Purpose

Knowledge of how entrepreneurial alertness (EA) and effectuation impact small firms' performance in uncertain markets is limited. Suggesting effectuation as a mediation mechanism between EA and small firms' performance, the authors explore how entrepreneurs of small firms apply effectual logic to translate their individual alertness to market opportunities into firms' performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of hypotheses is tested by partial least squares analysis of survey data collected from small firms in New Zealand.

Findings

The results show that effectuation works as a mechanism that mediates a positive association between founders'/managers' alertness to market opportunities and small firms' performance.

Originality/value

Integrating EA with the effectuation theory, the authors contribute to the literature on new market opportunity development and firm performance. The authors argue that entrepreneurs concentrate on action and resources to further develop their marketing intelligence in developing new market opportunities. The authors also enhance the understanding of entrepreneurial marketing decision-making by small firms in a relatively small economy in the Asia–Pacific region.

中文翻译：

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营销情报和小企业的绩效：企业家警觉性和执行力的作用

目的

关于创业警觉性（EA）和执行力如何影响小企业在不确定市场中的表现的知识还很有限。作者提出效应作为 EA 和小企业绩效之间的中介机制，探讨了小企业的企业家如何应用效应逻辑将他们个人对市场机会的警觉性转化为公司绩效。

设计/方法论/途径

通过对新西兰小企业收集的调查数据进行偏最小二乘分析来检验一组假设。

发现

结果表明，效应是一种机制，可以调节创始人/经理对市场机会的警觉性与小公司绩效之间的正相关关系。

原创性/价值

作者将 EA 与效应理论相结合，为有关新市场机会开发和公司绩效的文献做出了贡献。作者认为，企业家专注于行动和资源，以进一步发展他们的营销智慧，以开发新的市场机会。作者还加深了对亚太地区相对较小经济体中小企业创业营销决策的理解。