Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation
Capabilities and Export Performance
Joaquín Alegre
Professor in Innovation Management
University of Valencia
joaquin.alegre@uv.es
ja343@sussex.ac.uk
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Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Topic Relevance & Research objectives
 Entrepreneurship as well as innovation and exports are widely viewed as an
important stimulus of positive outcomes at both firm and society levels (Ireland & Webb, 2007)
 EO-Performance Lit. (Rauch, Wiklund, Lumpkin & Frese, 2009; Blackburn & Kovalainen, 2009)
OBJECTIVE 1: Examining export performance as an outcome of EO (Yeoh & Jeong, 1995)
OBJECTIVE 2: Proposing 3 types of innovation capabilities: technology, market and
design
OBJECTIVE 3: Examining the role of innovation capabilities as mediators in the
relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and export performance?
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background
ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION can be considered a management attitude that
seeks to accentuate innovation, flexibility, and responsiveness driven by the perception
of opportunity (Guth and Ginsberg, 1990; Jogaratnam et al., 1999).
EO is characterised by a management that (Covin & Slevin, 1989; Lumpkin & Dess, 1996):
• Innovates: to engage in and support new ideas.
• Has an aggressive competitive orientation (Proactiveness): to anticipate and act on
future needs by searching for new opportunities.
• Has a strong risk taking propensity: to commit significant resources to opportunities
that have a reasonable chance of failure.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background
EO
Firm Performance (Zahra & Covin, 1995; Wiklund, 1999)
Intermediate steps? (e.g. Wang, 2008)
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background… Previous findings
Wang (2008). Entrepreneurship, Theory & Practice
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background
EO
Firm Performance (Zahra & Covin, 1995; Wiklund, 1999)
EO
Exports (Yeoh & Jeong, 1995)
- Export performance as a performance variable.
- Especially important at present for SMEs in
Southern Europe!
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
.
.
Conceptual background… Previous findings
Entrepreneurial
Orientation
H1
H2
Innovation
Performance
Export intensity
H3
Organizational
Learning Capability
H4
Fernández-Mesa & Alegre, EIBA 2012
.
.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background… Previous findings
Organisational
Learning
Capability
Experimentation
The degree to which new ideas and
suggestions are attended to and dealt with
sympathetically.
Risk Taking
The tolerance of ambiguity,
uncertainty, and errors.
Interaction with the
external environment
The degree of relationships with the
external environment.
Dialogue
The sustained collective inquiry into the
processes, assumptions, and certainties that
make up everyday experience.
Participative decision
making
The level of influence employees have in the
process of decision making.
Chiva & Alegre (2009). British Journal of Management
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background… Previous findings
INNOVATION
PERFORMANCE
PRODUCT
INNOVATION
EFFICACY
Degree of sucess of
product innovation
PROCESS
INNOVATION
EFFICACY
Degree of sucess of
process innovation
INNOVATION
PROJECTS
EFFICIENCY
Efforts carried out to achieve
this degree of success
Oslo Manual (2005) / Alegre et al., (2012). International
Small Business Journal
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background… Previous findings
150 Italian and Spanish SMEs
R2=0.204
0.43**
Entrepreneurial
Orientation
2006.
Objective
data
Export
Intensity
0.14 n.s.
2 =135.02 p=0.000; d.f.=65
NFI=0.99; NNFI=0.99; CFI=0.99; RMSEA=0.085
2004. Perceptual data
Size
-0.03 n.s.
Location
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background… Previous findings
.
150 Italian and Spanish SMEs
Entrepreneurial
Orientation
-0.10 n.s.
0.35**
R2=0.549
R2=0.628
0.69**
Innovation
Performance
0.34**
Export
Intensity
2006.
Objective
data
0.04 n.s.
0.52**
2
R =0.118
0.09n.s.
0.02**
0.15**
Organizational
Learning Capability
0.14**
Size
Location
2 =1893.974 p=0.000; d.f.=1065
NFI=0.99; NNFI=0.99; CFI=0.99; RMSEA=0.07
.
2004. Perceptual data
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Conceptual background… Our next step forward
TECHNOLOGY
CAPABILITIES
Schmookler (1966)
INNOVATION
CAPABILITIES
MARKET
CAPABILITIES
DESIGN
CAPABILITIES
+ design in some industries
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Our research model: direct link
.
Entrepreneurial
Orientation
H1
2012. Perceptual data
2004.
Perceptual
data
Export
performance
Size
Location
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Research model: mediation
.
.
2012. Perceptual data
Entrepreneurial
Orientation
H1
2004.
Perceptual
data
H2
Innovation
Capabilities
Technology
Capabilities
Market
Capabilities
Export intensity
Design
Capabilities
Size
Location
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Methods. Data collection procedure
► Target population: Italian and Spanish ceramic tiles producers
Spanish Ceramics industrial district
(Castellón)
Italian Ceramics industrial district
(Sassuolo)
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Methods. Data collection procedure
► Target population: Italian and Spanish ceramic tiles producers

World leaders in technology and design.

Innovating Industry.

Top world exporters.

Similar characteristics in both industrial districts: Geographical
concentration, SMEs, Internationalization.

Single industry study: It has the advantage of analyzing an
homogeneous population.
Innovation, and internationalization processes might differ
substantially from one industry to another (technology, markets, design
issues, etc…).
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Methods. Data collection procedure & Measures
► Survey #1 (2004)
► Sample: 182 firms
82 Italian firms
100 Spanish firms
► EO: 1 dimension & 9 items (Covin & Slevin, 1989)
 Answered by General Manager in 2004
► Pre-test: 4 technicians from ITC (Spanish Technological Institute in Ceramics)
► Non response bias assessment (Comparison for turnover & no. of employees)
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Methods. Data collection procedure & Measures
► Survey #2 (2012)
105 Italian firms
► Sample: 226 firms
111 Spanish firms
► Pre-test: 4 technicians from ITC (Spanish Technological Institute in Ceramics)
► Innovation capabilities: - Technology Capabilities
(Huang, JBR, 2011)
- Market Capabilities (Vorhies et al., SMJ, 2009)
- Design Capabilities (Chiva & Alegre, JPIM, 2009)
 Answered by Operarions Manager in 2012
► Export performance (Lages et al., JIM, 2009)
 Answered by CEO in 2012
► Non response bias assessment (Comparison for turnover & no. of employees)
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
.
Results…
Technology
Capability
0.82**
Marketing
Capability
0.77**
R2=0.752
Innovation
Capabilities
0.87**
N=226
Design
Capability
AFC Innovation Capabilities
2 =191,844 p=0.000; d.f.=74
NFI=0.891; NNFI=0.913; CFI=0.929; RMSEA=0.084
.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Results…
Technology
Capability
0.81**
R2=0.292
Marketing
Capability
0.80**
Innovation
Capabilities
0.54**
Export
Performance
0.86**
Design
Capability
N=226
2 =253.63 p=0.000; d.f.=115
NFI=0.906; NNFI=0.936; CFI=0.946; RMSEA=0.073
.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Expected Results: mediating model
.
.
Entrepreneurial
Orientation
H1
H2
Innovation
Capabilities
Technology
Capabilities
Market
Capabilities
Export intensity
Design
Capabilities
Size
Location
.
.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Findings & Discussion

Exports be an outstanding performance concept, especially for SMEs in crisis
times

Proposal of Innovation capabilities as a three-dimensions concept +
Confirmatory analysis

Deepening the relationship between innovation and exports in manufacturing
industries

We also expect to confirm:
- EO is a managerial attitude that could be considered as an important
antecedent of Innovation Capabilities and Export outcomes.
- EO could be found useful in explaining intra-industry performance differences
in terms of export performance.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation Capabilities and Export Performance
Managerial implications

EO & Innovation Capabilities: Sucess factors that depend on deliberate
managerial action.

How costly is it to develop Innovation Capabilities in a firm?

Is it an option? Isn’t it a way of adapting to current times”?
Limitations & Future Research

Adding more mediating variables to the EO-performance link

Single industry analysis  Other industries

Case studies to obtain a more thorough picture of the situation that allows
focusing on the whole processes of learning and innovation.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Innovation
Capabilities and Export Performance
Joaquín Alegre
Professor in Innovation Management
University of Valencia
joaquin.alegre@uv.es
ja343@sussex.ac.uk