A comparative study on the innovativeness held by the entrepreneurs from flanders, Belgium and Hebei, China

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has been the focus of entrepreneurship research for a considerable time. Researchers believe the concept of entrepreneurial orientation can significantly assist in explaining the growth potential of an enterprise and the success of a business (e.g., Covin & Slevin, 1988; Wiklund. 1998, Wiklund and Shepherd, 2005). Researchers have made studies on entrepreneurial orientation using multiple dimensions, which mainly include innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness, with innovativeness being taken as the most essential dimension (e.g., Lumpkin & Dess, 1996; 2005; Covin & Slevin, 1996; Miller & Friesen, 1986). Based on an extensive review of the studies about entrepreneurial orientation, especially in terms of innovativeness, the authors took case study as the research method, and accomplished a firm level empirical research, with the intention of making a comparative study on the innovativeness held by the entrepreneurs from Flanders, Belgium and Hebei, China Furthermore, taking as the contextual framework the major dimensions of entrepreneurship (GEM Executive Report, 2004), the authors intended to interpret the contextual determinants underpinning the differences and similarities in innovativeness between the entrepreneurs in the two countries. This pioneering empirical research contributes to understanding questions such as "How and why do the Chinese enterprises in manufacturing industry accomplish innovation, if compared with the international counterparts?