FIRM-LEVEL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND PERFORMANCE:
AN EXAMINATION AND EXTENSION OF RELATIONSHIPS
AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL
ORIENTATION CONSTRUCT
by
JUSTIN L. DAVIS
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of
The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON
May 2007
Copyright © by Justin L. Davis 2007
All Rights Reserved
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The efforts of many have led to the successful completion of this dissertation
and my time at the University of Texas at Arlington. First and foremost, I give God all
of the glory of this dissertation for giving me the ability and persistence to accomplish
what often seemed to be impossible.
I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. G. Tyge
Payne, Dr. Jeffrey McGee, Dr. Abdul Rasheed, Dr. Gary McMahan, and Dr. Courtney
LaFountain, for their many hours of time and advising spent helping me get to this
point.
The words of guidance and feedback were vital to the development and
finalization of this dissertation.
I would like to give a special word of thanks to my dissertation co-chair, my
colleague, and my friend, Dr. G. Tyge Payne.
His countless hours of reviewing,
editing, and advising were integral to the completion of this dissertation.
He
consistently went above and beyond the call of duty for any supervising chair and I will
forever be indebted for his efforts.
While many people struggle by themselves through a doctoral program, I can
never claim to have accomplished this on my own. The support and love of my family
and friends throughout this process helped me keep my sanity, or at least what is left of
it. While there are far too many to list each individually, I would like to note just a
select few whose role in my life is beyond words. To my father, mother, sister and
iii
brother: You are the family that...