Abstract

Contemporary research exemplifies that an investment in employing an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO) strategies will assist small and medium sized businesses owned by women (WSMBs) in gaining success not only in short-term but over the longer period of time as well. Despite the significance of acquiring EO and MO to rejuvenate business performance, the distribution of EO and MO in literature is accounted as counter-productive. This argument advocate that an alignment amid EO and MO is advantageous for WSMBs, as it improves the business competitive ability to innovate and respond proactively to customers and market demands, which results in business growth and improved profitability. To this day, research has resulted in the development of EO and MO constructs, but literature accord no evidence whether the dimensions of EO and MO are related to each other in the context of WSMBs in developing countries of the world like Pakistan. This study examines the association amid dimensions of EO and MO, and findings suggest that all three dimensions of EO are positively associated with all three dimensions of MO in WSMBs context.          

Key words: Entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation, women-owned small and medium sized businesses.