Title: Strategic orientation and performance of small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh

Authors: Sandip Sarker; Mollika Palit

Addresses: Khulna University, Khulna-9250, Bangladesh ' Khulna University, Khulna-9250, Bangladesh

Abstract: The performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is considered one of the driving forces for developing countries like Bangladesh, where the economy has benefitted greatly from the contribution of SMEs. Hence, the aim of this study is to identify whether there is any relationship between strategic orientation and the performance of SMEs operating in Bangladesh. From the existing literature, three variables of strategic orientation have been developed: market orientation, learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation. The result shows that six out of ten variables of strategic orientation, e.g., customer orientation, inter-functional coordination, proactiveness, autonomy, risk taking behaviour and innovativeness are statistically significant with SME performance. However, the study found that learning orientation has no notable relationship with performance. The findings of this study can be useful for researchers as well as SME owners to generate further ideas about their business strategy and enhance their financial performance.

Keywords: SMEs; Bangladesh; strategic orientation; firm performance; small and medium-sized enterprises; market orientation; learning orientation; entrepreneurial orientation; customer orientation; inter-functional coordination; proactiveness; autonomy; risk taking; innovativeness; entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2015.068643

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2015 Vol.24 No.4, pp.572 - 586

Received: 19 Dec 2014
Accepted: 21 Dec 2014
Published online: 07 Apr 2015 *

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