%A Xiaohua Su %T Entrepreneurial Orientation and Performance of Chinese High-Tech Firms: The Mediating Role of Organizational Learning and Moderating Role of Firm Life Cycle %0 Journal Article %D 2013 %J Front. Bus. Res. China %J Frontiers of Business Research in China %@ 1673-7326 %R 10.3868/s070-002-013-0021-4 %P 487-504 %V 7 %N 4 %U {https://journal.hep.com.cn/fbr/EN/10.3868/s070-002-013-0021-4 %8 2013-12-05 %X

The evidence about how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) affects firms’ performance remains inconclusive. This study joins the research by incorporating organizational learning (OL) as a micro-macro link and by extending empirical work to the largely underexplored context of Chinese high-tech industries. Results from a survey of 252 Chinese high-tech firms demonstrate: (1) entrepreneurial orientation is positively related to firm performance; (2) organizational learning is also positively related to firm performance; (3) organizational learning partly mediates the positive impact of entrepreneurial orientation on firm performance; and (4) high-tech companies in the start-up and growth stage are likely to demonstrate stronger linkages in the EO–OL–performance relationship than in mature stage, which shows that the EO–OL–performance relationship is moderated by firms’ life cycle.