THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKET AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE OF SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL TRADE

Abstract

The academic literature available in marketing and administration presents several models of the relationship between Market Orientation, Entrepreneurial Orientation and its roles in the business performance. In this research were examined and tested three sets of hypotheses to evaluate the empiric importance of the Market Orientation on Business Performance, when moderated by the Entrepreneurial Orientation, in the small retail firms of Mato Grosso do Sul State. The data were obtained from a survey in a sample of 274 firms and the hypotheses were evaluated using the multiple lineal regression. The main findings give strong empiric evidence that how much larger the Market Orientation best is the Business Performance. The moderations of the dimensions of the propensity to Take Risk and Proactivity of Entrepreneurial Orientation are positive, but the Innovation process does not produce moderating effect between the constructs. We discuss the managerial implications and offer suggestions for future research.