Entrepreneurial orientation and export performance: the mediating effect of organisational resources and dynamic capabilities

This study analyses the relationships among entrepreneurial orientation, organisational resources, dynamic capabilities, and export performance. Specifically, we propose that entrepreneurial orientation enhances the attraction of financial, informational and relational resources thus affecting export performance through dynamic capabilities. This model is empirically tested with data from 265 managers of exporting companies in Portugal. Results validate ten out of eleven direct relationships of the model and confirm the mediating effect of organisational resources and dynamic capabilities on export performance. Entrepreneurial orientation contributes to the attraction of relational and informational resources, relational resources boost the development of informational and financial resources, and these three types of organisational resources directly affect the development of dynamic capabilities and export performance. In what concerns the managerial implications, managers, public policy makers, and researchers aiming to contribute to firms’ competitiveness and performance must clearly understand how resources affect the development of differentiated dynamic capabilities.