Culture, entrepreneurial orientation, and global competitiveness

Based on Lumpkin and Dess's conceptualization of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), this paper presents a cultural model of entrepreneurship. We propose that a society's propensity to generate autonomous, risk-taking, innovative, competitively aggressive and proactive entrepreneurs and firms will depend on its cultural foundation. The role of economic, political/legal, and social factors as moderators of the relationship between culture and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) are also considered. Overall, it is proposed that only those countries with specific cultural tendencies will engender a strong EO, hence experiencing more entrepreneurship and global competitiveness. Specific country examples are discussed.