Entrepreneurial Orientation among Migrants and Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a process of creating value by bringing together a unique package of resources to exploit entrepreneurship opportunities. The importance of entrepreneurial activities in society has been acknowledged in the entrepreneurship literature. It has been suggested that entrepreneurial strategies, in terms of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), contribute greatly to entrepreneurship performance (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996;Miller, 1987; Reynolds, 2000). EO is often mentioned as an antecedent of firm growth, competitive advantage, and superior performance. Prior research confirms that a positive relationship exists between EO and firm performance (Wiklund & Shepherd, 2005;Wang, 2008; Runyan, 2008). The success of enterprises are dependent on EO and a range of other factors including age, gender, culture, education, managerial know-how, length of time, size of enterprise, capital, and network connection.Three disciplines have provided primary contributions to the theoretical development of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). These are economics, social psychology, and strategic management (Mitchell et al., 2002). EO refers to the strategy-making processes and styles of a firm that engage in entrepreneurial activities. There are two schools of thought on EO: the Unidimensional School with three dimensions (proactiveness, risk-taking, and innovativeness) and the multidimensional school with five dimensions (innovativeness, risk-taking, autonomy, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness).An overview of the entrepreneurial literature shows that there has been little focus on the influence of EO on migrant enterprises. Therefore, the objective of this study will be to examine the relationship between five dimensions of EO and entrepreneurial performance. The study will also assess the moderating influence of environment (environmental characteristics) on the EO-performance relationship. Keywords: Migrants, Migrant enterprises, Migrant entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Environment, Business performance Rationale of the StudyAn overview of the entrepreneurial literature shows that there has been little focus on the influence of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on migrant enterprises. Therefore, this identified gap will be the focus of this study. The study will use the multidimensional model of EO to evaluate a series of questions pertaining to the influence of EO on the performance of migrant small and medium businesses as well as environmental effects on the EO-firm performance relationship. Data will be collected via interview questions from 15-20 migrant small business owners.

Entrepreneurial orientation and venture performance in Ethiopia: the moderating role of business sector and enterprise location

“…Today's dynamic business environment requires a firm to regularly innovate, take risk into account, give room for autonomy, be proactive, and aggressively compete to maintain or find a new position in the market place (Omisakin et al 2016). The characteristics and motivations of small firm owner-managers have considerable influences on the performance of their firms (Davidsson 1989).…”

“…According to Wiklund and Shepherd (2005), entrepreneurial orientation (EO) provides small businesses with the ability to discover new business opportunities and the discovery of new opportunities enhances their differentiation from other firms (Omisakin et al 2016). The adoption of an entrepreneurial orientation as an indispensable variable to the growth oriented small firms seems pertinent (Ferreira and Azevedo 2008) because it is a significant contributor to a firm's success (Mahmood and Hanafi 2013).…”

“…The adoption of an entrepreneurial orientation as an indispensable variable to the growth oriented small firms seems pertinent (Ferreira and Azevedo 2008) because it is a significant contributor to a firm's success (Mahmood and Hanafi 2013). In fact, high EO among small business owners enhances the formation and activation of personal strategies affecting business growth and performance (Omisakin et al 2016).…”

The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Business Performance in Star Class Hotels of Sri Lanka

“…The contemporary researchers are taking a view on Entrepreneurial Orientation can be regarded as the strategic processes accountable for decision making and as a method of entrepreneurial actions associated with a business (Omisakin, Nakhid, Littrell, & Verbitsky, 2016). To embrace entrepreneurial behaviors and practices, Entrepreneurial Orientation is viewed as a strategic tool to perform both in a creative and competitive manner (Beliaeva, 2014).…”

Uncovering the backings to passion: why do small firm owners/managers engage in entrepreneurship?

“…Entrepreneurship provides small businesses with the ability to discover new business opportunities and the discovery of new opportunities enhances their differentiation from other firms (Omisakin et al 2016), but some of the owners/managers of established firms are not entrepreneurs. Individuals decide to engage in entrepreneurial activity because of different (combinations of ) start-up motivations (Zwan et al 2016).Entrepreneurial engagement is determined by both individual and institutional conditions.…”