Influence of Dimensions of Strategic Orientation (SO) on the Growth of Small Firms & Resources as Moderating Variable: A Study of Indian Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

Strategy-firm growth relationship has remained an important issue for researchers, despite considerable theoretical advances made in this area, little consensus has emerged on the key dimensions of strategy construct -- termed as Strategic Orientation (SO). As conceptualized by Venkatraman (1989), the six dimensions of SO construct are analysis, pro-activeness, riskiness, aggressiveness, futurity, and defensiveness. The need to integrate SO and Resource Based View (RBV) has seen increasing emphasis by researchers since the choice of resources constitutes an important precondition for firm growth. SO framework applies to all firms but being a resource consuming orientation, it poses challenges for small firms since they are resource constrained, so this study focuses on the influence of SO on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).