Entrepreneurial orientations and performance: A problematic explanatory approach in the Iranian knowledge-based industry

We aim to thoroughly investigate how entrepreneurial orientations (EOs) influence firm performance in the Iranian knowledge-based industry. This study criticizes the explanatory power of widely accepted EO dimensions in the context of an emerging economy. Empirical analysis of the data from Iranian knowledge-based firms (n=155) was performed by employing the PLS method of structural equation modeling. Findings show that there is semantic redundancy among different entrepreneurial orientations, i.e. proactiveness and risk taking could explain the full EO effects on firm performance in the context of Iranian knowledge-based industry. There were no moderating, spuriousness, and suppression effects of industrial contingencies and control variables at play. From a theoretical point of view, our work confirms that scholars should avoid considering entrepreneurial orientations as a holistic gestalt in different contexts. It also highlights that proactiveness and risk-taking are the orientations with the strongest effects on performance of Iranian knowledge-based firms. From an empirical point of view, our study sheds light to the importance of these specific EOs in the selection of human resources, and in the development of policies aimed at fostering sustainability of knowledge-based firms. In addition, it represents a contribution to better understanding of EO in emerging countries, characterized by different social and economic systems than the western world.