Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has emerged as a central strategic position of firms, which must have competitiveness and survive particularly in the emerging markets characterized by institutional instability, resource scarcity and rapid consumer-markets. The empirical evidence is inconclusive, even after the rich body of research on the EO-firm performance relationship that has been done up to now, and the findings made in emerging economies remain patchy and context-dependent. This paper is filling this gap by redefining the role of entrepreneurial orientation on the definition of firm performance in emerging economies.

The core objective of the research is to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial orientation dimensions (innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking) on the performance of firms operating in the emerging economies. The study will also add to current knowledge on the role of EO towards a competitive advantage in an ever-changing and consumer focused market.

The quantitative research design was the one used to gather data in the form of a structured survey that was sent to the firms in the sampled emerging economies. The researchers employed good scales of measurement and employed powerful statistical techniques like regression and reliability analysis to test the hypotheses.

The findings indicate that the entrepreneurial orientation has a positive and significant impact on the performance of firms, yet innovativeness and proactiveness are more influential than risk-taking. These results confirm the value of strategic entrepreneurial behaviour in times of uncertainty and foster performance outcomes.

The theoretical implications of the study are also interesting because it expands the body of EO-related literature to the situation in emerging economies and creates value implications to managers and policymakers interested in building entrepreneurial promise and sustainable firm development