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Understanding Market-Driving Behavior: The Role of Entrepreneurship

In recent years, the marketing literature has placed significant emphasis on market‐driving and proactive market‐driven behavior within firms in attempts to reconceptualize the meaning of “market orientation.” For their part, market‐driving firms such as Starbucks, Amazon.com, Dell, and Southwest Airlines are demonstrating how business model innovation results in sustainable advantage and superior long‐term performance in a wide range of industries. In this paper, we contend that market‐driving behavior is distinct from a firms market orientation, and instead is the essence of entrepreneurial action in the Schumpeterian “creative destruction” sense. It is further argued that the firms entrepreneurial orientation interacts with other strategic orientations, in the process determining how they are manifested and, in some cases, whether they are manifested. Furthermore, entrepreneurial orientation plays a critical role in determining transitions among various strategic orientations over time. An integrative model illustrates the dynamics of the interface between marketing and entrepreneurship from both a content and process perspective. Two case studies illustrate how trajectories can be identified in the dominant strategic orientations within companies as they evolve.

The effects of entrepreneurial marketing on born global performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate born global (BG) business organizations that (from or near their founding) seek superior performance.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on a multi‐case analysis of interviews conducted with five BG enterprises in which it evaluates, compares and contrasts the views of owner founders.Findings – It seems clear to the authors that organizational structure, the entrepreneurial processes adopted in creating firms, as well as marketing and learning orientation are all crucial ingredients in the successful early internationalization of enterprises from emerging economies.Originality/value – Although there are a number of studies on BG firms and a well‐developed literature on entrepreneurial marketing, to the best of the knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies evaluating the synergetic effect of entrepreneurial marketing and issues that arise from the commingling of organisational dynamics, resources and the performance of small‐ and...

Brand, organization identity and reputation: SMEs as expressive organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to identify non‐sector‐specific brand and reputation‐based factors that distinguish successful entrepreneurs and small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) from their larger counterparts. These distinguishing factors provide the building blocks for a theoretical (resource‐based view) model for demonstrating the pivotal role of brand, organizational identity (OI), and reputation building for large enterprises and small businesses in knowledge economies.Design/methodology/approach – To explore (theoretically) and explain (empirically) observed reality through qualitative investigation. This approach conceptualises and explains reality, and puts forward empirical findings as representations of theoretically postulated relationships between entrepreneurial success and brand/OI/reputation. The primary data are from in‐depth interviews with a sample of firms located in Staffordshire/West‐Midlands/regions, UK.Findings – Suggest that branding and reputation building are key...

Determinants of market orientation in accounting firms

Purpose – Though market orientation has been studied extensively, in the context of goods and services, little is known of its practical application in professional services specifically. This study, therefore, aims to develop and validate a market orientation scale relevant to accountancy firms.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework was built from first principles and the literature, and a research questionnaire adapted from the widely used standard pattern. Data collected from 1,042 usable questionnaires completed by managers of accounting firms in Turkey were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis was employed, to test the model and analyze approaches and applications in practice.Findings – Results suggest that Turkish accounting firms believe customer orientation to be the most significant construct within market orientation. The market environment is also considered important, but there is no strong support for competitor orientation, conventionally the third plank of market orientat...

The Impact of Cultural Openness, Religion, and Nationalism on Entrepreneurial Intensity: Six Prototypical Cases of Turkish Family Firms

The literature on family business and entrepreneurship has not fully investigated the combined effects of cultural openness, religion, and nationalism on entrepreneurial intensity in a firm. This is especially true for firms outside of estern urope and orth merica. To address this gap, the study examines the impact of these factors using a set of six Turkish entrepreneurial family firms. Entrepreneurial intensity is evaluated on the basis of the formulation put forth by orris and exton (1996), highlighting the degree and frequency of entrepreneurship. Results show that slam is conducive to entrepreneurial intensity within Turkish context. Nationalistic firms show lower frequency and degree of entrepreneurial intensity.

Independence and Co-Operation Among Small Businesses: The Case of the Turkish Shotgun Industry in a Period of Recession

Purpose – The article seeks to explore the importance of entrepreneurial behaviour and inter‐firm co‐operation for small firms seeking growth in a volatile, recession‐hit environment. Entrepreneurial behaviour is defined as seeking opportunities, developing new products and entering new markets. Strategic thinking and strategy type determine behaviour. Inter‐firm co‐operation includes both horizontal and vertical relationships.Design/methodology/approach – A case study of co‐operating firms and questionnaire survey of independent firms were conducted in the Turkish shotgun industry.Findings – Small firms engaging in co‐operation and applying prospector/analyser‐type strategies achieve greater success and growth than independent firms in the same industry. Moreover, co‐operation includes socio‐psychological, strategic and network dimensions, which are essential factors for success and growth.Research limitations/implications – Since the sample comprised only one case and a small number of independent firms...

Market, entrepreneurial, and technology orientations: impact on innovation and firm performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of market, technology, and entrepreneurial orientations (EOs) on both innovation and firm performance. It analyzes the mediating effects of incremental and radical innovation within the context of entrepreneurial firms in Turkey, an emerging economy. Design/methodology/approach This study empirically analyses the impact of strategic orientations on firm performance through innovation with a sample of 818 small and medium enterprises in Turkey. To test the proposed model, LISREL is used. Findings Proactive market orientation (MO) and technology orientation (TO) lead to radical innovation, while responsive MO strongly affects incremental innovation. EO impacts performance directly and indirectly via both incremental and radical innovation. Practical implications Finding suggests that senior management of firms, especially in emerging economies should encourage marketing managers to focus on key trends of markets, both existing and emerging. These marketing managers should find and work with lead users to improve radical product development. This means that those managing marketing need to be well schooled in technology, and they should also possess a proactive MO. Originality/value The present study employs a two-part view of the MO construct (responsive and proactive MO). This conceptualization provides a greater degree of precision in the use of the MO concept which was rarely employed in prior studies. Moreover, this paper views strategic orientations as drivers of innovation and examines how radical and incremental innovation mediate the effects of MO, EO and TO on firm performance. Finally, this is one of the few studies to look at all of these factors simultaneously and to include the two-part view of MO.

The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation dynamic capabilities and firm performance: an exploratory study of small Turkish firms

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and dynamic capabilities (DCs) are widely recognised as an important source of competitive advantage and superior performance of firms. EO is often described as mindset of firms which helps the firms to grow and perform better. EO creates a fertile internal environment which broadens firms’ scope to reconfigure their existing asset base and processes. Hence, drives the building and development of DCs. DCs enable the firms to sustain competitive advantage by creating value and allow the firms to capture entrepreneurial rents. Nonetheless, very few studies have addressed both concepts in the same study. This paper is an attempt to find a link between EO, DCs and small firm performance. To explore this relationship study used a qualitative case study approach. In this explorative study, ten case studies were conducted on high technology firms. Our findings reinforce the existing insights in literature that EO has a positive influence on small firm performance. An interesting finding of our study indicates that EO is fundamental for development of DCs. Further, study reveal that EO has a positive impact on building of DCs that, in turn, positively affects firm performance.

ENTREPRENEURIAL EXIT AND REENTRY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF TURKISH ENTREPRENEURS

This study attempts to develop a better understanding in an emerging economy of the exit and reentry processes of entrepreneurs. Twelve case studies were conducted in Turkey with entrepreneurs who, following entrepreneurial exit, re-entered with new ventures. Human and social capital perspectives are used to gain insights into the reentry process. The study indicates that reasons for and modes of exit influence the entrepreneurs decisions surrounding reentry. Results further reveal that experiential and educational dimensions of human capital are instrumental in the reentry process. The study finds that structural and relational dimensions of social capital are cardinal factors that influence the reentry process.

ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION, MARKET ORIENTATION AND NETWORKING: IMPACT ON INNOVATION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

The study examines the relationships among entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and networking on firm performance with radical and incremental innovation as the mediator. The present study draws on the resource-based view theory to provide insights about intangible resources and capabilities among SMEs. The study adopts a subjectivist approach and is based on multiple case study method by conducting interviews with 7 SMEs purposively operating in different sectors. The research findings seem to support both proactive and responsive market orientation (PMO, RMO), entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and networking have positive relationships on firm performance with radical and incremental innovation as the mediator. It appears firms initiating radical innovation take longer for new product performance because of lack of information about customer needs in the market but networking assists in providing market information that enables commercialization of new products. Further, networking among firms drives performance while strong ties are practiced to a lesser extent.