Entrepreneurial orientation, dynamic capability and internationalization of indigenous firms in Lagos State, Nigeria

Purpose: Several nations of the world have been able to create wealth through internationalization, but Nigeria’s indigenous firms are far behind in international expansion of their business activities. Having observed that much has not been done by prior literature to examine the extent to which this could be a result of entrepreneurial orientation and dynamic capability of Nigeria’s indigenous firms, this study is conducted.Methodology: The study used a cross-sectional survey design and a snowball sampling method and obtained 384 responses from respondents that have fulfilled the condition for. Data were analyzed using variance accounted for (VAF) method for the mediating effect and the hypotheses were tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).Results: The findings revealed that entrepreneurial orientation has a statistically significant influence on internationalization and dynamic capability. Also, dynamic capability partially mediates between entrepreneurial orientation and.Practical Implication: Indigenous firms in Nigeria should intensify efforts to identify potential market opportunities and be more proactive in order to take advantage of such opportunities so as to extend their business operations beyond their national border.Originality: The study draws on dynamic capabilities theory to further establish that entrepreneurial orientation of indigenous firms influences their internationalization. It shows that dynamic capability mediates between entrepreneurial orientation and internationalization of indigenous firms in Nigeria thereby enhancing the internationalization of indigenous firms.Keywords: Dynamic capability; Entrepreneurial orientation; InternationalizationDOI: 10.58869/EJABM11(2)/02