A Comparison of the EO and PO constructs
| Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) | Phenomenological Orientation (PO) | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | EO is a theoretical construct that seeks to measure entrepreneurial behaviour at the firm level | PO applies phenomenological concepts to understand how individuals inhabit and experience spaces, using the body as the zero-point orientation |
| Key concepts | Innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy | Personal values, motivations, goals, and contextual factors (e.g. family embeddedness) |
| Theoretical approach | Strategic management | Feminist phenomenology |
| Methodological approach | Quantitative | Qualitative |
| Unit of analysis | Mostly, the firm, although current research also seeks to establish the link between firm performance and the orientation of its founder(s) | The individual in context |
| Contextual understanding | It may ignore contextual factors that lead to different orientations | Experiences are always embedded in specific contexts, in a relationship of co-construction |
| Motivation and success | Often focuses on profit-driven motivations and quantitative measures of success, overlooking other intrinsic motivations and non-financial indicators of success | Acknowledges diverse motivations, including autonomy, flexibility, and community impact, considering success beyond financial metrics |
| Gender perspective | Gender might be incorporated as a variable, exploring differences in entrepreneurial behaviour and performance between men's and women's businesses. The latter are assumed to underperform men | Gender as socially constructed. PO applies phenomenological concepts and methods combined with feminist theories, specifically focusing on women's embodied experiences |
| Temporality | Emerging but underdeveloped. It generally focuses on linear time | Temporality is socially constructed, subjective, and embodied. Experiences are constituted by time/space as a potentiality of the here and now to unfold into the future |
| Limitation | Can overlook contextual factors | Limited generalisability |
| Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) | Phenomenological Orientation (PO) | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | EO is a theoretical construct that seeks to measure entrepreneurial behaviour at the firm level | PO applies phenomenological concepts to understand how individuals inhabit and experience spaces, using the body as the zero-point orientation |
| Key concepts | Innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy | Personal values, motivations, goals, and contextual factors (e.g. family embeddedness) |
| Theoretical approach | Strategic management | Feminist phenomenology |
| Methodological approach | Quantitative | Qualitative |
| Unit of analysis | Mostly, the firm, although current research also seeks to establish the link between firm performance and the orientation of its founder(s) | The individual in context |
| Contextual understanding | It may ignore contextual factors that lead to different orientations | Experiences are always embedded in specific contexts, in a relationship of co-construction |
| Motivation and success | Often focuses on profit-driven motivations and quantitative measures of success, overlooking other intrinsic motivations and non-financial indicators of success | Acknowledges diverse motivations, including autonomy, flexibility, and community impact, considering success beyond financial metrics |
| Gender perspective | Gender might be incorporated as a variable, exploring differences in entrepreneurial behaviour and performance between men's and women's businesses. The latter are assumed to underperform men | Gender as socially constructed. PO applies phenomenological concepts and methods combined with feminist theories, specifically focusing on women's embodied experiences |
| Temporality | Emerging but underdeveloped. It generally focuses on linear time | Temporality is socially constructed, subjective, and embodied. Experiences are constituted by time/space as a potentiality of the here and now to unfold into the future |
| Limitation | Can overlook contextual factors | Limited generalisability |
Source(s): Based on Ahmed (2006), Fielding (2017a, b), Lumpkin and Dess (1996), McGowan et al. (2012), Morris et al. (2006), Patterson and Mavin (2009), Randerson (2016), Solesvik et al. (2019), Wales et al. (2021)
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