The impact of entrepreneurial orientation on performance in sport firms: the mediating role of knowledge sharing and product innovation capacity

Using product innovation capacity to customers gives corporations a competitive advantage in the market. This research examined a structural model of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and knowledge sharing (KS) as the drivers of product innovation capacity (PIC), and ultimately assessed the impact of PIC on corporate performance (CP) in sport firms. The theoretical model of the study was tested using data collected from 401 employees from 58 sport firms in Iran. Our findings show that EO and KS had a significant effect on PIC. In addition, EO, KS, and PIC activities significantly influenced CP. Our study contributes to the ongoing development of the proposed theories in entrepreneurship, innovation, and CP in suggesting a combination of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) approaches. This has important implications for industrial authorities in developing sustainable and successful sectors of sport firms.