Entrepreneurial orientation and growth of SMEs: A causal model

The literature existing on entrepreneurship implicitly assumes that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and growth orientation are positively related with each other. However, few studies, whether theoretical or empirical, analyze such relation in an explicit manner. Instead, most previous works have focused on the EO-performance relation, even though growth and profitability do not always correlate positively. This work has been carried out on a sample of 434 SMEs, and contributes two novelties with regard to previous research: (1) the analysis focuses on the EO-growth relation; and (2) it uses a flexible method (Partial Least Squares) which allows the study of several simultaneous relationships. The results reveal the complexity of the relationships between EO, strategy, environment, resources and growth.