Entrepreneurial Orientation, Proactive Market Orientation and Society: Evidence from Public Service Organizations in Brazil

Purpose: Public service organizations face a critical dilemma: how to generate more value for society but with a much-reduced resource base. The article advances the strategy axis of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) research by examining EO and proactive market orientation (PMO) as joint-strategic approaches to this end, and how the characteristics of public managers may moderate the paths to value creation. Methodology: The article draws on a unique survey-based dataset developed from Brazilian public service organizations and employs structural equation modelling for hypotheses testing. Post-hoc analysis, by way of analysis of variance, demonstrates the joint impact of the two strategic approaches on public service performance level. Findings: Entrepreneurial and proactive market orientations are revealed as routes to enhanced service performance, but managers’ domain expertise negatively moderates these relationships. Post-hoc analysis reveals how organizations displaying higher levels of both orientations realize superior performance, relative to those favouring either/or. Originality/Value: The study contributes new evidence for EO model specificity by examining a narrowly bounded sample of public service organizations; addresses the neglect of other outcome variables beyond traditional performance, showing the value of EO for society; and offers new insights to the managerial conditions that moderate the positive synergies between EO, PMO and service performance.