Small Business Orientation: A Construct Proposal

Entrepreneurship and small business management literatures diverged decades ago, with the former receiving the bulk of subsequent scholarly attention. The concept of a small business orientation (SBO) has not been widely and consistently employed in the literature. We present a conceptual framework aimed at clarifying the construct of SBO, and conceptualize SBO as a firm size- and age-independent phenomenon operating at the individual level, and reflecting manager values about how the business ought to be conducted. We discuss the values-based derivation of SBO, identify elements of this multidimensional construct, its likely consequences, and propose future research directions