Entrepreneurial and Market Orientations:which Relation to Performance?: the Case of French Smes

There is no sustainable growth for companies without innovation, risk orientation or proactiveness. There is also no sustainable growth for companies that are not customer and competitor orientated. Those two business cultures, also known as entrepreneurial and market orientations, taken separately, are positively related to business performance. This study investigates those two orientations and their links to performance within the context of French SMEs. It goes even further by highlighting that the combination of both orientations enables companies to achieve even higher performance. Based on the works of Covin and Slevin, Narver and Slater, Lumpkin and Dess, and Blois and Carson, three hypotheses have been formulated: H1 : SMEs that are entrepreneurial oriented outperform companies that are not. H2 : SMEs that are market oriented outperform companies that are not. H3 : SMEs that are both entrepreneurial and market oriented outperform companies that are either one or none. Results from this study should foster SMEs managers to encourage and develop both entrepreneurial behaviour and market orientation within their organisations in order to achieve sustainable growth.