Revisiting Covin and Slevin (1989): Replication and extension of the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance

Abstract

We replicate and extend the seminal paper of Covin and Slevin (1989) on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) by conducting two studies. Specifically, we examine the impact of a firm's EO on financial performance under hostile environments using various measurements. Study 1 is a direct replication of Covin and Slevin (1989) in which we utilize data collected from firms in the USA, which adopted the same survey measures of Covin and Slevin (1989). Study 2 is a generalization and extension of Covin and Slevin (1989) in which we implement newly developed objective EO measurement by Miller and Le Breton-Miller (2011) and utilize objective financial data of Chinese public firms. The results of both studies provide evidence that a firm's EO positively impacts firm performance, especially in hostile environments. Further theoretical implications and contributions based on diverse types of replication studies are discussed.