Abstract

This research assesses a model which links the entrepreneurial orientation of a firm (innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness) to its export performance. The model incorporates environmental variables (dynamism, hostility and heterogeneity) and internal variables (age, size and structure) which affect entrepreneurial posture. A questionnaire was given out to managers of 108 export companies in Chile. Structural equations were used to assess the model (Partial Least Square). The results support the hypothesis that the greater the entrepreneurial orientation of the firm, the greater its export performance, and the greater the environmental dynamism, the greater the entrepreneurial orientation.