Entrepreneurial Orientation, Knowledge Utilization and Internationalization of Firms

Krzysztof Wach, Agnieszka Głodowska and Marek Maciejewski
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Krzysztof Wach: Department of International Trade, Cracow University of Economics, Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Kraków, Poland
Agnieszka Głodowska: Department of International Trade, Cracow University of Economics, Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Kraków, Poland
Marek Maciejewski: Department of International Trade, Cracow University of Economics, Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Kraków, Poland

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: The aim of this article is to verify what the relations are between entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge utilization in the internationalization of Polish firms. The article distinguishes four types of knowledge: market knowledge, network knowledge, sociocultural knowledge, and entrepreneurial knowledge. The research uses quantitative design and is based on a survey conducted in 2015 on a sample of 355 businesses from Poland (the response rate was 10.7%), following which statistical techniques ( t -tests and regression analyses) were applied to verify the hypotheses. An overview of prior studies enabled us to identify the research gap in the literature regarding the combination of three elements that link to form one picture of reality, namely, (i) entrepreneurial orientation and (ii) knowledge utilization in (iii) the internationalization process of firms. The case of Polish firms confirms that entrepreneurial orientation is substantial in the use of knowledge in the internationalization process. Firms characterized by higher entrepreneurial orientation use particular types of knowledge much more intensely at various stages of the internationalization process. Entrepreneurial orientation, and especially risk-taking, has significant positive effects on the scope of internationalization. Greater entrepreneurial orientation increases the number of foreign markets in which a given firm operates. Not only market knowledge in the traditional approach, but especially network and entrepreneurial knowledge have significant positive effects on the intensification of the internationalization scale.

Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation; international entrepreneurial orientation; knowledge utilization; internationalization; international business; international entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial internationalization; Poland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4711-:d:189568

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