LyonLumpkinDess2001JBV

As a means to enhance prescriptive theory on a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation, this paper addresses the strengths and weaknesses of three approaches to measurement: managerial perceptions, firm behaviors, and resource allocations. We examine a set of recent studies employing these approaches, propose important contingencies regarding their use, and suggest that measurement accuracy can be improved by using a triangulation of methods. The paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical, resource availability, and interpretability considerations in measurement selection.

LumpkinDess1996AMR

The primary purpose of this article is to clarify the nature of the en- trepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and to propose a contingency framework for investigating the relationship between EO and firm performance. We first explore and refine the dimensions of EO and discuss the usefulness of viewing a firm’s EO as a multidimensional construct. Then, drawing on examples from the EO-related contingen- cies literature, we suggest alternative models (moderating effects, mediating effects, independent effects, interaction effects) for testing the EO-performance relationship.

DessLumpkin2005AME

Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) has two primary aims: the creation and pursuit of new venture opportunities and strategic renewal. Although firms may grow via mergers and acquisitions as well as through joint ventures and strategic alliances, corporate entrepreneurship is typically focused on internal venture development. Corporate new venture creation was labeled “intrapreneuring” by Gifford Pinchot because it refers to building entrepreneurial businesses within existing firms. However, to engage in corporate entrepreneurship that yields above-average returns and contributes to sustainable advantages, it must be done effectively.

Whatever form CE efforts take, the key to successfully creating value is viewing every value chain activity as a source of competitive advantage.  In the same way, the effect of corporate entrepreneurship on a firm’s strategic success is strongest when it animates all parts of an organization. It is found in companies where the strategic leaders and the culture together generate a strong impetus to innovate, take risks, and aggressively pursue new venture opportunities. These ideas are captured by the concept known as “entrepreneurial orientation.”

CovinSlevin1991ETP

 

This article outiines a conceptual model of entrepreneurship as an organizatlonal-level phenomenon. The model is intended to depict the organizational system elements that relate to entrepreneurial behavior among larger, established firms, but may also be applicable in varying degrees to many smaller firms. Entrepreneurship is described as a dimension of strategic posture represented by a firm’s risk-taking propensity, tendency to act in competitively aggressive, proactive manners, and reliance on frequent and extensive product innovation. The proposed model deiineates the antecedents and consequences of an entrepreneurial posture as well as the variables that moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial posture and firm performance. The advantages of a firm-behavior perspective on entrepreneurship are discussed, as are the theoretical and managerial implications of such a perspective.

 

Cahill1996AMR

Lumpkin and Dess’s (1996) article linking entrepreneurial orientation with performance revealed a problem with the Academy of Management as we approach the end of the millennium-its state of fragmentation. It has become all but impossible to keep up with the research, even in areas in which one has an interest. The era of the searchable database has made this condition, if anything, worse rather than better, because one must have the correct keyword to search upon, or the search engine re- turns nothing.

Had Lumpkin and Dess searched the marketing literature for entrepreneurial orientation and performance, they would have found little on the topic. However, had they searched for pioneering and pioneer advantage, they would have found plenty. And much of what they found would have had instant applicability to their article (and, in all fairness to them, vice versa-marketing in the fin de siecle academy is no more immune from the problems of fragmentation than any other discipline).