THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION, TIME ORIENTATION AND SMALL BUSINESS PERFORMANCE: AN EVIDENCE FROM

Some studies have found that firms with higher Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) perform better, however, an important message from past research efforts is that this relationship is more complex. The notion that the relationship between an EO and performance is different for many types of businesses, especially small business, is not new. There are two explanations for these inconclusive results: the performance implication of EO is context-specific and the relationship between EO and performance is moderated by internal factors. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine through a contingency model the influence of time orientation on the EO-performance relationship in small business. Results based on a sample of 164 small manufacturing businesses in Mexico suggest that performance is positively influenced by its EO, but the findings also indicate that time orientation moderates the relationship. The EO-performance link is stronger for long-term orientation than for short-term orientation