Entrepreneurial orientation in the sharing economy: cases of new entries in domestic and international markets

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has attracted increasing research attention over the last decades, yet few studies apply all five dimensions in novel contexts and through qualitative studies. As a response, this paper explores six cases of new market entry by sharecoms, both internationalised and non-internationalised, in order to enhance knowledge about EO in an international sharing economy context. The findings show that the five dimensions of EO are demonstrated and utilised in diverse ways and to varying degrees, often through combination. Innovativeness, autonomy, and proactiveness are useful for bringing novel offerings to the market and EO is seen as an accelerator for growth and stimulator of early internationalisation. Still, not all of the dimensions were evident within all of the sharecoms nor were they deemed necessary in order to be entrepreneurial, which challenges previous research. The findings are shown to contribute to theory, as well as to practitioners.