Socio-Cultural Determinants of Entrepreneurial Orientation: Evidence from Small and Medium Enterprises in Gujarat

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in economic development, job creation, and societal progress. This study examines how socio-cultural characteristics influence entrepreneurial orientation (EO) among small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs in Gujarat, India. Specifically, it investigates the impact of education, prior experience, and family background on the EO dimensions of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking propensity. A structured questionnaire was administered to 100 SME entrepreneurs in Gujarat, selected through convenience sampling. The items were adapted from established scales and validated through expert review and pilot testing. Reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha, and factor analysis (Varimax rotation) supported the three-dimensional EO structure. Parametric tests (t-tests, ANOVA) were conducted to compare EO across socio-cultural groups. Results show that education significantly enhances innovativeness and risk-taking, while prior business experience contributes positively to innovativeness but has limited effect on risk-taking and proactiveness. Family business background strongly influences proactiveness, with entrepreneurs from business families being more proactive than those from agricultural backgrounds. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the study demonstrates that education shapes entrepreneurial attitudes, family background influences subjective norms, and prior experience enhances perceived behavioural control, collectively shaping entrepreneurial orientation. The findings suggest that investors and policymakers can use socio-cultural profiles to evaluate entrepreneurial potential. Education and training initiatives should particularly target entrepreneurs from non-business backgrounds to foster innovation and proactive decision-making. This study contributes empirical evidence on the socio-cultural determinants of entrepreneurial orientation in the Indian SME context, offering insights into how education, experience, and family background interact to shape innovation, proactiveness, and risk-taking in entrepreneurship.