Role of entrepreneurship and market orientation in firms' success

This article aims to offer empirical evidence pertaining to the relationship among entrepreneurship, market orientation and business performance within the context of disadvantaged socio‐economic regions of the European Union.

Two groups of hypotheses investigate the relationship between entrepreneurship and market orientation and the joint effect of these dimensions on performance. All questions are approached using survey data from 183 firms located in the Castilla y Leon region, Spain.

A strong relationship exists between entrepreneurship and market orientation. Although these orientations may be implemented separately, firms emphasise entrepreneurship when they are market‐oriented. Therefore, the strong relationship and complementarities between entrepreneurship and market orientation reduce the effort involved in the joint adoption of both orientations. Both orientations also demonstrate a strong relationship with performance, such that each contributes specifically.

The article shows that, despite little evidence of synergic effects of the joint adoption of both orientations, the specific aspects that differentiate entrepreneurship and market orientation both contribute to improving performance, and therefore, firms should foster a market‐oriented, entrepreneurial organisational culture.