The mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation in the task-environment-performance relationship: a meta-analysis of 30 years of research

Pre-print version. Final version published by Sage; available online at http://online.sagepub.com/Despite the importance of the external task environment for firm performance little is known about the mechanisms that enable firms to benefit from a specific environmental setting. We argue that firms adjust their entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to the external environment and use it as a mechanism to transform the advantages provided by the environment into above-average performance levels. Specifically, we use meta-analysis supplemented by structural equation modeling to explore the links between environmental munificence, hostility, dynamism and complexity, EO, and firm performance in a mediation model. Our results suggest that environmental munificence, dynamism and complexity affect EO and, in turn, firm performance. We discuss our meta-analytical findings with respect to their theoretical contribution and their practical implications.This research was partially supported by a research grant by the Volkswagen Foundation (II/82 408)