The influence of entrepreneurial orientation on the innovation process : an empirical research on manufacturing SMEs

Many scholars have investigated the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational performance. However, the influence of entrepreneurial orientation on performance is not always immediately apparent. Some scholars have therefore introduced a mediating variable which causes entrepreneurial orientation to influence performance indirectly. Previous research has shown that one such variable is innovation performance. However, little is known about the underlying processes that link entrepreneurial orientation to innovation. Therefore, the focus of this research is to obtain a better understanding of how entrepreneurial orientation influences the innovation process. We have therefore conducted a quantitative research among 41 manufacturing SMEs in the Netherlands. Our findings suggest that when entrepreneurial orientation is considered as a unidimensional construct, it influences both the innovation process as a whole and all its individual steps. However, when we consider entrepreneurial orientation as a multidimensional construct, the only dimension that influences the innovation process and its steps is proactiveness.