A tale of two predictors : the impact of regulatory focus and entrepreneurial orientation on small and medium-sized enterprises
type: CreativeWork
description: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute significantly to economic growth and job creation. Given the importance of SMEs, this study examines the factors that may impact their outcomes (i.e., behaviours and performance). In particular, it examines the effects of chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) regulatory focus and firms’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on SMEs. Regulatory focus theory suggests that people can pursue their goals via a promotion focus (associated with a concern for growth and a desire for gains) or a prevention focus (associated with a concern for safety and a desire to avoid losses). As an individual-level motivational characteristic, regulatory focus underlies the motives people are aiming to satisfy, the goals they pursue, and the strategic means they prefer to implement in striving for their goals. Since CEOs are the top decision makers, their decisions induced by regulatory focus should have an impact on firms they lead. Additionally, EO refers to a firm-level behavioural construct that involves three independent dimensions, namely, innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. Since organisations often rely on entrepreneurial activities to renew themselves, their levels of innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness should have an impact on their performance. This study expands research on regulatory focus theory and entrepreneurial orientation through examining (a) the effects of CEO regulatory focus on SME performance and how the effects differ between firms operating in different industry environments (i.e., high-tech and low-tech industries); (b) the independent effects of firms’ levels of innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness on SME performance and how the effects differ between firms operating in different industry environments; and (c) the influences of CEO regulatory focus on SMEs’ levels of innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. In so doing, this study also contributes to entrepreneurship research i…
abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute significantly to economic growth and job creation. Given the importance of SMEs, this study examines the factors that may impact their outcomes (i.e., behaviours and performance). In particular, it examines the effects of chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) regulatory focus and firms’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on SMEs. Regulatory focus theory suggests that people can pursue their goals via a promotion focus (associated with a concern for growth and a desire for gains) or a prevention focus (associated with a concern for safety and a desire to avoid losses). As an individual-level motivational characteristic, regulatory focus underlies the motives people are aiming to satisfy, the goals they pursue, and the strategic means they prefer to implement in striving for their goals. Since CEOs are the top decision makers, their decisions induced by regulatory focus should have an impact on firms they lead. Additionally, EO refers to a firm-level behavioural construct that involves three independent dimensions, namely, innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. Since organisations often rely on entrepreneurial activities to renew themselves, their levels of innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness should have an impact on their performance. This study expands research on regulatory focus theory and entrepreneurial orientation through examining (a) the effects of CEO regulatory focus on SME performance and how the effects differ between firms operating in different industry environments (i.e., high-tech and low-tech industries); (b) the independent effects of firms’ levels of innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness on SME performance and how the effects differ between firms operating in different industry environments; and (c) the influences of CEO regulatory focus on SMEs’ levels of innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. In so doing, this study also contributes to entrepreneurship research i…
author: Huang, Shuangfa
author: Huang, Qihai
author: Soetanto, Danny
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:48:45Z
provider: Lancaster University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Lancaster University