers to adopt entrepreneurial orientation in order to achieve superior performance and growth in their businesses.
 Novelty/Originality of the Study: This study contributes to the entrepreneurial orientation literature in the retail pharmacy sector. The findings of this study show that the entrepreneurs in the retail pharmacy sector need to focus merely on two dimensions of EO (Innovativeness and risk-taking) to yield better performance. Moreover, this study is one of the limited studies that provide empirical support for the influence of EO on the retail pharmacy industry. This is a pioneering empirical study to examine the influence of relevant dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation on the business performance of retail pharmacies in the gulf countries and the Kingdom of Bahrain in particular.

The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Technological Capability, and Consumer Attitude on Firm Performance: A Multi‐Theory Perspective

Despite the maturing entrepreneurial orientation literature, limited advance has occurred in the theoretical aspect of entrepreneurial orientation–firm performance relationship, and wide‐ranging empirical investigations are few. The authors address these concerns by testing a comprehensive model and by extending the theoretical boundary. Specifically, drawing on dynamic capability theory, core competence perspective, and consumer theories, we argue that technological capability is central for growth and financial performance of an entrepreneurially oriented firm. We introduce a construct called consumer attitude dynamism. We reason that this variable influences the growth of entrepreneurial firms. Our theory and empirical results primarily contribute to the entrepreneurship literature.

Bibliometric analysis of entrepreneurial orientation

PurposeThe remarkable concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has attracted scholars’ attention for its relevance to a firm’s performance. Based on bibliometric and distance-based visualization of similarities (VOS) analysis, the purpose of this paper is to outline a broad-spectrum perspective of the structure of research in EO across more than 20 years of publications, identifying the most prominent journals, authors and articles in this field.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses the Web of Science Core Collection and the VOS viewer software. The analysis searches for all the documents connected to EO available in the database from 1976 to 2017. The graphical visualization maps the bibliographic data using both bibliographic coupling and co-citation data.FindingsEntrepreneurship Theory and Practice Journal, Journal of Business Venturing and Family Business Review are the most relevant journals in the field. Among the many important authors in the EO literature, key contributors are Lumpkin, Payne, Short, Covin, Dess and Wiklund. Three different streams of research are linked to the EO concept; strategy and entrepreneurship, family business and miscellaneous work in psychometrics, methods, marketing and knowledge/capability-based approaches to organizations.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to EO research by providing a global perspective on the concept’s investigation, using bibliometric data and graphical networks.

Entrepreneurial Orientation, Control Systems, and New Venture Performance: A Dominant Logic Perspective

Abstract Drawing on the dominant logic perspective, this study argues that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) can generate an entrepreneurial dominant logic among new ventures that facilitate making and implementing decisions to experiment with entrepreneurial initiatives. Yet, the decisions are associated with high uncertainty. Since new ventures cannot endure high levels of uncertainty, to harness the potential of EO they should put in place proper control systems to reduce uncertainty associated with EO. This study examines the moderating role of output control, behavior control, and input control in the relationship of EO to new venture performance. It finds that both output control and behavior control have positive moderating effects but input control plays a negative moderating role. The findings enrich our knowledge on the EO–performance linkage. Moreover, this study represents one of the first attempts to adopt the dominate logic perspective to illustrate EO phenomena, laying down a solid threshold over which to introduce the perspective to the EO literature. And, by combining EO and control systems in a moderating model this study responds to appeals for extending control systems into entrepreneurship studies and thereby contributes to research on control systems.

What about the employees in entrepreneurial firms? A multi-level analysis of the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, role ambiguity, and social support

Research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has mainly addressed outcomes of EO at the level of the firm. However, few studies have examined how EO affects employees. Using a multi-level analysis of 343 employees nested in 25 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the analysis presented shows that EO will increase the degree of role ambiguity among employees. Social support from management was not found to have any effect on the relationship between EO and role ambiguity. However, social support from co-workers weakens the EO-ambiguity relationship and can counteract the negative effects of EO to some degree. The study contributes to the EO literature by being one of a few studies that have considered the possible negative consequences of EO. The article also highlights how to reduce role ambiguity in entrepreneurial SMEs.

Assessing Organisational Performance Within Entrepreneurial Orientation Research: Where Have We Been and Where Can We Go from Here?

Firm performance is a crucial aspect of research within the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) literature. Yet, only limited attention has been devoted to examining the range of performance targets and considerations in the EO literature. As a result, tendencies and biases in how firm performance is captured in EO studies are not well understood. The present study analyses the treatment of firm performance in a 25-year sample of EO research. Our state-of-the-science analysis reveals a tendency to develop novel combinative measures of performance within the EO literature. Additionally, a limited understanding of operational performance effects is evidenced in the sample. Finally, we observe a crucial need to investigate more tightly defined performance consequences stemming from EO. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in different environmental settings

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance across different levels of environmental hostility and market growth. The contingency approach of two-way interactions of EO with each environmental variable is contrasted with the configurational approach of three-way interactions of EO simultaneously with different levels of both environmental variables.Design/methodology/approach– Hierarchical regression analysis is applied for the pooled data set of 163 Finnish and Russian small- and medium-sized enterprises, and supplemented withpost hocanalysis of the differences in regression slopes across environmental configurations.Findings– Results show that EO is directly and positively associated with firm performance. However, the strength and direction of this relationship varies by configurations of the external environment variables. Firms achieve superior performance when adopting EO in environments with high levels of both hostility and market growth. In contrast, in favorable environments with low hostility and high market growth, EO adoption leads to lower firm performance.Research limitations/implications– The study contributes to the EO literature by demonstrating different effects of EO on firm performance across various environmental configurations. It uses cross-sectional data from two countries. Replication studies using different samples may further corroborate the results.Practical implications– In order to take advantage of opportunities and achieve better performance, managers of firms should analyze multiple elements of the environment concurrently and align EO to those conditions.Originality/value– The configurations of environmental hostility and market growth, representing both favorable and unfavorable elements of business context, have not been previously investigated together in one model of the EO-performance relationship.

Research on entrepreneurial orientation: current status and future agenda

Purpose– Research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has attracted researchers’ attention for over 30 years. The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively analyze the body of literature resulting from 30 years of research in EO, and to answer the following questions: what are the major themes that have emerged? What areas are missing? What degree of convergence do we see in the field of EO, and what concepts/topics has the field converged around?Design/methodology/approach– A bibliometric study with a sample of 405 articles published from January 1987 to July 2014 was developed. Techniques of bibliometric, lexical, and content analysis were used. The analysis involved: the evolution of published articles; the main authors, their nationalities, and institutional affiliations; citation and co-citations analysis; the journals that have published the most articles; and the most frequently-searched topics. Opting for bibliometric techniques permit an analysis of a larger number of articles and a greater variety of articles than other methodologies such as meta-analyses and systematic review studies. Accordingly, a more comprehensive look at the field of EO can be taken.Findings– Two distinct but complementary classifications are proposed to characterize the body of the literature resulting from 30 years of research in EO. The first one demonstrates that the field presents a convergence of the themes in four axis which together comprise studies on EO: performance, strategy, entrepreneurial attitude, and management. The second one presents the frequency of occurrence of the themes in the field: high-frequency themes or classical themes, frequently in the literature; moderate-frequency themes or emerging issues have not been sufficiently explored; low-frequency themes or potential opportunities related to understudied issues and contexts less frequently surveyed. A future research agenda is proposed for emerging themes and specific contexts.Practical implications– The identification of key themes in the field of EO contributes to assess the research evolution in order to recognize emerging themes and contexts, and the research gaps. With this, it is possible to lead new studies to cover a lack of research and advance knowledge in the field. The themes most studied also show the contribution for EO to organizational practice, especially in relation to the impact on the performance, the stimulus to the development of innovations, and the effects on organizational growth. Additionally, the identification of the authors most cited, most productive on the theme and the identification of the core journals for publishing of the area is recommended as a general reference for researchers interested in the topic of EO.Social implications– Although EO literature has been widely developed in Anglo regions (especially in the USA and UK) and Germanic Europe (especially Spain), there are others lacking these studies, especially Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and Middle East, with rare articles published internationally. The results can guide the advancement of research in these different contexts and realities where even issues more widely treated in the literature have been unexplored. The lack of studies in certain contexts can lead to new studies for inserting new insights into EO, such as potential differences between developed regions and in development. For regions where the studies on EO are more developed, the results of this paper contribute to signaling issues and contexts little explored that may be the focus of attention.Originality/value– The generation of literature indicators of EO through bibliometric fills a research gap on the theme, providing a more comprehensive view of the field and of the current status of the research on EO. Identifying the most frequent topics in EO literature, and little-explored themes and contexts makes it possible to propose an agenda for future research and knowledge generation on EO. Thus, it is suggested the development of studies focus on emerging themes like growth, learning, knowledge, resources, and capabilities; also in specific contexts with potential for aggregating new knowledges in the EO field such as family firms, non-profit organizations, social contexts, the public sector, university, spin-off, firms in emerging and developing economies.

Entrepreneurial Orientation and Corruption

Organizational corruption is a wide-spread negative aspect of economic activity, and a seemingly never-ending series of corruption scandals has been made public around the globe. Although research is performed in a broad variety of disciplines, ranging from psychology to management to law, a fully satisfactory explanation for the causes of organizational corruption has not been found. By looking at organizational factors as potential triggers for corruptive behavior, this study draws upon the concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Diverse studies have shown that EO, as an antecedent to company performance, has a positive effect. Recent EO literature, however, indicates that EO has not only positive but also negative consequences. In this line of reasoning, this study builds upon principal agent theory and makes a first step in exploring the impact of EO on a negative aspect of business behavior, namely organizational corruption. We gathered survey data and publicly available data from 411 firms, inquiring for both acts of corruption from within the top management team over the last 3 years and the level of entrepreneurial orientation within the organization. Results show diverging effects along the individual dimensions of EO; they point to risk orientation as the dark side of EO, as it significantly increases the likelihood of corrupt behavior in companies. In contrast, innovation orientation, to a certain extent, counterbalances by reducing the likelihood of corrupt behavior.