Does Entrepreneurial Orientation Influence Firm Performance? A Study of Italian Family SMEs

Using a definition of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) associated to the competencies of 40 family firms entrepreneurs, family SMEs were classified in different groups with respect to individual (gender), perceived and family governance measures. One-way ANOVA was used to identify the EO dimensions that vary across groups. Further, drawing upon the resource-based view (RBV), this study highlights the relationship between EO and firm's performance. The results indicate that females show less entrepreneurial competencies and perceive their organization as less successful compared to males. Nonetheless, entrepreneurial competencies don't significantly influence neither actual nor perceived performance.