An overview of entrepreneurial orientation on business performance of female entrepreneurs: A systematic literature review

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has received considerable attention in entrepreneurship research in recent years, especially the study of female entrepreneurs. The term “entrepreneurial orientation” has been used to refer to the strategy-making process and style of firms engaged in entrepreneurial activities. As stated by many studies, EO is assumed to have a positive effect on firm performance. However, there is an ongoing debate about the importance and impact of each dimension, and there is still insufficient study on female entrepreneurs. This article conducts a systematic literature review on EO strategies for female entrepreneurs’ business performance between 2018 and 2023. The review process includes five main methodological steps, which are guided by the review protocol, the formulation of research questions, a systematic search strategy based on identification, and screening of qualifications on two databases that have been set, namely, Scopus and WoS, followed by quality assessment and data extraction and analysis. Most of the results of the systematic review show that studies of EO and business performance in various countries show relatively similar results that EO has a positive and significant effect on business performance. However, specific findings show that EO with three dimensions is more commonly used in studies compared to EO with five dimensions. Five main themes were also found based on thematic analysis: (1) proactiveness; (2) innovativeness; (3) risk-taking; (4) autonomy; and (5) competitive aggressiveness.