Graduate School of Business Administration, WBS, University of the Witwatersrand, 2 St. David's Place, Parktown, P. O. Box 98, Johannesburg, 2193, Wits 2050, South Africa
Murimbika, M., Graduate School of Business Administration, WBS, University of the Witwatersrand, 2 St. David's Place, Parktown, P. O. Box 98, Johannesburg, 2193, Wits 2050, South Africa; Urban, B., Graduate School of Business Administration, WBS, University of the Witwatersrand, 2 St. David's Place, Parktown, P. O. Box 98, Johannesburg, 2193, Wits 2050, South Africa
The study combines the research domains of strategic management and corporate innovation by examining the impact of strategic management practices on entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Recognising the importance of internal business processes that enable firm entrepreneurial behaviour, it is hypothesised that higher levels of EO are positively associated with the strategic management practices of (1) locus of planning, (2) scanning intensity, (3) planning flexibility, (4) planning horizon, and (5) strategy and financial control attributes. Empirical testing takes place in an under-researched emerging market context on a sample of 219 financial and business services firms. The results provide support for the positive impact that the different strategic management practices have on EO. A practical consideration is for managers to leverage the strategic management practices so that the firm's position on the conservative-entrepreneurial continuum is increased by its propensity to be innovative, proactive, and be willing to take risks when confronted by uncertainty. © Imperial College Press.
