Testing the Indirect Effects on Entrepreneurial Orientation and Enterprise Performance

The main objective of the study is to understand the mediation effect of the entrepreneurial intention of employees on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and enterprise performance (EP). The study first investigates the relationship between EO and EP, secondly, it tries to test the indirect or mediation effect of entrepreneurial intention of employees. The results of the study are based on the responses of 391 employees of selected microenterprises in southern Odisha, collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The study provides empirical evidence on the positive influence of EO on EP and the study finds a significant mediation effect of employee’s entrepreneurial intention on the relationship between EO and EP. Extant literature shows that there are few studies that establish the relationship between EO and EP, but none of them clearly explain how and when EO affects EP. In addition, previous studies have focused on large and small and medium-sized enterprises, but studies on microenterprises are very limited. Therefore, this study has selected the microenterprise sector to fill the literature gap.