Does Entrepreneurial Orientation Influence Business Performance among Small Service Firms? Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-930-8_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Entrepreneurial orientation; business performance; service firms; Nigeria; JEL Classification; L26; J16; A22; I24

Abstract

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is important to business survival and sustainability. Using multidimensional indicators of EO, this study examines the influence of EO on business performance of selected firms in Nigeria’s service sector. Data was collected through a cross-sectional survey from 45 firms in a peri-urban settings in Nigeria, using a validated questionnaire. The results show that most firms reported good business performance, as indicated in their improved turnover, profit, market share, and other metrics. The regression analysis reveals that proactiveness (β=-0.10, p < 0.05), risk-taking (β=0.39, p < 0.01) and innovativeness (β=0.14, p < 0.05) significantly influence firms’ business performance. Other EO constructs are not statistically significant. The age of firms shows positive and significant relationship with business performance. The model summary indicates strong and significant correlations between business performance and the EOs. The model also explains about 52% of factors that shape business performance, demonstrating a good fit. The study concludes that while firms need to pay adequate attention to activities that could boost their innovativeness and risk-taking potential, they need to adequately evaluate opportunities before making any business move. Proactiveness is critical for businesses to stay ahead of competitors but could be wasteful if not properly evaluated before committing scarce resources. Practical implications and recommendations on how to improve firms’ EO and firms’ performance are highlighted.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Caleb M. Adelowo
AU  - Alfred Henrico
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/26
TI  - Does Entrepreneurial Orientation Influence Business Performance among Small Service Firms? Empirical Evidence from Nigeria
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship (ICSBE 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 132
EP  - 143
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-930-8_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-930-8_11
ID  - Adelowo2025
ER  -