Competitive Aggressiveness, Environmental Context, and Small Firm Performance
- 1 July 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
- Vol. 14 (4) , 35-50
- https://doi.org/10.1177/104225879001400406
Abstract
This study examined relationships between firm performance, the degree of aggressiveness a firm exhibits in its competitive orientation, and the environmental dimensions of technological sophistication and hostility. Subgroup (correlation) analysis was used to analyze data collected from 143 small manufacturing-based firms. The findings suggest that high-performing firms often exhibit an aggressive competitive orientation when faced with environmental hostility, while low-performing firms tend to be more passive when operating in hostile environments. No overall difference was observed in the correlations between competitive aggressiveness and environmental technological sophistication for the high- and low-performing subgroups. However, younger firms generally performed better when they were not highly aggressive in technologically sophisticated environments.Keywords
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