This paper reports the results of a study designed to investigate the effective strategic responses to environmental hostility among small manufacturing firms. Data on environmental hostility, organization structure, strategic posture, competitive tactics, and financial performance were collected from 161 small manufacturers. Findings indicate that performance among small firms in hostile environments was positively related to an organic structure, an entrepreneurial strategic posture, and a competitive profile characterized by a long‐term orientation, high product prices, and a concern for predicting industry trends. In benign environments, on the other hand, performance was positively related to a mechanistic structure, a conservative strategic posture, and a competitive profile characterized by conservative financial management and a short‐term financial orientation, an emphasis on product refinement, and a willingness to rely heavily on single customers.

This article outlines a conceptual model of entrepreneurship as an organizational-level phenomenon. The model is intended to depict the organizational system elements that relate to entrepreneurial behavior among larger, established firms, but may also be applicable in varying degrees to many smaller firms. Entrepreneurship is described as a dimension of strategic posture represented by a firm's risk-taking propensity, tendency to act in competitively aggressive, proactive manners, and reliance on frequent and extensive product innovation. The proposed model delineates the antecedents and consequences of an entrepreneurial posture as well as the variables that moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial posture and firm performance. The advantages of a firm-behavior perspective on entrepreneurship are discussed, as are the theoretical and managerial implications of such a perspective.

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Empirical research has not consistently identified antecedents for predicting post‐acquisition performance. We employ meta‐analytic techniques to empirically assess the impact of the most commonly researched antecedent variables on post‐acquisition performance. We find robust results indicating that, on average and across the most commonly studied variables, acquiring firms' performance does not positively change as a function of their acquisition activity, and is negatively affected to a modest extent. More importantly, our results indicate that unidentified variables may explain significant variance in post‐acquisition performance, suggesting the need for additional theory development and changes to M&A research methods. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This article introduces the Special Issue of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice on the topic of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO). In addition to overviewing the preparation and structure of the Special Issue, this article addresses various substantive matters pertinent to the continuing development of EO theory and research including (1) the issue of whether EO is more defensibly conceived of as a dispositional or behavioral construct; (2) the reasons why EO is regarded by some as an "annoying construct," and what might be done about it; (3) the reasons why the concept of EO fills an important gap in the literature on firm-level entrepreneurship; (4) a proposal that EO theory and research proceed along two concurrent paths corresponding the unidimensional and multidimensional conceptualizations of the construct; (5) a review of EO measurement issues focused on why, in particular, it isproblematic to conceive of and measure EO as a formative construct; and (6) a brief consideration of both marginal-value and high-potential topic areas for future EO theory and research.