The Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation on New Product Performance of Korean Exporting SMEs: The Moderating Role of Technological Uncertainty

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, we aim to analyze to what extent entrepreneurial orientation (EO) can help overcome Korean SMEs’ liabilities of foreignness in overseas markets. In this end, we examined three sub-dimensions of EO (proactiveness, innovativeness, risk-taking) and examine their individual effects on NPD performance of exporting SMEs.

Research design, data, and methodology – We collected survey questionnaires from Korean exporting SMEs that are certified with Inno-biz by the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 26 and AMOS to create an integrated model.

Result – As a result of the analysis, we found that proactiveness and innovativeness dimension of EO have positive effect on new product performance of exporting SMEs. Furthermore, technological uncertainty has negative moderating effect between innovativeness and new product performance of SMEs.

Conclusion – While proactive attitude and innovativeness of EO positively affected the performance of new products of SMEs, the tendency to take risks and pursue opportunities with bold behaviors did not have a positive effect on NPD performance in foreign nations.